fire was burning near the water and at it sat a black child about seven
or eight years old, quite blind. All the other natives had fled save one
poor little girl still younger who, notwithstanding the appearance of
such strange beings as we must have seemed to her, and the terror of
those who fled, nevertheless lingered about the bushes and at length took
her seat beside the blind boy. A large supply of the balyan root lay near
them, and a dog so lean as scarcely to be able to stand, drew his feeble
body close up beside the two children as if desirous to defend them. They
formed indeed a miserable group, exhibiting nevertheless instances of
affection and fidelity creditable both to the human and canine species.
An old man came up to the fire afterwards with other children. He told us
the name of the waterholes between that place and the Murrumbidgee, but
he could not be prevailed on to be our guide.

A WIDOW JOINS THE PARTY AS GUIDE.

Subsequently however a gin who was a widow, with the little girl
above-mentioned, whose age might be about four years, was persuaded by
him to accompany us.

HORSE KILLED.

At this camp, just after I had inspected the horses and particularly
noticed one as the second best draught animal we had, I was requested by
the overseer to look at him again, both bones of his near thigh having
been broken by an unlucky kick from a mare. The horse had been with me on
two former expeditions, and it was with great regret that I consented to
his being shot. We were enabled to regale the old native with his flesh,
the men shrewdly giving him to understand through Piper that the horse
was with us what the emu was with them, too good a thing to be eaten by
young men. He seemed to relish it much and next morning we left him
roasting a large piece.

THE BALYAN ROOT.

The principal food of these inhabitants of the Kalare or Lachlan appeared
to be balyan, the rhizoma, as already stated, of a monocotyledonous plant
or bulrush growing amongst the reeds. It contains so much gluten that one
of our party, Charles Webb, made in a short time some excellent cakes of
it; and they seemed to me lighter and sweeter than those prepared from
common flour.

HOW GATHERED.

The natives gather the roots and carry them on their heads in great
bundles within a piece of net. The old man came thus loaded to the fire
where the blind child was seated; and indeed this was obviously their
chief food among the marshes.

May