10th June.
The channel of the river was still followed for several miles to the
eastward, when it again disappeared in open plains extending to the base
of the Hamersley Range, which still continued to run parallel to the
river at about seven miles distance to the southward. Pools of water were
occasionally found in channels scooped out of the alluvial soil of which
the plains were composed--the waters of the Fortescue, during the period
of the summer rains, spreading over the country for miles and leaving a
rich deposit of alluvial mud, adding greatly to its fertility. In the
course of the afternoon we came suddenly on a party of natives, digging
roots. One woman, with a child of about five years of age, hid close to
our line of march, and did not move until she was afraid of being run
over by the pack-horses, when she ran away, leaving the child gazing upon
the monster intruders with a look of passive wonder. It was a poor,
ill-conditioned-looking object, suffering from a cutaneous disorder. On
giving it a piece of damper, it quickly began to devour it, tearing it to
fragments with its sharp and attenuated fingers, with all the keenness of
a hawk. We left it standing with a lump of bread in each hand, where its
mother would no doubt find it when she came to see what had been left of
it by the large dogs, as the aborigines of this part of Australia call
our horses. Travelling on till late, we encamped in an open grassy plain,
without water. Camp 17.
Latitude 21 degrees 55 minutes 57 seconds; longitude 118 degrees 3
minutes.