There was no high land whatever in sight; but one low hill, which just appeared above the mangrove tops, bore north by east. After running north-east for about two miles with the same depth of water we came to another opening in the mangroves of a more promising character than several small ones which we had previously passed, and as, from the greater depth of the water, the extraordinary low character of the coast, and the circumstance of the driftwood upon Dorre Island, I expected to find a large river hereabouts, I determined to examine even the smallest openings most narrowly; we therefore ran straight for this one, and found that it had a shoal mouth with only four feet water at the entrance. The opening ran east 1/2 north, and after we had followed it up for about half a mile it became very narrow and shoaled to two feet, so we turned about and again pulled away to sea. This opening, as well as the first we had entered, appeared rather like a canal running through a woody grove than an arm of the sea; the mangrove trees afforded an agreeable shade, and were of the most brilliant green, whilst the blue placid water not only washed their roots but meandered through the sinuosities of the forest like a quiet lake till sight of it was lost in the distance.
We now stood north-north-west parallel to the shore, which was fronted by mangroves; and here we again had only two and a half feet of water. A very low chain of hills extended parallel to the shore and about two miles behind the mangroves. We thus continued running along the coast until we made a large opening which was about three-quarters of a mile across at the mouth. On either side of the entrance was a sandy point, covered with pelicans and wild-fowl who seemed to view our approach with no slight degree of surprise. As yet we did not know the proper entrance to the river (for such it was) so that where we ran into it we had only two feet of water. Three low hills were immediately in front of us, and I afterwards ascertained that the proper course for entering was to steer so as to keep the centre of the opening and the middle hill in the same line.
DISCOVER ONE MOUTH OF THE GASCOYNE RIVER, AND EXPLORE THE COUNTRY IN ITS VICINITY.
The opening now widened into a very fine reach, out of which the water was running rapidly, and when we had ascended about a mile I saw large trees, or snags (as they are called by the Americans) sticking up in the bed of the river; as these trees were of a very large size, and evidently had come from a different country to the one we saw upon the river banks, I felt assured that we had now discovered a stream of magnitude, and, the eager expectations which these thoughts awoke in our breasts rendering us all impatient, we hauled down our sail and took to the oars. The bed of the river however became choked with shallows and sandbanks, and when we had ascended it about three miles, the water having shoaled to about six inches, I selected a suitable place for our encampment and prepared to start and explore the country on foot.
SURVEY OF MOUTHS OF THIS RIVER AND BABBAGE ISLAND.
As soon as all had been made snug I moved up the river with three men. Its banks were here about five feet high; the bed of white sand, and about half a mile across; the centre of the channel was full of salt water, and in breadth about a quarter of a mile. We had not proceeded more than a few hundred yards when we unexpectedly came upon another mouth of the river as large as that upon which we stood, and which ran off nearly west. The river itself appeared to come from the north-east, and we saw salt water still further up than where we were.
NATIVES AND A SHARK.
Just on the eastern bank of the stream was a clump of small trees and reeds which I walked up to examine with a desire to recognise any trees belonging to known species, but to my horror, on looking into the reeds, I saw what appeared to be a huge alligator fast asleep. The men now peeped at it and all agreed that it was an alligator. I therefore retreated to a respectful and suitable distance and let fly at it with a rifle; it gave, as we thought, a kind of shake, and then took no further notice of us. I therefore took a double-barrelled gun from one of the men and drove two balls through the beast, and now feeling sure it must be dead (for it never moved) I walked up to it, when, upon examination, it turned out to be a huge shark, of a totally new species, which had been left in some hole by the tide where the natives had found and killed it, and, being disturbed by our approach, had run away, first hiding it in this clump of reeds. There were two natives and they had made off right up the bed of the river, taking the precaution to step in one another's tracks so as to conceal if possible their number.
CHARACTER OF THE RIVER.
To those who have never seen a river similar to the one we were now upon it is difficult to convey a true idea of its character. It consisted of several channels or beds divided from each other by long strips of land, which, in times of flood, become islands; the main channel had an average breadth of about two hundred and seventy yards; the average height of the bank at the edge of it was about fifteen feet, and the bed of the river was composed of porous red sand apparently incapable of containing water unless when previously saturated with it. After passing the highest point reached by the sea this huge river bed was perfectly dry, and looked the most mournful, deserted spot imaginable. Occasionally we found in this bare sandy channel waterholes of eighteen or twenty feet in depth, surrounded with tea trees and vegetation, and the driftwood, washed high up into these trees, sufficiently attested what rapid currents sometimes swept along the now dry channel. Even the waterholes were nearly all dried up, and in the bottom of these the natives had scooped their little wells.