278 SAIL FOR THE RIVER TAMAR. 



enemy the white man. Indeed it was only when 

 pressed by hunger that these aboriginal possessors 

 of the soil ventured to emerge from their hiding- 

 places, and rob some of the Company's out-stations 

 of flour. By these means, however, it was that a 

 knowledge was obtained of their existence. For, 

 though they managed so secretly, that it was some 

 time before they were found out, a shepherd at 

 an out- station, began at last frequently to miss flour 

 and tobacco* in a very mysterious manner. He 

 determined accordingly to watch, but was for a 

 long time unsuccessful. At length he saw a native 

 woman steal into the hut, when he drew the door 

 to by a line which communicated with his place of 

 concealment. Of the treatment this poor woman 

 received from the hands of her captor I shall treat 

 hereafter. After being kept a prisoner some time, 

 she was sent to Flinders Island ; but it was long 

 before the discovery was made that she had any 

 companions. I was informed that the shepherd 

 who took her, afterwards lost his life by the spear 

 of a native, probably impelled by revenge. 



We completed our operations on the evening of 

 the day on which we arrived, namely, December 

 18th, and left for the Tamar river, in order to mea- 

 sure a meridian distance. Passing^ six miles from 

 Rocky Cape, we had 28 fathoms ; and steering 

 east, the depth gradually increased to 42 fathoms, 

 with a soft muddy bottom, being then twenty miles 



* The fondness exhibited by the aborigines who inhabit the 

 southern parts of Australia for smoking is extraordinary. 



