Traces of natives.

At length however I came upon a spot which a number of them appeared to have quitted only an hour or two before, and where they had been sitting under a large tree at the edge of one of these ponds; their recent fire had been first slaked with water and sand then thrown over it.  I knew therefore that they had been disturbed, and most probably by my gun; but not before they had made a hearty meal of roasted fresh-water mussels (unios) and nuts of a kind which grew on a large shady tree in pods, like a tamarind pod, the kernel being contained in a shell, of which each pod held several, and the fruit tasting exactly like filberts.  The spot was admirably suited for their purpose; their bark beds were placed under the shelter of this tree and only a few yards distant from the pond, which contained abundance of large unios.

Attack of natives.

I sat down under the nut tree to consider what was my best plan to adopt.  From the signs around us the natives were evidently much more numerous than I had expected:  in the event of anything happening to one of the three our return to the main party might be considerably impeded, if not altogether prevented; and although, from the superiority of our weapons over theirs, I entertained but little doubt as to the issue of any contest we might be forced into, the calls of humanity as well is of personal interest warned me to do my utmost to avoid an affray.

Return towards Hanover bay.

I returned therefore to the party and, having made our dinner from pheasant soup and birds which had been first split in two and then nicely roasted on the ashes, we commenced our journey homewards, cautiously and circumspectly, that we might run no risk of being surprised.  Until the evening began to close upon us we pursued our route through scenery similar to that we had passed the day before, our course laying several miles to the northward of our former track; and when we halted for the night I carefully chose a good position and, mentioning my apprehensions concerning the natives to the men in such a way as to put them on their guard without exciting their alarm, we bivouacked for the night.  Soon after sunset the thunderstorms of the previous evening were renewed, accompanied by tremendous rain.  This was unfortunate as it rendered it nearly impossible for us to keep our arms in an efficient state.

December 22.

After passing a wretched and uncomfortable night we started before dawn, pursuing a direction about west by north, and passed one of the openings from Prince Regent’s River laid down in Captain King’s chart, and there left without a termination, which I had thus an opportunity of fixing.  Having completed about six miles I halted for breakfast.  No signs whatever of the natives had been again seen; this restored my confidence and, as the sun was intensely hot and