62 GRUBS. — FLAG-REED ROOTS. 
As soon as we were fairly over I halted for the 
night, to rest myself and give Wylie an opportunity 
of looking for food. The water in both branches of 
this river was only brackish where we crossed, and 
at that which we encamped upon but slightly so. 
There were many grass- trees in the vicinity, and 
as several of these had been broken down and were 
dead they were full of the white grubs of which 
the natives are so fond. From these Wylie enjoyed 
a plentiful, and to him, luxurious supper. I 
could not bring myself to try them, preferring the 
root of the broad flag-reed, which, for the first time, 
we met with at this stream, and which is an excellent 
and nutritious article of food. This root being 
dug up, and roasted in hot ashes, yields a great 
quantity of a mealy farinaceous powder interspersed 
among the fibres; it is of an agreeable flavour, 
wholesome, and satisfying to the appetite. In all 
parts of Australia, even where other food abounds, 
the root of this reed is a favourite and staple article 
of diet among the aborigines. The proper season 
of the year for procuring it in full perfection, is 
after the floods have receded, and the leaves have 
died away and been burnt off. It is that species of 
reed of which the leaves are used by coopers for clos- 
ing up crevices between the staves of their casks. 
June 1. — Upon getting up this morning I found 
myself very stiff and sore from the bruises I had 
received yesterday, yet I felt thankful that I had 
escaped so well ; had any of my limbs been broken, 
