VII.

Owing to depredations and murders committed by the blacks between
Cooktown and the Palmer, it was found advisable for teams and packers to
travel in numbers for mutual protection. On the trip to Palmerville, I
travelled in company with nine other teams, and after crossing the
Normanby River we camped on the bank. Our bullocks strayed some miles
down the river, and on mustering them in the morning we found the trend
of the river was towards the Deighton, one of its tributaries, and in
the direction of where the old road crossed it. A party was formed, of
which I was one, to ascertain if it was possible to reach the Deighton
without going through the "Welcome Water-hole Sand." We found good, firm
country which made it practicable. On returning, we rode our horses
single file, thus making a good pad for the bullocks to follow. Our
first night out we camped between two lagoons. A mate and I went out to
get some ducks or geese, which swarmed on the lagoons. We had previously
noticed that the blacks' tracks had formed beaten pads, like sheeps'
tracks, round the lagoons.

We crossed a soakage running through sand; there were dense patches of
scrub near the lagoons, and I had an impression that it was not safe to
go farther on foot, and said I would go back. My mate at first demurred,
but eventually yielded. When we came back to the wet sand we saw blacks'
tracks over our boot prints. It was evident we had been followed, and
had we not returned would most certainly have been speared in some
convenient place. That night dogs were barking incessantly. My waggon
being on the outside, I let the tarpaulin down and slept on the ground
instead of on the bunk, rigged up between the spokes of the hind
wheels--there was less likelihood of a spear catching me there.

After crossing the Deighton we met some empty teams coming down, and
told them of the new road we had opened up. The carriers said they would
go that way. We cautioned them to be careful of the blacks, as there
were numbers of them in the vicinity. Some time after the carriers told
us they found that the blacks had covered the road with bushes, sticks
and small trees to screen their hunting grounds. They also said they had
met a German, his wife and little girl, at the turn-off on the Normanby,
and advised them not to go on the new track as the blacks were bad, and
they had no firearms. However, the German, whose name was Johan Strau,
persisted, saying he was not af