im by Dunmore. Unlike most of the blacks, he appeared to be very
little frightened at the situation in which he found himself, and
seemed instinctively to know that all danger was past. On being
questioned regarding the shipwrecked crew, he denied all knowledge of
any vessel having been lost, but said at once that a white man had
lived with this tribe for many moons, though he was dead now. This
rather astonished us, and we asked if any relics were still in the
camp, upon which one of the gins produced an old sheath-knife, worn
down nearly to nothing by constant sharpening; half a dozen horn
buttons, one of them still sewn to a fragment of moleskin; and an empty
tin match-box. We asked how long the white man had been dead, and were
told that he died three moons before, of fever, and that we could see
his grave if we liked, for it was within a day's journey. There was an
openness about this tribe, and a frankness in their answers, that made
us certain that all we heard was the truth, and as they had evidently
befriended this poor wanderer, we were anxious to repay them in some
measure, and strengthen the kindly feelings they felt for the white
men, so we told Lizzie to assure them that our visit was only to search
for our lost brethren; that we should like to visit the grave, if one
of them would guide us; and that in return for their services we would
give them a new knife and a tomahawk.

As they were profoundly ignorant of the use of fire-arms, and we wished
to impress upon them the irresistible power of the white man, it was
agreed that we should ask them to guide us to the nearest place
frequented by kangaroos, and pick off two or three of these animals in
their presence, if possible. They were very curious to know the
meaning of our "lightning sticks," and we repaired, escorted by nearly
the whole tribe, to a neighbouring water-hole, where we could remain
concealed, and get an easy shot at any game coming down to drink. We
were not kept long waiting, for within half an hour a couple of
wallabies came hopping leisurely along, and were very cleverly dropped
in their tracks, one by Dunmore, the other by Larry. Our hosts were in
ecstasies, and seemed very grateful that a similar fate had not
befallen some of their number in the morning; but we made Lizzie
explain to them clearly that our object was not to hurt our black
friends, unless they were wicked--ill-treating white men, or spearing
cattle. A couple of no