36 



MATTED FORESTS. 



March 4.— Early this morning a native came 

 down to the beach, opposite the boat, and shouted 

 and gesticulated for along time, but there was then 

 too much surf to land conveniently. When the 

 flood tide made, \vc went ashore to fill our breakers 

 at the water holes, and met three natives who, after 

 coeying a little, came up in a friendly manner, appa- 

 rently satisfied of our good intentions. I exchanged 

 a bottle with one for a waddv, or short club. Aird 

 and 1 left them with the watering party, who were 

 armed, and set off to walk in the bush ; but on our 

 ascending the hill, they shouted and came towards 

 us making signs not to proceed, one of them point- 

 ing to his legs and twisting his hands round, as if 

 to shew they would he entangled. Accordingly, a 

 very little distance up the hill we came on the edge 

 of a jungle, consisting of branching trees matted 

 together by innumerable creepers hanging from the 

 branches and trailing on the ground. This kind of 

 wood occupied all the upper part of the hill, from 

 which it extended down the gullies nearly to the 

 shore, the intermediate parts and the flats only 

 being covered with the usual open woodland of 

 grass and green trees. In the latter there was 

 excellent green grass covering a rather rocky 

 ground.* This jungle was quite impenetrable. We 

 now walked to the outer point where were some small 

 hills, covered with long grass, under which, how- 



* I believe this kind of matted forest is called a " brush/' in 

 the northern part of New South Wales. 



