Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia | Page 8

growing critical for had any of the party been wounded we could not attempt to save his life by remaining with him without the almost certain danger of losing our own, whilst on the other hand to have abandoned him under such circumstances would have been impossible. I was most anxious to get rid of these natives in peace, as they now could not be induced to come to us, being most probably fearful of our numbers. I hoped therefore they would let us go quietly on our way and moved the party forward; but they now followed us with loud shouts, whilst those in the distance came running up. I again halted but they would hold no communication, and when in despair I again moved the party on we saw a number hastening to occupy a thick scrub through which we had to pass. The men now became so dissatisfied and alarmed that I found I should be unable much longer to restrain them from firing if I did not disperse the natives.
I therefore halted the party, and cocking my gun moved rapidly towards them, motioning them away; they retired as I advanced, but directly I turned they again followed us; I now ran towards them with my gun pointed, when they made off before me once more, and in order to complete their dispersion I had intended to fire over their heads; but to my great mortification and their intense delight, my gun snapped, and, as they found the weapon I had with me, and with which I had menaced them in so authoritative a manner, appeared to produce no effect, they took courage, and, turning about, made faces at me and an insulting noise which was meant to imitate the snapping of the gun. Their inimical intentions now became more manifest; I however ran at them again, and fired my second barrel over their heads, which caused a rapid retreat; but they halted on a rising ground about three hundred yards from us, and finding on the muster of their forces that they had sustained no damage, they made preparations, as if resolved to commence hostilities in earnest.
NATIVES DISPERSED.
As these natives had now unfortunately learnt to despise our weapons I was compelled to act promptly, or blood would undoubtedly have been shed. I therefore took my rifle from Coles and, directing it at a heap of closely matted dead bushes which were distant two or three yards to the right of their main body, I drove a ball right through it: the dry rotten boughs crackled, and flew in all directions, whilst our enemy, utterly confounded at this distant, novel, and unfair mode of warfare, fled from the field in confusion, the majority of our party rejoicing at the bloodless victory: we then wended our way along the native path which led us down to the flats bordering the estuary, and finding there an underground stream of water bubbling along through a limestone cavity and having several openings upwards, we halted to refresh ourselves.
I had hoped that finding hostile natives in our vicinity would have made the stragglers keep up better with the party, but they would neither hasten on nor throw away their loads, so that my patience was sorely tried; a man of the name of Stiles was the worst; nothing could induce him to move along, and even the threat of leaving him behind produced no effect; I however kept pushing steadily onwards, for I never thought of the length of the journey we had to perform without trembling for the result. We were now walking on a course of 180 degrees, and followed this line for two miles and a half through a similar country. We still found many native paths running along the estuary, and saw the natives fishing, but they carefully avoided us, making off for the high lands as fast as they could.
ESTUARY OF THE HUTT RIVER. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY AND SCENERY.
The estuary became narrower here, and shortly after seeing these natives we came upon a river running into it from the eastward; its mouth was about forty yards wide, the stream strong, but the water brackish, and it flowed through a very deep ravine, having steep limestone hills on each side: many wild-fowls were on the river, but we could not get a shot at them. Being unable to ford the river here we followed it in a south-east direction for two miles, and in this distance passed two native villages, or, as the men termed them, towns, the huts of which they were composed differed from those in the southern districts in being much larger, more strongly built, and very nicely plastered over the outside with clay and clods of turf, so that although now uninhabited they