But
at daylight an eaglehawk was watching them from a tree, and Brown
shot it. It was soon put in the ashes, and when cooked was divided
among the seven.
On the eighth day Macnamara said, "I can smell the ocean." His name
means "sons of the sea," and he was born and reared on the shore of
the Atlantic. Sand hummocks were soon seen, and the roar of the
breakers beyond could be heard. Two redbills were shot and eaten,
and Spiller and Watch were kept for future use. On the ninth day
they shot a native bear, which afforded a sumptuous repast, and gave
them strength to travel two days longer. When they camped at night a
tribe of blacks made a huge fire within a short distance, howling
their war songs, and brandishing their weapons. It was impossible to
sleep or to pass a peaceful night with such neighbours, so they
crawled nearer to the savages and fired a volley at them. Then there
was silence, which lasted all night. Next morning they found a
number of spears and other weapons which the blacks had left on the
ground; these they threw into the fire, and then resumed their
miserable journey. On this day cattle tracks were visible, and at
last, completely worn out, they arrived at Chisholm's station, eleven
days after leaving One Tree Hill. They still carried their guns, and
had no trouble in obtaining food during the rest of their journey to
Melbourne.
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