Brown approached very near to a
flock of Harlequin pigeons, and shot twenty-two of them. A young grey
kangaroo was also taken.
The kites were so bold that one of them snatched the skinned specimen of
a new species of honey-sucker out of Mr. Gilbert's tin case; and, when we
were eating our meals, they perched around us on the branches of
overhanging trees, and pounced down even upon our plates, although held
in our hands, to rob us of our dinners; - not quite so bad, perhaps, as
the Harpies in the Aeneid, but sufficiently so to be a very great nuisance
to us.
Yesterday and to-day we experienced a cold dry southerly wind, which
lasted till about 11 o'clock A. M., when it veered to the south-west, but
at night returned again, and rendered the air very cold, and dry, which
was very evident from the total absence of dew. The forenoon was very
clear; cumuli and cirrho-cumuli gathered during the afternoon. The sky of
the sunset was beautifully coloured. After sunset, the clouds cleared
off, but, as the night advanced, gradually collected again.
A circumstance occurred to-day which gave me much concern, as it showed
that the natives of this part were not so amicably disposed towards us as
those we had hitherto met:
