November 12. - I sent the overseer this morning to communicate with the
cutter, and to request the master to fill up as much water as he could,
preparatory to our moving onwards to Fowler's Bay. In the evening the
overseer returned, accompanied by Mr. Scott, to acquaint me that the
water near Point Peter was a considerable distance from the vessel; and
that it would be impracticable to fill up all the casks, with no other
means than they had at command.
I took the sun's altitude, at noon, for latitude; but the day was windy,
and the mercury shook so much that I could not depend upon the
observation within three or four miles. It gave nearly 32 degrees 10
seconds S. which I thought too much to the northward. The sun set by
compass W. 24 1/2 degrees S.
November 13. - Guided by the natives, we moved onward through a densely
scrubby country, and were again obliged to keep the men with axes
constantly at work, in advance of the drays to clear the road. Our
progress was necessarily slow, and the work very harassing to the horses;
fortunately the stage was not a very long one, and in fourteen miles we
reached "Berinyana gaippe," a small hole dug by the natives, amongst
the sand hummocks of the coast, a little north of Point Bell.
By enlarging this a little, we procured water in great abundance
and of excellent quality. Our course had been generally west by south;
and from our camp, the eastern extreme of Point Bell, bore S. 28 degrees
W., and the centre of the "Purdies Islands" E. 49 degrees S.
November 14. - Upon moving on this morning, we were obliged to keep more
to the north to avoid some salt lakes and low swamps near the coast. The
natives still accompanied us through a very sandy and scrubby country to
a watering place among some sand hills, which they called
"Wademar gaippe." Here we encamped early, after a stage of ten miles,
and were enabled to procure abundance of good water, at a depth of about
four feet below the surface.
There was a large sheet of salt water near our camp which seemed to be an
inlet of the sea, and after a hasty dinner I walked down to examine it.
The water generally appeared shallow, but in some places it was very
deep; after tracing it for five miles, and going round one end of it, I
found no junction with the sea, though the fragments of shells and other
marine remains, clearly shewed that there must have been a junction at no
very remote period.
