uch only as were given by the aboriginal inhabitants to
the regions they claimed as their own.

We frequently met with natives; but as we were always on our guard, and
avoided giving them offence, we were never annoyed by them. We fell in
with most of them while we were on the march, so that we proceeded
onwards and saw them no more; while the few who on rare occasions
visited us at our camp in the evening, were always friendly. When we
killed a kangaroo or emu, we gave as much of the meat as we could spare
to any of the black men who were near; and we always found that food was
the most acceptable gift we could bestow.

We had been nearly a month on our journey from the time we had left my
father's camp. That space of time may appear short to those who are
reading our adventures; but to us it seemed a long period, especially as
we felt deeply anxious to send relief to our friends, whose stock of
powder and shot might, we feared, be exhausted before we could return.
Mudge observed that my father would probably send back to obtain
supplies from the store we had left behind; but I reminded him that the
men who went could only carry enough for themselves, and that without
beasts of burden it would be impossible to relieve their wants in that
way, while it was very certain that the natives could not be induced to
act as carriers.

As yet we had met with no signs of civilised life; and as we had brought
no quadrant, we were unable to calculate, with anything like accuracy,
the number of miles we had performed each day. We could only guess,
therefore, how far off we were from the most northern settlements. Our
powder and shot, on which our very existence depended, was rapidly
diminishing; and should that become exhausted, we should be at the mercy
of the natives, and have to trust to them for supplying us with food, as
we had great doubts whether we could trap any birds or beasts.

Though we had occasionally picked a few wild fruits, the supply was very
uncertain, and we often had to go a considerable distance without
finding any. The most nourishing was a fruit larger than a Spanish
chestnut, and with a similar taste. It grew on a tree with beautiful
green and pinnated foliage, contrasting strikingly with the dark leaves
which give so sombre a hue to the Australian forests. We found three to
five seeds in pods of considerable size, growing solitary and pendent.
Had we been able to obtain a sufficient supply of the