Chapter 2: 3 (4)

September 23.

We proceeded in our course, travelling over sandy ridges covered with Eugenia, Exocarpus, and a very pretty Eucalyptus, with rose-coloured flowers and obcordate leaves, and yellow soft bark, also a dwarfish tree with dark green leaves, and axillary racemes of round monospermons, fruit of a purple colour, with a thin rind of a bitter flavour; also a great many trees of moderate size, from fifteen to twenty feet high, of rather pendulous habit, oval lanceolate exstipulate leaves, loaded with an oblong yellow fruit, having a rough stone inside; the part covering the stone has, when ripe, a mealy appearance, and very good flavour. I considered from its appearance it was the fruit which Leichhardt called the nonda, which we always afterwards called it; we all ate plentifully of it.

The weather for the last few days had been very hot, the thermometer ranging in the shade from 95 to 100 degrees at noon; still there was generally a breeze in the morning from the eastward, and in the evening from the west. We camped by the same creek as on the previous day, but in our present position it was running South-West, with several lagoons in the valley, full of Nymphaea and Villarsia; our latitude here was 15 degrees 33 minutes south.

September 24.

We crossed the creek and proceeded northward, till we camped by a dry creek, from the bed of which we obtained water by digging. During the day's journey, we passed over some flats of rotten honeycomb ground, on which nothing was growing but a few stunted shrubs, and a blue herbaceous plant belonging to the order Boragineae. We also passed over other sandy flats covered with broad-leafed Melaleucas and Grevillias, and a few Banksias. On these flats ant-hills occurred, and in their vicinity there was seldom much grass. The grasses generally growing there were annual kinds. It was Mr. Kennedy's opinion that the creek we crossed this morning joined the river we left on the 16th, and formed the Mitchell, although the country hereabouts did not resemble the banks of the Mitchell, as described by Leichhardt; but the appearance of the country varies so much every few miles, particularly to the westward, that it is impossible to support an opposite opinion on this ground.

September 25.

As three of the horses could not be found this morning, four men were left behind to search for them while the rest of the party travelled on. They had not come up with us at about four o'clock, and being anxious to find water before dark, we proceeded along a narrow open valley covered with long grass and large pandanus trees, skirted on each side by rather scrubby forest land. At dark we reached a large waterhole. One of the men left behind shortly arrived, and stated that the rest had halted for the night. Mr. Kennedy being anxious to bring all the horses to water, and to have the party together, sent me back to conduct them to the camp, which I very soon did, even though it was dark, the track being very plain. We collected a great many nondas to-day and baked some of them with our bread, which was the only way we could eat them cooked; they were much better fresh from the trees, but we found them rather astringent. Spring, our best kangaroo dog, was unable to come up to the camp this day, being overpowered by the heat of the sun, a circumstance we all regretted, as he was a most excellent watchdog.

September 26.

We travelled a good stage this morning before we found water--in a sandy creek, where the country seemed to fall slightly to the north-east. We still hoped to find a river running into Princess Charlotte's Bay.

September 27.

We proceeded North-East over alternating sandy ridges and marshy flats; the latter, though dry where we passed over them, presented the appearance of being generally inundated. We camped by the side of a rocky creek, containing very little water.

September 28.

Just as we were about to start this morning, two natives, carrying a bundle of reeds and a basket, passed within a short distance of our camp, and seemed to take no notice of us. Our sheep were not to be found, having rambled to a distance: although without a sheepfold, this was the first instance in which the sheep had strayed; they generally remained by the fire, towards which they were driven at night, till morning.

We had never seen a wild native dog during the journey. Our dog that we had left behind came into the camp to-night, very much exhausted, having travelled about thirty miles; he must have subsisted on nondas, as it was impossible he could have caught anything, and we had seen him eat them before. He died the following morning.

September 30.

After travelling a short distance we crossed a small river running eastward: for some distance down it, the water was brackish, and at spring-tide the salt water came up to our camp; but we obtained good water from a small lagoon near the camp. We proceeded over a large plain well covered with good grass, the soil stiff clay. We proceeded about five or six miles on this plain, turning westward towards a lagoon surrounded by Stravadiums and a few very large palms. We hoped to find water in it, but it was dry, and fearing we should not be able to reach water before dark if we proceeded in this direction, we thought it better to return to our camp.

October 1.

We had prayers this day as usual on Sundays, at eleven o'clock. We saw native fires at a distance to the north-east of our camp, but the natives did not come near us. I went up what we fancied was the river by which we had camped, but found it only a creek; but it had plenty of water in it at this season. There were several small lagoons near it. There were large drooping tea-trees (Melaleucas) growing on its banks, and large palm trees, of the same kind as those I had seen in the plain the day before, and which were by far the finest palms I had ever seen; the trunks were not very high, from fifteen to thirty feet in height, but very large in bulk, varying from six to eight feet in circumference: they had large fan-shaped leaves, with slightly curved spines on the footstalk. It is a dioecious palm, the female plants bearing an immense quantity of round fruit, about the size of a greengage plum, of a purple colour, and rather disagreeable flavour; the pulp covering the seed was very oily, and not a leaf to be seen on any of the fruit-bearing plants; the whole top consists of branches full of ripe and unripe seeds. Bushels of seeds were lying beneath some of the trees, it seeming that but few were eaten by birds or small animals. One of our party suffered severely from eating too freely of them as they brought on diarrhoea. I measured two or three of the leaves of the male plants, and those not of the largest size, and found them to measure six feet in the widest part, and four feet and half in the narrowest. These leaves were split by the wind into segments of various widths. The grass growing to the westward of our camp was not so high as that to the eastward, and appeared to consist of a larger proportion of annual grasses, the perennial grass growing only in tufts; near the river it was covered with an annual Ipomoea, of very strong growth; the leaves and blossoms were withered, but I obtained seeds. We shot three ducks to-day, and Wall killed a wallaby of a light grey colour, long soft fur, and rather bushy tail; he thought it new, and preserved the skin. I also obtained specimens of a beautiful plant, a shrub about two feet high, with white sweet-scented blossoms, belonging to the natural order Rubiaceae, and several other interesting plants. Lately, however, my specimens had been very much spoiled, being torn from the horse's back so frequently, that I grew disheartened to see all the efforts I had made, made in vain, although I still took every method to preserve them from injury.

October 2.

This morning we proceeded across the plain, and when we had advanced about two miles upon it, we discovered that the natives had set the grass on fire behind us, and the wind blowing from the eastward, and the grass growing thick and high, it rapidly gained upon us; we made all possible haste to some burned ground which we had seen on Saturday, and reached it only a few minutes before the fire. We were enveloped in smoke and ashes, but fortunately no one was burned. The natives did not come near us, although no doubt they watched us, and saw us proceeding to the part of the plain that was burned. The plain extended a great distance to the westward, and in crossing it one of our horses knocked up and could travel no longer; Mr. Kennedy ordered him to be bled, and we not liking to lose the blood, boiled it as a blood-pudding with a little flour, and in the situation we were, we enjoyed it very much.

October 3.

We killed the horse this morning as he was not able to stand, and dried the meat to carry with us; we made a small stage of saplings on which to dry the meat, which was cut off close to the bone as clean as possible, and then cut in thin slices, and laid on the stage in the sun to dry, and the sun being very hot, it dried well; the heart, liver, and kidneys were parboiled, and cut up fine, and mixed with the blood of the horse and about three pounds of flour; they made four puddings, with which, after they had boiled about four hours, we satisfied our appetites better than we had been able to do for some time: it was served up in the same manner as our usual rations, in equal parts, and each man had a right to reserve a portion of his mess till the next day, but very little was saved. Mr. Kennedy found that it was even necessary to have the horseflesh watched whilst drying, finding that two or three of the party had secreted small quantities amongst their clothes; such precautions were quite necessary, as well in justice to the whole of the party, as to keep up the strength of all, which seemed to be very fast declining. At night we made a fire to smoke the meat, and to destroy the maggots, which were very numerous in it; we packed the meat in empty flour bags.

October 4.

We proceeded northward over small sandy plains, covered with annual grass, which was now very much withered, and through belts of dwarf bushy Melaleucas and Banksias. We were not far from Princess Charlotte's Bay, Jane's Table Land being in sight. We came to the side of a salt lagoon, very nearly dry; we found it covered with salt, of which we took about 20 pounds, which was as much as we could carry, but even this was a very seasonable help; we rubbed about two pounds of it into our meat. We encamped by a small creek, but the water was brackish, and not being able to find any other we were obliged to make use of it. One of our horses was slightly hurt by a stump of a mangrove tree. All we got from the horse we last killed was sixty-five pounds of meat.

October 5 and 6.

We travelled over sandy soil, but with little grass, meeting frequently with salt lagoons, surrounded by various salsolaceous plants. Near the edge of a saltwater creek we found a native camp, composed of about seven or eight huts, curiously and neatly built of a conical form; all very nearly of the same size, about five and a half feet in diameter at the base, and six and a half feet high. They were made by placing saplings in the ground in a slanting position, which were tied together at the top and woven inside like wickerwork, with strips of small bamboo canes. The whole was then covered with palm leaves, over which was a coating of tea-tree bark, very neatly fastened by strips of cane. They were substantially built, and would no doubt keep out the wet effectually. They seemed to be occupied by the natives only in the rainy season, as, from their appearance, they had not been inhabited for some time. I entered one of them through a small arched opening of about twenty inches or two feet high, and found three or four nets, made with thin strips of cane, about five feet long, with an opening of about eight inches in diameter at one end, getting gradually smaller for about four feet, where there was a small opening into a large round sort of basket. These nets were laid by the natives in narrow channels to catch fish, as well as in the tracks of small animals, such as rats and bandicoots, for the purpose of trapping them. There were also some pieces of glass bottle in the hut, carefully wrapped in bark and placed in a very neat basket, made in the shape of a lady's reticule. The glass is used by the natives in marking themselves: all of them being scarred on the arms and breast, while some were marked on the cheeks and forehead.

In the camp we thus discovered were small stone ovens, similar to those we had found in the camp at Rockingham Bay, as well as one with a large flat stone raised six or eight inches from the ground, and a fireplace of loose stones beneath. Near to one of the tents was a large stone hollowed out in the middle, and two or three round pebbles for pounding dried seeds, etc.

October 7 and 8.

Flat sandy ground, with occasional patches of scrub, composed of bushy Melaleucas, Hibiscus, Banksia, and several rambling plants, with a few large palms scattered in places; there was not much grass, except at intervals.

October 9.

This morning we came to a river, running into Princess Charlotte's Bay, in latitude 14 degrees 30 minutes South, longitude 143 degrees 56 minutes. It was deep, and about 100 yards wide, the water salt, and the tide was flowing up fast, and the banks were high. A few scattered mangroves, and a leguminous tree, with rough cordate leaves, and large one or two-seeded legumes, were growing on the banks. We were obliged to turn southerly for a short distance, and found what we had fancied to be a river to be only a small creek. We crossed it about twelve or fourteen miles from the sea, but the water was brackish. The trees on the sandy ground were broad-leafed Melaleucas, Grevilleas, and nondas, and by the waterholes which we occasionally saw, were Stravadiums and drooping Melaleucas. I also saw a species of Stravadium with racemes of white flowers, much longer than the others, with leaves ten inches long by four inches broad, and the trees thirty feet high. Keeping at a distance from the sea-coast to avoid the saltwater creeks, and to obtain good grass for our horses, we halted in the middle of the day, and were visited by a great many natives, coming in all directions, and making a great noise. They appeared to have been collecting nondas, as a great many of their women were carrying large basketfuls away. After the women were out of sight they made signs to us to go away. We got our horses together, and endeavoured to make them friendly, but our entreaties were disregarded, and the presents we offered them were treated with contempt. When we found they would not allow us to come near them, we packed our horses and prepared to start. They followed us at some distance, continually throwing spears after us for some time; one was thrown into the thigh of a horse, but fortunately not being barbed it was taken out, and the horse was not much injured. We then rode after them in two or three directions and fired at them, and they left us, and we saw no more of them.

October 11.

To-day, when halting in a place where there was no water, but good grass, a tribe of natives made their appearance, and appeared disposed to be friendly. We carefully collected our horses, and shortly after the natives drew near to us. We made them presents of a few fish-hooks and tin plates, and made signs to them that we wanted water. Several of them ran off, and in a few minutes returned with water in a vessel (if it may be so called) composed of pieces of bark tied together at each end, and they continued going backwards and forwards until they had brought enough to fill our cans, besides what we drank. They left us quite quietly.

October 12.

We proceeded along the creek by which we had encamped the night before; the water was brackish. We attempted to go through some mangroves to the beach, but did not succeed.

October 13.

Jackey, Taylor, and myself took three horses, and tried to get to the beach more to the northward than yesterday. We passed through a belt of mangroves, where the ground was pretty firm, the tide coming up only occasionally; we then proceeded along a sandy ridge to the northward, when we found it succeeded by a saltwater lagoon, surrounded by salsolaceous plants and mangroves, which it was impossible to get through. We returned to our camp, and here Mr. Kennedy abandoned the thought of going to the beach, as he felt sure H.M.S. Bramble (which was to have met us at the beginning of August) would have gone; our journey having occupied so much longer time than we could have possibly anticipated. This consideration, combined with the great difficulty which seemed likely to ensue in obtaining water and feed for our horses, determined him to take a different direction.

October 15.

We had prayers as usual this day, being Sunday, at 11 o'clock; today we finished the consumption of all our sugar, except a very small quantity, which was reserved for any particular case of sickness.

October 16.

This morning a horse fell into a rocky waterhole, and finding it impossible to get him out alive, we killed him, and cured the flesh as before, drying it in the sun on a stage; the blood, heart, and liver furnished us with a good day's food. Our meat being well dried by five o'clock in the afternoon, we sprinkled some salt upon it, and put it in bags for the convenience of carrying. We left one of our round tents, and such other things as we could possibly spare behind us at the camp, as our horses were now so weak they could not carry their loads.

October 17 and 18.

Our travelling was very uneven, our horses giving us continual trouble from their frequent falls; we had a few narrow belts of scrub to cut through, but they were not very thick.

October 19.

Several of our horses were now quite unable to carry anything but the saddle; we passed through open forest land, with a light soil, sub-soil clay, with isolated blocks of granite rock scattered about. We encamped by a rocky creek, with water in holes only; it ran westerly, and had fresh green feed on each side, the grass having been burned shortly before, and now growing up again.

October 20.

We passed over a piece of stiff ground about two miles in extent, which appeared to have been the scene of a devastating hurricane. It was covered with fallen timber, which rendered it very difficult to cross. The wind must have swept from the south-west to the north-east, and from the appearance of the saplings which were growing from the stumps of some of the trees which had been broken, this terrific storm appeared to have taken place about two years ago. Not a tree had been left standing in the part where we crossed, nor could we tell how far the devastation had extended to the south-west; but the ground to the north and east being swampy, and covered only with small Melaleucas and Banksias, the wind had not taken much effect. Many of the trees in the middle of the fallen timber measured two feet in diameter. Some were torn up by the roots, and the trunks of others were snapped off at various heights from the ground. The latitude of our camp here was 13 degrees 35 minutes South.

October 21.

We killed another of our horses to-day, as he was too weak to stand.

October 22.

We got our meat well dried to-day, and having smoked it a little, packed it as before. Our stock of flour was now reduced to two hundred pounds weight, and many of the men growing very weak, we were obliged to increase our weekly ration a little. Three of the party, Douglas, Taylor, and Costigan, were suffering from diarrhoea, in consequence of having eaten too freely of the pandanus fruit. Their spirits began to fail them, and they frequently complained despairingly to Mr. Kennedy that they should never be able to reach Cape York. Although our horses were so very weak, these men were obliged to ride, being quite unable to walk far at a time. The country before us was very mountainous, but between the hills we found plenty of grass and water: to the south the whole country appeared to be on fire.

October 23 to 25.

We travelled during these days over a rocky mountainous country, interspersed with deep gullies and creeks, fringed with belts of scrub. In these scrubs I saw the white-apple and the crimson scitamineous plant seen near Rockingham Bay; scattered over the country were a few cedar trees and Moreton Bay chestnuts, and some very fine timber trees belonging to the natural order Myrtaceae, upwards of sixty feet high, and three to four feet in diameter, with fine straight trunks.

October 26 to 28.

We travelled over stony hills, the tops of which were occasionally composed of white flint (?), with rusty veins running through it. On the sides of the hills were broken rocks containing mica, hornblende, and crystals of quartz. The grass on these hills had all been newly burned.

October 29.

Sunday; prayers at eleven o'clock. We this day shot three small wallabies, which were a great treat to us.

October 30.

This day Luff was taken very lame, being seized with severe pain and stiffness in the right leg; he was quite unable to walk, so we burned the other two round tents to enable him to ride.

November 1 and 2.

We again had to kill a horse which was too weak, and disposed of it as we had our former ones.

November 3.

We were cutting through scrub all day, intersected by deep gullies and rocky hills; we crossed a small river, with very uneven rocky bottom, about three feet deep; where we crossed it, it was running southerly, and as there had been a heavy storm a few days previously, the current was rapid; five of our horses fell in crossing it--the one carrying my specimens in a very bad place; we were obliged to cut the girths, and before I could secure his load two bags of seeds were washed away; we tied our horses to trees, and encamped in a thick bamboo scrub by the side of the river.

November 4.

This morning Jackey went to examine a scrub through which we wanted to pass, and while out, shot a fine cassowary; it was very dark and heavy, not so long on the leg as the common emu, and had a larger body, shorter neck, with a large red, stiff, horny comb on its head; Mr. Wall skinned it, but from the many difficulties with which he had to contend, the skin was spoiled before it could be properly preserved.

November 5.

We travelled a short distance to the top of a hill, from which Jackey had seen grass from a tree. We were obliged to kill another horse to-day, and cured the flesh as usual.

November 6.

We were compelled to shoot two other horses to day, and as we had no other means of taking the meat with us, we skinned one of them, and made the skin into bags, in which we each carried a few pounds of meat on our backs.

November 7 and 8.

We were travelling these two days over very rough rocky ground, intersected with gullies and belts of scrub.

November 9.

We were obliged this morning to start without our breakfast, having no bread baked, and being unable to find water. We followed the course of a creek at the foot of a low range of hills running northward, the range being to the westward. In the evening we found water in the creek.

November 10.

We proceeded along the valley of the creek, which was very uneven, and full of small hillocks. Near the spot where we camped a great number of Pandanus trees were growing. On each side of the creek there were a few scattered trees and a thick scrub to the westward. The soil was stiff, with plenty of grass in the valley.

Mr. Kennedy, here, finding from the weak state of some of the men, that it would be impossible for us to reach Cape York before our provisions were exhausted, resolved to form an advance party, consisting of himself, Jackey, Costigan, Luff, and Dunn.

We had but nine horses left, of which number it was proposed that they should take seven, and proceed to Cape York as quickly as possible, to obtain provisions for the rest of the party from the vessel waiting with supplies for our homeward journey.

November 11.

We proceeded along the valley a short distance, with the view of forming our depot as near to Weymouth Bay as possible. We crossed the creek where it turned eastward, on a kind of bank, which intercepted its course, up to which, from the east, the tide came sometimes, so that on that side the creek the water was brackish, but very good water was obtainable on the other side the bank.

After we had camped, we killed our last sheep, and Mr. Kennedy proceeded to the top of a high hill to view the country over which he would have to pass. Shortly after his return to the camp several natives made their appearance, to whom we made a present of a tin plate and a few fish-hooks, which made them quite friendly. While they were looking at us, a great many brown hawks came hovering over the camp. Wall and Jackey shot fourteen or fifteen of them, in the presence of the natives, who retired to the edge of the scrub, and seemed very much surprised to see the hawks fall as soon as they heard the report of the guns. They went into the scrub at dark, but a good watch was kept all night; though the natives did not again make their appearance. One of our dogs killed a young dog belonging to the natives during the night, which I afterwards ascertained was eaten by Dunn, Luff, Costigan, and Goddard.

November 12.

Sunday: prayers at eleven; Jackey and I went to the beach to see if we could find any salt, as our stock was getting very low, but we could not succeed in finding any.

November 13.

This morning everything was prepared for the departure of Mr. Kennedy and his party, and the last of our mutton was served out equally to each of the party.

Mr. Kennedy gave me written instructions how to act during our stay at Weymouth Bay, it being his intention to send for us by water, if possible, as he expected to meet H.M.S. Bramble at Port Albany. He calculated that he should be from ten to fifteen days before he reached that place, and directed me to keep a sharp lookout from the hill for a vessel; and should I see one, to hoist a flag on the hill. If the natives were friendly I was to put a ball beneath the flag, and above it should they be hostile. In the evening I was to fire three rockets, at intervals of about twenty minutes.

The party left at the depot under my charge were eight in number. The provisions consisted of two horses and twenty-eight pounds of flour, the former being very poor and weak.

Not knowing whether he could send for us by water or not, Mr. Kennedy directed me to make my provisions last at least six weeks, saying that it was possible I might get relief fourteen days after his departure, and to keep a very sharp lookout after that time.

I packed up all the dried meat we had left (75 pounds) and 18 pounds of flour for Mr. Kennedy to take with him, and about one pound of tea was divided between the two parties. These, with their firearms, and a few necessaries of a light description, were all the party took with them. Mr. Kennedy requested me to register the height of the thermometer during my stay at the Bay. The whole of the party left at the camp were very weak, Luff being the weakest man that proceeded with the party to Cape York.

Before leaving Mr. Kennedy told me that he expected to meet with some difficulties for the first few days, from the nature of the country he had seen from the hill. I did not mention this to the rest of the party, for fear it might still further tend to depress their spirits, as three or four of them even now seemed to despair of ever reaching our destination. I did all in my power to keep them in good heart, but they were saddened and depressed from long suffering.

We removed our camp back across the creek to the side of the high bare hill on which I was to hoist a flag, and from which I could look out for a vessel. It also afforded us a security from the natives, as we could see them at a greater distance. The latitude of this camp was 12 degrees 35 minutes South.

And thus we settled down in the spot which was to be the burial place of so many of our party--which was fated to be the scene of so much intense suffering, and of such heart-sickening hope deferred. Wearied out by long endurance of trials that would have tried the courage and shaken the fortitude of the strongest, a sort of sluggish indifference prevailed, that prevented the development of those active energies which were so necessary to support us in our critical position. The duties of our camp were performed as if by habit, and knowing how utterly useless complaint must be, the men seldom repined aloud.

November 14.

We killed the smallest horse early this morning, and had all the meat cut up and on the stage to dry by nine o'clock. I made the blood, heart, liver, kidneys, and tripe last us three days, as they would not keep longer, and we mixed our allowance of flour with them. We had no salt to season them with, as all our salt was required to put in the blood to prevent it turning sour. The heat during this day was very great, the thermometer at noon in the shade standing at 110 degrees. Douglas was very weak. The natives came this afternoon, but did not stay long.

November 16.

The natives this day brought us a few small pieces of fish, but they were old and hardly eatable. I would not allow them to come near the camp, but made signs to them to sit down at a distance, and when they had done so I went to them and distributed a few fish-hooks. Douglas died this morning, and we buried him at dusk when the natives were gone, and I read the funeral service over him. He was the first of our party we had lost, and his death, the sad precursor of so many more, cast an additional gloom over us.

November 18.

The natives came and brought some of their gins (women) with them. They would only allow one of us at a time to go near them. The women wore very neatly fringed girdles hanging loose about their loins, and shaded themselves with large fan-palm leaves. The girdles were made of the leaves of the Cordyline. Both men and women were very stout, strong, well-made people--some of the men standing six feet high. They brought us some fish, which they called mingii, but it was such as they would not even eat themselves; also a kind of paste, made of different kinds of leaves and roots, mixed with the inside of the roasted mangrove seeds, all pounded up together, then heated over a fire in a large shell. This paste they call dakiaa.* Although we did not much like the taste of the paste, and it was very full of sand, we ate some of it as a vegetable.

(*Footnote. This is identical with the biyu of Cape York. See Volume 2.)

November 19.

This morning about fifty or sixty natives, all strongly armed with spears, made their appearance, and by their gestures and manner it was quite evident they intended to attack us if opportunity offered. As we always kept our firearms in readiness, we stood out in a line, with our guns in our hands. I made signs to them to keep back, but they pretended not to understand us, holding up pieces of fish, crying out mingii, mingii (fish, fish) to induce us to come for them, but their designs upon us were too transparent for that. They kept us standing a good while, for I was anxious to refrain from firing on them if possible, and at length they left us without any actually hostile demonstration. Being Sunday, I read prayers to-day.

November 20.

Taylor died this morning, and we buried him in the evening, by the side of Douglas, and I read the funeral service over him.

November 21.

About sixty natives came to the camp this morning, well armed with spears, and pieces of fish, which they held up to us, to entice us to come to them. We took no notice, however, of their invitations, but preparing our firearms, we turned out. They were now closing round us in all directions, many of them with their spears in their throwing-sticks, ready for use--pointing them to their own necks and sides, and showing us by their postures how we should writhe with pain when they struck us. Then they would change their tactics and again endeavour to persuade us that they meant us no harm, but they would not lay down their spears. Some of them seemed inclined to go away, but others appeared determined to attack us. After keeping us standing about an hour, eleven spears were thrown at us. Three of my party then fired, slightly wounding one of them, when they all immediately ran away as fast as they could. Some of them, however, remained hovering in sight for some time after. Three of the spears that were thrown fell short of us, the rest passing very close, but fortunately no one was hurt; the three spears which passed us were barbed with bone, and were very heavy.

November 26.

Carpenter died this morning; the poor fellow did not suffer acutely on the approach of death, but the animal energies were destroyed, and they withered away one after another, without pain or struggle. At eleven o'clock, being Sunday, I read prayers, and in the evening we buried our late companion in the bed of the creek, and I read the funeral service over him. The natives came again this morning, leaving their spears at a distance, and brought us a few small fish; but remembering their former treachery, we took very little notice of them and showed them they could only expect kind treatment from us, so long as they themselves continued peaceable. During the last few days we shot a few pigeons and parrots, also a small blue heron.

November 27.

We killed another horse this morning, and had the meat all cut up and on the stage by nine o'clock, with all the appearance of a fine day to dry it. But about eleven o'clock a heavy thunderstorm came on, and it rained all day. I kept a fire burning near the stage all night.

November 28.

We were very uneasy at the continued wet weather, as it threatened to destroy the scanty remains of our provision, the flesh already beginning to smell very badly.

November 29.

It was raining heavily all day, and our meat became almost putrid.

November 30.

This day a fresh breeze blew, and there was no rain; I cut up all the meat that would hold together into thin slices, but a great deal of it was quite rotten. The blood-puddings, tripe, feet, and bones, lasted us till this day. I saved the hide of this horse for ourselves, the other I had fed our dogs on; Mr. Kennedy having requested me to keep them alive if possible, so that we had to spare a little from our scanty meals for them.

December 1.

The wind was blowing strong from the south-east this morning. On going up the hill in the afternoon I saw a schooner from the northward beating to the southward. I supposed her to be the Bramble, as it was about the time Mr. Kennedy had given me expectation of being relieved by water, and I afterwards found I was right in this supposition.

I naturally concluded she had come for us; and full of hope and joy I immediately hoisted a flag on a staff we had previously erected, on a part of the hill where it could be seen from any part of the bay. We placed a ball above the flag to put the crew on their guard against the natives. We then collected a quantity of wood, and at dusk lighted a fire, and kept it burning till about half-past seven or eight o'clock. I then fired off three rockets one after the other, at intervals of about twenty minutes. I also took a large pistol up the hill, and stood for some time firing it as quickly as I could load it, thinking they might perhaps see the flash of that, if they had not seen the rockets.

December 2.

Early this morning I was up, straining my eyes to catch a view of the bay, and at length saw the schooner standing in to the shore; and during the forenoon a boat was lowered. I now made quite certain they were coming for us, and thinking they might come up the creek in the boat for some distance, I hastened down the hill, and began to pack up a few things, determined to keep them waiting for our luggage no longer than I could help. I looked anxiously for them all the afternoon, wondering much at their delay in coming, until at last I went up the hill, just in time to see the schooner passing the bay. I cannot describe the feeling of despair and desolation which I in common with the rest of our party experienced as we gazed on the vessel as she fast faded from our view. On the very brink of starvation and death--death in the lone wilderness, peopled only with the savage denizens of the forest, who even then were thirsting for our blood--hope, sure and certain hope, had for one brief moment gladdened our hearts with the consoling assurance, that after our many trials, and protracted sufferings, we were again about to find comfort and safety. But the bright expectancy faded; and although we strove to persuade ourselves that the vessel was not the Bramble, our hearts sank within us in deep despondency.

December 4.

We yesterday finished our scanty remnant of flour; and our little store of meat, which we had been able to dry, could have but very little nourishment in it. Goddard and I went to the beach and got a bag of shellfish, but found it very difficult to get back to the camp through the mangroves, we were in so weak a state.

December 7.

This day I took Mitchell with me to the beach, and procured another bag of shellfish. During the last few days we shot a very small wallaby and three or four Torres Strait pigeons. These afforded us some relief, as our horse-flesh was so very bitter, that nothing but unendurable hunger could have induced us to eat it. A number of small brown beetles were generated from it, which ate it, and we were also much annoyed by flies. We all suffered more or less from bad eyes.

December 9.

The natives visited us this morning, and brought with them a few pieces of turtles' entrails and a few nondas. I gave them an old shirt and a knife, the latter of which was highly prized by them. They call turtle mallii, and the sun youmboll. Goddard had a fit of ague to-day, followed by fever.

December 10.

We all of us had fits of ague this morning, and none of us could get up till the afternoon, when, being Sunday, I read prayers.

December 11.

The natives came this morning, and brought us a little vegetable paste, and some pieces of turtles' entrails, with some sharks' liver. The latter was fresh, but one could not eat it, as it all melted into a yellowish oil, when boiled for a few minutes. I gave them a few fish-hooks, but found it very difficult to get them to leave the camp.

December 13.

This morning Mitchell was found dead by the side of the creek, with his feet in the water. He must have gone down at night to get water, but too much exhausted to perform his task, had sat down and died there. None of us being strong enough to dig a grave for him, we sewed the body in a blanket, with a few stones to sink it, and then put it into the brackish water.

December 15.

The thermometer fell this morning and was broken. It was raining heavily all day, and two bags of my seeds, and several other little things, were washed out of the tent by the water which ran down the hill. We were all very ill and weak.

December 16.

It was raining this morning, and we remained in the tent. Hearing one of our dogs barking, however, I went out and saw several natives with pieces of fish and turtle, which I took from them, when they left us. The natives also brought us some roasted nymphaea roots, which they call dillii. During the last few days we shot seven pigeons. Wall and Goddard used to go into the scrub and sit beneath a tree, to which they used to come for berries to feed their young, and watching their opportunity, shoot them.

December 21.

Our kangaroo dog being very weak, and unable to catch anything, we killed, and lived on him for two days. There was very little flesh on his bones, but our dried meat was so bad, that we very much enjoyed the remains of our old companion, and drank the water in which we boiled him.

December 24.

The natives took a tin case from Wall whilst he was talking to them, he not being able to resist them. My legs had swelled very much, and I was able to walk but a very short distance.

December 26.

The natives brought us a few pieces of fish and turtle, but both were almost rotten; they also gave us a blue-tongued lizard, which I opened and took out eleven young ones, which we roasted and ate. There was nothing but scales on the old one, except in its tail.

We always equally divided whatever we got from the natives, be it what it might; but they brought us very little that was eatable. I could easily perceive that their pretended good feeling towards us was assumed for the sake of fulfilling their own designs upon us. Although they tried to make us believe they were doing all in their power to benefit us, their object was to obtain an opportunity of coming upon us by surprise and destroying us. They had at many times seen the fatal effects of our firearms, and I believe that it was only the dread of these, that prevented them from falling upon us at once, and murdering us. They were a much finer race of men than the natives we had seen at Rockingham Bay, most of the men being from five feet ten to six feet high. The general characteristics of the race were different from those of the other aborigines I had ever seen, and I imagined that they might be an admixture of the Australian tribes and the Malays, or Murray Islanders. Some of them had large bushy whiskers, with no hair on their chins or upper lips, having the appearance of being regularly shaved. It would be almost impossible for any class of men to excel these fellows in the scheming and versatile cunning with which they strove to disguise their meditated treachery. In fine weather I always had our firearms standing out for them to see, and once or twice every night I fired off a pistol, to let them know we were on the lookout by night as well as by day.

December 28.

Niblett and Wall both died this morning; Niblett was quite dead when I got up, and Wall, though alive, was unable to speak; they were neither of them up the day previous. I had been talking with them both, endeavouring to encourage them to hope on to the last, but sickness, privation, and fatigue had overcome them, and they abandoned themselves to a calm and listless despair. We had got two pigeons the day before, which in the evening were boiled and divided between us, as well as the water they were boiled in. Niblett had eaten his pigeon, and drank the water, but Wall had only drank the water and eaten part of his half pigeon. About eleven o'clock, as many as fifty natives, armed with spears, and some of them painted with a yellowish earth, made their appearance in the vicinity of our camp. There were natives of several strange tribes amongst them. They were well aware that neither Niblett nor Wall was able to resist them, if they did not know they were dead. They also knew that we were very weak, although I always endeavoured as much as possible to keep that fact from them. This morning when I made signs to them to lay down their spears they paid no attention, with the exception of two, who had been in the habit of coming very frequently to the camp. These two came running up quite close to us, without their spears, and endeavoured to persuade one of us to go across a small dry creek, for a fish which another of the rascals was holding up to tempt us. They tried various methods to draw our attention from the rest, who were trailing their spears along the ground, with their feet, closing gradually round us, and running from tree to tree, to hide their spears behind them. Others lay on their backs on the long grass, and were working their way towards us, unnoticed, as they supposed. Goddard and myself stood with our guns in readiness and our pistols by our sides for about two hours, when I fell from excessive weakness. When I got up we thought it best to send them away at once, or stand our chance of being speared in the attempt, both of us being unable to stand any longer. We presented our guns at the two by our side, making signs to them to send the others away, or we would shoot them immediately. This they did, and they ran off in all directions without a spear being thrown or a shot fired. We had many times tried to catch fish in the creek during our stay at Weymouth Bay, with our fishing lines, but never could get as much as a bite at the bait.

As the evening came on, there came with it the painful task of removing the bodies of our unfortunate companions who had died in the morning. We had not strength to make the smallest hole in the ground as a grave; but after great exertion we succeeded in removing the bodies to a small patch of phyllanthus scrub, about four feet high, and eighty yards from the tent. We then laid them side by side, and covered them with a few small branches, and this was all the burial we were enabled to give them.

December 29.

Goddard went into the scrub, and shot three pigeons. We ate one of them at night, and the others we reserved till next day. Our bowels were greatly relaxed, which was partly stayed by eating a few nondas, which we got occasionally.

The six weeks having expired, which Mr. Kennedy had led me to expect would be the longest period we should have to wait, I now began to fear the rainy season had set in, and filled the creeks to the northward, so that his party had been unable to cross them, or that some untoward accident had happened, which prevented us being relieved.

I did not quite despair, but I knew that we could not live long. Our shot was almost consumed, not having more than eight or ten charges left, and although we had plenty of ball, we were too weak to attempt to form any plan to make shot. Our sole remaining companion, the sheepdog, I intended to kill in a day or two, but he would not last long, as he was nothing but skin and bone.

December 30.

Early this morning we ate the two pigeons left yesterday, and boiled each a quart of tea, from the leaves we had left; but we had not had any fresh tea to put into the pot for some time. Goddard then went into the bush, to try to get another pigeon or two, and if the natives made their appearance, I was to fire a pistol to recall him to the camp. After he had been gone, I saw natives coming toward the camp, and I immediately fired a pistol; but before Goddard could return they came into the camp, and handed me a piece of paper, very much dirtied and torn. I was sure, from the first, by their manner, that there was a vessel in the Bay. The paper was a note to me from Captain Dobson, of the schooner Ariel, but it was so dirtied and torn that I could only read part of it.

For a minute or two I was almost senseless with the joy which the hope of our deliverance inspired. I made the natives a few presents, and gave them a note to Captain Dobson, which I made them easily understand I wanted them to take to that gentleman. I was in hopes they would then have gone, but I soon found they had other intentions. A great many natives were coming from all quarters well armed with spears. I had given a shirt to the one who had brought the note, and put it on him; but I saw him throw down the note and pull off the shirt, and picking up his spear he joined the rest, who were preparing to attack us. We were expecting every moment to be attacked and murdered by these savages, our newly awakened hope already beginning to fail, when we saw Captain Dobson and Dr. Vallack, accompanied by Jackey and a man named Barrett (who had been wounded a few days before in the arm by a barbed spear) approaching towards us, across the creek. I and my companion, who was preserved with me, must ever be grateful for the prompt courage with which these persons, at the risk of their own lives, came to our assistance, through the scrub and mangroves, a distance of about three miles, surrounded as they were all the way by a large number of armed natives.