48 A SCOTCH SETTLER. He relied upon his dairy chiefly for the reimbursement of his farming outlay. In the neighbourhood, there was abundance of fine kangaroo grass, which, at a small ex pense, he converted into hay, and carted into Adelaide, where it was readily purchased at 12Z. per ton. Mr. Cock, very soon after his arrival, saw the import ance of acquiring some knowledge regarding the interior of the colony. The country to the north and south had been visited by a few individuals, but only to a very short distance ; and the country beyond the hills was absolutely a terra incognita. There was an unaccountable deficiency of that spirit of enterprise which one would have looked for in a community suddenly set down on the shores of a vast and unknown country, the exploration of which must of necessity precede their future proceedings as colonists. This seeming inertia was to be excused in those whose presence was necessary to the security of their property and the comfort of their families. Perhaps, too, there was a vague, but not unnatural dread of the native popu lation, which, however inconsistent with a knowledge of the timid, and for the most part inoffensive, character of these poor wanderers, was yet calculated, at this early period of their sojourn in the wilderness, to deter even brave men from tempting the perils of the bush. Although engaged in a variety of occupations, and the head of a large family, Mr. Cock could not resist the promptings of his inquiring spirit; he determined to view the country beyond the hills. Taking his departure from Adelaide, accompanied by two young Scotchmen, he crossed the pathless hill range, traversed the rich country known as the Mount Barker district, and discovered the Angas and Hyndmarsh rivers, to which he gave their