ng high water at nine
o'clock: this was on the night of the 13th. After crossing the
creek at half past seven o'clock the next morning, they shaped a
course that was likely to carry them to the river, without being
embarrassed with the bad walking on its banks, or the windings of
the creek, until they got near the spot, from whence they
proposed taking a fresh departure.

After crossing the creek, and some very rocky ground, they had
good walking over a country, full of timber and pleasing to the
eye; but the ground was poor, and the surface mostly covered with
stones. Here some ants nests were seen, composed of an amazing
number of small stones, which formed a circle of five or six feet
diameter, rising regularly in the center to the height of twenty
or thirty inches. An hour and a half s walking brought them to a
swamp, where they stopped to fire at some ducks, and then
crossing it, they continued their course nearly west 8 deg. north
till eleven o'clock, when they came to a pool of good water. The
country was now sandy, and presently afterwards, they arrived on
the borders of the river, and soon got to the place where they
first stopped in the morning of the 12th.

Several canoes being seen, our two natives were very desirous
of speaking to the persons in them, and the party were all
desired to hide themselves in the grass until the canoes should
come abreast of them; Colebe and Ballederry also concealed
themselves, but the canoes stopping on the opposite shore before
they came near, one of our natives was told to call to them,
which he did, and was soon answered by an old man, who, after a
short conversation, came over in his canoe, being known to
Colebe.

This man joined the party without the least fear; and from the
questions that were put to him respecting the river, Colebe and
Ballederry concluded they had come this journey in order to
procure stone hatchets, as the natives get the stones whereof
they make their hatchets from that part of the river near
Richmond-Hill, which the old man said was a great way off, and
the road to it was very bad.

Colebe and Ballederry had at first supposed, that Governor
Phillip and his party came from the settlement to kill ducks and
patagorongs; but finding they did not stop at the places where
those animals were seen in any numbers, they were at a loss to
know why the journey was taken; and though they had hitherto
behaved exceedingly well, yet, as they now began to be