But we were once more doomed to be interrupted by the sudden turning of
the river short off to the northward, when it wound round a point a mile
long, and a quarter wide, the extremity of which is low and sandy, a
character only this once observed in the Albert; on the opposite side
were cliffs thirty feet high.

NATIVES.

Near the sandy point we observed some fires; and on our return, by
crawling up the bank, I got a peep at a small party of natives engaged
intently in digging for the esculent called warran. As they were few in
numbers our abrupt appearance would have too much terrified them to leave
any chance of an interview; and we accordingly did not disturb them, but
contented ourselves with watching their movements for a while. The
spectacle was an interesting one. Both men and women were engaged in
delving for their food, whilst a little beyond a few more were burning
the bush, and looking out for game and snakes. It does not often fall to
the lot of the white man to behold the wild people of the earth, engaged
in their daily avocations, completely unconscious that the gaze of a
superior class of beings is upon them. We have seen savages exhibited to
us professedly in all the simplicity of the woods; but how can the
children of nature retain their freedom of action and manners under the
curious gaze of a civilized multitude? We may depend upon it that we
gather nothing but erroneous ideas from such a display. If we would
understand, truly, what our savage brethren are like, we must penetrate
into the woods and the wilds where they are to be found; we must mingle
with them in the exercise of their domestic avocations; we must see them
as they are, in all their excusable degradation; and not invested with a
fictitious dignity, or a theatrical simplicity; we must observe them,