the North-west was deemed unadvisable and for the present given up.

It is unnecessary here to dwell on the mortification I felt at being
obliged thus to abandon my long-cherished projects. The delays I had
already experienced were sufficiently vexatious, but I had endeavoured to
turn the time thus lost to some profit by endeavouring to acquaint myself
with the resources of the country, as well as in acquiring information of
a scientific nature, and I had attained such a knowledge of the language
of the natives as enabled me to form a vocabulary of the different
dialects spoken in these parts, which was printed and forwarded to
England at the close of the year.

My excursions into the country from Perth whilst awaiting the arrival and
fitting out of the Champion were necessarily short, but the journal of
one to the northward, made in company with my young friend Mr. Frederick
Smith, who afterwards fell a sacrifice in the expedition to Shark Bay,
will I think be interesting enough to be inserted here.

EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF PERTH.

November 30.

Mr. Smith and myself started at noon this day, accompanied by Corporal
Auger and two natives, upon a trip in a northerly direction; about 5 P.M.
we reached a lake distant about fifteen miles from Perth, and called by
the natives Mooloore: we halted here for the night.

The horses were scarcely tethered and our fire made when four more
natives joined the party; their names were Noogongoo, Kurral, Jeebar, and
Dudemurry; they brought us a present of twenty-seven freshwater