153 
Mr. Eyres Overland Expedition . 
This part of the animal evidently acts the same functions as 
the gizzard in fowls; for the food (green sea-weed) before it 
reached this part was crude, and nearly in its natural state • 
whereas, after having passed through this gizzard, it became 
liquid and pulpy. There appeared also a great quantity of an 
olivaceous substance, like the liver in some fish; also, in a 
globular form, a great quantity of an orange-coloured substance, 
which* I took for the roe. 
I had the animal cooked, and the part which 1 tasted re¬ 
sembled in flavour the muscle; but I was afraid to eat much. 
Along with several others, it was taken in a basin of the seay 
adjoining the Stores at Port Arthur. 
MR. EYRE’S EXPEDITION OVERLAND FROM 
SOUTH TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
[From Official Communications published in the Port Phillip 
Patriot , of 26th August, 1841.] 
On the 25th February I left Fowler’s Bay, with a party con¬ 
sisting of an overseer and three native boys. I was provided 
with ten horses, and provisions calculated for nine weeks. 
Upon entering within the limits of Western Australia, I found 
the country extending around the Great Australian Bight, for 
upwards of 500 miles, to consist entirely of the fossil formation, 
with a considerable elevation above the level of the sea, varying 
perhaps, from 200 to 300 feet, and forming, for the most part' 
a country which presented the appearance of an elevated and 
almost level table land. This extensive region is of the most 
desolate and barren character imaginable; almost entirely 
without grass, destitute of timber, and in many parts densely 
covered with an impenetrable scrub. There was no surface 
water, neither were there creeks or water-courses of any descrip¬ 
tion. The only supply of water procured by the party through 
this dreary waste, w r as obtained by digging in the drifts of pure 
white sand found along the coast at places where the great fossil 
bank receded a little" from the immediate margin of the sea„ 
The supply thus obtained was very precarious ; and during the 
progress of our journey we crossed over, at various times, 
intervals of 60,136, 160, and 150 miles in extent, throughout 
^hich it was impossible to procure a drop of water in any way. 
In this fearful country our horses suffered most severely, and 
°n two different occasions were seven days without any water 
and almost without food also. From this cause we lost many 
valuable animals; and our progress was impeded by the frequent 
and long delays necessary to recruit those that were still left 
ahve. Our journey thus became protracted to a period far 
