8

Monday 17th [underlined] (Continued)
& girls running behind. These natives are half
civilized, & wear clothes. There is quite a small
community at H.G's & the workings present a busy
scene (for these parts). They only scratch however,
& none of their excavations exceed 20 ft. There
we met 3 young fellows from Sydney, who are quite
new chums, but have started prospecting, & had just
stuck good tin. They were quite excited & eager, and
declined an offer from Mr. Brown for one of them to accompany
Mr. Basedow on his trip. Returned to Grant's abt
3p.m. crossing a dry billabong, where dingos & kangaroo
tracks were noticed. Mr. Basedow's luggage arrived
while we were at the camp, and after helping him with
it into the hut, where he takes up his quarters pro tem,
said Goodbye - the first. The rest of us walked back
to the landing, where Rudell's oil launch had been
waiting, & without any delay got aboard & started
down the Arm @ 5p.m. It was high water, & the course
wound in and out 'till it seemed as though we were
traversing some fine river. Mangroves on each side.
When we got out into the Harbor, a moderate sea was
running & a head wind, but the old "Prickly Heat" was
driven tho' it at a great rate & we reached the jetty