Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/55

 scarcely taken the saddles off our horses when it began to rain heavily; however, we set ourselves busily to work, and by the light of the fire, for it was now quite dark, we soon managed to strip off two or three sheets of bark from the surrounding black-butt trees, and erect with them a precarious shelter from the rain. After having collected enough wood to keep up a large fire all night, and eaten our supper, we lay down to sleep. About midnight we were awakened by the loud barking of my dogs, and starting up, were very much astonished to see a number of blazing torches advancing towards us. We thought, at first, that we were going to be attacked, and accordingly snatched up our pieces to be in readiness for our supposed enemies; however, it proved to be a false alarm, for it appeared that our black companions, whose keen senses had detected the smell of the smoke from the fires of a black tribe in our vicinity, had slipped off, after we were asleep, to see them, and these wilder blacks, unable to restrain until morning their impatience to see the "white fellows," thought proper to pay us this nocturnal visit.

March 8th.—Having got our clothes somewhat dry, we started early in the morning, and soon encountered the whole tribe of natives. They drew up in a body as we passed them, and after gazing on us in silence, they commenced following us, keeping about one hundred yards in our rear; however, they soon came close to us, talking loudly with my