CH. IV.] DANGEROUS MISTAKE. 203 



the bush; and being, as it appeared, a friend of the king's, 

 he continued with us. An opossum in a tree had baffled all 

 the endeavours of himself and some young men to get at it, 

 when they cooyed for the king. Our royal friend came, 

 climbed the tree in an instant, and after a cursory exami- 

 nation, dropped some small sticks down the hollow of the 

 trunk ; then listening, he pointed, as by instinct, to a part of 

 the tree much lower down, where, by making a small inci- 

 sion, the others immediately got the animal out. 



May 10. — We moved (on 345°) for Nyingan, which we 

 reached at half-past twelve. We passed on our left, Bor- 

 ribilu, and there I was introduced by the king to a new tribe. 

 On first espying these people seated under a tree, at a great 

 distance, near the river-bank, he directed my attention that 

 way by using the same gestures, which he was accustomed 

 to make in giving me notice of a kangaroo or emu. I accord- 

 ingly left my horse, going cautiously forward wuth my rifle. 

 The chief, however, kept by me, anxiously calling out wdth a 

 pathetic voice, "iHfyew," '■'■ Myen" which words, as I after- 

 wards learnt, meant Men! Men! But it was not until a 

 thought had passed in my mind of firing among the group, 

 that I had the good fortune to discover my mistake. The 

 figures seated, and covered with grey clay, had very much 

 the resemblance of a grey species of kangaroo, which we had 

 often seen on the Bogan. I then w^ent forward with him, 

 and was received with the most demure inattention ; that is 

 to say, by the natives sitting cross-legged, with their eyes fixed 

 on the ground, which it appeared was their formal mode of 

 expressing respect or consideration for strangers, when first 

 received. 



Nyingan was a long pond of water, on which were many 

 ducks, and those birds called in the colony, native companions. 

 The blacks sat down at a fire nearer to us than usual, and the 

 strong man with a bad countenance, particularly attracted 

 my attention. 



I prevailed on him to sit, until I sketched his lace ; for 



