hese
blackfellows, as he calls them, have no throwing sticks; for though at
times exceedingly valiant in conversation, and very anxious to kill one
of the men, and carry off one of their gins, or wives--the great end,
aim, and ambition of all Australian force or policy--he yet evidently
holds these northmen in great dread. They are, according to his account,
"Bad men--eat men--Perth men tell me so: Perth men say, Miago, you go on
shore very little, plenty Quibra men* go, you go." These instructions
appear to have been very carefully pressed upon him by his associates,
and certainly they had succeeded in inspiring him with the utmost dread
of this division of his fellow countrymen, which all his boasting about
killing some of them and taking one of their women as proof of his
prowess, back to Perth, failed to concern.

(*Footnote. i.e. Men of the ship.)

CLOUDS OF MAGELLAN.

He gave me this evening a new reason to account for the appearance of the
two small clouds called after the celebrated Magellan, in the following
words: "You see," said he, pointing up to the sky, "little smoke." I
assented at once; for certainly the clouds have very much the appearance
of that to which he compared them: he then continued: "Perth man tell me,
long, long time back, he make fire, smoke go far away up, far away, stop
and never go away more." Miago evidently believed that his friend at
Perth had really lighted the fire, the smoke of which had thus gone up
"far away, far away," to "stop and never go away more." I can easily
enough comprehend why the assertion might be made, and possibly without
any intention to deceive upon the part of the asserter, who may first
have seen the clouds after watching the ascent of his own fire smoke
through the still air, in the same direction; but that it should be
implicitly believed, as it evidently was by Miago, upon the mere word of
his fellow countryman, did, I own, astonish me; and seems to indicate
that, in their social intercourse with each other, they may have more
regard for truth than I was at first inclined to give them credit for.

USELESS BAY.

Mr. Usborne was away to-day in one of the boats, seeking a berth for the
ship higher up the bay: upon his return he reported that he had been over
the banks before mentioned, upon which he found the water very shoal: the
face of the country he described as exceedingly low, with mud lumps not
unlike ant-hills,* scattered here and there over the fac