The Cuts And Sores On
The Hands Festered Quickly; But This Depended Much More On The Want Of
Cleanliness Than Any Thing Else.
A most dangerous enemy grew up amongst
us in the irresistible impatience to come to the end of our
Journey; and
I cannot help considering it a great blessing that we did not meet with
natives who knew the settlement of Port Essington at an earlier part of
our journey, or I am afraid we should have been exposed to the greatest
misery, if not destruction, by an inconsiderate, thoughtless desire of
pushing onward.
Dec. 8. - I went to the westward, to avoid the rocky ground, and if
possible to come into the valley of the East Alligator River, if the
country should not open and allow me a passage to the northward, which
direction I took whenever the nature of the country permitted. After
crossing the heads of several easterly creeks, we came upon a large
foot-path of the natives, which I determined to follow. It was, in all
probability, the same which went down the creek on which we had encamped
last night: it descended through a narrow rocky gully, down which I found
great difficulty in bringing the horses; and afterwards wound through a
fine forest land, avoiding the rocky hills, and touching the heads of
westerly creeks, which were well supplied with rocky basins of water. It
then followed a creek down into swampy lagoons, which joined the broad
irregular sandy bed of a river containing large pools and reaches of
water, lined with Pandanus and drooping tea-trees. This river came from
the eastward, and was probably the principal branch of the East Alligator
River, which joined the salt-water branch we had crossed in latitude
about 12 degrees 6 minutes. We met another foot-path at its northern
bank, which led us between the river and ranges of rocky hills, over a
country abounding with the scarlet Eugenia, of which we made a rich
harvest. We encamped at a fine lagoon, occupied, as usual, with geese and
ducks, and teeming with large fish, which were splashing about during the
whole night. The situation of these lagoons was, by an observation of
Castor, in lat. 12 degrees 6 minutes 2 seconds; and about nine miles
north-west from our last camp.
Immediately after our arrival, Brown went to shoot some geese, and met
with two natives who were cooking some roots, but they withdrew in great
haste as soon as they saw him. Soon afterwards, however, a great number
of them came to the opposite side of the lagoon, and requested a parley.
I went down to them with some presents, and a young man came over in a
canoe to met me. I gave him a tin canister, and was agreeably surprised
to find that the stock of English words increased considerably; that very
few things we had were new to him, and that he himself had been at the
settlement.
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