COASTS OF AUSTRALIA^ 
153 
upon the flat rock, which is merely a bare mass 
of granite, of about thirty yards in diameter, 
some natives were heard calling to us, and upon 
our pulling to the part whence the sound came, 
we found two men and a boy. After some time 
they were discovered to be three of our Oyster- 
Harbour friends, and therefore we made no hesi- 
tation of communicating with them, and of taking 
them on board, where they were regaled upon 
the flesh of the seals we had killed at the island. 
Notwithstanding the friendly disposition of the 
inhabitants of this sound, I felt it necessary to 
act very cautiously in our communication with 
them, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. 
And that this might not even be accidentally 
done, I requested Mr. Cunningham to confine 
his walks to the vicinity of the vessel, and parti- 
cularly to avoid any route that would take him 
towards their encampment. He was therefore 
prevented from visiting many parts near which 
he had promised himself much amusement and 
information in botanizing, particularly the neigh- 
bourhood of Bayonet Head, and the distant parts 
of Oyster Harbour. At our former visit to this 
place he had searched in vain for that curious 
little plant cephalotus follicularis Br., but on 
* Flinders, vol- i. p. 64, and Brown’s General Remarks in 
Flinders, vol, ii. p. 601, et seq. 
