st a mob of blacks,
all warriors, heavily armed with spears, boomerangs, clubs, and little
thorny sticks, to approach the camp. From my previous knowledge of the
blacks I fancied we would easily have driven them away on horseback, but
this I did not think necessary. The mere fact of seeing the horses
brought towards the camp made them retire to a more respectful distance
from us; at 10.5 a.m. left Number 25 Camp; at 10.18 made half a mile
north-east half north to Number 23 Camp, where I stopped with Fisherman
and observed that we were not followed: at 10.45 made half a mile
north-north-east up the river; at 11.23 made one mile and three-quarters
north to the place where I accompanied Mr. Allison on a previous occasion
westward on the plain to take an observation of the sun, at which place
we overtook Campbell and party; at 11.48 made one mile north to where we
observed rising ground. I left the party, accompanied by Fisherman, to
ascend the rising ground; at 12.2 made half a mile north-east by east to
a tree on the rise which Fisherman climbed, and from it observed plain
country to the south and west and wooded country to the east and north.
Here we observed stunted box and bloodwood trees, and a variety of
grasses, among which I observed barley, oaten, kangaroo, and triodia; at
12.23 made one mile north by east; at 12.53 made one mile and a half
north by east to the waterhole I named Kenellan, where there were the
same blacks I had seen before. On this occasion they remained on the
right, while we had dinner on the opposite side, during which time others
to whom they cooeyed arrived at their camp, several of whom were loaded
with game. These, heedless of their own camp or of us, bathed the first
thing on their arrival. We shot ducks, and before leaving Kenellan
presented to the blacks glass bottles of which they were very proud; at 5
made one mile and a quarter north-north-east to Lake Frances, where I
bathed, and some of our party shot ducks. Started again at 5.33; at 6.40
made three miles about north-west by north (see outward route). At 6.56
made three-quarters of a mile north by west; at 7.15 made three-quarters
of a mile north-north-east to Mary Lake, on the lower end of which on the
left bank we formed our twenty-sixth camp.

December 30th. Mary Lake. Situated on the Herbert River.

As some of our horses were not able to travel as far as Camp 21, or to
any water we knew of to the northward, in one stage, without