Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/363

 ** bill iiisteaul of five minutes tktry ttiok no notice of hiiii lor a tjumrtev-of- an-hoar, when, after iimch Jiapiite between the natives, they peimitteil him tcj tiit down with them, hut no one spoke to liim or even answtTed hia questions, except one young man* who was known (o HarrnlUer'a partVt who tx*entetl Tiogy with muen eivihty^ hut all the others hjokt'd jit liirn with the most savage ature.'* BaiTallier made several exeiuHions from his depot at Nattai, t'omumiiicattiig repeatedly with King. After a montirs absence on his first joiirue.y, he wrote: ** I see with satisfaction that the difhcnlties I have undergone, and which at present appear insnrmountahle, do not incline yon I to a])andon the project." No effort had heen spared, I were oblige^i to pass to accomplish the mission yon have charged me with ; I but at length, haraa^etl with fatigue, onr feet wounded, aud tnuibhng the one over the otlier on rooks which appear U> liave no termination, and dispiritfd to lind everywhere insurnioimtahle n|>p<isition to our progress wiien we thought ourselves at the end of our travels, we were obliged, I after journeying six days, to return, not having heen able even to kill a I jrty. I do not believe there can be sn barren a ilesei t in any part of Africa aa theae mountains are^neither bird nor quadruped to be seen, but jdenty I of reptiles, amongst which are nund)eri^ of the nu»si venomous serpeuta/' How far Barrallier pier(.*ed the mountains on his second journey can only be surmised* Ascent and descent of mountains, which stand like walls^ magnify tenfold the labour of prugi*ess; and what the crow Hies in one mile might involve many miles for the traveller. A knowledge of the map, and one glance at the country amongst tlie tributaries of the Wollondilly and the Cox, in the line which Barrallier took, will make the most daring admit that his task was impracticable. The one way i>y which the moun- tain fastnesses could be threaded was that adeventy-four nnles from I Natt^ii in a due west course, I was mortilied to lind myself on the summit of a pei-peiKlicnlur mountain, from m hence T stiw a coiitiinied chain of mountains bounding the horizon thirty miles to the westward. At this time my courage would have forsaken me but for the sentiment of respect towards you. My companions appeared to have lost all ctmrage or desire
 * nor liave we been atopped by the ateep niountatus an J precipices we