not hearing any tidings of them, the Doctor, became very utir
easj. I set on; foot every enquiry,g but without effect; and
what wesöte m e much, 1 was, that thé young man *was | one.'. of
those who had run off with the same boat at .Port Praya. I offered
a reward to any one who would giv.e^me information of
the boat; and though thé weather was very bad, I was .under
the necessity of sending my first-mate round to Hawkesbury
River with.another in search of it. I also formed the resolution
of walking tofottwatèr, whichjoinsthe Hawkesbury,and
branches inland a considerable -way, affording many- little
Creeks and Coves, where the natives .assemble at times .to fish. .
: On the 25th of February. L. set oufothe weather thick»; and
cloudy, accompanied. by a soldier of the Kfewl South Walek
CorpSj>one of my own people,'; a native,and jps;wife,;as|guides.
Ensign, Bareillier, of. thé same/Corps, volunteered going dri, the
boat with the mate. Tfie^path I took;.was intricate, but-yef^
romantic. < As it rained hard towards evening, my guide halted
near a wood, taking jus to a place where two old men, wereisit-
ting by a fire, and which had the. appearance of several others
having been there very, recently. This temporary habitation was
formed by a rock overhanging"the place they-were seated; on,
and called by them' Gatyegunnie, being thertérmrf0f th,^‘hut,;jor
the House of the Rock. The two, men .did not. seem fo^re,qefoe
us with any particular marks either of friendship or indif^ë- :
rejoice ; and from what I afterwards learned they were both dpc?
tors, which probably induced my guide to .visit them, as/.his
back had been much hurt, and he was troubled w^h a difficulty
of breathing. . They, gave us from a bag-net a few fish they had
gathered off the rocks; but on removing the skin,- (which is,used
by them as b a it in fishing,) they smelt so offensive that we could
not eat them; I.gave them some bread in return, arid we parted
well pleased, with each other. They told us that a little farther
on
on- there was a party of natives employed iri: fishing, who had
two huts built near -a lorig: sandy- beach’. „As the night was
likely-to be 'very dark with" heavy- briny T intended, if possible,
to shelter’oUrtSlveV*wrth'them. ■ . .Our-guide; was so ill, that, he
appeared incapable of going o n with.us^ and promised- to g£t
one of them to accompany us to Afittwater.* rib could- not help
remarking dhe acuteness of,- sight whiehrthese people. possess
even iri the ‘"dark to a wonderful degree:; as also of hearing.
As wb approached the huts we found two/cariogsylgfb on the
sand; and as- we proceeded; through..: the,bushes? woman
with us'asked, me, mi I saw -a black fellow, pointing farther
among the bashes. I stopped, andrlooked, bubt could .'siri no
oriej-'the night being exceedingly dark. We were immediately
challenged from .-the bushes in th em a t ic language; the
sbldief>yth a rie /an sw e re d an d lwe-;were conducted by ; the
stranger td th e huts'. He had been:doAyn at jb e .canoes for some
fish, and on bis-return saw us; hfter depositingdh;em?:ke .came
to reconnoitre who wewere,' at which timedbew©rnan observed
him. He had told-Ms comrades., of. feeing us, and they took
dbe. precaution of Mding their fishy as they-alway&^o’ in .similar
occasions to prevent their being discovered by stranger?.- ' The
natives; are: in generahyery much afraid biwalking alonerfo the
dark, unless* under the impulse of jealousy, hunger or rCverige.
On such occasions they will in the night; steal on their countrymen
whilst asleep, and with an instrument called a dual, made
oft hard wood arid gradually tapering to a point, pin them to
the ground, particularly wheri actuated; by jealousy or revengC.
I found the huts larger and better constructed than I had as
yef Siiri' OE heard ofiri they, were built o f timber procured from
the wreck of a small vessel, which; lay stranded on the shore at
no great distance. In orie hut there were three men, four women
and two c h ild re n a n d in the other, which was very small,
H a man