ded the seed, which was such slow
work that we were compelled to use half flour and half nardoo. Mr.
Burke and Mr. Wills then went down the creek for the remainder of
the dried meat which we had planted; and we had now all our things
with us, gathering nardoo and living the best way we could. Mr.
Burke requested Mr. Wills to go up the creek as far as the depot,
and to place a note in the plant there, stating that we were then
living on the creek, the former note having stated that we were on
our road to South Australia. He also was to bury there the
field-books of the journey to the Gulf. Before starting he got
three pounds of flour and four pounds of pounded nardoo, and about
a pound of meat, as he expected to be absent about eight days.
During his absence I gathered nardoo and pounded it, as Mr. Burke
wished to lay in a supply in case of rain.

A few days after Mr. Wills left, some natives came down the creek
to fish at some waterholes near our camp. They were very civil to
us at first and offered us some fish. On the second day they came
again to fish, and Mr. Burke took down two bags, which they filled
for him. On the third day they gave us one bag of fish, and
afterwards all came to our camp. We used to keep our ammunition and
other articles in one gunyah, and all three of us lived together in
another. One of the natives took an oilcloth out of this gunyah,
and Mr. Burke seeing him run away with it followed him with his
revolver and fired over his head, and upon this the native dropt
the oilcloth; while he was away, the other blacks invited me away
to a waterhole to eat fish, but I declined to do so as Mr. Burke
was absent, and a number of natives were about who would have taken
all our things. When I refused, one took his boomerang and laid it
over my shoulder, and then told me by signs that if I called out
for Mr. Burke (as I was doing) that he would strike me; upon this I
got them all in front of the gunyah and fired a revolver over their
heads, but they did not seem at all afraid until I got out the gun,
when they all ran away. Mr. Burke hearing the report came back, and
we saw no more of them until late that night, when they came with
some cooked fish and called out "white fellow." Mr. Burke then went
out with his revolver, and found a whole tribe coming down, all
painted, and with fish in small nets carried by two men. Mr. Burke
went to meet them, and they wished to surround him; but he knocked
as many of t