To Them We Were Indebted For The Facilities We Had Enjoyed In Obtaining Water; For Without Their Guidance, We Could Never Have Removed From Any Encampment Without Previously Ascertaining Where The Next Water Could Be Procured; And To Have Done This Would Have Caused Us Great Delay, And Much Additional Toil.

By having them with us we were enabled to move with confidence and celerity; and in following their guidance we knew that we were taking that line of route which was the shortest, and the best practicable under the circumstances.

Upon arriving at any of the watering places to which they had conducted us, they always pointed out the water, and gave it up to us entirely, no longer looking upon it as their own, and literally not taking a drink from it themselves when thirsty, without first asking permission from us. Surely this true politeness - this genuine hospitality of the untutored savage, may well put to the blush, for their exclusiveness and illiberality, his more civilised brethren. In how strong a light does such simple kindness of the inhabitant of the wilds to Europeans travelling through his country (when his fears are not excited or his prejudices violated,) stand contrasted with the treatment he experiences from them when they occupy his country, and dispossess him of his all.

There were now a considerable number of natives with us, all of whom had been subjected to the singular ceremony before described. Those we had recently met with, had, in addition, a curious brand, or mark on the stomach, extending above and below the navel, and produced by the application of fire. I had previously noticed a similar mark in use among one or two tribes high up on the Murray River, (South Australia,) and which is there called "Renditch." At the latter place, however, the brand was on the breast, here it was on the stomach. I have never been able to account in any way for the origin or meaning of this mark; but it is doubtless used as a feature of distinction, or else why should it only be found in one or two tribes and so far apart, had it been accidental or arisen from lying near or upon the fires in cold weather, every individual of certain tribes would not have been affected, and some individuals of every tribe would: now, the first, as far as my experience enabled me to judge, is the case; but the latter most assuredly is not. Both at the Murray, and near Fowler's Bay, the natives always told me, that the marks were made by fire, though how, or for what purpose, I could never learn at either place.

November 18. - Our horses being all knocked up, and many of them having their shoulders severely galled by the racking motion of the drays winding up and down the heavy sandy ridges, or in and out of the dense scrubs, I determined to remain for some time in depot to recover them, whilst I reconnoitred the country to the west, as far as the head of the great Australian Bight. To leave my party in the best position I could, I sent the overseer round Point Fowler to see if there was any better place for the horses in that direction, and to communicate with the master of the WATERWITCH on the subject of landing our stores. Upon the overseer's return, he reported that there was fresh water under Point Fowler, but very little grass; that he had not been able to communicate with the cutter, the wind being unfavourable and violent, and the cutter's boat on board, but they had noticed him, and shewn their colours; he said, moreover, that the vessel was lying in a very exposed situation, and did not appear at all protected by Point Fowler, which, as she was not well found in ground-tackle, might possibly occasion her being driven ashore, if a gale came on from the south-east. This news was by no means satisfactory, and I became anxious to get our things all landed that the cutter might go to a place of greater safety.

November 19. - The wind still being unfavourable, the day was spent in removing the drays, tents, etc. to a more elevated situation. Our camp had been on the low ground, near the water, in the midst of many scrubby hills, all of which commanded our position. There were now a great many well armed natives around us, and though they were very kind and friendly, I did not like the idea of their occupying the acclivities immediately above us - at all events, not during my contemplated absence from the party. I therefore had every thing removed to the hill next above them, and was a good deal amused at the result of this manoeuvre, for they seemed equally as uneasy as we had been at the heights above them being occupied. In a very short time they also broke up camp, and took possession of the next hill beyond us. This defeated the object I had in view in our former removal, and I now determined not to be out-manoeuvred any more, but take up our position on the highest hill we could find. This was a very scrubby one, but by a vigorous application of the axes for an hour or two, we completely cleared its summit; and then taking up the drays, tent, baggage, etc. we occupied the best and most commanding station in the neighbourhood. The result of this movement was, that during the day the natives all left, and went in the direction of where the cutter was. I was not sorry for their departure; for although they had been very friendly and useful to us, yet now that I contemplated keeping the party for a long time in camp, and should myself probably be a considerable time absent, I was more satisfied at the idea of the natives being away, than otherwise; not that I thought there was the least danger to be apprehended from them if they were properly treated; but the time of my men would be much occupied in attending to the horses and sheep; and they were too few in number, to admit of much of that time being taken up in watching the camp or the natives who might be near it; for I always deemed it necessary, as a mere matter of prudence, to keep a strict look out when any natives were near us, however friendly they might profess to be.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 62 of 247
Words from 63333 to 64430 of 254601