VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SOUTHERN LANDS. 775

than the fkin of a kangaroo, thrown over his ffioulders, and which fcarcely covered hisloins. The afpect of thefe unknown beings did not at firft feem to create much un-ealinefs in the fiffierman ; but perceiving they made towards him, he haftily feized threelances laying by him on the ground, and prelenting a bold front, addrelfed them in avery animated manner, repeatedly pointing to the Ihips, and apparently bidding themreturn. Equally furprized at the appearance of this new Scythian , the warmth of hisaddrefs, and the loftinefs of his gait, our colleagues halted, that they might give himno interruption. When he had finilhed, Mr. Depuch, a mineralogift, advanced finglyand unarmed towards the favage, exclaiming taio, ta'10 (friend, friend), and prefentinghim a necklace of glafs beads, the luftre of which feemed to excite the livelieftadmiration in the old man ; ftill he fhewed no lefs repugnance to letting Depuch ap-proach him, and, on his continuing to advance, the old man took to flight with a fpeedwhich aftonilhed all who faw him. While this was palling on one part of the coalt,five or fix other favages made towards the long boat, guarded at the time only by afingle failor : on feeing thefe wild beings approach, this man, juftly alarmed, cried outluftily to recall our people, on the return of whom the favages haftily fled over thedowns as fwiftly as the filherman.

The beneficent Riedle, on this expedition, made an ample collection of new plants,in return for which tribute from thefe lhores, he fowed or planted in their Head aquantity of wheat, maize, barley, oats, pear-trees, apple, apricot, peach, and olive-trees, with a large number of European vegetables. Affecting exchange, one fuch asever Ihould have been the balls of relations between different people, and fuch as wasconltantly repeated by us in the places where we were enabled to effeft a landing.

In imitation of our commander, Captain Hamelin fent out his boats to reconnoitrethe bay in the fouth-ibuth-eaft part. The officer who commanded one of thefe expe-ditions, Mr. Harrifon, reported on his return, that he had difcovered the mouth of ariver, which feemed to proceed from a great diftance inland. This report was the moregrateful, from our having been unable hitherto to difcover the leaft trace of frelh wateron the land of Leuwin, and- from our not being ignorant that the navigators, who hadbefore us examined feveral points of the north-well coalt of New Holland, had notbeen more fortunate than we. It was therefore agreed, that on the morning of thenext day, the long-boat of the Geographe, under the command of Captain Lebas,and the fmall boat of the Naturalille, with Captain Hamelin, Ihould examine this river,and afcend it as far as poflible. Meffrs. Depuch, Lefchenault, Riedle, Lefueur andmyfelf were allowed to accompany the expedition, and with us our phyfician,M. L’Haridon.

On nearing the Ihore, our two captains agreed that, as the long boat drew too muchwater for an expedition up the river, it would be better to let her lay at anchor in theOffing, under the fafeguard of part of the crew, the remainder afcending the riveralong its banks ; while the fmall boat Ihould proceed as far as the depth of water wouldpermit.

Thefe arrangements concluded, I left my colleagues, and proceeded along theftrand : it was low water, and confequently the belt feafon for collecting the produc-tions of the fea. I gathered together, in a Ihort time, a very large number of newobjects, among which a beautiful fpecies of orbulites, alive. It is well known that theorbulite is a fmall fpecies of folid zoophytes, confounded, before the obfervations ofM. de la Marck, with real nummulites, and that hitherto thefe Angular anaimals hadbeen difcovered in a fofiile ftate alone. This is not the only difcovery of the kind we

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