nine o'clock
Often , in the years that followed , did that heroic creature _ tramp on foot a hundred miles _ to get me a few sprigs of saline herbs . She had heard me say I wanted salt , which commodity , strange to say , was never used by the natives ; and even when I gave them some as an experiment they did not seem to care about it . She would also bring in , by way of seasoning , a kind of small onion , known as the _ nelga _ , which , when roasted , made a very acceptable addition to our limited fare . The natives themselves had but two meals a day -- breakfast , between eight and nine o'clock , and then an enormous feast in the late afternoon . Their ordinary food consisted of kangaroo , emu , snakes , rats , and fish ; an especial dainty being a worm found in the black ava tree , or in any decaying trunk . These worms were generally grilled on hot stones , and eaten several at a time like small whitebait . I often ate them myself , and found them most palatable .