old man, to accompany us as a guide, and as an inducement, had him
mounted on a horse, to the great admiration and envy of his fellows, all
of whom followed us on foot, keeping up in a line with the dray through
the scrub, and procuring their food as they went along, which consisted
of snakes, lizards, guanas, bandicoots, rats, wallabies, etc. etc. and it
was surprising to see the apparent ease with which, in merely walking
across the country, they each procured an abundant supply for the day.

In one place in the scrub we came to a large circular mound of sand,
about two feet high, and several yards in circumference; this they
immediately began to explore, carefully throwing away the sand with their
hands from the centre, until they had worked down to a deep narrow hole,
round the sides of which, and embedded in the sand, were four fine large
eggs of a delicate pink colour, and fully the size of a goose egg. I had
often seen these hills before, but did not know that they were nests, and
that they contained so valuable a prize to a traveller in the desert. The
eggs were presented to me by the natives, and when cooked were of a very
rich and delicate flavour. The nest was that of a wild pheasant,
(Leipoa), a bird of the size of a hen pheasant of England, and greatly
resembling it in appearance and plumage; these birds are very cautious
and shy, and run rapidly through the underwood, rarely flying unless when
closely pursued. The shell of the egg is thin and fragile, and the young
are hatched entirely by the heat of the sun, scratching their way out as
soon as they are born, at which time they are able to shift for
themselves. [Note 25: For a further account of the LEIPOA, vide
CHAPTER III. of Notes on the Aborigines.]

Our road to-day was through a heavy sandy country, covered for the most
part densely with the eucalyptus and tea-tree. About eleven we struck the
south-east corner of Denial Bay, and proceeded on to the north-east,
where I had appointed the cutter to meet me. To my surprise she was not
to be seen anywhere, and I began to get anxious about our supply of water
for the horses, as we were entirely dependant upon her for it. In the
afternoon I observed the vessel rounding into the south-east bight of the
bay, and was obliged to send my overseer on horseback a long ride round
the bay, to tell the master to send us water to the place of our
encampment. He had been to the island of St. Peter yesterday looking for