They spoke a language different from any I had heard,
had lost two of the front teeth of the upper jaw, and had large scars on
the breast. I could not gather any information from them, or
satisfactorily ascertain from what quarter they came; staying with them
for a short time therefore, and giving them a couple of knives I left
them, and after following abreast of us, for a mile or two, they also
turned to the north, and disappeared.
The night of the 2nd August was exceedingly cold, with the wind from the
N.E. (an unusual quarter from which to have a low temperature) and there
was a thick hoar frost on the morning of the 3rd. Why the winds should
have been so cold blowing from that quarter, whence our hottest winds
also came, it is difficult to say; but at this season of the year, and in
this line, they were invariably so.
Near the flat on which we stopped on the evening of the 2nd there was a
hill considerably elevated above the others; which, after unsaddling and
letting out the horses, Mr. Browne and I were induced to ascend. From it
we saw a line of high and broken ranges to the S.S.W. but they were very
distant. At three and a half miles from this point we crossed a salt
water creek, having pools in it of great depth, but so clear that we
could see to the bottom; and wherever our feet sank in the mud, salt
water immediately oozed up.
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