On Seeing Us, They Seized Each Other By The Hand,
Formed A Circle, And Threw Themselves On The Ground, With Their Heads
And Faces Covered.
Unwilling to add to their evident terror, we only
remained a few minutes, during which time the children frequently peeped
at us from beneath their clothes; indeed, they seemed more surprised
than alarmed:
The mothers kept uttering a low and mournful cry, as if
entreating mercy. In the camp were several spears, or rather lances, as
they were much too ponderous to be thrown by the arm; these were jagged:
there were also some elamongs (shields), clubs, chisels, and several
workbags filled with every thing necessary for the toilet of a native
belle; namely, paint and feathers, necklaces of teeth, and nets for the
head, with thread formed of the sinews of the opossum's tail for making
their cloaks. The men belonging to the camp were heard shouting at no
great distance: their affection for their families was not, however,
sufficiently powerful to induce them to attempt their rescue from the
hands of such unfabulous centaurs, as we doubtless appeared to them. The
boats met with no interruption, the river continuing a fine and even
stream, running at the rate of a mile and a half per hour: it was in
places very narrow, and our astonishment would have been excited that
such a channel should contain the powerful body of water falling into
it, if we had not found its medium depth to be from twenty to thirty
feet. The height of the banks is not more than seven feet above the
water, and they appeared to have been flooded to that height. It did not
seem that back from the river, beyond three or four miles, the country
was ever flooded, except by the waters which would fall on its surface
in rainy seasons; it was, however, now quite dry, and the hollows of the
surface bore evidence of a long continued drought. The course of the
river still continued to the north-north-west. The rocks composing Mount
Harris are apparently basaltic, the whole seeming to have been shot up
in points. the angles of which are complete. The stones are very heavy
and compact, and when dashed against each other were extremely sonorous.
June 28. - Remained here this day for the purpose of rest and
refreshment: the grass and country poor, and covered with acacia trees
and small eucalypti in our immediate vicinity. Despatched two men to
view the country to the north-east. The botanical collector crossed the
river and ascended Mount Forster, on which he was fortunate enough to
procure many plants seemingly new: he thought he saw a branch of the
river separating from it and running to the north-west, whilst the river
itself continued to go northerly. The account brought by the men in the
evening was far from flattering; they had been out ten or twelve miles
to the north and east, and found the country as bad as can be imagined;
in fact, a dry morass, with higher land, free from floods, but overrun
with brushes, among which a few pines were scattered:
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