410 CAPB BRIDGEWATER. 



After having extended our ride to above seventy 

 miles, we returned, having satisfied ourselves, from 

 what we had seen and heard, that there was a greater 

 extent of good land here, than at South Australia ; 

 thousrh it was more scattered, and farther from the 

 sea. On our way, we met a party of natives; and 

 seeing a bundle of spears leaning against a tree, I 

 rode up to examine them, but the owner instantly 

 ran and seized them, in a manner that confirmed the 

 report I had before heard, to the effect, that the 

 settlers and the aborigines of this part, either 

 through the mismanagement of the one, or the 

 evil disposition of the other, are not on very good 

 terms. 



February \'^ . — IwentthisdaytoCapeBridgewater, 

 to make a sketch of the coast, and visit some caves 

 lying four miles north of it. These we found to be 

 from forty to fifty feet high, and of the same depth ; 

 the ceilings were encrusted with stalactites and the 

 mouths overlooked some pretty fresh water lakes, 

 three miles in extent separated from the sea by a 

 narrow chain of sand-hills ; upon these were a few 

 swans, and a black and white kind of goose, one of 

 which Mr. Bynoe shot; it resembled the species we 

 had seen flying over the Albert in the Gulf of 

 Carpentaria. 



February 20. — A slight cessation of the easterly 

 wind allowed us to leave Portland Bay in the morn- 

 ing; but scarcely had we got outside, when it blew 

 strong again from the same quarter : accordingly. 



