COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
391 
before a boomerang * whizzed past his head, and 1 82 ° - 
struck a tree close by with great force. Upon Aug. 23 , 
looking round towards the verge of the cliff, which 
was about twenty yards off, he saw several na- 
tives; who, upon finding they were discovered, 
set up a loud and savage yell, and threw another 
boomerang and several spears at him, all of which 
providentially missed. Emboldened by their num- 
bers and by his apparent defenceless situation, 
they were following up the attack by a nearer 
approach, when he fired amongst them, and, for 
a moment, stopped their advance. Mr. Roe’s 
next care was to reload, but to his extreme 
mortification and dismay he found his cartouch 
box had turned round in the belt, and every 
cartridge had dropped out : being thus deprived 
of his ammunition, and having no other re- 
source left but to make his escape, he turned 
round, and ran towards the beach ; at the same 
time shouting loudly, to apprize our people of 
his danger. He was now pursued by three of 
the natives, whilst the rest ran along the cliff to 
cut off his retreat. 
On his reaching the edge of the water, he 
found the sand so soft that at every step his feet 
sunk three or four inches, which so distressed 
him and impeded his progress, that he must soon 
* See Note, p. 355. 
