Near The Foot Of The Second Headland We Made Camp.
Leaving Charlie behind,
the rest of us set out in different directions to explore the hills.
There are four
Distinct headlands jutting out from the tableland,
which extends for many miles to the Eastward and in a broken line
to the Southward, the face of the cliffs on the Western shore, so to
speak, being indented with many bays and gulfs, and, to complete the
simile, the waves of sand break upon the cliffs, while in the bays and
gulfs there is smooth water - that is to say, flat sand. Grass and other
herbage and bushes grow in a narrow belt around the foot of the cliffs,
but everywhere else is spinifex.
The hills present a most desolate appearance, though somewhat remarkable;
sheer cliffs stand on steep slopes of broken slabs and boulders of
sandstone, reminding one of a quarry dump; from the flat summit of the
cliffs rise conical peaks and round hills of most peculiar shape. The
whole is covered with spinifex, a plant which seems to thrive in any kind
of soil; this rock-spinifex, I noticed, contains much more resinous
matter than the sand-spinifex, every spine being covered with a sticky
juice. From our camp I walked up the valley between the first and second
head, and, ascending the latter, which is crowned with cliffs some thirty
feet high, sat down and examined the hills with my glasses. Two black
objects moving about caught my eye, and as they approached I saw them to
be two fine bucks decked out in most extravagant manner. From my point of
vantage some three hundred feet above them, I could watch them, myself
unseen. Each carried a sheaf of spears, woommera, and shield, and in
their girdle of string a number of short throwing-sticks. Round their
waists were hanging sporrans formed from tufts of hair, probably similar
to those we found at Family Well that were made from the tufts from the
ends of bandicoots' tails; their bodies were painted in fantastic
patterns with white. Their hair was arranged in a bunch on the top of
their heads, and in it were stuck bunches of emu feathers. Seen in those
barren, dull-red hills, they looked strange and almost fiendish. They
were evidently going to pay a visit to some neighbours either to hold
festival or to fight - probably the latter.
When almost directly below they looked up and saw me; I remained quite
still, watching all the time through the glasses. After the first
surprise they held a hurried consultation and then fled; then another
consultation, and back they came again, this time very warlike. With
shouts and grunts they danced round in a circle, shaking their spears at
me, and digging them into the ground, as much as to say, "That is what
we would do to you if we could!" I rose from my hiding place and
started to go down towards them, when they again retired, dancing
and spear-waving at intervals.
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