In the bed of the Van Diemen we saw some well constructed huts of the
natives; they were made of branches arched over in the form of a
bird-cage, and thatched with grass and the bark of the drooping tea-tree.
The place where we encamped had been frequently used by the natives for
the same purpose. Our attention was particularly attracted by a large
heap of chaff, from which the natives appeared to have taken the seeds.
This grass was, however, very different from the panicum, of the seeds of
which the natives of the Gwyder River make a sort of bread; and which
there forms the principal food of the little Betshiregah (Melopsittacus
undulatus, GOULD).
The night was calm, clear, and cold.
The kites became most daring and impudent. Yesterday, I cleaned the fat
gizzard of a bustard to grill it on the embers, and the idea of the fat
dainty bit made my mouth water. But alas! whilst holding it in my hand, a
kite pounced down and carried it off, pursued by a dozen of his comrades,
eager to seize the booty.
We killed our little steer in the afternoon of the 10th, and the next day
we cut the meat into slices, and hung it out on a kangaroo net:
