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prickly grass, which, in spite of our thick trousers, slightly, but continually, wounded our legs. The trees were tall, and some of them of considerable circumference. Every here and there in the wood rose lofty and isolated pinnacles of sandstone rock, fantastic in form, and frequently overgrown with graceful creeping and climbing plants, which imparted to them an air of mystery and a graceful elegance. In other parts rose the gigantic ant-hills so much spoken of by former visitors to these shores; and in the distance we saw occasionally the forms of the timid kangaroos, as they stole fearfully away from the unknown disturbers of their solitude.

December 19.-One of my men being unwell, we started late, and travelled slowly; and having completed 15 miles in a straight line, we halted for the night in a fertile valley, affording plenty of fresh water, and so densely covered with the dwarf pandanus and other prickly trees, that we could scarcely make our way through the underwood. In this valley we saw several sorts of cranes, one of which I shot and laid by, intending to eat it in the morning.

December 20.-Just as we turned out this morning, a large kangaroo came close to us to drink at a water-hole; the effect, as it stole along through the thick bushes in the morning twilight, was very striking. I could not succeed in getting a shot at it; but as I was determined to have a meat breakfast, I desired one of the men to cook the crane, when it was discovered that the rats had eaten the greater part of it. We, therefore, at once moved on, and, after travelling four miles, we reached a valley, the largest and best I had yet seen, containing trees and birds such as we had not before met with; kangaroos were more plentiful, and for the first time we saw the opossum. The valley

was more than a mile in width at the point where we first made it; and we had but just time to cross it, and gain the partial shelter of some rocks, when heavy rain again set in. We could keep no fire, and being soon wet through, the night we passed was a wretched one.

December 21.-We all began to feel to-day the want of food. Since Sunday night we had subsisted exclusively on rice and tea, and had only taken very small quantities at a time, as the heavy rain had materially interrupted our cooking. As there was plenty of game in this valley, I determined to halt for a day, previously to my return, for the double purpose of exploring the valley and of shooting game. The large bird which was most abundant here was the pheasant cuckoo. This bird, in colour, size, length of tail, and general appearance, so closely resembles the hen-pheasant of England that when it is on the wing it is almost impossible to tell the difference. I found plenty of these birds in a cover of long dry grass and bushes about half my height. From this kind of ground I descended to deep lagoons in the bottoms, with rushes, reeds, and dense tropical vegetation around them, amongst which the bamboo and pandanus bore a conspicuous figure. As I beat this cover, the pheasants with their whirring noise rose on all sides of me, and kept my gun in constant operation. My bag being full, and my companions very hungry, I had no excuse for staying longer away from them; I therefore returned, although very loth to leave the beautiful scenery and such excellent sport.

Having emptied my bag, I started again to commence the exploration of the valley we were in. The river that ran through it was in some places almost dry, or was rather a chain of large ponds, several of which were more than a hundred yards across. I followed the valley down

for about five miles, and found, to my surprise, that this part was by no means thinly inhabited by natives; until at length I came upon a spot which a number of them appeared to have quitted only an hour or two before, and where they had been sitting under a large tree at the edge of one of these ponds. Their recent fire had been first slacked with water, and sand had then been thrown over it. I knew, therefore, that they had been disturbed, and most probably by my gun; but not before they had made a hearty meal of roasted fresh-water mussels and nuts of a kind which grew on a large shady tree in pods, like a tamarind pod, the kernel being contained in a shell, of which each pod held several, and the fruit tasting exactly like filberts. The spot was admirably suited for their purpose; their bark beds were placed under the shelter of this tree, and only a few yards distant from the pond, which contained abundance of large mussels.

I then returned to my men, and after having made our dinner upon pheasant-soup, and birds which had been first split in two, and then nicely roasted in the ashes, we commenced our journey homewards, cautiously and circumspectly, that we might run no risk of being surprised. Until the evening began to close upon us, we pursued our route through scenery similar to that we had passed the day before, our course being, however, several miles to the northward of our former track. Soon after sunset the thunderstorms of the previous evening were renewed, accompanied by tremendous rain. This was unfortunate, as it rendered it nearly impossible for us to keep our arms in an efficient state.

December 22.-After passing a wretched and uncomfortable night, we started before dawn, and, having completed about six miles, halted for breakfast. No signs whatever

of the natives had again been seen, which restored my confidence; and as the sun was intensely hot, and we were much fatigued, we lay about in a rather careless and imprudent fashion. Fortunately, the gathering clouds prognosticated that we should soon have rain; and as we could get no good shelter where we were, I ordered the men to move on. We had just gained the top of the range when a violent storm of rain overtook us, and I therefore doubled back about a hundred yards to the left of our former track, to gain some rocks forming a portion of a detached group upon a table-land, and which I had observed as we passed them. Scarcely had we reached these rocks, and sheltered ourselves under the overhanging projections, when I saw a savage advancing with a spear in his right hand, and a bundle of similar weapons in his left. He was followed by a party of thirteen others, and with them was a small dog, of a kind not common to this country. The men were curiously painted for war, red being the predominant colour, and each man carried several spears, a throwing-stick, and a club. Their chief was in front, and distinguished by the dark red colour of his hair, from some composition with which it was smeared; the others followed him close, noiselessly, and with stealthy pace, one by one, whilst he, crouching almost to the earth, pricked off our trail.

We remained concealed and motionless until they had all passed; but the moment they came to where we had turned off, they discovered our retreat, and raised loud shouts of triumph, as, forming themselves into a semicircle, they advanced upon us, brandishing their spears, and bounding from rock to rock. It was in vain that I made friendly signs and gestures; they still closed upon us, and to my surprise I heard their war-cry answered by a party who were

coming over the high rocks in our rear, which I had thought protected us in that direction.

Our situation was now so critical that I was compelled to assume a hostile attitude. I therefore shouted in answer to their cries, and desiring the men to fire one at a time, if I gave the word, I advanced rapidly, at the same time firing one barrel over their heads. This had the desired effect. With the exception of one more resolute than the rest, they fled on all sides, and he, finding his efforts unavailing, soon followed their example. Feeling, however, that the neighbourhood we were in was a dangerous one, and being anxious to know whether the party I had left at the encampment had seen these natives, I hurried our march, although the rain fell in torrents all day, and we that night reached the camp, and found the party all in good health and spirits. They had seen nothing of the natives during our absence.

KANGAROO HUNTING BY THE
AUSTRALIAN NATIVES.

THE natives nearly always carry the whole of their worldly property about with them, and the Australian hunter is thus equipped :-Round his middle is wound, in many folds, a cord spun from the fur of the opossum, which forms a warm, soft, and elastic belt of an inch in thickness, in which are stuck his hatchet, his boomerang, and a short heavy stick to throw at the smaller animals. His hatchet is so ingeniously placed, that the head of it rests exactly on the centre of his back, whilst its thin short handle descends along his backbone. In his hand he

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