As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges.  No land was visible to the W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.:  in both these quarters the lake was as open as the ocean.  It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an island.  To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether.  At noon we were nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to which I have alluded.  At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35 degrees 25 minutes.  The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the shores of the lake and the base of the ranges.  The country to the eastward was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to W.S.W. there was an open sea.  We had kept the lead going from the first, and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, as we never had six feet upon the line.  Its bottom was one of black mud, and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly entangled with our rudder.

We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, and were obliged to try the western shore.  In passing close under the head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of the ranges.

Shores of the lake.

As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was drawn to a most singular object.  It started suddenly up, as above the waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle.  Behind it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was most remarkable.  On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and open sea again presented itself to our view.  The fact was, that the refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced the semblance we noticed.  It is a singular fact, that this very hillock was the one which Capt.  Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death.

It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners.  The shore was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and superficially sandy.  It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the vegetation amidst which they were feeding.