to say, but we seldom communicated with fewer than 200 daily.  They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk.  Indeed, I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves.  I was particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to permit any liberty to be taken with their women.  Our reserve in this respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they were.  The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion.  It is to be observed, that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men.  The latter are, generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated.  This, perhaps, is owing to their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards them in our presence.

Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other bird that happened to be near.  My dexterity—­for I did not trust Fraser, who would, ten to one, have missed his mark—­was generally exerted, as I have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of their meals.  Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the report.  I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their curiosity.

Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well.

Junction of the Rufus.

About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us.  We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell into the Murray upon its right bank.  Its waters were so extremely muddy, and its current so rapid, that it must have been swollen by some late rains.  Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray.