The bay that he warned me against was, I think, Van Dieman's Gulf.

He told me to keep straight across the bay, and then pass between Melville Island and the main.

He fitted me out with a good stock of provisions, including a quantity of _beche-de-mer_, cabbage-palm, fruit, &c.

I arranged my buffalo skin over my provisions as a protection, turtle-back fashion.

Our preparations completed, Yamba and I and the dog pushed out into the unknown sea in our frail canoe, which was only about fifteen feet long and fourteen inches wide.