ers scarcely worthy of thought; but it is the traveller who
learns to appreciate how great blessings they are in reality.

An influenza appeared to be raging among the natives, all having the
remnants of colds, coughing severely when we met them. Several attempts
were made to induce them to come on board, but they proved vain.
Sometimes, just as the boat was leaving the shore, they would enter the
bow of it, as if about to accompany us; no sooner, however, was the boat
in motion, than out they jumped, laughing and apparently delighted to
deceive us, acting, in fact, exactly the part of noisy
children.

"IRRU, IRRU."

Our friendly intercourse with these natives sustained a shock, which at
first threatened to annihilate it, but which fortunately ended, as it
began, in smoke. One of the officers used a common flint and steel, in
order to procure a light for his cigar; at this new mode of procuring
fire all eyes were open--for doubtless they procure it only by means of
friction--but when he proceeded to place the lighted cigar between his
lips, and roll forth from thence a thick and perfumed cloud, fright took
full possession of them, and exclaiming "irru, irru," with the arm
extended, and a slight vertical motion of the hand, they darted off most
unceremoniously, clambering up the face of a precipitous cliff, with
extraordinary agility. Their cry of "irru, irru," and their manner of
delivering it, were identical with those of King's Sound, under somewhat
similar circumstances. In a few days they had forgotten their fright, and
had returned to renew the friendly relations this little incident had
interrupted.

During the short time we passed with this people in Port Darwin, some
words of their language were collected by many of us. Those that we all
agreed in I have noted down, but the different names for things given by
the same person, here and at Shoal Bay, will at once impress the reader
with the conviction of how impossible it is for transient visitors to
obtain a correct vocabulary. Those first made out at Port Essington, were
found to be half Malay words, and of any meaning rather than what they
were supposed to convey. The words given below are from Mr. Earl's
vocabulary, the result of four years careful examination and experience.

COLUMN 1: ENGLISH.
COLUMN 2: SHOAL BAY.
COLUMN 3: PORT DARWIN.
COLUMN 4: PORT ESSINGTON.
COLUMN 5: SWAN RIVER.

Crab : Algaura : - : Meir : -.
Dog : Melinga : - : Mugki : Dudah