The morning was unusually stormy, dark clouds rested upon the adjacent high land, while others no less portentous hurried past us on the wings of the tempest.  Soon after breakfast, we bade adieu to the wild scenery of Port Usborne, and stood across the Sound, for our old anchorage on the north side of Point Cunningham, distant one and twenty miles.  In the mouth of the harbour we passed over a coral knoll, having five fathoms on it.  We did not, however, reach our destination till nearly 6 P.M., having been taken some distance up the Sound, by the flood-tide.  Our soundings in crossing varied from fifteen to twenty fathoms, chiefly over rocky ground.  It rained almost all the day, and we had several sudden shifts of wind, from South-East to North-West.  Our first view of the western shore of the Sound was singular; Point Cunningham, and Carlisle Head, appeared like two high square-looking islands.  We anchored soon after high-water, which appeared to be about a quarter of an hour earlier than at Port Usborne.  We remained at this anchorage till the 3rd of April, during which time several unsuccessful hauls were made with the seine, but some additions were made to the collection of Natural History, particularly in the ornithological branch.  It is not a little remarkable, that fish should be so scarce on this part of the coast, a fact also noticed by Captain King.

INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES.

April 1.

This morning five natives made their appearance on the beach.  Captain Wickham and myself went on shore, in order if possible to induce them to visit the ship:  on landing he recognised them for old acquaintances, and I gave the eldest of the party, a handkerchief upon which he seemed to have set his affections; however when he understood our wish for the company of himself and friends on board, he was with difficulty induced to retain it.  None but those who have made the experiment, are aware of what has to be overcome before any sort of intercourse can be carried on by signs; or how often, among the most intelligent, the greatest mistakes must of necessity occur.  I have since thought, remembering what passed during this interview, that while we were making signs to them that on board they would find something to eat, each man’s fears suggested the probability of a certain convocation, not where he eats, but where he is eaten, and induced him to decline standing treat upon the occasion.

The singular manner these men had also of holding the face turned upwards, in order to escape the plague of flies, fully confirmed the truth of old Dampier’s account of the manners of these people when he first discovered this part of the world.  The eldest was the spokesman, or rather the signsman of the party, and this is always the custom, so far as we have had an opportunity of judging.  The word they make use of in bowing (which they did quite in an Eastern style) appeared to be irru irru:  their breasts were scarred with deep horizontal cuts, such as we had previously noticed on the natives in Roebuck Bay.  I was so much struck with the resemblance between these people and the natives of Tierra del Fuego, that I have been tempted to believe that the stream of population flowed thitherward from the continent of America.