by fishes
and waterfowl, or form new plants. The natives had consequently to dive
for the ripe seed-vessels; and we observed them constantly disappearing
and reappearing on the surface of the water. They did not see us until we
were close to them, when they hurried out of the water, snatched up some
weapons and ran off, leaving their harvest of Nymphaea seeds behind.
Brown had visited another lagoon, where he had seen an old man and two
gins; the former endeavoured to frighten him by setting the grass on
fire, but, when he saw that Brown still approached, he retired into the
forest. We took a net full of seeds, and I left them a large piece of
iron as payment. On returning to the camp, we boiled the seeds, after
removing the capsule; but as some of the numerous partitions had
remained, the water was rendered slightly bitter. This experiment having
failed, the boiled seeds were then (Unclear:)tied with a little fat,
which rendered them very palatable and remarkably satisfying. The best
way of cooking them was that adopted by the natives, who roast the whole
seed-vessel. I then made another trial to obtain the starch from the
bitter potatoes, in which I succeeded; but the soup for eight people,
made with the starch of sixteen potatoes, was rather thin.

We were encamped at a small creek, scarcely a mile from the river, from
which John Murphy and Brown brought the leaves of the first palm trees we
had seen on the waters of the gulf. They belonged to the genus Corypha;
some of them were very thick and high.

The mornings and evenings were very beautiful, and are surpassed by no
climate that I have ever lived in. It was delightful to watch the fading
and changing tints of the western sky after sunset, and to contemplate,
in the refreshing coolness of advancing night, the stars as they
successively appeared, and entered on their nightly course. The state of
our health showed how congenial the climate was to the human
constitution; for, without the comforts which the civilized man thinks
essentially necessary to life; without flour, without salt and miserably
clothed, we were yet all in health; although at times suffering much from
weakness and fatigue. At night we stretched ourselves on the ground,
almost as naked as the natives, and though most of my companions still
used their tents, it was amply proved afterwards that the want of this
luxury was attended with no ill consequences.

We heard some subdued cooees, not very