The plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet.
HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES.
As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of natives.

Mr.Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the time, and he only had his gun with him.

We had been moving along so quietly that we were not for some time observed by them.

Three were seated on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of the lower branches cutting out honey.

As soon as they saw us, four of them ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree to the ground.