periods in North-West Australia resemble it, to attempt to explore the
country at this time of the year would be fruitless. Such a good supply
of rain is a great advantage to an occupied country through which regular
lines of communication exist; as it then raises but slight impediments to
travellers; but the case is very different to first explorers who have to
find a ford over every stream and a passage across every swamp, and who
constantly run the risk of involving themselves in a perfectly impassable
region.

NATIVES NEAR THE CAMP.

March 19.

This morning was also ushered in with torrents of rain, chequered by
occasional intervals of fine weather of perhaps half an hour's duration.
Another sheep died and several of the ponies were very unwell. The men
who had been shifting the tethers of the horses at noon returned with the
intelligence that, during the period of their absence from the
encampment, a party of natives must have been close to us, watching our
movements, for that when they went out there were no traces of them near
the camp, which were now discernible in nearly every direction around us.

I selected the best bushman of my party and went off to see whether
anything was to be apprehended from these natives, but I soon found that
the report was in some degree exaggerated. Some natives had crept up to
within about a hundred yards of us, probably with the intention of making
a reconnaissance, and of then framing their future plans; they had
however been disturbed by the return of the men from the horses, and then
made off. It appears that they had approached us by walking up a stream
of water so as to conceal their trail, and then turned out of the stream
up its right bank; and although they had carefully trod in one another's
foot-marks, so as to conceal their number, we could make out the traces
of at least six or seven different men, which we followed to the spot
where, whilst creeping about to watch us, they had been disturbed. From
this point these children of the bush had disappeared, as it were by
magic: not a twig was broken, not a stone was turned, and we could not
perceive that the heavy drops of rain had been shaken from a single blade
of grass. We made wide casts in different directions but, not being able
to hit on their trail, I returned to the tents, more than ever convinced
of the necessity of being constantly on the watch against beings who were
often near us when we least dreamt of th