ut a few days
afterwards The Doctor came to me, stating that an immediate operation was
necessary to save the life of Worthington, and demanding the dissecting
instruments. On inquiry I found that this man, alias Five-o'clock, had a
slight swelling in the groin, for which The Doctor's intended remedy, as
far as I could make out, was an incision in the lower part of the
abdomen. I gravely assured Five-o'clock that if The Doctor thought such
an operation necessary it must take place, although I should defer
lending him the instruments for a day or two. Thus I succeeded in
establishing the importance of The Doctor's position, and we heard no
more of his having been a swell--or of the swelling of Worthington who,
on that pretext, seemed inclined to escape work.

January 30.

The cart returned with some fine timber which was soon placed on the
saw-pit; meanwhile a stockyard for the cattle was erected on the higher
ground.

NATIVES' METHOD OF FISHING.

No fish could be caught this day, and we supposed that the natives were
busy taking them above and below our camp for, in their mode of fishing,
few can escape. We had previously seen the osier nettings erected by them
across the various currents, and especially in the Gwydir, where some had
been noticed of very neat workmanship. The frame of each trellis was as
well squared as if it had been the work of a carpenter, and the twigs
were inserted at regular intervals, so as to form, by crossing each
other, a strong and efficient kind of net or snare. Where these were
erected a small opening was left towards the middle of the current,
probably that some bag or netting might be applied there to receive the
fish while the natives in the river above should drive them towards it.
The river continued still to fall during the day.

NATIVE DOG.

January 31.

The sky overcast. A good supply of fish caught in the morning. A small
black native dog made its appearance about the camp, and was immediately
run down and worried by our dogs. From the miserable mangey appearance of
this animal I conjectured that it had belonged to the natives who were
probably skulking about us, and who are very much attached to their dogs.
I was therefore very sorry that this poor animal had been killed; and
that no traces might remain of our apparent want of kindness I ordered
the body to be burnt, and gave positive instructions to prevent strange
dogs being worried in future. This day we completed the