Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/136

100 Her countenance at once lost its gloom, and with a burst of joy, she said she would go. She now laughed heartily, and entered freely into conversation with Jumbo, and said the sealers had told her not to speak, and that she was afraid of them.—Another native woman, named Maria, was on the jetty much of the day, growling (as they term expressing displeasure) toward the cutter; but this also proved to be assumed by the direction of the sealers; and she likewise, with her baby, was rescued from them.

On landing at Circular Head, we met with G. A. Robinson, returning from a visit to the west coast, in which he had prevailed on more of the natives to join those on Flinders Island. We walked with him to the house of Edward Curr, the Superintendent of the V. D. Land Company's concerns; where we were received with much hospitality. At this place, the large garden, with a fine crop of vegetables, the well fenced fields, with luxuriant herbage of rye-grass and white-clover, and the beautiful cattle and horses, and almost every other object but the Gum-trees, resemble England.

31st. While W. J. Darling and myself were on shore this morning, the cutter broke from her mooring. By getting promptly under sail, those on board were able to beat off from the shore, and by the admonition of one of the rescued women, they escaped running on a reef. We joined them in the West Bay, where they brought up under the lee of the land, and where the luggage of G. W. Walker and myself, was speedily transferred into the Company's Cutter, the Fanny, which immediately sailed for Woolnorth, in company with the Charlotte. We passed northward of Robbin Island, and of the small islands between it and Three Hummock, or the East Hunter Island, and anchored on the west of Stack Island, upon which we heard some dogs, but saw no person. We afterwards learned, however, that a native woman was there, who had concealed herself by order of the sealers, notwithstanding she would have been glad to have escaped from them: they subsequently carried her off to Kangaroo Island.

11th mo. 1st. Leaving the Charlotte at anchor, to take