FRESH-WATER STREAMS. 
63 
I should have been in a dreadful position, and in all 
probability must have perished. After Wylie had 
dug; up some of the flag-roots for breakfast, and a 
few to take with us, we proceeded on our journey. 
I was anxious to have made a long stage, and if 
possible, to have reached Thistle Cove by night ; 
but the country we had to pass over was heavy and 
sandy, and after travelling fifteen miles, the horses 
became so jaded, that I was obliged to turn in 
among some sand-drifts near the coast, and halt for 
the night. The course we had been steering for the 
last few days towards Lucky Bay, had gradually 
brought us close to the coast again, and during a 
part of our journey this afternoon we were tra- 
velling upon the sea-shore. At ten miles after 
starting, we crossed a strong stream of fresh water 
running through some sandy flats into the sea ; a 
mile and a half beyond this we crossed a second 
stream ; and half a mile further a third, all running 
strongly, with narrow channels, into the sea, and 
quite fresh. Fresh water was also laying about 
every where on our road in large pools ; a proof of 
the very heavy rains that had lately fallen. We 
were, therefore, enjoying the advantages of a wet 
season without having been subject to its incle- 
mency, and which, in our present weak, unprotected 
state, we could hardly have endured. The country 
to the back was sandy and undulating, covered 
principally with low shrubs, and rising inland ; there 
were also several granite bluffs at intervals, from 
