appearance of two or three white men. After this, in February, some
friendly and respectable barbarians were met with, and there was an
interchange of courtesy and presents. Generally the natives were shy,
entertaining feelings of mingled fear, aversion, and contempt for the
pale-skinned intruders upon their forest domain. Mr Roper and Charley,
out in search of water, fell in with a Blackfellow and his gin or
squaw. Like a brace of opossums, they were up a gum-tree in no time,
although the lady was in an advanced state of pregnancy. "As Mr Roper
moved round the base of the tree, in order to look the Blackfellow in
the face, and to speak with him, the latter studiously avoided looking
at Mr Roper, by shifting round and round the trunk like an iguana. The
woman also kept her face averted." A day or two afterwards, Mr Gilbert
and Charley met some more natives. "Two gins were so horror-struck at
the unwonted sight, that they immediately fled into the scrub; the men
commenced talking to them, but occasionally interrupted their speeches
by spitting and uttering a noise like pooh! pooh! apparently
expressive of their disgust." Meetings with the natives now became of
common occurrence; but as they showed much timidity, and, when ill
disposed, confined their hostile demonstrations to expectoration and
grimaces, the travellers entertained little apprehension of attack.
The night watch, regularly kept at the commencement of the expedition,
was now little more than nominal, and although each man was supposed
to take his turn of sentry, the guard was usually a sleepy one, and a
mere matter of form. They had reason to repent their negligence.
Encamped one evening in the dry bed of a lagoon, some in their tents,
others platting palm-leaf hats, the Doctor himself dozing near the
fire, a shower of spears fell amongst them, and the savages followed
up the treacherous attack by a charge with their waddies or clubs. The
Europeans were so completely off their guard that they did not know
where to find percussion caps for their guns. When the Doctor had
procured these, two or three shots sent the assailants to the right
about, with one of their number killed or wounded, for bloodstains
were on their track, and they were heard next morning wailing in the
woods. But the little caravan had suffered heavy loss. Gilbert was
killed; Roper and Calvert were severely injured and disfigured by
spear-wounds and blows from the waddies. It was a melancholy