my knees I did not so much care about about them,
but not exactly liking their appearance I
stopped at about thirty yards. The Blacks
by this time were jabbering to more down the
creek, and I could see that the one side was
lined with them. Seeing that I would not come
any nearer, they suddenly picked up their
spears and altered their tone, and began calling
all sorts of names, and threatened to break my
head with their "Nella nellas" (clubs). Quick
as lightning they shipped their spears, but not
quicker than I levelled my gun; the instant
they saw which (they have a great respect for
powder,) they betook themselves behind trees,
and, in truth, I thought it best to follow their
example; so, keeping the gun to my shoulder
the while, I began as well as I could to paddle
the canoe with one hand; perceiving my object,
they stood out to thwart it, and I knowing
that if they sent their spears, though none
of them should hit me, they must inevitably
shiver the canoe to pieces, determined to get
on terra firma as quickly as possible, the
water being only knee deep. In stepping out
I unfortunately got into a stump-hole, and the
next moment was soused over head and ears
in water! This was decidedly unpleasant, and
for the first time a thrill of fear came over
me; however, I jumped up again, and having
been very particular in loading my gun,
thought it might still go off. By this time
the Blacks had gathered in great numbers on
the other side of the creek and were pressing
on in a body; seeing this I now levelled my
piece, and took as deliberate an aim as I could
at the foremost of them (a huge brute, for
whose capture a hundred pounds reward had
been offered by Government for a murder
committed by him on the Murrum-bridge),
but the gun hung fire and the ball dropped
into the water. Finding that there was no
dependence to be placed in the gun, the
only course left me was to retreat, and to
attempt this I now resolved; taking courage
at this, a number of them jumped into the
water, again I faced them, and again they
took to trees—are they not rank cowards?
I was beginning to think that my only
chance was to take to my legs—which
indeed would have been almost certain death
—when at this crisis I was, as you may
imagine, agreeably surprised by the welcome
"Halloo " of the stockman and hutkeeper,
who, having heard the report of the gun and
the yells of the savages, knew that something
was up, and arrived at the nick of time to my
rescue. After giving me some dry ammunition
we made a rush after them, but could not
overtake the black legs which were now plying
at a particularly nimble rate, and which they
especially do when getting out of the reach of
a gun. This was the first attempt they had
made on any of our lives, and their manœvres
showed that they were under the impression
that, if they could " do for " the master, they
might easily finish the men. But I made it a
rule that never less than two were to go out
on foot or in canoes, and with never less
than twenty rounds of ball cartridge. We
did not see anything of the Blacks for a
fortnight after this, during which interval, as
they afterwards told us, they were preparing
for a grand attack on the Wirrai station.

About two hours before sundown the following
day the stockman went out, as usual,
to see that the cattle were safe. The Wirrai
hut, I should mention, was at this time on a
kind of island about a mile and a half in
diameter, formed by the Wirrai Lagoon and a
deep creek,—so that the cattle were feeding
almost within sight of the hut. All was quiet;
the cattle did not seem to betray any symptoms
of fear, which they generally will do when the
Blacks are near. He had not returned more
than half an hour, when we saw the poor
beasts coming rushing towards the hut—as in
for protection as hard as they could lay legs
to the ground. On going among them, we
found many with spears sticking in their
bodies. We immediately mounted horses—
(I bareback, as I had left my saddle at Barratta)
and gallopped as hard as we could in
the direction the cattle had come from for
about a mile, when, not seeing anything, we
stopped and listened. There was a small,
dense shrub before us, and, as we approached
it, the awful yell that greeted our ears I shall
not forget in a hurry. You can have no idea
of the effect it has on one unaccustomed to
the sound, for it is like nothing earthly that I
can compare it to, but more like what one
might imagine a lot of fiends would set up
while performing their jubilee over the soul
of some defunct mortal lately arrived at the
"prison-house." We gallopped through the
shrub. Before us was a space bounded by
two creeks, forming at their junction an angle
on the plain beyond. Arranged in a semi-
circle in this space were some two hundred
warriors, painted and armed, and drawn up in
battle array. Between us and them four or
five bullocks were writhing in their death
agony, while the other side of the creek, beyond
the warriors, was black with old men,
women, and children looking on, and yelling
at a most fearful rate. We gallopped within
gunshot, and I then ordered the stockman to
fire on them—(I had no gun myself, and had
enough to do to sit the young spirited horse I
was on), but he refused, saying that my horse
would be sure to throw me, and that nothing
then could save me from certain death. By
this time the Blacks were trying to surround
us, so as to hem us in between themselves and
the creek, and cut off our retreat to the hut
where we had left the hutkeeper in charge,
and we soon found it necessary to put our
horses into a gallop—they following at our
heels—in order to get there in time enough to
prepare for a defence. It was their intention,
as they afterwards kindly informed us, to
have killed every man jack of us. We had
just got everything ready, when on they came
yelling like so many fiends. We stood out