100 DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. 
that they were treated with more than ordinary kindness ; 
and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify these favouied 
guests, made great havoc among the feathered lace. 
He returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, 
among which were a crow, a kite, and a laughing jack- 
ass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of king’s-fisher, a singular 
bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, which re- 
sembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the tia- 
veller who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking 
at his misfortune. It is a harmless bird, and I seldom al- 
lowed them to be destroyed, as they were sure to rouse us 
with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser s spoils, a 
duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole 
of these our friends threw on the fire without the delay of 
plucking, and snatched them from that consuming element 
ere they were well singed, and devoured them with uncom- 
mon relish. 
We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious 
soil. A brush, in which there was a new species of mela- 
lcuca, backed it, in the thickest part of which we found a 
deserted native village. The spot was evidently chosen for 
shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same 
point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts 
occupied by the natives of the Darling. Large flocks of 
whistling ducks, and other wild fowl, flew over our heads 
to the N. W., as if making their way to some large or fa- 
vourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34° 8' 15" 
south, and in east long. 141° 9' 42" or nearly so; and I was 
