our men to be at hand.

THREE FEMALES FOLLOW THE PARTY.

July 14.

The morning was fair but the sky continued to be cloudy when we commenced
our journey. After we had proceeded some miles the cooeys of the natives
were heard around us, and we once more expected an attack. We were then
in a close scrub and the cattle were advancing slowly, for the ground had
been softened by the rain. We halted the carts in a small open space and
prepared for defence. The men forming our rear guard, having concealed
themselves behind bushes, intercepted three gins and a boy who appeared
to be following our movements. When discovered they called out loudly
"Wainba! Wainba!" and we concluded from this that the male savages were
not far off, and that they employed these women on outpost duty. Our men
beckoned to them to go back and, no other natives appearing, we resumed
our march. The gins however were not to be driven from their object so
easily; and indeed from the barking of our dogs towards the scrub during
the night, and by the tracks observed in the sand across our route next
morning, it appeared that these poor creatures had passed the night, a
cold one too, in the scrub near our camp without fire or water, and that
they had preceded us in the morning.

NATIVE CONVERSATIONS.

In the calm evening of that day and as the sun was setting I distinctly
heard the women, at a distance of nearly two miles, relating something
respecting us to a party of their tribe beyond the Darling. It may be
difficult for those unused to the habits of Australian natives to
understand how this could be; but it must be remembered that these people
having no fixed domicile, the gins generally form a separate party, but
may thus often carry on a conversation from a great distance with their
male companions--consequently when a mile apart only these people may be
said to be in company with each other. As the gins are always ordered by
their lords and masters to meet them at such places of rendezvous as they
may think proper, we may account for the well-known accuracy of these
natives in the names which belong to every locality in their woods.

Nearly the whole day's journey led through a bushy scrub and over ground
rather soft and heavy. We reached however our former place of encampment
which we again occupied; and we sent our cattle to the river for the
night with a party of four armed men. The evening was extremely cold and
raw, the wind blowing from s