a soldier, as
strong as a pack-horse, undertaken to carry his knapsack in addition to his
own, we must either have sent him back, or have stopped at a place for the
night which did not afford water. Our two natives carried each his pack,
but its weight was inconsiderable, most of their provisions being in the
knapsacks of the soldiers and gamekeepers. We expected to have derived from
them much information relating to the country, as no one doubted that they
were acquainted with every part of it between the sea coast and the river
Hawkesbury. We hoped also to have witnessed their manner of living in
the woods, and the resources they rely upon in their journeys. Nothing,
however, of this sort had yet occurred, except their examining some
trees to see if they could discover on the bark any marks of the claws of
squirrels and opossums, which they said would show whether any of those
animals were hidden among the leaves and branches. They walked stoutly,
appeared but little fatigued, and maintained their spirits admirably,
laughing to excess when any of us either tripped or stumbled, misfortunes
which much seldomer fell to their lot than to ours.

[*Our method, on these expeditions, was to steer by compass, noting the
different courses as we proceeded; and counting the number of paces, of
which two thousand two hundred, on good ground, were allowed to be a mile.
At night when we halted, all these courses were separately cast up, and
worked by a traverse table, in the manner a ship's reckoning is kept, so
that by observing this precaution, we always knew exactly where we were,
and how far from home; an unspeakable advantage in a new country, where one
hill, and one tree, is so like another that fatal wanderings would ensue
without it. This arduous task was always allotted to Mr. Dawes who,
from habit and superior skill, performed it almost without a stop, or an
interruption of conversation: to any other man, on such terms, it would
have been impracticable.]

At a very short distance from Rose Hill, we found that they were in a
country unknown to them, so that the farther they went the more dependent
on us they became, being absolute strangers inland. To convey to their
understandings the intention of our journey was impossible. For, perhaps,
no words could unfold to an Indian the motives of curiosity which induce
men to encounter labour, fatigue and pain, when they might remain in repose
at home, with a sufficiency of food.