NAERATIVE OF MTt. CAREON. 145 



of Eockiiig-hnm Bay. There was mi old camping' 

 place with twelve or fourteen old huts near our 

 campj but it was not visited by the natives during" 

 our stay there. They generall}^ came to look at us 

 every day, but always kept at a distance 5 on some 

 days we saw as many as from eighty to a. hundred. 

 The women and children alwa3's kept farther from 

 us than the men ; I think more from fear of our 

 dogs and horses than of ourselves. The weather 

 was coolj with showers occasionally during the day, 

 and at night steady rain set in. 



June 20th , — The rain continued throughout the 

 day. 



June 21sf and 22nd. — The rain still conthiued. 

 Two of our horses were found bogged in a creek 

 near the camp, but were soon released without 

 injury ; they had strayed into the creek to eat the 

 aquatic grass, which is plentiful on almost all the 

 creeks between the swamps and the sea. The soil 

 here was rather stifFer than we had found it before, 

 being a light sandy loam, and in places claye}'. 

 There were not so many shells to be seen, and what 

 there were, were principal^ bivalves. 



Mr. Kennedy returned this evening, arid having 

 again found it impossible to cross the swamps, we 

 were obliged to return to the beach, where the travel- 

 ling' was far better than among the trees. While 

 travelling inland a man \vas always obliged to ^\alk 

 before the carts, to cut down small trees. 



At this time we had only two meals \^e\' day • 



VOL. II. L 



