Chapter XIV.

Proceed to the westward—­cliffs of the great bight—­level nature of the
interior—­flints abound—­return to Yeer-kumban-kauwe—­natives come
to the camp—­their generous conduct—­meet the overseer—­return to
depot—­bad water—­move back to Fowler’s bay—­arrival of the Gutter
Hero—­joined by the King George’s sound native—­instructions relative to
the Hero—­difficulty of fixing upon any future plan—­break up the
expedition and Divide the party—­Mr. Scott embarks—­final report—­the
Hero Sails—­overseer and natives remain—­excursion to the north—­A native
joins us—­sudden illness in the party—­final preparations for leaving the
depot.

January 10.—­We left Yeer-kumban-kauwe early, and proceeding to the westward, passed through an open level tract of country, of from three to four hundred feet in elevation, and terminating seawards abruptly, in bold and overhanging cliffs, which had been remarked by Captain Flinders, but which upon our nearer approach, presented nothing very remarkable in appearance, being only the sudden termination of a perfectly level country, with its outer face washed, steep and precipitous, by the unceasing lash of the southern ocean.  The upper surface of this country, like that of all we had passed through lately, consisted of a calcareous oolitic limestone, below which was a hard concrete substance of sand or of reddish soil, mixed with shells and pebbles; below this again, the principal portion of the cliff consisted of a very hard and coarse grey limestone, and under this a narrow belt of a whitish or cream-coloured substance, lying in horizontal strata; but what this was we could not yet determine, being unable to get down to it any where.  The cliffs were frightfully undermined in many places, enormous masses lay dissevered from the main land by deep fissures, and appearing to require but a touch to plunge them headlong into the abyss below.  Back from the sea, the country was level, tolerably open, and covered with salsolae, or low, prickly shrubs, with here and there belts of the eucalyptus dumosa.  In places two or three miles back from the coast there was a great deal of grass, that at a better season of the year would have been valuable; now it was dry and sapless.  No timber was visible any where, nor the slightest rise of any kind.  The whole of this level region, elevated as it was above the sea, was completely coated over with small fresh water spiral shells, of two different kinds.