PLANS ON LANDING.

I selected Cox and Williams for this service because the former was used
to the management of horses on board vessels, and the latter
understanding Dutch was well calculated to act as interpreter at Timor.
During their absence I intended to practise the party in making short
explorations in different directions.

Upon the return of the vessel I intended to move the whole party to some
convenient spot to be chosen during their absence, then to advance,
attended only by Coles, and to fix upon the next spot on our route which
I designed to halt at. This plan I intended to adhere to as much as
possible throughout the whole expedition, namely, never to move the party
from one place of halt until I had chosen the next one. We bore with us
tools and instruments of every description; so that we not only were
fully capable of maintaining ourselves but could literally, if occasion
had required it, have founded the nucleus of a colony.

Great then was my joy when all my preparations were completed and I felt
the vessel gliding swiftly from Table Bay into that vast ocean at the
other extremity of which lay the land I so longed to see, and to which I
was now bound with the ardent hope of opening the way for the conversion
of a barren wilderness into a fertile garden.

Part of my plan was not only to introduce all useful animals that I
possibly could into this part of Australia, but also the most valuable
plants of every description. For this purpose, a collection had been made
at Tenerife by Mr. Walker, under my direction, and another in South
America,* including the seeds of the cotton plant. From the Cape and from