STATEN RIVER TO JARDINE RIVER 317 



other. Here they camped, and, tired as they were, they were 

 obliged to keep a vigilant watch, as, to add to their many annoyances, 

 the NATIVES had been following them all day." (CAMP 68.) 



On the i^th and i^tb there had been no rain. By the morning 

 of the i^th, the swamp behind camp 68 had been so much dried 

 that the horses were got across without any great difficulty. During 

 the remainder of that day, however, in crossing the teatree flats 

 between the red-soil ridges, the HORSES again and again BROKE 

 THROUGH THE CRUST and the packs had to be unloaded and carried 

 by the men. Two more HORSES DIED during the day from the 

 effects of the POISON, leaving only nineteen. The camp was made 

 a little after midday (CAMP 69). RAIN, the heaviest the party 

 had yet experienced, began shortly afterwards and lasted for three 

 hours. In the midst of preparations for the protection of the 

 stores from the deluge, some fifteen or twenty unarmed NATIVES 

 came up to the camp and were CHASED AWAY. 



" They were soon back again, however," says Byerley (p. 48), " with large bundles 

 of SPEARS barbed with fish-bones, but not before the party had had time to prepare 

 for them. The rifles were dry and loaded. Frank Jardine here owns to a feeling 

 of savage delight at the prospect of having a ' shine ' with these wretched savages who, 

 without provocation, hung on their footsteps, dogging them like hawks all through 

 the thickest of their troubles, watching, with cowardly patience, for a favourable 

 moment to attack them at a disadvantage. Even then, however, he would not be the 

 aggressor, but allowed them to come within sixty yards and ship their SPEARS in the 

 WIMMERAS before they were fired upon. The two foremost men fell to the only two 

 shots that were discharged, and their companions at once broke and fled ; nor was 

 the advantage followed up, as the travellers were careful to husband their ammunition, 

 and their caps were running short. This, however, was the LAST OCCASION on which 

 the party was molested, their sable adversaries having, probably, at last learned that 

 they were worth letting alone, and never again showing themselves." 



The i$th of January, " being Sunday," was observed as a day 

 of rest, which was much needed by men and beasts. If the party 

 did not travel, neither were they guilty of " profaning the day by 

 idleness." Useful employment was found in SPREADING OUT THE 

 CONTENTS OF THE BAGS TO DRY, everything having become mouldy 

 from the damp, and in PICKING OUT PANDANUS THORNS from one 

 another's feet and legs. Heavy rain fell during the night and three 

 inches of water ran through the tents. 



Very wisely, RICHARDSON MADE NO ATTEMPT TO CHART THE 



ROUTE BETWEEN THE BATAVIA RlVER AND THE HEAD OF THE JARDINE, 



i.e., from Camp 67 to Camp 78, and the reason is obvious. The 

 expedition was boring through scrubs, unable to see any distance 

 ahead, floundering through bogs or winding about to avoid them, 

 and, in short, until the Pacific was sighted and a bearing was taken 

 to Cape Grenville, did not know where it was. The latitude could 

 not be ascertained, for black clouds blotted out the stars by night. 

 Moreover, the flooded state of the country made it impossible to 



