Page:Life and Adventures of William Buckley.djvu/35

12 miserable night, my clothes being wet, and the weather cold, it being the early part of the spring of the year. At daylight, I endeavoured to ascertain if the natives were moving, as their huts and fires were within sight, and finding them not astir, I left my uncomfortable lodging, and took again to the beach.

As it was low tide, I found a considerable supply of the shell fish before mentioned, which the natives call Kooderoo; it is the same as the English describe as mutton fish. Its shape is something like that of the oyster, but it is tougher, and larger, and consequently not so digestable. The shell is inlaid with what appears to be mother of pearl. These fish I was now obliged to eat raw, and having no fresh water I suffered exceedingly from thirst until the evening, when I reached the river Kaaraf, a stream of considerable width and depth, I there laid myself down for the night. It was one, far worse than the last, for I had taken off my clothes and hung them up in the trees to dry, covering myself with the long grass as my only shelter from the weather. The next day, I forded the Kaaraf, and having left it and taken to the bush, I suffered dreadfully during the day from thirst, having nothing to allay it but the dew from the boughs which I collected with my hands in passing. Even this supply was very uncertain, on account of the strong breezes which prevailed during the nights.

Continuing my course along the beach, I reached the Doorangwar River, where I took up my quarters in my usual manner, having the sky for my canopy, and the