e the afternoon. He had frequently acted thus of late; and it
was one of the standing complaints against him, that he was opossum and
honey hunting, whilst we were kept waiting for our horses and cattle. As
I was determined not to suffer this, after his late misbehaviour, I
reprimanded him, and told him that I would not allow him any food, should
he again be guilty of such conduct. Upon this, he burst out into the most
violent and abusive language, and threatened "to stop my jaw," as he
expressed himself. Finding it, therefore, necessary to exercise my
authority, I approached him to show him out of the camp, when the fellow
gave me a violent blow on the face, which severely injured me, displacing
two of my lower teeth; upon which my companions interfered, and
manifested a determination to support me, in case he should refuse to
quit us; which I compelled him to do. When he was going away, Brown told
him, in a very consoling manner, that he would come by and bye and sleep
with him. I was, however, determined that no one within the camp should
have any communication with him; and therefore told Brown, that he had
either to stop with me entirely, or with Charley. He answered that he
could not quarrel with him; that he would sleep with him, but return
every morning; and, when I replied that, in such a case, he should never
return, he said that he would stop altogether with Charley, and walked
off. If I had punished these fellows for their late misconduct, I should
have had no occasion for doing so now: but full of their own importance,
they interpreted my forbearance, by fancying that I could not proceed
without them.

Previous to this occurrence, Charley had, during my absence from the
camp, had an interview with the natives, who made him several presents,
among which were two fine calabashes which they had cleaned and used for
carrying water; the larger one was pear-shaped, about a foot in length,
and nine inches in diameter in the broadest part, and held about three
pints. The natives patted his head, and hair, and clothing; but they
retired immediately, when he afterwards returned to them, accompanied by
Mr. Calvert on horseback.

We started, on the 21st February, from our killing camp, and travelled a
long stage; the day was very hot, and the heat of the rotten ground was
intense. Our little terrier, which had so well borne former fatigues,
died; and our remaining kangaroo-dog was only saved by Mr. Calvert's
carrying