Charley told me
afterwards, that, at my first approach, some of them held their
bommerangs ready to throw, but
I do not think that it was more than a
simple attitude of defence, in case I should have proved the aggressor.
On my inquiring about water, they pointed in the direction which we were
going, and seemed to say, "It is far, but it is large; Baco! Baco!
Umara!" they frequently repeated with emphasis. John also told me that an
old man had made signs of a large water, but not fit to drink, and was
very anxious for us to change our course, Mr. Roper had understood the
same. But, as long as we were ignorant what was before us, the pantomime
and words of the natives enabled us to form but very vague and hopeless
guesses. It was easy to understand them, when we knew the reality. These
natives must have had some intercourse with white men, or Malays, for
they knew the use of a knife, and valued it so highly, that one of them
offered a gin for one. They appeared equally acquainted with the use of
our fire-arms. No doubt they had seen the Malays, and probably some had
accompanied them to the islands; as it is a common custom of the Malays
to take natives home with them, that they may become friendly to them
when fishing for trepang at this part of the gulf.
As the stage lengthened, our old bullock began to lag behind, and at last
lay down incapable of walking any farther. In the hope of finding water,
I continued my journey until the decline of day compelled me to encamp.
We watched our bullocks as usual during the night, and I was distressed
to find that another of them, a young but heavy beast, had suffered so
much, that I feared he would soon have to be slaughtered, and the number
of our pack bullocks be again reduced.
Sept. 22. - I sent Mr. Calvert and Charley back to fetch the bullock,
whilst we continued our journey up the river. The country maintained the
same character, being open and well-grassed. At the end of about seven
miles, we came to a range of sandstone hills with horizontal strata,
deeply fissured and worn by the waters and the atmosphere. A creek at the
northern side of the range was dry; but, at its southern foot, there was
another, which contained several small pools and two deep rocky basins
with an ample supply of water. Here, therefore, we encamped to wait for
our old bullock, which I now resolved to kill; being well aware that he
would be a constant drawback to our progress. Wallabies were exceedingly
numerous, and their tracks as broad as the foot-paths of the natives. Our
lat. was 16 degrees 5 minutes 26 seconds; long. according to reckoning,
136 degrees 10 minutes.
Mr. Calvert and Charley had succeeded in driving our bullock to within
about three miles of our camp, where he had again lain down.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 208 of 272
Words from 107735 to 108253
of 141354
