certain which way
it would act, Campbell thought it best to be cautious; so he ordered
all his men to take shelter behind the store. He then selected a
long piece of bark, which he lighted at the fire, and, standing
behind an angle of the building, he applied the light to the
touch-hole. Every man was watching the scrub to see the effect of
the discharge. There was a fearful explosion, succeeded by shrieks
of horror and fear from the blacks, as the ball and nails and broken
glass went whistling over their heads through the trees. Then there
was a moment of complete silence. Campbell, like a skilful general,
ordered his men to pursue at once the flying foe, in order to reap to
the full the fruits of victory, and they ran across the open ground
to deliver a volley; but on arriving at the scrub no foe was to be
seen, either dead or alive. The elevation of the artillery had been
too great, and the missiles had passed overhead; but the result was
all that could be hoped for, for two months afterwards not a single
native was visible.

Two victories had been gained by the pioneers, and it was felt that
they deserved some commemoration. At night there was a feast around
the camp fire; it was of necessity a frugal one, but each member of
the small community contributed to it as much as he was able.
Campbell produced flour enough for a large damper, a luxury unseen
for the last eight weeks; McClure gave tea and sugar; Davy brought
out a box full of eggs and a dozen mutton birds; Scutt and Pateley
furnished a course of roast flathead; Clancy and Dick the Devil, the
poor pirates, gave all the game they had that day killed, viz., two
parrots and a wattle bird. The twelve canoes, the spoils of victory,
were of little value; they were placed on the camp fire one after
another, and reduced to ashes.

The warriors sat around on logs and boxes enjoying the good things
provided and talking cheerfully, but they made no set speeches.
Dinner oratory is full of emptiness and they had plenty of that every
day. They dipped pannikins of tea out of the iron pot.

When Burke and Wills were starving at Cooper's Creek on a diet of
nardoo, the latter recorded in his diary that what the food wanted
was sugar; he believed that nardoo and sugar would keep him alive.
The pioneers at the Old Port were convinced that their great want was
fat; with that their supper would have been perfect.

McClure was dying of consumption as everybody knew