There was no high land whatever in sight; but one low hill, which just appeared above the mangrove tops, bore north by east. After running north-east for about two miles with the same depth of water we came to another opening in the mangroves of a more promising character than several small ones which we had previously passed, and as, from the greater depth of the water, the extraordinary low character of the coast, and the circumstance of the driftwood upon Dorre Island, I expected to find a large river hereabouts, I determined to examine even the smallest openings most narrowly; we therefore ran straight for this one, and found that it had a shoal mouth with only four feet water at the entrance. The opening ran east 1/2 north, and after we had followed it up for about half a mile it became very narrow and shoaled to two feet, so we turned about and again pulled away to sea. This opening, as well as the first we had entered, appeared rather like a canal running through a woody grove than an arm of the sea; the mangrove trees afforded an agreeable shade, and were of the most brilliant green, whilst the blue placid water not only washed their roots but meandered through the sinuosities of the forest like a quiet lake till sight of it was lost in the distance. We now stood north-north-west parallel to the shore, which was fronted by mangroves; and here we again had only two and a half feet of water. A very low chain of hills extended parallel to the shore and about two miles behind the mangroves. We thus continued running along the coast until we made a large opening which was about three-quarters of a mile across at the mouth. On either side of the entrance was a sandy point, covered with pelicans and wild-fowl who seemed to view our approach with no slight degree of surprise. As yet we did not know the proper entrance to the river (for such it was) so that where we ran into it we had only two feet of water. Three low hills were immediately in front of us, and I afterwards ascertained that the proper course for entering was to steer so as to keep the centre of the opening and the middle hill in the same line. DISCOVER ONE MOUTH OF THE GASCOYNE RIVER, AND EXPLORE THE COUNTRY IN ITS VICINITY.