CH VI.] MELANCHOLY REFLECTIONS. 275 



expected to come against us ; and it was necessary that we 

 should be prepared to meet them in whatever force they ap- 

 peared. On the return of the men in the evening, they re- 

 ported, that, notwithstanding all their exertions, the bullock 

 could not be got up from the mud. 



Seven men were accordingly sent to the spot that after- 

 noon, and as they did not succeed, it became necessary to 

 send a party to the river in the morning. This was also 

 proper, I considered, in order to cover our retreat, for by first 

 scouring the river bank, no natives could remain along it 

 to discover, that our journey was not, as they would naturally 

 suppose, continued downwards. 



A death-like silence now prevailed along the banks of the 

 river, no far-heard voices of natives at their fires broke, as 

 before, the stillness of the night — while a painful sympathy 

 for the child bereft of its parent, and anticipations of the pro- 

 bable consequences to us, cast a melancholy gloom over the 

 scene. The waning moon at length arose, and I was anx- 

 iously occupied with the observations, which were most im- 

 portant at this point of my journey, when a mournful song, 

 strongly expressive of the wailing of women, came from be- 

 yond the Darling, on the fitful breeze which still blew from 

 the north-west. It was then that I regretted most bitterly the 

 inconsiderate conduct of some of the men. I was, indeed, 

 liable to pay dear for geographical discovery, when my honour 

 and character were delivered over to convicts, on whom, al- 

 though I might confide as to courage, I could not always 

 rely for humanity. The necessity for detaching the men in 

 charge of the cattle, had, however, satisfied me that we could 

 not proceed without repeated conflicts, and it remained now 

 to be ascertained, whether greater security would be the 

 result of this first exhibition of our power. 



T 2 



