POINT FOWLER. 
225 
near or upon the fires in cold weather, every indi- 
vidual of certain tribes would not have been 
affected, and some individuals of every tribe would : 
now, the first, as far as my experience enabled me 
to judge, is the case ; but the latter most assuredly 
is not. Both at the Murray, and near Fowler’s 
Bay, the natives always told me, that the marks 
were made by hre, though how, or for what purpose, 
I could never learn at either place. 
November 18. — Our horses being all knocked up, 
and many of them having their shoulders severely 
galled by the racking motion of the drays winding 
up and down the heavy sandy ridges, or in and out 
of the dense scrubs, I determined to remain for some 
time in depot to recover them, whilst I reconnoitred 
the country t<? the west, as far as the head of the great 
Australian Bight. To leave my party in the best 
position I could, I sent the overseer round Point 
Fowler to see if there was any better place for the 
horses in that direction, and to communicate with 
the master of the Waterwitch on the subject of 
landing our stores. Upon the overseer’s return, he 
reported that there was fresh water under Point 
Fowler, but very little grass ; that he had not been 
able to communicate with the cutter, the wind being 
unfavourable and violent, and the cutter’s boat on 
board, but they had noticed him, and shewn their 
colours ; he said, moreover, that the vessel was lying 
in a very exposed situation, and did not appear at 
all protected by Point Fowler, which, as she was not 
VOL. i. 
Q 
