184 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY 



herbage of the plain, and we thought the country was 

 already beginning to show signs of having benefited by 

 recent showers. There were a few flowers amongst the 

 grass and scrub, and we passed some trees bearing biu- 

 nuts. These are a wholesome food if roasted in the ashes 

 of the fire, but they are very apt to induce sickness if 

 eaten raw. Large quantities of them are gathered for 

 food by the natives, who in this miserable desert are 

 compelled to eat everything they can swallow that is not 

 positively poisonous. 



On this day we saw a party of nine native men, who 

 followed us for several miles. Thinking they might be 

 desirous of communicating with us, I rode back towards 

 them. They halted until I got within four hundred yards 

 of them, when one fellow threw a spear towards me, either 

 as a challenge, or to intimidate me. This show of 

 offensiveness placed me in an awkward predicament. If 

 I retreated it would be interpreted as a sign of fear, and 

 provoke an attack ; if I rode on I should perhaps be trans- 

 fixed by one of their murderous weapons. 



I decided, on the spur of the moment, that it would 

 be better to take the latter risk, as nothing is more fatal 

 to the safety of a small party than permitting the blacks 

 to intimidate it. To show my friendly intentions I 

 waved a white handkerchief, and rode on without checking 

 my pace. The blacks immediately ran quickly to the 

 shelter of some small fragments of rock which were 

 scattered about this part of the plain. I was thus 

 compelled to halt, as to have ridden amongst an enemy 

 1 could not see would certainly have resulted in my being 

 speared. So I halted, dismounted, and placed a piece of 

 tobacco and a pipe on a rock, and then rode after my 

 party at a walking pace, glancing back to see how the 

 blacks would take my attempt at propitiation. The weed 

 has a wonderfully soothing effect on men's minds. I saw 

 the blackfellows come forth from their skulking-places 

 and examine my present. They appeared to be dis- 

 puting about the possession of it, but none of them 

 attempted to follow me, and I thought it good to take 



