6 
NORTH AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. 
[Nov. 9, 1857. 
derable distance, and taking with me Bowman, the best of onr stock 
men , I went out for three days without success ; hut, on the next 
attempt-, thinking they might probably have gone to the westward, 
where Captain Stokes had indicated the mouth of a creek entering 
the Victoria, I had the good fortune to find a large stream, where 
we were met by a tribe of natives, six of whom stood out in 
skirmishing order, with their spears poised upon their throwing- 
sticks ; others stood in the rear as supports, and the rest re- 
mained in the bush close by. Our efforts to conciliate them were 
fruitless, and as in another minute they would have launched their 
spears, we charged them at full speed, revolver in hand. They 
fled immediately, and after chasing them a few hundred yards, we 
let them go, not thinking it necessary to fire on them. In the after- 
noon we found the horses, and next day reached camp, where we 
met Mr. Gregory, who had returned. Mr. Gregory now selected 
his brother, Dr. Mueller, Mr. Flood, myself, and four of the men, 
to accompany him on his next journey. We packed 30 horses, 
27 of which carried on each side 50 lbs. of flour, sugar, or pork, 
with other things, making up the load to an average weight of 
168 or 170 lbs., and left six for the alternate use of the party. The 
gunpowder was securely packed in half pound canisters in the 
centre of the flour bags. On the 1st of January, 1856, we started, 
but the horses being fresh and wild, took fright and rushed through 
a swamp, throwing off their packs, and losing about 100 lbs. of 
sugar. On the 3rd all damages were repaired, and we started 
again. The rivers were at this time so much swollen by the rains, 
*tliat we had to pass a line over a tree in Jasper Creek and swing 
the whole of our packages, weighing upwards of a ton and a half, 
across it. 
On the 13th we reached the large western branch of the Victoria, 
and travelling up this till the 22nd, we turned to the southward, 
and next day, with a small party, pushed forward to select a 
convenient spot for a depot. We found the land elevated to a 
height of 1160 feet, and consisting of extensive plains thinly 
overflowed with volcanic rock, which, forming good black soil, 
was covered with rich grass. Agate was plentiful, and out of 
this and the trap rock the blacks had been making vast numbers of 
.spears and tomahawks, by striking one stone against another, 
something after the process adopted in making gun-flints. The 
ant hills had been excavated in search of larvae and eggs ; fresh 
water muscles had been fished up from the brooks ; the trees had 
been notched by climbers in search of lizards, birds’ nests, or honey ; 
and holes in the ground appeared to have served as cooking places 
