rleys, belonging to the natives. Two
days after leaving the spot where Mr. Burke died, I found some gunyahs,
where the natives had deposited a bag of nardoo, sufficient to last me a
fortnight, and three bundles containing various articles. I also shot a
crow that evening, but was in great dread that the natives would come
and deprive me of the nardoo.

I remained there two days to recover my strength, and then returned to
Mr. Wills. I took back three crows; but found him lying dead in his
gunyah, and the natives had been there and had taken away some of his
clothes. I buried the corpse with sand, and remained some days; but
finding that my stock of nardoo was running short, and being unable to
gather it, I tracked the natives who had been to the camp by their
foot-prints in the sand, and went some distance down the creek, shooting
crows and hawks on the road. The natives hearing the report of the gun,
came to meet me, and took me with them to their camp, giving me nardoo
and fish. They took the birds I had shot and cooked them for me, and
afterwards showed me a gunyah, where I was to sleep with three of the
single men.

They appeared to feel great compassion for me when they understood that
I was alone on the creek, and gave me plenty to eat. After being four
days with them, I saw that they were becoming tired of me, and they made
signs that they were going up the creek, and that I had better go
downwards; but I pretended not to understand them. The same day they
shifted camp, and I followed them; and on reaching their camp, I shot
some crows, which pleased them so much that they made me a breakwind in
the centre of their camp, and came and sat round me until such time as
the crows were cooked, when they assisted me to eat them. The same day
one of the women to whom I had given part of a crow, came and gave me a
ball of nardoo, saying that she would give me more only she had such a
sore arm that she was unable to pound. She showed me a sore on her arm,
and the thought struck me that I would boil some water in the billy and
wash her arm with a sponge. During the operation the whole tribe sat
round and were muttering one to another. Her husband sat down by her
side and she was crying all the time. After I had washed it, I touched
it with some nitrate of silver, when she began to yell and ran off,
crying out, "Mokow! Mokow!" ("Fire! fire!"). From this time, she and her
husband used to give me a small quantity of nardoo bo