216 ENCAMPMENT ON THE DARLING. [CH. IV. 



Lroke up, I went to them, and gave a tomahawk to an old 

 grey-haired man. The chief spokesman was a ferocious for- 

 ward sort of savage, to whom, 1 would rather have given any- 

 thins: than a tomahawk, from the manner in which he handled 

 my pockets. My horse awaited me, and 1 by signs explained 

 to them, that I was going. I suspect that " Watta" is their 

 familiar name for the Darling, from their use of this word, 

 on any sign being made in reference to the river. We pro- 

 ceeded on a bearing of 251°, until at 15 miles and 45 chains, 

 we reached the bank of the Darling. The cattle had been, 

 at some places, rather distressed from the heaviness of the 

 ground, having had scarcely any food for the last two days, 

 except a hard, dry, composite plant, which usurped the place 

 of grass. The camp I had left, which was in other respects 

 a fine position, could not possibly have served as a depot for 

 the cattle. We were extremely fortunate, however, in the 

 jjlace to which the bounteous hand of providence had led us. 

 Abundance of pasture, indeed such excellent grass as we had 

 not seen in the whole journey, covered the fine open forest 

 irround on the bank of the river! There were four kinds, 

 but the cattle appeared to relish most a strong species of an- 

 thistiria, or kangaroo grass. But the position to which we 

 had come, on so straight a line, reaching it, however, only at 

 sunset, surpassed anything I had expected to find on this 

 river. It consisted of the highest ground in the neighbourhood, 

 rising gradually from the lower levels, by which we had ap- 

 proached the river, to an elevated and extensive plateau, 

 overlooking a deep and broad reach. This was covered or 

 protected on the north by a green swamp, which was again 

 shut in by an extensive bend of the Darling. On the west 

 and north-west there was little tlml^er in the way ; and the 

 whole place seemed extremely favourable for the object, about 

 which I was then most anxious — namely, the establishment 

 of a secure d('])c'>t, and place of defi-nce. 



