- Note by Capt.
King.] had visited my companions, and behaved very amicably towards them,
making them not only presents of spears and wommalas, but supplying them
with seed-vessels of Nymphaea, and its mealy roasted stems and tubers,
which they were in the habit of pounding into a substance much resembling
mashed potatoes. They took leave of my companions to go to the sea-coast,
pointing to the east and east by south, whither they were going to fetch
shells, particularly the nautilus, of which they make various ornaments.
May 16 and 17. - We moved our camp about twenty miles N.N.W. to latitude
18 degrees 16 minutes 37 seconds, to one of the head brooks of Big
Ant-hill Creek. We travelled the whole distance over the basaltic
table-laud without any impediment. The natives approached our camp, but
retired without any communication.
I had not found any westerly waters on my ride of the 13th, but had seen
a range to the north-west, and that was the goal of a new exploration. As
we had been fortunate enough to find water at the contact of the
primitive and basaltic formation, I wished to follow the same line of
contact as long as it would not carry us much out of our course.
