old he was pestered almost beyond endurance with swarms of insect life. He felt all the annoyances endured by Stokes, the French, and Dampier. Mosquitoes attacked his party in millions; the men climbed to the tree-tops, or sought to drive the insects off with smoke, but nothing would stay their ravages. On 12th April Alex. Forrest went over to the Lacepede Islands in the pearler Emma. On 22nd April he left Beagle Bay for his more serious task of exploring farther north, and then of getting across to Port Darwin. The way led towards the Fitzroy River, the banks of which he reached on 9th May. The intervening country was generally well grassed and watered, and contained ample game. Forrest named Lakes Louisa and Flora, the Rivers Mackay and Fraser, and Mounts Clarkson and Anderson.
On the 18th a raft was made of four water cans, on which were placed clothes, instruments, and firearms, and Alexander Forrest, Hill, and Campbell swam to the opposite bank of the Fitzroy, pulling this ingenious little craft after them with a fishing line. After naming Mount Abbott they returned to the other side. Three hills were named Mounts James, Tuckfield, and Campbell, two ranges, the St. George and Oscar, and a river, the Margaret. There was a peculiar charm about the Fitzroy scenery, very different from that beheld by Alexander Forrest on his previous explorations. On 1st June he wrote in his journal, "To-morrow we bid good-bye to the Fitzroy, which we have followed now for 240 miles. The longest and largest river in Western Australia, it flows through magnificent flats, which contain about four million acres of pastoral lands, and are capable of depasturing at least a million of sheep, a larger number than the whole of the settled portions of the colony now carry." The river issued out of rugged-looking deep gorges. A north-west course was struck in the hopes of reaching the Glenelg watershed. Travelling became exceedingly rough, the hills or mountains precipitous, and the country generally rocky. So rough, indeed, was much of the ground, that the explorers had to turn back to find a more accessible route. On 6th June Forrest attempted to assail a height in ranges which he named King Leopold, but when within 200 feet of the summit he was confronted by a wall of rock rising sheer above him. Deep gullies, perpendicular cliffs, rocky creeks, rich flats, new forms of plant life, and hills and valleys covered with luxuriant vegetation, tended to at once attract and delay him. On 8th June he named the Lennard River, and by the 17th he was so near the coast that he obtained from a rocky hill-top fine views of Secure and Collier Bays. For days he had vainly sought to cross the rocky ridges, but on the 17th he described a gorge cutting into the ranges at Secure Bay, which, he hoped, would enable him to get to the Glenelg. Several horses had now been lost; Carey was seriously ill with low fever; Forrest and another were afflicted with sore eyes; and the provisions were getting scanty. The magnificent scenery and the fertile valleys could not make up for these disabilities. After their experiences with rough hills, rocky passes, and boggy springs, the sight of this gorge was especially welcome. Next day they went towards it, and their disappointment can be imagined when they were suddenly brought to a standstill by perpendicular cliffs, which fell into the sea. Forrest recognised that his best policy was to make a desperate attempt to get beyond this barrier into the gorge. He took a turning and twisting course through intricate gorges, and finally, followed by the horses, descended "a most fearfully precipitous incline," and reached the entrance to the pass. It was a sensational feat, and though several of the horses had fallen they were all got down in safety, and Forrest fired his revolver in honour of the occasion.
The horses were fatigued, and a camp was made in the pass. The scene was delightful. Hard by, a waterfall, twenty-five feet high, gave them a babbling welcome; other waterfalls foamed over rugged rocks; lovely foliage afforded a brilliant background. Next morning, they proceeded through the pass; but their hopes of easily getting out of the tangles which surrounded them were quickly dispersed. Three miles further on, perpendicular rocks blocked the way. For an hour they searched for a practicable route, and finally they decided to climb up the face of the gorge. It was a task as risky as that of descending the cliffs. Two horses fell, and were abandoned. Going on, the explorers were soon surrounded on all sides by high ridges and deep ravines. They struck into an almost impassable gorge, and two hours' hard work brought them to the bottom—a fall of about 600 feet. Here their progress was stopped by mangrove swamps and an inland sea, and they camped. A horse was lost during the night—probably washed away by the tide—and next morning, after saddles and luggage were abandoned to give them the better opportunity of extricating themselves from the mountain solitudes, they turned to the south-east for about two miles through a deep gorge. Then they climbed some 600 feet to a rocky table-land, skirted great cliffs, and emerged again on the table-land. After five hours' travelling, during which they had only gone four miles in a direct line, they were compelled to camp to rest the horses. A large band of natives approached in the shelter of tall grass, each carrying spears. A present of sugar and damper, and the dramatic firing of a revolver, terminated an interview which was anticipated with some concern. Little progress was made next day. A mountain stream was named Devil's Creek. An ineffectual effort was made to cross the mountains on the north side. A road was cut down the side of a steep cliff, and in the descent one horse became jammed between rocks and was shot. The predicament was now so serious that Forrest was afraid lest it would be necessary to turn back to Beagle Bay. A road was cut next day up the face of a cliff, and after a tedious climb of 800 feet the top was scaled. Three miles to the south, camp was again fixed to rest the horses. During the next two days the camp was not raised; Matthew Forrest was suffering from sunstroke, and Carey was still ill. Alexander Forrest, with a companion, went out twice—first to find a track back to where the hills were entered, and then to reconnoitre for a track to the Glenelg. On the second occasion he ascended a hill which he had appropriately named Mount Hopeless, and got a view of Stephen Range towards the Glenelg, but no practicable route could he find for the horses among the endless rugged zigzags of the cliffs. He relinquished all hopes of making the Glenelg, and returned to the camp, after walking fourteen miles over the roughest country he had ever seen. On 25th June, the whole party started to regain the inward track of the 16th June, a feat which was accomplished with great difficulty after another horse was abandoned. They then went back towards the Fitzroy, and Forrest determined to go east to the telegraph line in South Australia, which he reckoned to be about 360 miles distant. To return to the De Grey he considered almost impossible, as there was no certainty of obtaining supplies at Beagle Bay. On 4th July, Lennard River was reached, and on the 8th the Fitzroy. Thence, Forrest went to an easterly reach of the Margaret River, and named
