In Western Australia, Captain Grey, having galloped after some wild cattle which he had met in his journey, found, upon wishing to ascertain the hour, that his watch had fallen from his pocket during the chase. He waited until the rest of his party came up, and then requested Kaiber, their native guide, to walk back and find the watch. This, Kaiber assured the traveller, was utterly impossible, nor could his assertion be gainsaid; nevertheless, the watch was too valuable to be given up without an effort for its recovery. "Well, Kaiber," said the captain, "your people had told me you could see tracks well, but I find they are mistaken; you have but one eye,--something is the matter with the other," (this was really the case)--"no young woman will have you, for if you cannot follow my tracks, and find a watch, how can you kill game for her?" This speech had the desired effect, and the promise of a shilling heightened his diligence, so they went back together in search of the lost article. The ground that had been passed over was badly suited for the purpose of tracking, and the scrub was thick; nevertheless, to his delight and surprise, the captain had his watch restored to his pocket in less than half an hour. Even in the simple arts and rude habits of the people of New Holland there are different degrees of advancement and progress to be observed. On the west coast, a few degrees to the north of the British settlement at Swan River, a great difference was noticed by Captain Grey in the arrangements of the native population. The country near the Hutt River is exceedingly beautiful and fertile, and it supports a very numerous population, comparatively with other districts. The exploring party found a native path or road, wider, more used, and altogether better than any before seen in that region. Along the side of this path were seen frequent wells, some of them ten or twelve feet in depth, which were made in a superior manner. Across the dry bed of a stream they then came upon a light fruitful soil, which served the inhabitants as a _warran_ ground. _Warran_ is a sort of _yam_ like the sweet potato, and its root is a favourite article of food with some of the native tribes. For three miles and a half the travellers passed over a fertile tract of land full of the holes made by the natives in digging this root; indeed, so thick were they, that it was not easy to walk, and this tract extended east and west, as far as they could see. The district must have been inhabited a great many years, for more had been done in it to secure a provision from the ground by hard manual labour than it would have appeared to be in the power of uncivilised man to accomplish.