226 
NORTH AUSTBALIA. 
I snbsequently leamcd that this was iu tended by them 
as a sign of peaceful incKnationSj and thatj, if I had 
stopped and spoken to them, they wonld have accom- 
panied me into the settlement, as^ partly from pride, and 
partly from timidity, they wished to be attended during 
their first visit by one of the officers of the estaljlishment. 
Such, however, is their account of the affair ; but not 
knowing at the time the peculiar state of their feelings, 1 
adopted the plan that we had found from experience to 
be the beat calculated to give confidence to timid 
strangera, and walked qnietly past, without noticing them 
particularly. When some distance away from them, I 
turned, and saw that they had arisen, and were walking 
gently towards the settlement, but they must have altered 
their mind, for the next day we learned that they had 
token their final departure for the interior. 
'-During the following autumn we were more fortunate, 
for a party, amounting to upwards of thirty, headed by a 
taU, active chief, named Alarac, marched at once into the 
settlement, and remained among us nearly a week. This 
chief was nearly six feet two inches in height, but his 
limba were spare and sinewy. He differed in this par- 
ticular from the people who accompanied him, the latter 
being for the most part sturdy-looking men, with plump 
and well-rounded limbs, and, although by no means short 
in stature, still ncft remarkable for their height. They 
appeared to be a well-fed, comfortable people, but their 
moat striking peculiarity consisted in the calm dignity of 
their manners. Although evidently pleased with the 
reception they met with, and surprised at the novelties 
