210 
SMOKY BAY. 
amelioration which may one day fit them for the 
purposes of pasture or agriculture. The smoke of 
many native fires was seen during the day behind 
and around us, but we did not fall in with any of 
the natives. 
November 8. — Having given each of the horses a 
bucket of water from the well, we moved on again 
through the same dense scrub we had encountered 
yesterday, but, if possible, more harassing, from the 
increased steepness of the sandy ridges and the 
quantity of dead timber lying on the surface, and 
causing a great impediment to our progress. We 
forced our way through this worse than desert region, 
for about fourteen miles, and arrived early in the 
afternoon, with our horses quite exhausted, upon the 
shores of Smoky Bay, at a point where the natives 
had dug a hole in the sand hills near the beach to 
procure water, and from which the south end of the 
island of St. Peter bore W. 15° S. 
The Water witch was already here, and supplied 
us with a cask of water, until the men had dined 
and rested a little, before entering upon the task of 
digging for water, which proved to be a most arduous 
undertaking, and occupied us all the afternoon. 
We had to sink through a loose sand for fifteen feet, 
which from its nature, added to the effect of a strong- 
wind that was blowing at the time, drifted in almost 
as fast as it was thrown out. We were consequently 
obliged to make a very large opening before we 
could get at the water at all ; it was then very 
