Yet the people of this district are thus described by Mr. Gason:—"A more treacherous race I do not believe exists. They imbibe treachery in infancy, and practise it until death, and have no sense of wrong in it. Gratitude is to them an unknown quality. No matter how kind or generous you are to them, you cannot assure yourself of their affection. Even amongst themselves, for a mere trifle, they would take the life of their dearest friend, and consequently are in constant dread of each other, while their enmity to the white man is only kept in abeyance by fear. They will smile and laugh in your face, and the next moment, if opportunity offers, kill you without remorse. Kindness they construe into fear; and had it not been for the determination and firmness of the early settlers, they would never have been allowed to occupy the country. The tribe is numerous, and if they knew (and it is feared they will eventually learn) their own power, the present white inhabitants could not keep them down, or for one day retain their possessions. They seem to take a delight in lying, especially if they think it will please you. Should you ask them any question, be prepared for a falsehood, as a matter of course. They not only lie to the white man, but to each other, and do not appear to see any wrong in it. Notwithstanding, however, what has been said of their treachery, and however paradoxical it may appear, they possess, in an eminent degree, the three great virtues—hospitality, reverence to old age, and love for their children and parents."
A correspondent has furnished me with a very interesting account of the behaviour of a native who accompanied a trooper and another person with despatches addressed to Burke, the leader of the expedition of which King was a member. When the two whites and the black were starving and reduced to the miserable extremity of feeding on one small snake a day, with the usual meal of nardoo, which did not satisfy their cravings, and when either of the white men, according to their own account, would not have shrunk from a crime in order to procure food, so weak were they from famine, the native displayed a resignation truly astonishing, and calmly took only such portions of the snakes as his white companions gave him, though it was the black that caught the snakes and cooked them. My correspondent thus concludes:—"The fidelity of the poor fellow was touching in the extreme. In the earlier portion of the period, when they were fruitlessly watching for 'something to turn up,' a band of natives, of which their companion's tribe was an offshoot, came across them, and their native friend stood by them, exhausting all his diplomatic powers to cause his dusky brethren to render the powerless trio assistance; and, to their credit be it said, that, although from the curious manner in which they gazed at the white skins there was sufficient proof that they had never seen a white man before, still they freely divided wild-fowl, &c., amongst them. Most tempting offers at last were made to the native to accompany them on their departure. He remained faithful to the end, when to remain with his comrades existed only the prospect of starvation, whilst to have gone with his countrymen he might have eventually had an opportunity of joining his Darling River tribe in safety. M states that when utter ruin stared them in their faces, he was struck with admiration when the poor creature offered, in his feeble
