As soon as they were close to him I joined the party with a large piece of damper in one hand and a piece of pork in the other.

The natives were dreadfully frightened; they stood in the presence of unknown and mysterious beings.

No persuasions could induce them to take my hand or to touch me; and they trembled from head to foot.
FRIENDLY COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHED.
For a time they were nearly unintelligible to Kaiber and myself, but as they gained confidence I found that they spoke a dialect very closely resembling that of the natives to the north of the Swan River.

They addressed many questions to us, such as, Whence we had come?
where we were going to?
was the boat a dead tree?
but they evaded giving any direct answers to our questions.

Being anxious to start I now left them to bear to their companions the strange food I had bestowed, and to recount to eager listeners the mysterious tale of their interview with beings from another world, and who were of an unknown form and colour.
SAIL FROM THE GASCOYNE.
Whilst they hurried off with some such thoughts passing through their minds we pulled down the Gascoyne in search of new lands and new adventures.
AFFINITY OF DIALECTS.
The result of this conference affords an example of the grounds upon which any similarity of the language in different portions of the continent of Australia has been denied.