The men returned and reported that there was no land or any sign of land hereabouts; that the mangroves were a belt of trees upon a sandbank and that the water deepened inside; that the tide evidently rose very high, from the tufts of seaweeds in the bushes; that it was then rapidly coming in (which was evident enough, for the boat was afloat) and that the other side of the mangrove bushes was an open sea. This was unpleasant intelligence. That it was untrue I felt assured; but one man, who certainly could not have seen more than a hundred yards ahead of him on so dark a night, spoke as confidently as if he had seen fifty miles, and this discouraged the others: so by way of keeping their minds occupied I got under weigh again and stood off a little to the southward in the hopes of falling in with the other boat. We cheered at intervals of a few minutes, and fired a gun, whereupon ensued a great screaming, whistling, and flapping of wings amongst the waterfowl, but no human voices were heard in reply. ANCHOR OFF MANGROVE CREEK FOR THE NIGHT. When we had gone as far to the southward as I thought prudent I stood out from the shore for about a mile so as to have a good peep in amongst the mangrove bushes in the morning for the other boat, and having dropped our anchor we laid down as we best could for the night; and, speculating upon what explanation the native wise men would give to their fellows of the unknown and novel sounds they had this night heard upon the coast, I soon fell asleep. CHAPTER 15. THE GASCOYNE RIVER. REACH AND ENTER A MANGROVE CREEK. March 4. Early in the morning I had a good lookout kept for the other boat, which I was very anxious to see in order that I might have a sufficiently numerous party for the purpose of landing and looking for water; as I always held it to be better, upon first appearing amongst natives who had never before seen Europeans, to show such strength as might impress them with a certainty that we were well able to resist any attack which they might naturally feel inclined to make on such strange and incomprehensible intruders as white men must necessarily appear to them. Soon after the sun rose we descried the other boat about three miles to the southward of us; and I despatched two men to wade along the flats and communicate with Mr. Walker: they were to direct him to get under weigh and to make the best of his course, either by tracking, pulling, or sailing, until he reached the point where I might land. The men whom I sent quickly made his boat, which I perceived moving slowly up the flats; and as soon as the men rejoined me we started. The wind was fair, being from the southward, and I wished to reach some gently elevated hills which I saw about eight miles to the north by east of our present position. SEARCH FOR AND COMPLETE OUR WATER.