sent to us in a desert-greatly heightened the effect to our eyes. Suffice it to say, I had witnessed nothing of such interest in all my Australian travels. Even the heavens presented something new, at least uncommon, and therefore in harmony with this scene; the variable star n Argus had increased to the first magnitude, just above the beautiful constellation of the southern cross, which slightly inclined over the river, in the only portion of sky seen through the trees. That very red star, thus rapidly increasing in magnitude, might, as characteristic of her rivers, be recognised as the star of Australia, when Europeans cross the Line. The river gradually filled up the channel nearly bank high, while the living cataract travelled onward, much slower than I had expected to see it; so slowly, indeed, that more than an hour after its first arrival, the sweet music of the head of the flood was distinctly audible from my tent, as the murmur of waters, and the diapason crash of logs, travelled slowly through the tortuous windings of the river bed. I was finally lulled to sleep by that melody of living waters, so grateful to my ear, and evidently 30 unwonted in the dry bed of the thirsty Macquarie.'-pp. 57-59.

The expedition was, of course, brought into frequent contact with the Aborigines, and though the first movements were sometimes hostile, yet the forbearance, skill, and promptitude of the leader, happily availed to prevent collision. The accounts given of the condition and habits of the natives, are amongst the most interesting portions of the volume. We know not how it may be with others, but for ourselves we confess to a deeper interest in man than in all other objects, animate or inanimate, with which our globe is peopled. In reading the narratives of some travellers, we are painfully reminded that the reverse is the case. Any other object has greater interest for them. They gaze with rapture on beautiful scenery, are alive to all that is attractive in the physical features of a country, descant with fluency on its geological phenomena, on the habits of its brute inhabitants, or the structure of its flowers. Its surface is ransacked, its mines explored, its rivers traced. They are enthusiasts in their way, but the great subject of all, the sentient and immortal being who gives value and interest to everything else, and for whom all was erected, is viewed with unconcern, and receives only a superficial and passing notice. There is something miserably shallow in all this, and the plea by which it is attempted to justify the neglect, only reveals their unfitness for the task undertaken. Man is still man, wherever and in whatever condition he is found. The savage possesses all the essential elements of our nature, and presents some of its phases under an aspect which specially claims consideration. It is a melancholy fact now placed beyond contradiction, that every step which the traveller takes beyond the pale of civilization, brings him into contact with our nature in a degraded and

brutalized state. The physical circumstances of each country give a distinctive character to its inhabitants, but their lot is uniformly one of moral and intellectual debasement. The bushman of Africa, the Indian of America, and the native of the South Sea Islands, are in this respect one, whatever diversities exist between them. Some may be possessed of more physical comforts than others; individual faculties may be largely developed by the circumstances of particular tribes; there may be degrees of barbarism, a nearer approach in some cases than in others to the level of the brutes; but in all instances there is an utter abnegation of what constitutes the strength and glory of man.

The Aborigines of Australia furnish no exception. Sir Thomas Mitchell frequently fell in with them, and his notices of their condition and qualities are characterized by good feeling and sound judgment. He did not carry into the forests and wilds of Australia, the prejudices which are so common to the civilized man, but does full justice to its native tribes, and sometimes seems half disposed, in his philanthropy, to adopt a false and morbid philosophy. Many uncivilized tribes display physical qualities of a very high order, and this was the case with some of those with which he met. Speaking of a native guide, to whose services he was largely indebted, he says:—

'He was a perfect specimen of the genus homo, and such as never is to be seen, except in the precincts of savage life, undegraded by any scale of graduated classes, and the countless bars these present to the free enjoyment of existence. His motions in walking were more graceful than can be imagined by any who have only seen those of the draped and shod animal. The deeply set yet flexible spine; the taper form of the limbs; the fulness yet perfect elasticity of the glutei muscles. The hollowness of the back, and symmetrical balance of the upper part of the torso, ornamented as it was, like a piece of fine carving, with raised scarifications most tastefully placed; such were some of the characteristics of this perfect piece of work.' Compared with it, the civilised animal, when considered merely in the light of a specimen in natural history, how inferior! In vain might we look amongst thousands of that class, for such teeth; such digestive powers; for such organs of sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling; for such powers of running, climbing, or walking; for such full enjoyment of the limpid water, and of all that nature provides for her children of the woods. Such health and exemption from disease; such intensity of existence, in short, must be far beyond the enjoyments of civilised men, with all that art can do for them.'-p. 64.

On one occasion the exploring party, under the guidance of a native who had been met with the day before, came suddenly on a tribe 'seated in three groups; old men on the right, painted

red; old women in the centre, painted white; and other women and children on the left. The few strong men who appeared, formed a circle around me,' says our author, and told me their names.' On being assured of the peaceful disposition of their visitors, they offered no obstruction, and the incident which follows, exhibits the native character in a highly favorable light:

The curiosity of the natives,' says Sir Thomas, 'having been gratified, they disappeared; but I must mention that, having missed the elder of the two men who had guided us here since the first evening, I learned, on inquiring what had become of him, that he had gone back to his little boys, whom he had left at the water-holes where he first met us, six miles back, and for whom he had apparently gathered his little net of melons. Nothing could have been finer than this man's conduct. He had at once come on with us to guide us where we wanted to go; took great pains to make us known to his own tribe and, I believe, to other assembled tribes, at some risk to himself; and then, without claiming my promised gifts, he had returned to his little family, left at such a distance, only that he might do that which was civil to us strangers. Yet we call these men savages! I fear such disinterested acts of civility on the part of the civilised portion of mankind are rather rare. He had rendered to us, at all events, a very great service; for the danger of sudden collision with the natives was at an end, after our introduction by him to the tribes.' —p. 111.

On the third of May, natives were heard near the camp, and three of them were at length persuaded to enter the white man's tents. Intense curiosity appeared to overcome every other feeling. They were entirely naked, and without any kind of armament or weapon, offensive or defensive. With steady fixed looks, eyes wide open, and serious intelligent countenances, what passed in their minds was not disguised, as is usual with savages. On the contrary, there was a manly openness of countenance, and a look of good sense about them, which would have gained my full confidence,' says our author, 'could we but have understood each other.' The appearance of the natives, however, was not always of so friendly a character. The tomahawk had frequently been a present from the white man, and it was sometimes used-for what other purpose could they suppose it was given?-to defend their possessions or revenge their injuries. The skill and forbearance of Sir Thomas Mitchell happily prevented any quarrel, while his uniform caution guarded himself and his associates from any sudden surprisal. He records a scene in which it is not difficult for a candid mind to recognize some noble elements, under an exterior of rudeness and vulgarity. The savage, it must be remem

bered, looked on the country as his own, and regarded the white man as an unscrupulous and dangerous visitor.

He

'On returning,' says our author, to the camp in the evening, I learned that soon after I left it in the morning, two natives came boldly up, painted white, bearing, each, several spears and four or five bommerengs. They were followed by two females bearing loads of spears. The men were got immediately under arms, forming a line before the tents, and Corporal Graham beckoned to the natives to halt. They pointed after me, and by very plain gestures motioned to the party to follow me, or to begone. Finding the men before the tents made the same signs to them, and stood firm, the principal speaker edged off towards a man at a distance, in charge of the horses. Graham got between, so as to cover the man and the horses, when they advanced more boldly upon him, quivering their poised spears at him, at a distance of only ten or twelve paces. At length the foremost man turned round, and by slapping his posteriors, gave him to understand by that vulgar gesture, his most contemptuous defiance: this induced the old soldier to discharge his carbine over the head of the savage, who first sprang some feet into the air, and then ran off with all the others. Soon after, the same native was seen creeping up the steep bank, so as to approach the camp under the cover of some large trees, the rest following, and he was again met by our party. then seemed to recite with great volubility a description of the surrounding territory, as he continually pointed in the course of his harangue to various localities, and in this description he was prompted by the female behind, who also, by rapid utterance and motions of the arm, seemed to recite a territorial description. Finding, however, that his speech made no impression on the white strangers, and that they still beckoned them to depart; he stuck a spear into the ground, and, by gestures, seemed to propose that, on the one side, the ground should be occupied by the strangers, and on the other side, by them. Graham apparently assenting to this, they seemed more satisfied, and departed. There were two deep reaches; one above, the other below, our camp. The upper one was deepest, largest, and more remote from our party, and most within reach of the natives. I gave strict orders that no man should go there; nor that the cattle should be allowed to feed there; that it should, in fact, be left wholly to the natives; that no ducks should be shot, that no men should fish there. Nothing could be more reasonable than the proposal of this native, nor more courageous than his appearance before our more numerous party, with his spears and open defiance; and I was determined to take every precaution to avoid a collision with his small tribe, and prevent, during our probably long resi dence here, our people from doing them any harm.'-pp. 182-184.

On another occasion a collision appeared inevitable, and would certainly have taken place, but for the address and perfect selfpossession of the surveyor-general. His usual plan, on such occasions, was to proceed steadily on his course, prepared to resist attacks, but taking as little notice as possible of the par

ties whom he met. The first feeling of the natives was astonishment and fear, and the confidence evinced by the exploring party continuing their route, served to prevent any attempt at assault. In the present instance, they came suddenly on a large lagoon, besides which were the huts of a very numerous tribe. On approaching the water, says our author :

Loud shrieks of many women and children, and the angry voices of men, apprised me that we had, at length, overtaken the tribe; and, unfortunately, had come upon them by surprise. Aya minyà!' was vociferated repeatedly, and was understood to mean, 'What do you want!' (What seek ye in the land of Macgregor!) I steadily adhered to my new plan of tactics towards the aborigines, and took not the slightest notice of them, but steadily rode forward, according to my compass bearing. On looking back for my men, I saw one beckoning me to return. He had observed two natives, with spears and clubs, hide themselves behind a bush in the direction in which I was advancing. On my halting, they stole away and, when a little further on, I perceived an old white-haired woman before me, on seeing whom, I turned slightly to one side, that we might not frighten her or provoke the tribe. The whole party seemed to have been amusing themselves in the water during the noonday heat, which was excessive; and the cool shades around the lagoon looked most luxuriant. Our position, on the contrary, was anything but enviable. With jaded horses scarcely able to lift a leg, amongst so many natives, whose language was incomprehensible, even to Yuranigh. I asked him whether we might not come to a parley with them, and see if they could understand him. His answer was brief; and, without turning even his head once to look at them: You go on!' which advice quite according with my own notions, founded on experience, I willingly went on. Even there, in the heart of the interior, on a river utterly unheard of by white men, an iron tomahawk glittered on high in the hand of a chief, having a very long handle to it. The anxious care of the females to carry off their children seemed the most agreeable feature in the scene, and they had a mode of carrying them on the haunch, which was different from anything I had seen. Some had been digging in the mud for worms, others searching for freshwater muscles; and if the whole could have been witnessed unperceived, such a scene of domestic life amongst the aborigines had been worth a little more risk. The strong men assumed a strange attitude, which seemed very expressive of surprise; having the right knee bent, the left leg forward, the right arm dropping, but grasping clubs; the left arm raised, and the fingers spread out. Aya, aya, minyà!' they continually shouted; and well might they ask what we wanted! Hoping they would believe us to be Centaurs, and include the two old packhorses in counting our numbers, I had not the slightest desire to let them know us more particularly; and so travelled on, glad, at length, to hear their Aya minyàs' grow fainter, and that we were leaving them behind.'-pp. 324–326.

From the natives we must turn to the other productions of