There was plenty of water and forage hereabouts, and a fine level country for our proceedings, so that we were all in high hopes and spirits, and, as I then believed, our principal difficulties were at an end.
Whilst at work at the road we all thought that we heard a native call, and that others answered him; having listened for a repetition of these sounds we again heard them, but they were so indistinct in character that none of us this time agreed as to what they were.

I imagined that it was the call of a bird and, when I again heard the same sound very faintly in the distance, I felt convinced it was not a human voice, and proceeded on my way perfectly at ease.
My attention was soon occupied by other objects.

I saw from a hill I ascended some remarkable blue peaks to the south: this gave us fresh hopes; and nothing occurred till about three-quarters of an hour after we had first heard the native call, when we arrived at a short descent covered with rocks, from which started a large kangaroo; I got a fair shot at, and knocked it over, but it sprang up again and hopped away; we then tried to track it but soon lost its footsteps in the scrubby vegetation of the gloomy forest, It was the duty of the Cape man who accompanied me to mark a tree every here and there by chipping the bark, so that the party might the next day easily recognise the route which they had to pursue; upon looking back I now perceived that he had neglected a very remarkable tree about twenty or thirty yards behind us, and which stood close to the spot where I had fired at the kangaroo.

I desired him to go back and chip it, and then to rejoin us; in the meantime I stood musing as to the best means of avoiding the little rocky ravine in our front.
SUDDEN SURPRISE BY NATIVES.
Finding that the man remained absent longer than I had expected I called loudly to him, but received no answer, and therefore passed round some rocks which hid the tree from my view to look after him.

Suddenly I saw him close to me breathless and speechless with terror, and a native with his spear fixed in a throwing-stick in full pursuit of him; immediately numbers of other natives burst upon my sight; each tree, each rock, seemed to give forth its black denizen, as if by enchantment.
A moment before, the most solemn silence pervaded these woods.