308 
JOINED BY A NATIVE. 
less a continuation of the table land, I had found 
existing at the head of the Great Bight. The wea- 
ther, however, was as unfavourable as the country, 
for such researches, at this season of the year, and the 
horses I had taken out with me suffered a good 
deal, even in the short space of two days, during 
which I was engaged in this attempt. 
On some occasions the thermometer was 113° in 
the shade, and whenever the wind was from the 
north-east, it was hot and oppressive beyond all 
conception. The natives, though occasionally seen, 
generally kept away from us during the time 
we were in depot. One old man alone (called 
Mumma) came up to our camp, and remained with 
us for several days ; he was one of the few who had 
accompanied us so far from the neighbourhood of 
Denial Bay, and seemed to have taken a great 
fancy to us. We now endeavoured to reward him 
for his former services, by giving him a red shirt, 
a blanket, and a tomahawk, and whenever we got 
our meals he joined us, eating and drinking readily 
any thing we gave him-— tea, broth, pease soup, 
mutton, salt pork, rice, damper, sugar, dried fruits, 
were all alike to him, nothing came amiss, and he 
appeared to grow better in condition every day. 
At last he too got tired of remaining so long in 
one place; the novelty had worn away, and packing up 
his things he left us. During the time this man had 
been with us, I took the opportunity of ascertaining 
whether the King George’s Sound native, Wylie, 
