defaced and illegible. This led to a supposition that the entire word when readable was either "Britannia" or "Brittomart," the names of two of the five missing vessels. Further intelligence represented the party as having opened communications with some of the native tribes between Lakes Victoria and Reeves, and ascertained from them that the chief Bunjaleena had a white woman at a place called Waitbon, in the mountains; and one Aboriginal even hummed an air which according to him, the white woman was accustomed to sing. They had met with Mr. Walsh and his Government party on the Tambo.
On the 1st January, 1847, De Villiers wrote to the Committee, and two blackfellows were the bearers of his missive to Melbourne. He was at Lake King, and had sent presents to Bunjaleena, and a letter to the white woman, both of whom, he heard, were at the Snowy River. Two old blackfellows had been arrested by the Walsh party, and through the medium of the "boy" interpreter, it was elicited from them that the De Villiers' epistle had reached the white woman, who wept bitterly over it, and was about to write an answer on it, with a pencil sent for the purpose, when Bunjaleena snatched it away, muttering "that she wanted to yabber to whitefellow." An altercation ensued, and ended in Bunjaleena "waddying" her and tying her legs, lest she should attempt an escape. She was described as marked and scarred like the ordinary black lubra.
Further correspondence from De Villiers supplied a few interesting particulars of his enquiries. It was believed that originally there were two white women in the possession of the Gippsland blacks. They were shipwrecked with five white men, and were seen first by the Paul-Paul tribe of Lakers, with whom they remained for some time, until the abduction of one of the women and the spearing of all the five men. The woman carried off was killed soon after, whilst she who remained was consigned to one of the Paul-Pauls, who did not live long, and she passed by some means into the chattel of one Batke, the handsomest fellow that could be found, in fact, a dark Adonis. He belonged to the Parbury Kongites, in which tribe Bunjaleena wielded much influence. One day Batke, having business from home, handed over his white slave to the protection of a bevy of old "gins," and in his absence Bunjaleena persuaded the harridans to "slope" and bring the white one with them. Batke was soon in pursuit, and, coming up with the runaways, he and his rival had a set-to atfisticuffs,when Bunjaleena, though left-handed, gave him such a good pummelling that he surrendered the prize to the more muscular pugilist and never after troubled himself about her. Bunjaleena was a man about 6ft. 3m. in height, of surpassing strength, a savage and ferocious disposition, and kept in awe the blacks of the surrounding tribes. The white woman whose Aboriginal name was "Waitbon," was tall, and afflicted with deafness, of light hair, approaching to red, or what is generally termed sandy. She stooped, which might be occasioned by the extraordinary hardships to which she had been subjected, and nursed her child totally different from the lubras, and precisely similar to all white women. She was supposed to have borne four children since her captivity. The first two being females, were murdered, as is the custom of the Aborigines, and the others males, one of whom she was at the time suckling. The blacks treated her with some consideration of kindness, and she employed a portion of her time in weaving fancy grass baskets and other net-work, in which the lubras imitated her with no little dexterity.
On the 10th February, 1847, De Villiers arrived in Melbourne with four of the blacks of his party, the rest coming back viâ Port Albert. H e had run short of provisions, and not obtaining, as he expected, some supplies from the Commissioner of Crown Lands, beat a retreat. Such a finale had been for some time foreseen, and it did not therefore cause much surprise. A lengthy concluding despatch of his was published, but it was mostly taken up with reference to altercations with the Government party, and contained nothing of import to this narrative. It, however, testified to various kindnesses on the part of Commissioner Tyers, and the good-tempered efficiency of Trooper-sergeant Windridge.
And thus abortively terminated a movement instigated by feelings of humanity, and a sincere desire to render succour under circumstances of the most revolting misery. In consequence of the supposed apathy of the Executive, the public generously came to the rescue, though the obstacles interposed against success were never calmly and thoroughly considered. If the Government had despatched a properly organized party under Windridge, the object sought for might have been attained; but neither Dana nor Walsh, though not deficient in personal bravery and powers of endurance, was the proper person to lead in a work that required coolness, cunning, and bushcraft. Neither was De Villiers the person to
