known to them that I was going back tomorrow and that my brother Tuitpurro would accompany me, which they all admitted and, as they thought, encouraged me because of my homesickness.

( 132 ) September 13th, 1839.
Although it was agreed last night that my Brother Tuitpurro should accompany me back, the natives, I don't know at whose instigation, objected to this this morning, claiming that they could not find the aforementioned kangaroo without him, and suggested other companions to me. But I insisted on our agreement of yesterday all the more because that pretense seemed to me to be without reason, Tuitpurro himself preferred to go with me rather than stay, and the other people proposed were lazy people with whom I would hardly have reached the city in a day. After a long discussion about this, I finally set off alone out of impatience and with the intention of showing the natives my unchangeable decision, convinced that this would bring the deliberations to a conclusion more quickly than through any of my ideas. As soon as they saw me go, all obstacles were removed, and Tuitpurro soon followed me, well laden with meat for us and some relatives of the rest who had remained behind in Adelaide. Although we had lost a good part of the day through useless waiting and talking, and I was almost afraid that we would no longer be able to make the long day's journey, my companion marched so well that we were in Adelaide at 7 o'clock in the evening, although tired and lame.

( 133 ) I cannot close these five days in the bush without a few remarks that are worth not to be forgotten. What I had hoped for from this trip, namely a closer acquaintance with the way of life and language of the natives, has been more than confirmed. The progress in language does not consist so much in a multitude of new words, but rather in the acquisition and more fluent use of those already known, as well as in the discovery of a "modus conju[n]ctivus", which is formed by adding the small syllable "ma" to the stem of the verb and is used very regularly in cases where we use the subjunctive of the most recent and long past times. --

Next, I was very amazed and happy about the decency and discipline among the completely free and equal natives, and especially about the obedience of the young men towards the men.

But I hope that not only me did benefit from this bush life, but that it was also of some use to some of the natives. Although I confess with shame and bow before the all-seeing eye of the Lord that I have not always used and maintained the right caution and serious dignity, which was of course no easy task given the prevailing circumstances and the prescience of the natives, I am nevertheless convinced that in one or the other the foundation has been laid for awakening the sleeping conscience, as was evident from the seriousness and questions with which they responded to my ( 134 ) clumsy, weak descriptions of the eternal life and eternal retribution; For example, they asked where their relatives were now, upstairs in God's dwelling, or down in the fire pit, I replied that if they were good, then they