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"The boat was already in the water, and every thing packed up, for the purpose of crossing the river, when Mr Finch approached the camp, and I hastened to congratulate him on his opportune arrival. But he told a dismal tale-two of his men being killed, and all the supplies, cattle, and equipment, fallen into the hands of the natives. This catastrophe occurred at the ponds of Gorolei,' beyond Mount Frazer, which Mr Finch had reached, after having been distressed, even more than our party had been in the same place, for want of water. This privation had occasioned the loss of his horse and several other animals, so that his party had only been able to convey the supplies to these ponds, by carrying forward a portion at a time, with two bullocks only, from the dry camp. Mr Finch at length succeeded in lodging all these stores at the ponds, but, being unable to move them further without the rest of the cattle, he left them there, and proceeded forward on foot along our track with one man, in expectation of falling in with my party at no great distance in advance. After ascertaining that our party was not so near as he hoped it was, and having reached the Gwydir, and traced our route along its banks, until he again recognised Mount Frazer, he returned at the end of the second day, when he found neither his tents nor his men to receive him, but a heap of various articles, such as bags, trunks, harness, tea and sugar canisters, &c., piled over the dead bodies of his men, whose legs he, at length, perceived projecting. The tents had been cut in pieces; tobacco and other articles lay about; and most of the flour had been carried off, although some bags still remained on the cart. The two remaining bullocks continued feeding near. This spectacle must have appeared most appalling to Mr Finch, uncertain, as he must have been, whether the eyes of the natives were not then upon him, while neither he nor his man possessed any means of defence! Taking a piece of pork and some flour in a havresack, he hastened from the dismal scene, and by travelling all day, and passing the nights without fire, he had most providentially escaped the natives, and, at length, reached our camp."

Instead of a supply of stores, an additional demand was now about to be inade on the much-exhausted stock of provisions-the rainy season was approaching-they had behind them two hundred miles of country subject to inundation, without a hill to which in that case they could repair-the disposition of the natives on their rear

was hostile-and these considerations not only deterred the intrepid and judicious leader from crossing the Karaula, but determined him to turn his attention to the journey homewards. On the 7th of February they commenced their retreat.

"Feb. 9.-I was awoke by the shouts of a numerous tribe of natives, and on going out of my tent I found that they covered the opposite bank to the water's edge. They stood in scores on our empty carts like so many sparrows, and on every old tree or stump likely to afford them a better view of my camp. But I overlooked them completely, and as they became more and more vehement in their language and gestures, the greater was our satisfaction in being on the right side of the river. What they did say, we could not guess; but, from their loud clamour and gestures, all the leading men seemed to be in a most violent passion. One word only they knew of the language spoken by our stockmen, and that was budgery,' or good; and this, I concluded, they had learned at some interview with Dawkins, who used it ever and anon, in addressing them. They were handling every thing attached to our empty carts, which still remained on that side, and some of our men went over to prevent any serious injury to them. All the clamour seemed directed at me, apparently inviting me by signs to cross to them, and I therefore went to the water's edge, curious to know their meaning. They there assumed the attitudes of the corrobory dance, and pointed to the woods behind them. These were the finest looking men of their race that I had seen. The peculiar colour of their bodies, covered with pipe-clay, gave them an appearance of being dressed. They were in number about 100, all men or boys, the strongest carrying spears. None of the words of Barber seemed at all intelligible to them, but on mentioning the Nammoy, they pointed to the southwest, which I knew was the direction where that river was nearest to the camp. I recognised the gigantic pipe-clayed man, who had presented his spear at me, when we first reached the Gwydir so much higher up. This he clearly explained to me by gestures. A good deal of laughter (partly feigned, I believe, on both sides) seemed to soften the violence of their speech and action, but when I brought down a tomahawk, and was about to present it to the man whom I had formerly met, and who had first ventured across, their voices arose with tenfold fury. All directed my attention to a dirty-looking old man, who accordingly waded through the water to

me, and received my present. Several other stout fellows soon surrounded us, and with the most overbearing kind of noise, began to make free with my person and pockets. I was about to draw a pistol and fire it in the air, when White, mistaking my intention, observed that their vehemence probably arose from their impatience at our not understanding them, which I thought very likely. They repeated so incessantly the words, 'Einèr,' Einèr,' that I ran up the bank for my book, remembering to have seen the word, and found that Einèr' meant a gin, or female, as will appear on referring to the vocabulary I obtained at Wallamoul. The translation of this produced a hearty laugh among our men, and Finch dryly observed, that some would then be very serviceable. I was in doubt whether they meant to enquire, on pointing to our tents, whether we had any, or whether they wished to accommodate us with wives. At length they rather suddenly drew together on the bank, again making signs of dancing the corrobory dance, beckoning to some of the men to go with them, and expressing their intention to depart and return again to sleep there, by saying 'Nàngary,' and pointing to the ground. This I understood clearly, and very soon they all disappeared. Fortunately, none as-. cended the bank to our tents, as it was not desirable they should know our numbers exactly. It did not appear that they understood the nature and effect of fire

arms. Mean-while our wheels had been found so frail, that we must have halted here under any circumstances, in order to strengthen them for the tough work they were to encounter. The carpenters, therefore, worked hard at them this forenoon.

In thus returning, I gathered for my kind friend Mr Brown a hortus siccus, of such plants as appeared new to me; the field of research being obviously at this time confined to our line of route. As soon as the natives were gone, I set all hands, except the carpenters, to the cart, still in the bed of the river, and it was thus at length brought up the bank. We next yoked the bullocks to the empty drays and cart on the opposite side, and all

were soon

brought safely through the river to our own side. I preferred doing this work when the natives were absent, because I did not wish them to see what difficulties the passage of a river occasioned to us.

"When the sun was near setting, the voices of our unwelcome visitors were again heard, and they soon appeared, gaily painted white for the corrobory; but this return I had foreseen, and had forbidden the men from looking towards them; and, in order to discourage their approaches

still more, I directed the Doctor to pace backward and forward on the bank before our tents, with a firelock on his shoulder, with the calm air of a sentinel, and without noticing the natives opposite. They, accordingly, also kept back, although one of them crossed to the bullock-driver, who was alone, watching the cattle on our left, and endeavoured to persuade him to go over the river with him. The whole at length disappeared without further parley. Under any other circumstances I should certainly have been willing to have met their civilities at least half-way, but recent events had weakened our confidence in the natives. When night came on we

saw their fires behind the trees, at a little distance back from the river, and we also heard their voices; but to complete the effect of our coolness in the evening, which certainly must have puzzled them, considering our kindness in the morning, I sent up a rocket, after which their very fires disappeared, and we heard their voices no more."

By and by they recognised the park-like scenery which they had formerly crossed on their advance, at a distance of about three miles from the old camp at Rodrigo Ponds.

"While I stood near this spot, attending the arrival of the party, which was still at some distance, I overheard a female voice singing. The notes were pleasing, and very different from the monotonous strains of the natives in general. Just then I had been admiring the calm repose of the surrounding landscape, gilded by the beams of a splendid setting sun, and anticipating a quiet night for the party. The soft sounds, so expressive of tranquillity and peace, were in perfect unison with the scene around. Nothing could have been more romantic, nevertheless I could most willingly have dispensed with the accompaniment at that time, so associated were all our ideas of the natives then with murder and pillage. When my men came up, I directed them to give a hurrah,' in hopes that it would put the party, whoever they might be, to flight. Yet, after a cheer about as rough as English throats could well utter, the sweet strain, to my surprise, continued,

And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail.' But this was not the song of 'hope,' but of despair, at least so it sounded to me under the circumstances, and so it really proved to be, as I afterwards ascertained.

"Men's voices were also heard, as we proceeded quietly to our old ground, and I could not help regretting that, after having given those natives on the Gwydir the

slip, and seen no other the whole day, we should again find the identical spot, where we were to pass the night, pre-occupied by natives. The party set up their tents, and the song ceased, but I proceeded with Mr White towards the place whence the sounds came, and from which smoke arose. We there saw several persons amid smoke, and apparently regardless of our presence; indeed, their apathy, as compared with natives in general, was surprising. young man continued to beat out a skin against a tree without caring to look at us, and as they made no advance to us, we did not go up to them. Mr White, on visiting their fires, however, at 10 P.M. found that they had decamped.

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"All this seemed rather mysterious, until the nature of the song I had heard was explained to me afterwards at Sydney by the bush-ranger, whom I visited in the hulk on my return. He then imitated the notes, and informed me that they were sung by females when mourning for the dead; adding, that on such occasions it was usual for the relatives of the deceased to seem inattentive or insensible to whatever people might be doing around them.

"At the time, however, this behaviour of the natives only made us more on our guard, and impressed the men with a sense of the necessity for vigilance, especially during the night, when a watch was set on the cattle, and two men guarded the camp, while all the rest slept with their arms at hand."

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Such precautions were necessary, for they were followed on their route by a numerous tribe of natives. The main body, upwards of a hundred strong, continued to move parallel to it, and were eyed sternly by the party advancing towards the spot where were lying their wounded friends. As they approached the plains, they saw before them the signal-fires and smokes of other savages, who were, however, themselves hidden in the bush. bold outline of the Nandawar range was a comfortable prospect, although they were still to investigate the particulars of the tragedy which had been acted at this time. It was not till the 18th of February that they once more traced the line of the water-course which had saved their lives, when they first providentially fell in with it just as the men were beginning to sink, overcome by extreme and long-continued thirst. To them it had then been the happiest of camps, after such a deliverance, and now they were to witness in the same spot a scene of death.

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"A lonely cart, and two dead bodies covered by the remains of Mr Finch's equipment, now marked the spot where we had formerly encamped. The two bullocks were no longer to be seen. The natives had revisited the spot, since Mr Finch last quitted it, and had carried off the remainder of the flour, and great part of the canvass of the tent. The bodies were covered by a pile of various articles, such as saddles, bows and yokes, harness, packsaddles, trunks, and cannisters, &c. The savages appeared to have been ignorant of the use of sugar, tea, and tobacco, articles which those aborigines nearer to our colony prefer to all other things. large cannister of tea had been emptied on the ground, a similar cannister, more than half full of sugar, lay on its side, so that its contents were still good, the lids of both cannisters having been carried off. The whole stock of tobacco lay scattered about the ground, destroyed by the late rains. A spade, a steel-yard, and a hammer were left; although iron had been so desirable that one of the iron pins of the cart was carried away. The two hair trunks belonging to Mr Finch, and which contained his clothes, papers, &c. remained on the heap, uninjured and unopened, while the truly savage plunderers had carried off, apparently as stuff for clothing, the canvass of the tent. From these cir.. cumstances it was obvious that the murderers were quite unacquainted with the colonists or their habits.

"The bodies were now in the most offensive state of putrefaction, and already so much decayed that we could not even distinguish the persons, except by the smaller frame of Bombelli. The body of the bullock-driver lay under the cart, where he had been accustomed to sleep; that of Bombelli about four feet from it. No dress appeared to have been on either, besides the shirts, and one side of each skull was so shattered, that fragments lay about on removing these remains into a grave. It seemed most probable that the natives had stolen upon them when asleep.

"I ought to state here, that Mr Finch, on first leaving the settled districts, had five men, two of whom having behaved ill, he had been obliged to send back to the colony.

"Having interred the bodies, we loaded the cart with such serviceable articles as still remained, and yoking it to three of the horses which the men had brought, we returned towards the camp. By the smoke which arose from various parts we perceived that the aborigines were watching our proceedings, and I considered it desirable, under all circumstances, that we should return to the camp that night, although the distance was seventeen miles.

"On approaching these remains of Mr Finch's party in the morning, I had proceeded under cover of the scrubs, that the natives might be as little as possible aware of our movement or intentions. We now returned towards our camp along the original track as being a direction not only the most favourable for the cart, but more

expeditious; for, as the route was already marked, no further care was necessary as to the line, and I could thus devote my whole attention to the natives who were about. When we reached the head of the highest slope, near the place whence I first saw these ponds, a dense column of smoke ascended from Mount Frazer, and, subse⚫

quently, other smokes arose, extending in telegraphic line far to the south, along the base of the mountains, and thus communicating to the natives who might be upon our route homewards, the tidings of our return. These signals were distinctly seen by Mr White at the camp, as well as by

us.

"The sun set soon after we passed Mount Frazer, but, fortunately, not until woods no longer intervened between us and the camp. On that naked horizon we might hope at length to see our fires, although they were then nine miles distant; and I knew the bearing sufficiently well to be able to travel by compass nearly in their direction. A few bushes on the dark outline of the horizon were long useful, as precluding the necessity for repeated reference to the compass in the dark; but a dark cloud arose beyond and obscured the western horizon. Just then a good old pack-horse, named Rattler, knocked up, and I reluctantly gave orders to leave him behind, when Whiting, the old guardsman, volunteered to remain with him, and bring him on after he had rested: this, in the face of both hunger and danger, I duly appreciated, and remembered long after, to his advantage. We soon after came upon some surface water, and refreshed the tired animals. Precisely at eight o'clock, as I had arranged with Mr White, a rocket ascended from the camp, and to us was just perceptible, like a needle in the remote distance. That little column of fire, however, was enough to assure the fatigued men, and enable me to mark two stars in the same direction, which guided me on towards the camp. At length we could distinguish the large fires made there for the same purpose, and by ten o'clock we terminated the arduous labours of the day, and I had the satisfaction to find that the party under Mr White had remained undisturbed. Two more rockets were afterwards sent up for the guidance of Whiting, and a huge fire was also kept burning, until, at 3 A.M., the old soldier

arrived safe, bringing up the old horse, which after resting a while, and drinking at the water (found by Whiting as well as by us), had come on tolerably well."

It was well that the party had been able to get on as they did-fairly out of those low levels and dense scrubs, where the natives had begun to hang about them like hungry wolves; and the Major says he could not reflect on what might have been the consequence, had they been delayed only one week longer there, without feeling grateful for their providential escape. It was obvious that had they got fast in the mud, or hemmed in by inundations, they might have been harassed on one side by the natives of the Gwydir, and on the other by the plunderers of Mr Finch's party, until they shared a similar fate. The rain had continued, for some days, to pour from a "sky that might have alarmed Noah," and the ground had become a sea of mud. To a hill in the neighbourhood he gave the name of " Mount Mud."

On the 22d February occurred the following unintelligible scene at the time unintelligible :—

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"We had not advanced far beyond the scene of that interview, when I perceived a number of natives running before me along our line of route. I hastened after them, when I perceived several men ad. vancing to meet me. They halted in a rather formal manner at some distance, and I next came upon their spears, which, with a stone hatchet, had been laid across our track. There I alighted from my horse, and proceeded slowly towards them on foot, inviting them, as well as I could, to come forward, and which they accordingly did. Three men met me at half-way. One of these seemed rather old, another was very stout and fat, and the third had an intelligent countenance and thin person, being thickly covered with the most raised sort of scarifications, so much so indeed, that I was half inclined to think that the slightness of his frame might be partly owing to the lacerations which covered it. Other members of the tribe soon came up, and as the carts by this time had arrived at the spears on the ground, I took one up, and explained to the natives that the wheels passing over would break them; still these strange people would not remove them, and I concluded that this prostration of their weapons was intended to make us acquainted with their friendly disposition towards us. They began to call loudly to their gins, who stood assembled under a large tree at some distance,

and we plainly understood the invitation of the men to visit these females. But the party was much more disposed to fight than to make love just then, and I have little doubt but that by throwing a single spear the natives would have pleased them more than by all the civility they were evidently anxious to show us; so ready were they at that time to avenge the late murders-when even the odour of corruption still hung like a pestilence about the articles recovered from the plundered camp. The natives, however, perhaps out of pure cordiality, in return for our former disinterested kindness, persisted in their endeavours to introduce us very particularly to their women. They ordered them to come up to the party, divested of their cloaks and bags, and placed them naked before us. Most of the men appeared to possess two, the pair in general consisting of a fat plump gin and one much younger. Each man placed himself before his gins, and bowing forward with a shrug, the hands and arms being thrown back pointing to each gin, as if to say-Take which you please. The females, on their part, evinced no apprehensions, but seemed to regard us beings of a race so different, without the slightest indication of either fear, aversion, or surprise. Their looks were rather expressive of a ready acquiescence in the proffered kindness of the men; and when at length they brought a sable nymph vis-a-vis to Mr White, I could preserve my gravity no longer, and throwing the spears aside, I ordered the bullock-drivers to proceed. endeavoured to explain by gestures that two of our party had been killed by their countrymen, and pointed to the place, so that, as Mr White thought, they understood me. On seeing the party again in motion, most of the natives disappeared, one or two only lingered behind trees, and it then occurred to me to offer them a small iron tomahawk in exchange for that of stone which lay beside the spears. 1 therefore sent Dawkins to them, to make a bargain if he could, but on going back he saw most of the natives running off with spears in their hands, and could not make his object understood by those who remained. The earth in this part of our old track had become very soft, and although the surface was undulating, it possessed a peculiar rottenness, so that where the upper crust bore me on horseback, the carts would suddenly sink to the axle. The horses at length began also to sink through the surface crust, and we were approaching a hollow which appeared likely to be still worse; and when our wheel. carriages at length got quite fast, I recollected some gestures of the natives, and

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now understood their meaning. They had pointed forward along the way we were pursuing, holding the hands as high as the breast, as if to show how deep; and then to the eastward, as if to say-that direction would be better. We were now forced to retrace our steps, and in following the direction indicated by the natives, we made a slight detour, thus avoiding the difficulty, and travelled over hard ground into our old track again. This useful information, given so kindly by these natives, convinced me that no treachery was intended; although among the men who had so recently buried their comrades, I believe a different opinion prevailed."

On the 26th, the party passed the old encampment beside the Barber's" stockyard near Tangulda, and, soon afterwards, met Mr Brown of Wallamoul and his stockman, on horseback, who had followed their track thus far, on the information of "Mr Brown," the native, and were proceeding to examine the "Barber's" stockyard. They informed them that the native guide had confessed to them that his dread of the savage natives had induced him to return. Mr Brown overtook them again next day, and informed them that he had found various brands of his cattle on portions of hide at the stockyard of that celebrated bushranger. On the morrow, the ford of Wallanburra was the only stream that separated them from the Christian world. That once passed, they might joyfully bid adieu to pestilence and famine, the lurking savage, and every fiend of flood and field. Under the sense of perfect security once more, and relieved from the anxiety inseparable from such charge, every object within the country of civilized man appeared, to the eyes of the Major, couleur de rose. After crossing the Peel, he left the party in charge of Mr White, and, attended only by his man Brown, commenced his ride homewards through the woods, forwarding from Segenhoe to Government his official despatch, announcing the return of the party and the result of the expedition.

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On his arrival at Sydney, the Major found that his report of the course of the Peel and Nammoy coinciding, as notified in his first despatch, with the Barber's description of these rivers, had encouraged the Government to place considerable confidence in that worthy's story. It was now obvious,

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