April 23.  Wednesday.  Barcoo River, Camp 54.

During the second watch last night our lives depended on the vigilance of our watchmen.  The blacks came up and probably would have overpowered us if they had found all asleep; but Jemmy the native trooper, who always keeps his watch well, awoke us, and all of our party except one discharged their guns in the direction from where we heard the blacks.  I reserved my charge to shoot at them when I caught sight of them, which I did not succeed in doing until after daylight.  We set off two sky-rockets but they did not go up well because they were bruised or because the sticks we attached to them were unsuitable.  When the first rocket exploded it made the blacks laugh; at the explosion of the second we did not hear them do so, as they had probably retired to some distance.  After the conduct of the blacks last night, and as they approached Gregory’s party in a similar way in the same neighbourhood, I fully intended to shoot at them if we had a chance; but this morning, although three approached to within one hundred yards of us while we were eating our breakfast, I did not fire at them until Jemmy had warned them of our hostile feeling towards them, and until they, instead of attending to the warning they had received to be off, got most of their companions, who were heavily loaded with clubs and throwing-sticks, to approach within about the same distance of our position.  I then gave the word and we fired at them.  The discharge wounded one and made the rest retire.  Some of us followed them up as far as the horses and again fired, and shot the one who had been wounded previously.  Afterwards Jackey slightly wounded another when Jemmy and he went for the horses.  Perhaps these blacks, as they said they had visited the settled country, may have had a part in the massacre of the Wills family.  We followed the river up today for about eighteen miles.  About sixteen miles of the distance was along the western bank.  On that side the country is inferior and the place is thickly wooded with western-wood acacia.  Near sunset we crossed several channels of the river.  There was a change in the character of the country when we left the northern bank; the ridges were sandy, caused, I judged, by the junction of the Alice River, which I was afraid of following up in mistake for the Barcoo River.  We were not certainly, according to the chart, so far to the northward as it; but Mr. Gregory discovered when he went through the country that the north bend was laid down on the chart too much to the northward.  From where we crossed the watercourse we steered south-east and, after crossing several dry watercourses, in about two and a half miles reached one with water in it and encamped.  In following up the river today we saw several blacks; some of them wished to speak to us but we passed them without stopping to do so.  We came here on the following courses from 53 Camp:  11.27 north-east half north three miles; 12.20 ——­ miles; 1.40 east-north-east three and a half miles; 2.25 east by north three and a half miles; 4.25 north-east six miles; 5 east one and a half miles to our crossing-place; 5.50 south-east two and a quarter miles.  Total eighteen and a half miles.