m the dialect of Yamba's
country. Our first meeting was conducted in the usual way--squatting
down on our haunches, and then drawing nearer and nearer until we were
able to rub noses on one another's shoulders. I then explained by means
of signs that I wanted to stay with them a few days, and I was
inexpressibly relieved to find that my little passport stick (which never
left my possession for a moment), was recognised at once, and proved most
efficacious generally. After this I became more friendly with my hosts,
and told them by signs that I was looking for white people like myself,
whereupon they replied I should have to go still farther south to find
them. They took us to their camp, and provided us with food, consisting
mainly of fish, shell-fish, and roots. So far as I could ascertain,
there were no kangaroo or opossum on the island. After two or three
days, I thought it time to be continuing our journey; but feeling
convinced that I must be in the vicinity of the Cape York
Peninsula--instead of being on the west coast of the Gulf of
Carpentaria--I decided not to go south at all, but to strike due north,
where I felt certain Somerset Point lay; and I also resolved to travel by
sea this time, the blacks having presented me with a very unsubstantial
"dug-out" canoe. Leaving behind us the catamaran that had brought us so
many hundreds of miles, we set out on our travels once more--taking care,
however, never to lose sight of the coast-line on account of our frail
craft. We passed several beautiful islands, big and little, and on one
that we landed I came across some native chalk drawings on the face of
the rock. They depicted rude figures of men--I don't remember any
animals--but were not nearly so well done as the drawings I had seen in
caves up in the Cape Londonderry district.

We also landed from time to time on the mainland, and spoke with the
chiefs of various tribes. They were all hostile at first. On one
occasion we actually met one or two blacks who spoke a few words of
English. They had evidently been out with pearlers at some time in their
lives, but had returned to their native wilds many years before our
visit. I asked them if they knew where white men were to be found, and
they pointed east (Cape York), and also indicated that the whites were
many moons' journey away from us. I was sorely puzzled. A glance at a
map of Australia will enable the reader to realise my great blunder.
Ignorant