In making my arrangements with Mr. Walker a very serious difficulty arose upon his part, and one from which I immediately augured the worst of consequences.  On quitting the boats I brought away with me Captain King’s chart of the coast between North-west Cape and Cape Leeuwin, and had hitherto carried it along with my papers and sketches.  I wished Mr. Walker to take this chart with him for the purpose of recognising his position by means of the islands and headlands as he advanced along the coast.  No inducements upon my part could however persuade him to take charge of it.  It was in vain that I urged on him the well known fact that nothing encourages men in a long journey so much as knowing the exact distance they have travelled and what extent of country they have still left to traverse.  It was in vain that I assured him he would, from his inexperience in calculating distances in the bush, soon get confused in his reckoning; and that the men, finding out his error, would lose all trust and confidence in him, whence would spring want of discipline and disorders of various kinds; he knew that I much valued this chart and had apparently taken it into his head that I wished to disencumber myself of it and to entail the duty of carrying it on him.

He at length proposed to me to allow him to cut the chart up, in which case he said he would carry on the part he wanted and leave the rest.  I would not however part with so valuable a document, for it contained my route up to that point, and the public utility of the expedition mainly depended on the preservation of it.  He next requested me to make a copy of it for him; this I assured him under existing circumstances it was utterly impossible for me to do with sufficient accuracy to answer the intended purpose, and I therefore would not attempt it.  He then applied to Mr. Smith, who coincided in my opinion; but ever willing to oblige he made as accurate a copy as he could, which I in vain represented to Mr. Walker he would find utterly useless.  His unreasonable reluctance however I could not overcome.

Point of rendezvous fixed.

The next matter to arrange was what place should be fixed on as the point of rendezvous to which assistance was to be sent to those who were left to follow with Mr. Walker.  This was soon arranged.  Mr. Smith had previously been with me to a place called Goonmarrarup, on the Moore River about fifty-five miles to the north of Perth; and it was agreed that the party should proceed along the coast as they best could until they made the Moore River, where I would have another party stationed with provisions to meet them; and in order that they might not pass this river it was settled that the party who went out to meet them should separate into two, one of which would remain at this point on the Moore River, about twelve miles from the sea, whilst the other was to proceed down to it, leaving, besides their tracks, marks to show where they had passed; and then, in the event of not finding those they were in search of, this last detachment was to push still further northward to look for them.