gain came forward, and beckoned to others behind, who came close up
also. Each carried a club under each arm, and another in each hand, and
from the gestures made to this advanced party, by the rest of the tribe
of young men at a distance, it appeared that this was intended to be a
hostile movement. Brown accordingly drew out the men in line before the
tents, with their arms in their hands, and forbade the natives to
approach the tents. "Nothing damps the ardour of troops so much," says
General Lloyd, "as an unexpected obstacle at the moment of attack," and
these strong men stood still and looked foolish, when they saw the five
men in line, with incomprehensible weapons in their hands. Just then, our
three dogs ran at them, and no charge of cavalry ever succeeded better.
They all took to their heels, greatly laughed at, even by the rest of
their tribe; and the only casualty befell the shepherd's dog, which
biting at the legs of a native running away, he turned round, and hit the
dog so cleverly with his missile on the rump, that it was dangerously ill
for months after; the native having again, with great dexterity, picked
up his club. The whole of them then disappeared, shouting through the
woods to their gins. It was remarkable that on seeing the horses, they
exclaimed "Yerraman," the colonial natives' name for a horse, and that of
these animals they were not at all afraid, whereas they seemed in much
dread of the bullocks. That these natives were fully determined to attack
the white strangers, seems to admit of no doubt, and the result is but
another of the many instances that might be adduced, that an open fight,
without treachery, would be contrary to their habits and disposition.
That they did not, on any occasion, way-lay me or the doctor, when
detached from the body of the party, may perhaps, with equal truth, be
set down as a favourable trait in the character of the aborigines; for
whenever they visited my camp, it was during my absence, when they knew I
was absent, and of course must have known where I was to be found. The
old man had very intelligibly pointed out to Brown the direction in which
this river came, I. E. from the S. W., and I therefore abandoned the
intention of exploring it upwards, and determined to examine how it
joined, and what the character of the river might be, about and below
that junction, in hopes I might still obtain an interview with the
natives, and learn something of the country to the