On our speaking to her, she raised herself up, and sat on the ground with her knees up to her chin, and her heels under her, and was at that moment, I think, the most miserable spectacle in the human shape I ever beheld*:  the little infant could not be prevailed on to look up; it lay with its face upon the ground, and one hand covering its eyes.  We supplied her, as before, with birds, fish, and fuel, and pulled a quantity of grass to make her a comfortable bed, and covered her little miserable hut so as to keep out the weather:  she was now so reconciled to our frequent visits, seeing we had nothing in view but her comfort in them, that when she wanted baa-do, or ma-gra, which signifies fish, she would ask for them, and when she did, it was always supplied her:  in the morning we visited her again; the child had now got so much the better of its fears, that it would allow us to take hold of its hand; I perceived, that young as it was, it had lost the two first joints of its little finger, of the left-hand, the reason or meaning of which we had not yet been able to learn.

[* See the Vignette in the Title Page.]

We gave her all the fish we had remaining, and having put a quantity of fire-wood and water within her reach, we took our leave.  We embarked in the boats, and sailed across the bay to the north branch, which has a very shoally and narrow entrance.  We proceeded but a small distance up, before we landed on the west shore and refreshed ourselves; after which we rowed round the first opening on the east side; this we followed up until we came to its head.  It is very shallow and narrow, and ended in a large bason, full of shoals, and surrounded with mangroves; it extended near four miles to the north and eastward.

When we returned from this branch, we pitched our tents on the west shore for the night, and early the next morning we proceeded to the northward:  in this route we fell in with many shoals of considerable extent; and after rowing about six or seven miles up, we arrived at the head of it, which divides into two large bays, in one of which I observed the latitude to be 33 deg. 26’ 30” south.  We returned from hence to a point near the entrance of this north harbour, where we encamped and spent the night; in this harbour we did not see more than twenty natives, some few of whom came and conversed with us.

Across the mouth of this north harbour there is a bar or spit of sand, which extends from the sandy beach, or west point of the entrance, almost over to the eastern shore, and on which, from the wind having been from the southward the preceding night, the sea broke prodigiously from side to side, so that near low water it was impossible for the boats to get out; we were on that account obliged to remain there until it was more than two-thirds flood, when, in the deepest part of the channel, where the sea did not break, we pushed out, and pulled over for the south-west arm, or harbour, up which we went; but as part of this branch had not been looked into last winter, we entered an arm on the north side of it, and proceeded up about a mile and a half to an island we had visited the last winter.