INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. f)7 



eat our dinner, than the musquitoes surrounded us 

 in swarms, and we looked forward to a sleepless 

 night of torment. About seven o'clock we heard a 

 native coey at a distance, and answered it ; and 

 about eight we sent the men to the inner mangrove 

 swamp, to get wood for our fire. In order that all 

 might work at this, I took a musket, and volun- 

 teered for sentry ; and while walking up and down, 

 heard a stick crack in the bush, in the direction of 

 the native path. I immediately walked up that 

 way, and just at the edge of the wood, in the dark 

 shadow of the trees, over w hich the moon was just 

 rising, I nearly trod on an old man and two or three 

 others that were lying crouched on the grass, watch- 

 ing our movements. They immediately rose, and 

 the old man, with a sort of deprecating murmur and 

 gesture, began to pull out a handful of a kind of 

 ground nuts from a basket slung round his neck, 

 and offer them to me. I accepted them j and, seeing 

 I was inclined to be friendly, two or three others 

 advanced, and we danced a corrobory. Captain 

 Blackwood and luce shortly joined me, having pre- 

 viously got all our baggage back into the boat, and 

 put a man in her to take care of it. We then in- 

 vited them to our fire, and found there were alto- 

 gether seventeen of them. They had no spears, 

 but one old man had a waddy or club, and two or 

 three had boomerangs, some of which were well 

 made, but others were bent pieces of stick, hastily 

 picked up. On coming to the fire we gave them 



f 2 



