rack of two who, having been there on the preceding evening,
had that morning returned towards the river. At an early hour we yoked up
our groaning cattle and proceeded, although the rain continued for some
time. I pursued by compass the bearing of the high trees I had seen,
though they were somewhat to the northward of west.

AGAIN MAKE THE MURRAY.

Exactly at five miles a green bank and, immediately after, the broad
expanse of the Murray, with luxuriantly verdant margins, came suddenly in
view on the horizon of the barren bush in which we had travelled upwards
of twenty-three miles, and which here approached the lofty bank of the
river. The green hill I had first seen afforded an excellent position for
our camp; and as the grass was good I halted for the rest of the day to
refresh the cattle.

STRANGE NATIVES VISIT THE CAMP AT DUSK.

Towards evening the natives were heard advancing along our track, and
seven came near the camp but remained on the river margin below, which
from our post on the hill we completely overlooked. Piper went to these
natives to ascertain if they were our enemies from the lake. He
recognised several whom he had seen there, and he invited them to come up
the hill; but when I saw them I could not, from their apparently candid
discourse, look upon them as enemies. They said that the tribe which we
had seen at Benanee did not belong to that part of the country, but had
come there to fight us, on hearing of our approach. One of them, who had
been seen at the lake, asked Piper several times why I did not attack
them when I had so good an opportunity, and he informed us that they were
the same tribe which intended to kill another white man (Captain Sturt)
in a canoe, at the junction of the rivers lower down. They also informed
us, on the inquiry being made, that the old man who then behaved so well
to the white men was lately dead, and that he had been much esteemed by
his tribe. I desired Piper to express to them how much we white men
respected him also. I afterwards handed to these people a fire-stick and,
pointing to the flat below, gave them to understand, through Piper, that
the tribe at Benanee had behaved so ill and riotously about our camp that
I could not allow any natives to sit down beside us at night.

CHAPTER 3.5.

New and remarkable shrub.
Darling tribe again.
Their dispersion by the party.
Cross a tract intersected by deep lagoons.
Huts over tombs.
Another division of the Da