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CHAPTER XXII. 



Journey from Bundurah to Kuditee, general direction south-west, 

 time marching, four hours. — Territory of the Wahama. — Descrip- 

 tion of halting ground.' — Meet with party of friends returning 

 from Shoa. — Strange request. — Custom of incising skin with 

 sharp stone. — Influx of Wahama people into camp. — May 5th. 

 Staying at Kuditee. — La Belle Sauvage. — Long discussion with 

 the Wahama.' — Differences settled, and allowed to proceed. 



May \th. — We moved off our halting ground long 



before daylight, the Wahama men and women 



accompanying us. Our march was over a very level 



country of a sandy-kind of loam, on which the 



tallest grass, I ever saw in my life, grew, not in tufts, 



but in one continued field. It was quite as high as 



our shoulders, and our pathway through it looked 



like a deeply-cut canal. No trees were seen until 



the latter part of the march, where low mimosa-trees, 



with their spreading umbrella tops, running into 



each other, made a miniature grove, beneath which 



children might have walked in a delightful shade, 



but which restricted us to one narrow path, where 



the thorny boughs, just the height of our faces, 



annoyed us not a little. Numerous herds of the 



large Wydiddoo antelope grazed around, gazing 



on our approach, as if undecided how to act. As 



