CH. VI.] RECROSS THE PEEL. 139 



no great distance, apparently heedless of our party. I ap- 

 proached them with my rifle, on a steady old horse, and 

 found that this large quadruped, however strange a sight, 

 did not in the least alarm those gigantic birds, even when 

 I rode close up. I alighted, levelled my rifle over the 

 saddle and fired, but missed, as I presumed, for the bird 

 merely performed a sort of pirouette, and then recommenced 

 feedino; with the others as before. I had no means of reload- 

 ing without returning to the party, but I was content with 

 discovering that these birds might be thus approached on 

 horseback — for in general the first appearance of men, al- 

 though miles distant, puts them at once to their speed, 

 which, on soft loose earth, perhaps surpasses that of a horse. 



The ford of Wallanburra was now our only separation 

 from the christian world. That once passed, we might joy- 

 fully bid adieu to pestilence and famine, the lurking savage, 

 and every peril of " flood and field." Under the sense of 

 perfect security once more, and relieved from the anxiety 

 inseparable from such a charge, every object within the 

 territory of civilized man, appeared to me tinged couleur de 

 rose. 



The Peel was crossed without difficulty, and on the fol- 

 lowing morning, leaving the party in charge of Mr. White, 

 I commenced my ride homeward through the woods, fol- 

 lowed only by my man Brown ; and on reaching Segenhoe, 

 I forwarded to the Government, my official despatch, an- 

 nouncing the return of the party, and the result of the 

 expedition. 



On my arrival at Sydney, I learnt, that the life of the con- 

 vict Clarke had been spared, and that my report of the course 

 of the Peel and the Nammoy coinciding, as notified in my 

 first despatch, with his description of these rivers, had en- 

 couraged the Government to place more confidence in his 

 story. It was now obvious, however, that the account of his 



