e
bushrangers, and Paddy understood him to say that they had gone away to
a distance; so, concluding that this was the case, we ceased to think
much about them.

Believing ourselves secure from any attack on the part of the natives,
we no longer took the precautions we had adopted on our arrival,--with
the exception of keeping watch at night, which was more for the purpose
of maintaining naval discipline than from any apprehensions we had of an
attack. We used to wander about by the side of the river under the
cliff without our arms, and sometimes for some distance over the open
downs on the top. Even my mother and Edith lost all apprehension, and
frequently took walks with only Pierce or Harry. Sometimes I went with
them; but I was generally employed in shooting or fishing. In
consequence of this, the younger ones fancied that they might go
wherever they liked by themselves.

One day my mother, being unwell, was confined to the house, and Harry
came out fishing with Ned Burton and me in the boat. My father, Mudge,
and Tommy, accompanied by Paddy Doyle and one of the other men, had gone
on a shooting expedition, attended by Pullingo and his son, leaving only
Dicky Popo in attendance on my mother, and two men to guard the camp.
As we were not far off, a musket-shot would bring us quickly back if we
were required.

We pulled down to the mouth of the river. The fish soon began to bite,
and we hauled up more than we had ever before caught. I observed that
the tide was unusually low, as numerous rocks which I had never before
seen were uncovered, and remained so for some time. At last the tide
began to rise, and we caught the fish even faster than at first. We
were so eagerly engaged that we did not remark how rapidly the time went
by. We were well-pleased, because we should not only have fish for all
hands, but be able to present our black friends with a welcome supply.
We found, I may remark, that they prized us not so much for our
knowledge of the arts and sciences, as in proportion to our power of
obtaining such food as they valued.

Burton suggested that we might salt some fish, and proposed looking for
salt along the shore. I agreed with him that it would be important if
we could succeed in doing so, as we might then carry some salted fish on
our journey.

As the fish continued to bite, we remained to catch them, and we were
still eagerly hauling them in when the sound of a musket fired at the
camp re