CAMP OF NATIVES. 
135 
appearance ; nor did they evince any satisfaction at our 
success — at least, not the satisfaction they would have 
shown at an earlier period of our journey. 
Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if 
the channel from the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a 
creek. The intersection of so many channels in this neigh- 
bourhood, most of them so much alike, made it essentially 
necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. 
Mr, Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been 
intended the morning of our return to the place at which 
we had slept. We took fresh horses, but dispensed with 
any other attendants, and indeed went wholly unarmed. 
After following our old track to its termination, we kept 
up the right bank of the channel, and at length arrived at 
the camp of the natives ; thus satisfying ourselves that We 
had been journeying on the Castlereagh, and that we were 
still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that 
there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed with- 
out a drop of water. Few of the natives were in the camp. 
The women avoided us, but not as if they were under any 
apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, we again 
got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming 
towards us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree 
went to meet them. One poor fellow had two ducks in his 
hand, which he had just taken off the fire; these he offered 
to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he called to 
a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of 
which we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the 
