21st May.

The last four horses were landed this morning, as also the instruments and remainder of the stores required for our first journey.  The farrier, with two assistants, was kept busily employed all day shoeing horses.

Preparations for journey inland.

22nd May.

The forge was in full employ during the day, and great progress made with the shoeing and preparations for our departure.  Accompanied by Mr. Brown, I rode out to-day to reconnoitre, and seek for a pass through the hills that encompassed our camp; the only practical outlet we found to be through some very rocky ravines to the south-west, where at about five miles we found—­what I had for some time suspected to be the case—­that the whole of the isthmus upon which we had landed was cut off from the mainland by an extensive salt-water marsh, commencing at the bottom of Nickol Bay and running parallel to the general line of coast, at least as far as Enderby Island.  Skirting the northern edge of the marsh for several miles to the westward, we found it gradually getting wider and deeper; we accordingly returned to the narrowest part, and rode into it for about half a mile, the water being very shallow, and the bottom sufficiently firm to carry us, although with considerable labour to the horses.  Finding it was getting late, we determined to try and return to the camp round by the head of Nickol Bay, and succeeded in climbing over the rocks and boulders that encumber this portion of the coast, until we were within a quarter of a mile of the camp, when the tide came in upon us so quickly that, after having been repeatedly thrown down by the surf, we were compelled to leave the horses jammed up in the rocks just above high-water mark, and proceeded on foot to the camp.

23rd May.

At 3.0 a.m., the tide having fallen sufficiently, Messrs. Brown and Harding were enabled to bring in the horses left imprisoned last night.  During the day, all the arrangements for our departure were completed, and in the afternoon Mr. Hearson was removed to the Dolphin, having been kept on shore since the accident, to be constantly under my own attendance; he was now rapidly recovering, although much reduced.  Wrote instructions for the guidance of Captain Dixon and Mr. Walcott during the absence of the expedition, the latter gentleman being left in charge of the stores, and to make such observations as the means at his disposal should admit of.

24th May.

Landed at daylight, intending to make a start, as it was the Queen’s birthday; but owing to some of the horses having rambled, we did not succeed in getting them all in and saddled up before 2.0 p.m., when three or four of the horses that had not been accustomed to carrying packs commenced playing up and scattering their loads in all directions, straining and otherwise injuring several of the pack-saddles, which detained us until so late in the day that I deemed it best to return to camp, and as the forge had not been removed to the ship, to shorten some of the saddle-irons, to render them less liable to injury, which was otherwise a great improvement.