All at once agreed that they could do nothing on horseback, on such ground.
The whole party therefore dismounted.

The horses were tied to bushes, and the prisoner securely fastened to a tree.

Then, rifle in hand, they moved forward.
The sergeant's eye had not deceived him for, as they approached the spot where the boulders and bush grew thickest, a shower of spears was thrown, and the native cry rose shrill in the air.

The party were advancing in skirmishing order; and most of them threw themselves down, or dodged behind rocks, as the blacks rose to throw their spears and, a moment later, the rifles cracked out.
Several of the blacks fell, and the rest disappeared among the bushes.
"Make your way forward, steadily and carefully.

Let each man watch his neighbour, to the right and left, and keep in line as much as you can." The fight now commenced in earnest, but the settlers and police gradually made their way forward.