A SEASON OF FEASTING 239 



the night on a much smaller elevation, which rose out of a 

 sea of mud. The country by this time had the appear- 

 ance of an extensive marsh, the water having so far 

 evaporated that there now remained far more mud than 

 wet. The land was well wooded with groves and scattered 

 trees, intermingled with patches of jungle-scrub. The tall 

 reeds which marked the courses of streams was beaten 

 down by the heavy rain, and made the neighbourhood of 

 the water-courses a forlorn scene. Large flights of ducks 

 and other waterfowl flew through the air, and the groves 

 were full of huge flocks of restless, screaming cockatoos. 

 The stormy weather had evidently much disturbed some 

 classes of animals. Every little rise of the ground I 

 passed was crowded with creatures that were still seeking 

 shelter. 



On one hill a party of natives, wild with excitement, 

 were slaughtering kangaroos, wallaby, and even rats and 

 snakes, wholesale ; while the women and children, squatting 

 at fires, were indulging in a feast such as probably only 

 fell to their lot on extraordinary occasions such as this. 

 The shouting and screaming with delight could be heard 

 for a mile or two across the plain, and the scene was 

 altogether one of the wildest and most characteristic I 

 ever witnessed. The men rushed about with savage 

 alacrity, throwing spears, and beating with waddies, and 

 shouting incessantly ; while their wives and children 

 clapped their hands and kept up a kind of screaming 

 laugh, pausing now and then to snatch some dainty frag- 

 ment from the glowing fire, and eat it as they squatted on 

 the ground. So intent on their occupations were they that 

 I passed near them without attracting the least notice. 

 This I did very much against my inclination ; but the 

 dangerous condition of the ground left me no choice but 

 to pass close to the rising ground or flounder in a deadly- 

 looking marsh ; and I am not sure that those blacks could 

 have approached within spear-throwing distance. They 

 were probably temporary prisoners, as I had been, on 

 their little hill. However, if they saw me at all, they did 

 not think it worth while to stop their sport to look at me ; 



