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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7324-0.txt b/7324-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f247917 --- /dev/null +++ b/7324-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9089 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. Banfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tropic Days + +Author: E. J. Banfield + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7324] +This file was first posted on April 14, 2003 +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROPIC DAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat + + + + + + + + + +TROPIC DAYS (1918) + +By E. J. Banfield + + +Author Of “The Confessions Of A Beachcomber” And “My Tropic Isle” + + +“Peace and silence. . . combined with the large liberties of nature.” + + De Quincey + + +TO + +MY BROTHER BEACHCOMBERS; Professing, Practising + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +In my previous books the endeavour was to give exact if prosaic details +of life on an island off the coast of North Queensland on which a few +of the original inhabitants preserved their uncontaminated ways. Here +is presented another instalment of sketches of a quiet scene. Again an +attempt is made to describe--not as ethnological specimens, but as men +and women--types of a crude race in ordinary habit as they live, though +not without a tint of imagination to embolden the better truths. + +I thankfully acknowledge indebtedness to my friends Mr. Charles Hedley, +of the Australian Museum (Sydney); Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of +the Queensland Museum; and Mr. Dodd S. Clarke, of Townsville, N.Q., for +valuable aid in the preparation of my notes for publication. + +DUNK ISLAND. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I--SUN DAYS. + +IN IDLE MOMENT +ETERNAL SUNSHINE +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT +THE SCENE-SHIFTER +BRACE PLANTS +SHADOWS +“SMILING MORN” + ANCESTRAL SHADE +QUIET WATERS +“THE LOWING HERD” + BABBLING BEACHES +THE LOST ISLE + + +PART II--THE PASSING RACE. + + +THE CORROBOREE +THE CANOE-MAKER +TWO LADIES--NELLY, THE SHREW; MARIA DANCES +SOOSIE +BLUE SHIRT +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD +EAGLE'S-NEST FLOAT +NATURE IN RETALIATION +“STAR RUN ABOUT” + BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + HOOKS + NARCOTICS AND POISONS + FLY-FISHING + + +PART III--MISCELLANEA. + + +PEARLS + WHAT IS A PEARL? + A PEARL IN THE MAKING + STRANGE PEARLS + PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE +THE BUSH TRACK +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN +UP AND AWAY +“PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” + TIME'S FINGER +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +AT HOME ON THE TROPIC STRAND +“DEBIL-DEBIL” + NATURE'S PUZZLE: FIND THE BIRD +ORCHID (PHAIUS GRANDIFOLIUS) +ORCHID (BULBOPHYLLUM BAILEYI) +A SPIDER CRAB +A SPIDER CRAB DISGUISED +CASUARINAS +TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA +MACARANGA TANARIUS +UMBRELLA TREE SHADOWS +SUN-SALUTED TREE FERNS +“THE LOWING HERD” + PERFECT HAPPINESS +GIGANTIC OYSTER (OSTREA CRISTA GALLI) +SANDSPIT SWIRL +GLOOM AND GLEAM +COWRIES +“SOOSIE'S” TYPE +TAPES +LEAF VARIATIONS (FICUS OPPOSITA) TYPICAL FORM RIGHT HAND TOP CORNER +TELLINA +A SHELL COLLECTION +TRITON +DOMESTIC DUTIES +PEARL-ENTOMBED FISH AND RACEMOSE PEARL +CATTIERS +PEARL-IMPRISONED CHITON +TWO STRANGE PEARLS +TWO BUBBLE SHELLS +PEARL JOSSES +WHITE APPLE (EUGENIA CORMIFLORA) +CYCADS +DESERTED +CYCAD AND PALMS +WIND-TORMENTED FIG-TREE +THE IDLE OCEAN + + + + + + + +PART I--SUN DAYS + + + + +IN IDLE MOMENT + + + +“'Are you not frequently idle?' 'Never, brother. When we are not engaged +in our traffic we are engaged in our relaxations.'”--BORROW. + +On the smooth beaches and in the silent bush, where time is not +regulated by formalities or shackled by conventions, there delicious +lapses--fag-ends of the day to be utilised in a dreamy mood which +observes and accepts the happenings of Nature without disturbing the +shyest of her manifestations or permitting 'the-mind to dwell on any but +the vaguest speculations. + +Such idle moments are mine. Let these pages tell of their occupation. + +As the years pass it is proved that the administration of the affairs of +an island, the settled population of which is limited to three, involves +pleasant though exacting duties. It is a gainful government--not +gainful in the accepted sense, but in all that vitally matters--personal +freedom, absence of irksome regulations remindful of the street, liberty +to enjoy the mood of the moment and to commune with Nature in her most +fascinating aspects. Those who are out of touch with great and dusty +events may, by way of compensation, be the more sensitive to the +processes of the universe, which, though incessantly repeated, are +blessed with recurrent freshness. + +The sun rises, travels across a cloudless sky, gleams on a sailless sea, +disappears behind purple mountains gilding their outline, and the day is +done. Not a single dust-speck has soiled sky or earth; not the faintest +echo of noisy labours disturbed the silences; not an alien sight has +intruded. What can there be in such a scene to exhilarate? Must not +the inhabitants vegetate dully after the style of their own bananas? +Actually the day has been all too brief for the accomplishment of +inevitable duties and to the complete enjoyment of all too alluring +relaxations. + +Here is opportunity to patronise the sun, to revel in the companionship +of the sea, to confirm the usage of beaches, to admonish winds to +seemliness and secrecy, to approve good-tempered trees, to exchange +confidences with flowering plants, to claim the perfumed air, to rejoice +in the silence-- + + “Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which pries not to th' interior.” + +How oft is the confession that the fullest moments of life are achieved +when I roam the beaches with little more in the way of raiment than +sunburn and naught in hand save the leaves of some strange, sand-loving +plant? Then is it that the individual is magnified. The sun salutes. The +wind fans. The sea sighs a love melody. The caressing sand takes print +of my foot alone. All the world might be mine, for none is present to +dispute possession. The sailless sea smiles in ripples, and strews its +verge with treasures for my acceptance. The sky's purity enriches my +soul. Shall I not joy therein? + +Though he may be unable to attain those moments of irresistible +intuition which came to Amiel, when a man feels himself great like the +universe and calm like a god, one may thrill with love and admiration +for Nature without resigning sense of superiority over all other of her +works or abating one jot of justifiable pride. + +Even in tropical Queensland there is a sense of revivification during +the last half of August and first of September, and the soul of man +responds thereto, as do plants and birds, in lawful manner. Perhaps it +is that the alien dweller in lands of the sun, when he frisks mentally +and physically at this sprightly season, is merely obeying an imperative +characteristic bred into him during untold generations when the winter +was cruelly real and spring a joyful release from cold and distress. The +cause may be slight, but there is none to doubt the actual awakening, +for it is persuasive and irresistible. + +The lemon-trees are discarding the burden of superfluous fruit with +almost immoderate haste, for the gentle flowers must have their day. +Pomeloes have put forth new growth a yard long in less than a fortnight, +and are preparing a bridal array of blooms such as will make birds +and butterflies frantic with admiration and perfume the scene for the +compass of a mile. The buff-and-yellow sprays of the mango attract +millions of humming insects, great and small. Most of the orchids are +in full flower, the coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of +bud, loose bunches of white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and +the sunflower-tree is blotched with gold in masses. The birds make +declaration of attachment for the season. + +Great trees, amorous birds, frail insects, perceive the subtle influence +of the season, and shall not coarse-fibred man rejoice, though there +be little or nothing to which he may point as special evidence of +inspiration? He may feel the indefinable without comprehending any +material reason why. He may confess, although there is but a trifle more +sunshine than a month ago--and what influence a trifle where there is +so much--and scarcely any difference of temperature, that Nature is +insisting on obedience to one of her mighty laws--the law of heredity. +Why, therefore, refrain from justifying the allusion? Why persist in +declining the invitations of the hour? Far be it from me to do so. Is +sufferance the cognizance of this Free Isle? + +All my days are Days of the Sun. All my days are holy. Duty may suggest +the propriety of contentment within four walls. Inclination and the +thrill of the season lure me to gloat over the more manifest of its +magic. Be sure that, unabashed and impenitent, shall I riot over +sordid industry during the most gracious time of year to hearken to the +eloquence and accept the teachings of unpeopled spaces. + +Such is the silence of the bush that the silken rustle of the +butterflies becomes audible and the distinctive flight of birds is +recognised--not alone such exaggerated differences as the whirr of +quail, the bustle of scrub fowl, and the whistle and clacking of nutmeg +pigeons, but the delicate and tender characteristics of the wing +notes of the meeker kinds of doves and the honey-eaters, and also the +calculated flutterings of the fly-catchers. In the whistling swoop of +the grey goshawk there is a note of ominous blood-thirstiness, silent +though the destroyer has sat awaiting the moment for swift and decisive +action. + +Seldom, even on the stillest evening, may the presence of the night-jar +be detected, except by its coarse call, while the sprightly little +sun-bird flits hither and thither, prodigal of its vivid colours +and joying with machine-like whirring. The sun-bird exemplifies the +brightness of the day. All its activities are bold and conspicuous. +Aptly named, it has nothing to hide, no deeds which will not withstand +the scrutiny of the vividest rays. + +To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on secret doings and on +flight soft as a falling leaf. It is a bird of the twilight and night. +Startled from brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is +ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad daylight it +moves from its resting-place as a leaf blown by an erratic and sudden +puff, and vanishes as it touches the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. +Mark the spot of its vanishment and approach never so cautiously, and +you see naught. Peer about and from your very feet that which had been +deemed to be a shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a phantom +zephyr. + +The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains a puzzle. It moves +not, it may not blink. Its crafty parent has so nibbled and frayed the +edges of the decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that it has +become absorbed in the scene. There is nothing to distinguish between +the leaf-like feathers and the feather-like leaves. The instinct of +the bird has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, and to +be discovered only by the critical inspection of every inch of its +environment. You have found it; but not for minutes after its instinct +has warned it to possess its soul calmly and not to be afraid. So firm +is its purpose that if inadvertently you put your foot on its tender +body it would not move or utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated +on impassiveness, and thus does Nature guard its weakest and most +helpless offspring. + +While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the tiny creature which +suffers handling without resistance, the shred of bark, driven by the +imperceptible zephyr, falls a few yards away, and in an agony of anxiety +utters an imploring purr, or was it an imprecation? That half purr, half +hiss has been the only sound of the episode. It is a warning to be gone +and leave Nature to her secrets and silences. + +A month's abstinence may not be a very severe penance for an island on +which the rainfall averages 124 inches per year; but when vegetation +suffers from the cruelty of four almost rainless months, promises and +slights amount to something more than mere discourtesy. How genuine +the thanksgiving to the soft skies after an incense-stimulating shower. +Insects whirl in the sunshine. Among the pomelo-trees is a cyclone of +scarcely visible things. Motes and specks of light dance in disorderly +figures, to be detected as animated objects only by gauzy wings catching +the light and reflecting it. Each insect, wakened but an hour ago by +the warmth of the moist soil, in an abandonment of the moment, is a +helioscope transmitting signals of pure pleasure. Drops still linger +on myriads of leaves, and glitter on the glorious gold of the Chinese +laburnum; the air is saturated with rich scents, and the frolicking +crowd, invisible but for the oblique light, does not dream of disaster. +Their crowded hour has attracted other eyes, appreciative in another +sense. Masked wood-swallows, swiftlets, spangled drongos, leaden +fly-eaters, barred-shouldered fly-eaters, hurry to the circus to +desolate it with hungry swoops. The assemblage is noisy, for two or +three drongos cannot meet without making a clatter on the subject of the +moment. They cannot sing, but clink and jangle with as much intensity +and individual satisfaction as if gifted with peerless note. It is the +height of the season, and a newly matched pair, satisfied with an +ample meal, sit side by side on a branch to tell of their love, and +in language which, though it may lack tunefulness, has the outstanding +quality of enthusiasm. But why waste clamorous love-notes on a world +busy with breakfast? The sportful, tail-flicking dandy flits and alights +so that he may address himself solely to his delighted and accepting +spouse, peering into her reddish eyes the while, and in ecstasy +proclaiming, in tones as loud and unmusical as her own, that life +overflows with joy when mutual admiration surcharges the breast. + +The noise stays a company of metallic starlings in headlong flight from +the nest-laden tree in the forest to the many-fruited jungle. Though +they most conscientiously search the fronds of coco-nut palms for +insignificant grubs and caterpillars, starlings do not hawk for insects. +Held up by the excitement--for by this time other birds have darted +to the feast--the starlings alight among the plumes of the laburnum, +interrogating in acidulous tones, their black, burnished, iridescent +feathers and flame-hued eyes making a picture of rare vividness and +beauty. + +How thin becomes the throng! Last night's shower, the morning warmth of +the soil, have brought forth a gush of life that wheels and sparkles in +the sun and becomes bait for birds. Are droughts designed by Nature to +test endurance on the part of animal and vegetable life? Leaves fall +from evergreen trees almost as completely as from the deciduous, and +even the jungle is thickly strewn, while every slight hollow is filled +with brittle debris where usually leaves are limp with dampness and +mould. The jungle has lost, too, its rich, moist odours. Whiffs of the +pleasant earthy smell, telling of the decay of clean vegetable refuse, +do issue in the early morning and after sundown; but while the sun is +searching out all the privacies of the once dim area, the wholesome +fragrance does not exist. + +Drought proves that certain species of exotic plants are hardier than +natives. Wattles suffer more than mangoes, and citrus fruits have powers +of endurance equal to eucalyptus. Whence does the banana obtain the +liquid which flows from severed stem and drips from the cut bunch? Dig +into the soil and no trace of even dampness is there; but rather parched +soil and unnatural warmth, almost heat. Heat and moisture are the +elements which enable one of the most succulent of plants to bear a +bunch of fruit luscious and refreshing, and when heat alone prevails, +the wonder is that the whole patch of luxuriant greenness does not +collapse and wither. But the broad leaves woo the cool night airs, and +while the thin, harsh, tough foliage of the wattles becomes languid and +droops and falls, the banana grove retains its verdancy, each plant a +reservoir of sap. + +A noteworthy feature of the botany of the coast of tropical Queensland +is its alliance with the Malayan Archipelago and India. Most of the +related plants do not occur in those parts closest to other equatorial +regions in the geographical sense, but in localities in which climate +and physical conditions are similar. Probably there are more affinities +in the coastal strip of which this isle is typical than in all the +rest of the continent of Australia. One prominent example may be +mentioned-viz., “the marking-nut tree.” When the distinctiveness of +the botany of the southern portions of Australia from that of the old +country began to impress itself on the earliest settlers, the miscalled +native cherry was the very first on the list of reversals. The good +folks at home were told that the seeds of the Australian cherry “grow +on the outside.” The fruit of the cashew or marking-nut tree betrays +a similar feature in more pronounced fashion. The fruit is really the +thickened, succulent stalk of the kidney-shaped nut. The tint of the +fruit being attractive, unsophisticated children eat of it and earn +scalded lips and swollen tongues, while their clothing is stained +indelibly by the juice. Botanists know the handsome tree as SEMECARPUS +AUSTRALIENSIS, but by the indignant parent of the child with tearful +and distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the +“tar-tree,” and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk +beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but +the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so +that unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree, +which belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and +there are those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in +other parts of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a +valuable means to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. +A tree that is ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty +and strange fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, +is not to be condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character. + +An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when +roasted is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail +or promotion nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially +indigestible unless eaten in immoderate quantity. + +One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family +exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer +fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion +arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of +varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable +inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to +credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while +individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral +lobes, with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal +forms tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. +There seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches +exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are, +according to local observation, invariably barren. The leaves, which, +when young, are densely hairy on the underside, on maturity become so +rough and coarse that they are used by the blacks as a substitute for +sandpaper in the smoothing of weapons. The fruit is small, dark purple +when ripe, sweet, but rough to the palate. + +During the fulness of the wet season, a diminutive orchid, the roots, +tuber, leaf, and flower of which may be easily covered by the glass of a +lady's watch, springs upon exposed shoulders of the hills. So far it +has not been recorded for any other part of Australia, or, indeed, the +world. Science has bestowed upon it the title of CORYSANTHES FIMBRIATA, +for it is all too retiring of disposition to demand of man a familiar +name. Probably it may be quite common in similar localities, but its +size, its brief periodicity, and inconspicuousness, contribute to make +it, at present, one of the rarities of botany. Beneath a kidney-shaped +leaf a tiny, solitary, hooded, purple flower shelters with becoming +modesty, the art of concealment being so delicately employed that it +seems to preserve its virginal purity. There is proof, however, that the +flower does possess some “secret virtue,” for if the plant be immersed +in glycerine the preservative takes the hue of the flower. Nature having +ordained that the plants should be elusive, they appear in remote spots +and unlikely situations with foothold among loose and gritty fragments +of rock, and with cessation of the sustaining rains disappear, each +having borne but a single leaf and produced but a solitary flower. +The leaf does not seem to be attractive to insects, nor is the flower +despoiled or the tuber interfered with. The first dry day sears the +plants, and succeeding days shrivel them to dust and they vanish. What +part in the great scheme of Nature does the humble flower fulfil? Or is +it merely a lowly decoration, not designed to court the ardent gaze of +the sun, but to brighten an otherwise bare space of Mother Earth with a +spot of fugitive purple? + +Widely different are the ant-house plants, of which North Queensland has +two genera. One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree +like many of the orchids. In both genera the gouty stems are hollow, a +feature of which ants take advantage; they are merely occupiers, not the +makers of their homes. Few, if any, of the plants are uninhabited by +a resentful swarm, ready to attack whomsoever may presume to interfere +with it. It is discomposing to the uninitiated to find the curious +“orchid,” laboriously wrenched from a tree, overflowing with stinging +and pungent ants, nor is he likely to reflect that the association +between the plant and the insect may be more than accidental. + +Some of the commonest wattles exhibit singularity of foliage well +worth notice. Upon the germination of the seeds the primary leaves are +pinnate. After a brief period this pretty foliage is succeeded by a +boomerang-shaped growth, which prevails during life. Botanists do not +speak of such trees as possessing leaves, but “leaf-stalks dilated into +the form of a blade and usually with vertical edges, as in Australian +acacias.” If one of these wattles is burnt to the ground, but yet +retains sufficient life to enable it to shoot from the charred stem, the +new growth will be of pinnate leaves, shortly to be abandoned for the +substitutes, which are of a form which checks transpiration and fits +the plant to survive in specially dry localities. Several of the species +thus equipped to withstand drought are extremely robust in districts +where the rainfall is prolific. There are no data available to support +the theory that such species in a wet district are more vigorous and +attain larger dimensions than representatives in drier and hotter +localities. In her distribution of the Australian national flower, +Nature seems to be “careless of the type,” or rather regardless in +respect of conditions of climate. + +Human beings, and occasionally animals lower in the scale, deviate +distressingly in their conduct from the general. Plants, too, though +lacking the organ of brain, are subject to aberrations of foliage almost +as fantastical as the mental bent which in man is displayed by the +sticking of straws in the hair. “Phyllomania” is the recognised term for +this waywardness. One of the trees of this locality, the raroo (CAREYA +AUSTRALIS), seems singularly prone to the infirmity, for without +apparent cause it abandons habitual ways and clothes its trunk and +branches with huge rosettes of small, slight, and ineffective leaves, +evidence, probably, of vital degeneration. + +Among the beautiful trees of this Island there is one, PITHECOLOBIUM +PRUINOSUM, possessing features of attraction during successive phases of +growth. The young branches, foliage, and inflorescence, are coated with +minute silky hair, as if dusted with bronze of golden tint. The dense, +light, semi-drooping foliage produces a cloud-like effect, to which the +great masses of buff flowers add a delightful fleeciness, while the ripe +pods, much twisted and involved (to carry similitude as far as it +may), might be likened to dull lightning in thunderous vapour. The tree +flourishes in almost pure sand within a few yards of salt water, and, +being hardy and of clean habit, might well be used decoratively. + +Standing with its feet awash at high tide, the huge fig-tree began life +as a parasite, the seed planted by a beak-cleaning bird in a crevice of +the bark of its forerunner. In time the host disappeared, embraced and +absorbed. Now the tree is a sturdy host. Another fig envelops some +of its branches, two umbrella-trees cling stubbornly to its sides, a +pandanus palm grows comfortably at the base of a limb, tons of staghorn, +bird's-nest, polypodium, and other epiphytal ferns, have licence +to flourish, orchids hang decoratively, and several shrubs spring +aspiringly among its roots. But the big tree still asserts its +individuality. It is the host, the others merely dependents or tenants. +Most of the functions of the tree are associated with the sea. Twice a +year it studs its branches with pink fruit, food for many weeks for a +carnival of birds, the relics of the feast dully carpeting the sand. +Before the first fruiting the old leaves fall, and for a brief interval +the shadows of branches and twigs, intricate, involved, erratic, might +be likened to unschooled scribblings, with here a flourish and there +a blot and many a boisterous smudge. Soon--it is merely a question of +days--the swelling buds displace millions of leaf-sheaves, pale green +and fragile, which fall and, curling in on themselves, redden, and again +the yellow sand is littered, while overhead fresh foliage, changing +rapidly from golden, glistening brown to rich dark green, makes one +compact blotch. And when the wind torments sea and forest, and branches +bend and sway, and creepers drift before it, the white blooms of the +orchids, so light and delicate that a sigh agitates them, might be “foam +flakes torn from the fringe of spray” and tossed aloft. + +The technical description of a fairly common tree--IXORA TIMORENSIS--is +silent on a quality that appeals to the unversed admirer almost as +strongly as the handsome flowers, which occur in large, loose panicles +at the terminals of the branches. Boldly exposed, the white flowers as +they lose primal freshness change to cream, but last for several weeks. +The omitted compliment from formal records is the singular fragrance +of the flowers--strong, sweet, and enticing, though with a drug-like +savour, as if rather an artificial addition than a provision of Nature. +During December the perfume hangs heavily about the trees, being +specially virile in the cool of evening and morning. Being confined to +the tropical coast, away from the centres of population, and flowering +at a season when visitors avoid the north, the scented Ixora has so far +remained uncommended. Those who are familiar with it in its native scene +dwell on its unique excellence, and are proud to reflect that when +a comprehensive catalogue of the flowering and perfumed plants of +Australia comes to be compiled it will stand high in order of merit, +being unique and characteristic of the richness of that part of the +continent in which it exists naturally. + +Twice during lengthy intervals have I been perturbed by the conduct of +the sea-swallows (terns) which breed in this neighbourhood. They select +for their nurseries coral banks, depositing large numbers of eggs beyond +the limit of high tides. In obedience to some law, the joyful white +birds began to lay in September, five or six weeks earlier than usual. +It seemed to be a half-hearted effort to maintain the strength of the +colony, the unanimous and general purpose being postponed for three +months, when numerous clutches and marvellously variegated eggs +embellished the coral. But that which was a perfectly safe and wise +undertaking in September was a foolish and dangerous experiment in +December. The tides then approach their maximum, flooding areas denied +three months previously. Wholesale tragedy was inevitable. The full +moon brought bereavement to many parents, for the sea overwhelmed the +nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise birds had laid their eggs +above the limit of the highest tide. Others screamed in protest against +the cruelty of the sea, for eggs and fluffy chicks do not surely +represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several fledglings were found +half buried in sand and coral chips, some with merely the head with +bright and apprehensive eyes obtruding. Why were not the whole of +the parents of the colony prudent when in default the penalty was +inevitable? Five score were wise, five hundred were foolish, and +the natural increase from the second brood must have been seriously +diminished. Several of the parent birds had brooded over their eggs +until overwhelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide limit +squatted buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. Of one the tip of a +wing only protruded. It was alive, fostering unbroken eggs. + +The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite tree--not massive +and tough, but a slim though tall Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets of +which are not notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, +beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise highly intelligent birds +so overstrain branches with groups of nests that “regrettable incidents” + cannot be averted? First there came to the ground a group of four, and +then twenty nests, all containing eggs or helpless young. By these and +similar mishaps during the season the colony suffered loss to the extent +of at least a hundred. + + “But, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather on the outward wall + Even in the force and road of casualty.” + +How often, too, do we find nests in places absurdly wrong? Wonderfully +and skilfully constructed nests are attached to supports obviously +weak, and eggs are laid on the ground right in the track of man and less +considerate animals. Some birds seem to lay eggs and rear young solely +that snakes may not lack and suffer hunger, while how large a proportion +of beautiful and innocent creatures are destined to become prey to +hawks? + +Years ago scientific visitors to a coral islet found almost innumerable +sea birds and eggs. The multitude of birds and their prodigious +fecundity inspired the thought that the “rookery” for the whole breadth +of the Indian Ocean had been discovered. Investigations showed that the +islet was also the abiding-place of a certain species of lizard which +subsisted entirely on eggs. It was calculated that not one egg in +several hundred was hatched out; yet in spite of such an extraordinary +natural check the islet was enormously overpopulated. Thousands of birds +every year laid eggs for the maintenance of fat and pompous reptiles, +without reflecting that there were other and lizardless isles on which +the vital function of incubation might be performed without loss. +Years after other men of science sought the isle. Birds seemed to be as +numerous as ever, but the lizards had disappeared. Had the birds been +wise enough to perceive that the plague of lizards had been sent as +reproof for overcrowding, or did the lizards become victims to physical +deterioration incident upon gluttony and sloth? + +“Into every instinctive act there is an intrusion of reasoned act.” + No doubt; but in the case of the terns--sea-frequenting and +sea-loving--which had not the wit to lay their eggs beyond the reach of +spring tides, the reasoning is the merest intrusion. Yet an instance of +what seems to be the reasoned act of a wasp may be cited. The insect had +selected a dead log of soft wood as a site for its egg-shaft. It was at +a spot to which the occupations of the season took me daily, so that the +boring operations were watched from beginning to end. The work was done +rapidly and neatly, and when all was ready for the deposit of the eggs +the insect constructed from papier-mache-like material a disc-shaped lid +exactly fitting the mouth of the excavation, to which it was attached on +its upper edge by a hinge. Then round and about the disc similar stuff +was plastered, so as to form an irregular splash, imitative of a bird's +droppings to the-degree of perfect deception. In the centre was the lid +with the hinge, and whensoever the insect visited its nursery the lid +swung up, closing behind it. On departure it fell into position. Unless +the insect by its presence betrayed its secret, the shrewdest observer +at close quarters would have been misled. + +There are reasons for the belief that green tree-ants understand and +respect the laws of neutrality. There are several communities in the +mango-trees, and since some of the trees overhang the fence, the top +wire is used as a highway. When a gate is opened traffic is suspended. +In a minute or two of a busy day there will be considerable gatherings +on the latch-style, and if the intervening space is narrowed by the +swing of the gate the impatient insects begin to make a living bridge +across the perilous gap. At one particular gate, which is opened and +shut many times a day, it has been noticed that the ants never seem to +resent interruptions or to be vexed by them. If they happen to get on +the hands or fingers, they submit to be restored to the gate; but go +to the formicary on the mango-tree half a dozen yards away and offer +a friendly finger, and you will find dozens of pugnacious individuals +ready to defend their home. Do they recognise that they are but pilgrims +of the fence, enjoying certain rights on sufferance, that it is a path +of peace on which belligerents must not intrude, a neutral tract under +the custody of the law of nations, which ants, as well as men, must +respect? Whatsoever the reason, the deportment of the truculent ant on +the highway is that of an upholder of peace at any price. It is to be +doubted if the animal world holds more illustrious examples of heroism +than a green tree-ants' nest. Two or three individuals may be despised +as long as their assaults are confined to the less sensitive parts of +the body; but let a huge colony up among the branches of an orange-tree +be disturbed, and the first army corps instantly mobilised, and it +will not be cowardly hastily to retreat. So eager for the fray are +the warriors, so well organised, so completely devoted to the +self-sacrificing duty of protecting the community, that two distinct +methods of advance and attack are exercised forthwith in the midst of +what appears to be calamitous confusion. Swarming on the extremity of +the branches among which the formicary is constructed, the defenders, +projecting their terminal segments as far into space as possible, eject +formic acid in the direction of the enemy. Like shrapnel from machine +guns, the liquid missile sweeps a considerable area. Against the +sunlight it appears as a continuous spray, and should one infinitesimal +drop descend into the eye the stoutest mortal will blink. Attacks are +made singly and in detachments. Heroes actually hurl themselves from +the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run along the ground and, +scaling his legs, inflict punishment on the first convenient patch of +unprotected skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in a mass to +the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes happens to be +successful, the observant man will retire with little of his dignity +remaining. + +It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire tastes for the sweet +fruits which man cultivates. One of the honey-eaters, the diet of which +ranges from nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, as +bitter as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate for the thorough +ripening of bananas. While on the plant the fruit is not appreciated, +but after the bunch has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits +are changing colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly bunches were +ripened in a thatched building for the the most part open, and the bird +got the very best of the bunch. Now the process takes place where the +bird has to venture through wire-netting. It has no fear, entering +without ceremony, loudly complaining when inadvertently disturbed, and +flying to other parts of the house to express remonstrance when the +supply is exhausted. + +Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of observation of some +birds and increases the trustfulness of certain species towards human +beings in a region wherein they are held to have rights on equality with +those of their superiors in the animal world. For years, during the few +weeks which generally intervene between the disappearance of +accustomed water reserves and the beginning of the wet season, with +its super-abundance, the metallic starlings have been wont to obtain +refreshment from a hollow far up a huge tea-tree, the supply in which +seemed to be inexhaustible. The tyrant's plea, necessity, ordained the +destruction of the never-failing tree, and now the starlings descend by +the hundred into the deep and shady ravine whence water is pumped, +and drink also from the cattle-trough and bathe therein with noise and +excitement of happy children on the beach. It is quite within the mark +to compute the starlings by the hundred. The trough is edged nearly all +day long by thirsty or dirty birds, while scores sit round among the +shrubs waiting turn and commenting on the frolics and splashings of +others in excitable tones. When, perhaps, there are but a poor dozen or +so round the trough, you may chance to see the birds in attitudes more +varied than those of Pliny's doves, and catch the shadows of burnished +necks darkening the water, as in that famous mosaic, and even the +glistening reflection of the red, jewel-like eyes. Other birds, with far +less assurance and shrill clamour than the lovely starlings, visit +the trough regularly and by the score. Two species of honey-eaters are +seldom unrepresented. The barred-shouldered dove, the spangled drongo, +the noisy pitta, the red-crowned fruit pigeon, the pheasant-tailed +pigeon, are less frequent visitors; and though the purple-breasted +fruit pigeon--the most magnificent of all--talks to his mate in coarse +gutturals from the trees above, he has not been seen actually drinking. +So shy and furtive a bird would choose his time for refreshment when +there is little likelihood of interruption. In the ravine there are +often metallic starlings by the dozen, and little green pigeons--for +those domiciled come and go at all hours of the day. Occasionally a +sulphur-crested cockatoo comes sailing down to the diminishing pool +through interwoven leafage noiselessly as a butterfly; but scrub +fowls, scared by the apparition in white, scamper off with a clatter, +scattering the dead leaves. In such narrow quarters, birds are under +restraint, and show anxiety and apprehension. There is no sport or +play. They drink quickly and with faculties strained, and flutter off +excitedly on the least alarm. Well may they be suspicious, for is +not the cool spot attractive to the sly enemy, the green snake, which +conceals its presence by faithful resemblance to the creepers among +which it glides? Here, too, come millions of industrious bees, and in +the dusk the big pencil-tailed water-rat, which the masterful dog kills +with as little ceremony as he does the bird-scaring snakes. + +It was late for cockatoos to start on their daily flight to the mainland +from the big tree close to the twin palms half-way up the hill, and +as they flew hastily and in close company they scolded each other in +unmannerly terms. The language must have been vexing, for as they sped +along far above the passionless sea one jostled the other. It was just +the sort of action to provoke hungry, peevish birds to vindictiveness. +That which had been jostled turned on the offender with angry +shrieking, and instantly a clamorous fight was in progress. Claws became +interlocked, and they fell each with distended crest, like a gilt-edged +cloudlet following the setting sun. Shadow and substance met with a +splash. The sea momentarily swallowed the combatants. Then a yellow note +of exclamation appeared, and with laboured flutterings, using his +enemy as a base, one rose and struggled to the beach oaks. Frantic +wing-beating showed that the other bird was in serious difficulties. +It was a hundred yards out, but the enjoyment of a sunbath after a sea +frolic enabled one to proceed to the rescue without preliminaries. Half +drowned and completely cowed, the bird was now confronted by a more +awful peril than that of the sea. A bedraggled crest indicated horror +at the steady approach of the enemy man, whose presence stimulated the +sodden bird to such extraordinary efforts that it succeeded in rising +and in making slow, low flight to the beach. + +At dawn a bat flew into a spider's web spun during the night, the +extremities of the wings being so entangled that struggling was almost +impossible. A big spider pounced on it. Not a minute elapsed from the +entanglement until the bat was released, but the venom of the spider had +done its work. There was not a sign of life. The spider is dark grey +in colour, bloated of body, slothful, and of most retiring disposition. +Huddled up into almost spherical form, it lurks in dark places, which it +soon makes insanitary. In the open it crouches among dead leaves which +have gathered in the fork of a tree, and will construct a web which +spans the coconut avenue with its stays. From one aspect its rotund body +invites a good-humoured smile, for the marking exactly simulates the +features of a tabby cat, well fed, sleepy, and in placid mood. Venom +of virulence to kill a bat almost instantly would be severe enough to a +human being. This dirty, obese spider deserves little consideration at +the hand of man. + +A moonless, cloudless night. The little praam takes the ground in the +bay a few yards from the beach, and in the midst of a constellation of +“jelly-fishes” spherical in form and varying in size. The larger are so +many pale blue orbs floating lazily in a luminous mist, the only visible +manifestation of life being a delicate but rhythmical deepening of the +central hue. The wash of my wading seems not to affect them. I become +conscious of the sudden appearance and swift disappearance of lesser +spheres of startling brilliance. They emerge from nothingness, pause +for a moment, and shoot towards me with extraordinary impulse. Each is +a mere globule, resplendently blue. The tint intensifies as with +accelerated velocity the atom flies until of its own excessive energy +it explodes with a shell-like flash, leaving a sinuous trail of +golden light. To burst into sight, gather force, to flash and slowly +vanish--such is the sum of life of a speck of sea-jelly. To be the +centre towards which scores of the watery meteors gravitate, to +witness their apparently spontaneous beginning, their swift, brief, but +ineffectual career and lingering end, delights this night of darkness. +How many of the race of man are there whose post-mortem glory outshines +life tenfold? + +Beneath a slab of dead coral on the reef there was revealed one of those +primitive and curious marine animals which has no common name, but +which science recognises as SYNAPTA BESELLI. It is a relation of the +béche-de-mer, of snake-like form, with a group of gills differentiating +the head. Playing about it were three or four little fish which +immediately took advantage of the only remaining cover, the body of the +Synapta, snoodling beside it so artfully that they were quite concealed. +The protector did not appear to resent the close company of the fish, +which remained perfectly motionless. In a few seconds the Synapta +began to extrude its feathery gills, which had been partly retracted on +disturbance. I counted the gills, and while my forefinger indicated the +sixth, a little fish, not previously noticed, appeared at the focus +and edged off to the margin of the pool, now and again making decided +efforts to regain its sanctuary. It was about an inch long and a third +deep, ruby red, with pink undersides and pink, transparent fins. Three +narrow bands of silver edged with lavender extended across the shoulder. +Life gave it jewel-like lustre. The companionship between the slow +and feeble Synapta, one of the most primitive of sea things, and the +brilliant, agile fish may be another instance of commensalism. + +No one who parades a coral reef can fail to be impressed by the various +means adopted by its weaker denizens to evade the consequences of +conspicuousness. Among the vast multitude of creatures, mostly hostile +to each other, few are more remarkable than the crabs, not only on +account of form and habit, but for care of themselves during the +periodic casting of their shells. They therefore represent an +entertaining study and a never-ending source of pleasure to the +observer, who, as he happens on some fantastic member of the family, +wonders, remembering his Shakespeare, what impossible matter will Nature +make easy next. Dreamy little ripples were laying on the strands sprays +of seaweed, torn from the reef which was not quite out of the influence +of the easterly swell. The conditions were ordinary, but one fragment +made itself noticeable by slight, almost undiscernible, but still +distinctive efforts to regain the water, whence it was separated by a +few inches. Seaweed alone was visible as it rested on the palm of the +hand. Presently it moved hesitatingly and with infinite slowness, +and, being reversed, revealed itself as a “watery” crab under living +disguise. The specimen was sent to the Australian Museum, Sydney, where +it came under the hands of my friend Mr. Allan R. McCulloch, who devotes +himself to the phenomena of the sea; and since his references to it +are explicit and authoritative, they will be more acceptable than +generalities from an uninformed pen: “The crab you sent is the second +specimen known of ZEWA BANFIELDI, which I described from a dried +specimen received from you some years ago. Not only the species, but the +genus also, was unknown until you gave me the opportunity of describing +this interesting beast. It is one of the spider crabs, or Oxyrhynchus, +most of which have long horns projecting from the rostrum, and are more +or less thickly covered with stiff curled setae, to which seaweeds, +sponges, and other marine growths--selected according to the taste of +the bearer--are attached. When these crabs shed their shells, which they +must do periodically to allow of growth, they retire to a dark corner +and draw themselves out of a slit between the back and the abdomen, +legs and all, which must, I imagine, be a delicate and somewhat painful +proceeding. After emerging, they are, of course, quite soft, and the +setae on the carapace and legs are flexible. The crab then selects +choice bits of weed from its old shell and fastens them to itself by the +setae, which soon curl at the tips like the tendrils of a vine, and so +hold them firmly. The weeds and sponges, requiring no roots, but merely +a secure base, readily grow in their new position, and so cover their +host with a sheltering disguise, enabling it to sally forth in quest +of fresh loves and other adventures. I am sending the reprint with the +original description and figure, also a sketch of the crab with its +weedy garments. Much of the weed had become detached on its arrival +here, which is, perhaps, fortunate, since the sketch would otherwise +have shown merely a cluster of weeds.” It could be well wished that the +specimen had retained the whole of its floral cloak, for then the sketch +would have shown its deceptive qualities in perfection. Masquerading as +a spray of seaweed, the crab eludes its enemies, the mask being of such +high order that even man, with his perceptions, does not penetrate it +unless he exercises his reasoning faculties. Because he knows that a +spray of seaweed is not endowed with independent movement, when it does +walk about he, at first, is as incredulous as was Macbeth when told of +that “moving grove” of Birman. + + + + +ETERNAL SUNSHINE + + + +“North Queensland is my country. I love it. I live in it. I would die +for it.”--DODD S. CLARKE. + +To those who earnestly believe that a country exercises dominance over +its inhabitants, mental as well as physical, the present state of North +Queensland offers interesting problems. Save for a fast-disappearing +remnant, gone are the original occupiers of the land. The most +listless, the least thrifty of the old peoples, have given place to +representatives of the most adventurous, the most successful--men and +women of British blood, of progressive ideas, vaunting and independent +spirit, but with slight respect for the traditions of their race. Apt +to regard their own land as all-sufficient, to resent the incoming of +strangers (especially those of dark complexion), determined to exclude +coloured labour from tropical fields, while demanding higher and yet +higher recompense for work which in other equatorial regions is deemed +to be servile, on what grounds do they base the hope of adapting +themselves to their environment, of becoming children of the soil? + +The genius of the race forbids degeneracy. Marked and sudden improvement +may be expected if examples drawn from the lower animals and certain +plants are applicable. Huxley laid it down that “the animals and plants +of the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in +the Southern Hemisphere as its own autochones, but are in many cases +absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. +Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabits a country is +not necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions.” + Australian aboriginals having given way before a race better fitted +to flourish, what will the future of the new race be? What ideal is at +present pursued? + +To one who firmly upholds the theory of the evolution of Australian +types, and who thinks he perceives convincing evidence in support of his +belief, it seems likely that on the tropical coast, where the influence +of the sun is all-powerful, rainfall abundant, and vegetation prolific, +the type will not only be more rapidly developed, but that it will be +pronounced in bodily form, in tongue, and in temperament. One of the +reasons compelling towards such conclusion is the decided desire--nay, +the ambition--on the part of native-born Australians to do glad and +seemly homage to the sun. + +If a traveller from distant and friendly lands were to accept as germs +of a type those who sport in the surf at fashionable watering-places, he +might infer from the display of brown backs and shoulders that Australia +had not escaped a smudge of aboriginal blood. But this ardently +cultivated tint is notoriously impermanent. Contradictory as it may be, +the most earnest advocates of the “White Australia” principle use more +than the average quantity of oil, which makes the skin to shine +and embrown under the influence of the much-loved sun. Do not their +shoulders bear testimony to the sun's wholesome salutations, and does +not the too fair and thin-skinned individual smart under his peeling +and display envy against the favoured ones who burn to the tint of +old copper? Naturally, those who have the most intense longing for a +coloured skin, who persistently seek to acquire it by exposure to +the sun seconded by anointings, will prevail. In the course of a few +generations--it would be idle to say how many--the type will be fixed +and the unguent superfluous; in the meantime the use of coco-nut oil +has become one of the confirmed customs of the country, as in Fiji and +elsewhere in the Pacific. + +If “beauty born of murmuring sound” may enhance the charms of +maidenhood, is it too much to expect that sunburn, fervently desired, +may not only permanently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of +the race? And thus in years to come the white Australian may be of +the past--transformed physically by the supremacy of soil and sun, +and improved in disposition and character by economic observances as +irrefutable as the laws of Nature. The horses of out dry, stony uplands +have already developed hoofs in shape and texture well adapted to the +country over which they roam, and have become surer-footed and more +active and durable. Conditions and circumstances which in a few +generations effect desirable changes in horses will assuredly be +influential in respect of the physique and stamina and moralities of +man. North Queensland will establish a type, just as Tierra del Fuego +did many centuries since, and the type will be that which is best fitted +to maintain itself. It will be brown of complexion, hardy and alert. +North Queensland is expansive and varied. It comprises a marvellous +range of geological phenomena, from which may be expected remarkable +variants. The sheep-grower of the treeless downs will differ from the +denizen of the steamy coast who supplies him with sugar and bananas. The +man from among the limestone bluffs may be in temperament strange to the +dweller on the black soil plains and to the individual who lives among +barren hills seamed with copper. Readers of English books and magazines +are familiar with the little prominence given to matters which stand for +good and worthiness and the stress laid on the seeming disadvantages of +life in tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may contain a series +of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying information concerning +country life in Canada. It is impossible not to visualise the miles +of wheat-fields, the imposing elevators, the railways cutting across +endless prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, snowcapped as a +stage effect merely. The pictures of chubby children and buxom girls and +sturdy boys tell of the healthfulness and invigorating qualities of the +climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada? Would not the man +who whispered of snow and ice be a renegade, a dastard, a rebel? North +Queenslanders do not attempt to belittle the reputation of Canada as a +field for the activities of the surplus population of the old country. +We are of the same blood and breed, and merely ask for a proper +understanding of our own good land. The comfort given to Canada is all +in the family, and an Empire which extends from pole to pole must needs +embrace differences of climate and productions. + +Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of Empire? Here we bear +our share stripped to the buff, while Canada bustles under an equally +honourable but heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic +son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of North Queensland noon; +while the sweatful North Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous +ice of his far-away cousin. + +The denizens of the different parts of the Empire quite understand +one another, and realise that to be great the Empire must disregard +temperatures as it does prickly heat and chilblains. Only the casual +visitor fails in this. + +Sun Days are essential to the production of sugar and bananas and +mangoes, to say nothing of pineapples and other fruits of the tropics. +When we are called upon to endure extraordinary heat, we tell one +another of the penance and find excuse for extra drinks. But neither +the heat nor the comparison of personal experiences is of the injurious +nature of some of the refreshments. The weather is not compounded of +excesses, but of means. Is it not true that few countries in the wide +world would be considered fit for habitation by human beings if the +character of the climate was estimated by its extremes? + +No North Queenslander will resent records of high temperatures. He will +be quite content to be shown enjoying and flourishing in the heat in +which sugar-cane thrives, for thereby is to be proved a fact theorists +seem unable to grasp--viz., that such is the soundness and virtue of the +British race that it adapts itself with equal success to the long, dark, +cold winter of Canada and the perpetual summer of North Queensland. +Who is to say that the Canadian in his thick woollens and furs is +a healthier subject, a worthier type, than the North Queenslander, +stripped to the waist in the full blaze of the sun, glorying in his own +vigour, proud of his magnificent heritage, and scornful of the +opinions of those who have never experienced that supreme zest of life +unpurchasable outside the tropic zone? + +With intent to picturesquely demonstrate that soil will tell, some are +ready to assert that we owe Christianity to the horizontal limestone +formation of Palestine. Accepting the theory with whole-hearted +enthusiasm, and admitting that North Queensland comprehends tracts of +country not dissimilar from the Holy Land, mark what the future may have +in store for the race. Do you want old age?--Methuselah, Noah, Isaac. +Strong men?--Gosselin, Samson, Saul. Beautiful women?--Ruth, Rebecca, +Esther. Does not David, the man after God's own heart, appeal? Was not +Solomon, the wise, the glorious, the prolific, a superior type? And, +with all reverence be it said, was not the Founder of the Christian +religion a solar product? + +Hotter lands beyond the bounds of Palestine gave to the world men and +women whose deeds and influence still astound and stimulate millions +of mankind--the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Pharaoh the Great, Moses the +leader, whom the Lord knew face to face, Joseph the organiser, Mahomet, +the benign Buddha, and all the sages, the poets, the historians, the +architects of the gorgeous East. May not those who elect to live in +lands of high temperature and who are strong in their faith cite apt +and illustrious precedents, and make bold to say that none has exercised +more influence on the minds and destinies of mankind than those born in +the lands of the Sun? + + + + +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT + + + +“The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant +to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.”--Holy Writ. + +While the remnant of the crop of citrus fruits still hangs on the trees, +after providing refreshing food for six months and more, the blooms +which promise next year's supplies decorate the branches. Is it not +pleasing to have such graceful promises before the burden of the passing +season has disposed of all its sweetness? Possibly these early flowers +are destined to produce fruit for the admiration of living things +upon which the gardener bestows anything but a welcome. It may come +to maturity just after the wet season, when flies and moths feast and +corrupt in riot which provokes to wrath. Inconsequent feeders, they +probe the fruit and flit away after a sip which does not absorb a +thousandth part of its keen juices, or they use a comely specimen in +which to deposit eggs, which in the course of Nature become grubs. All +such infected fruit the trees abandon until the ground is strewn with +waste. Such disaster happens when the air is favourable to the breeding +of quivering gauze wings; but there comes a time when the fruit suffers +little or no ill, and then the heart of the orchardist rejoices as does +that of the fisher when the wind comes up from the sea. Then does he +accept fine promises in good faith, for it has come to be the fashion +for certain varieties of citrus fruits to provide two crops, and the +second, which ripens about the beginning of August, the superior in +size, appearances generally, and distinctly in flavour. The fruit is +just as juicy as that which ripens when the air is saturated with the +moisture of the wet season, while its fragrance almost equals that +of the snowy flowers whence it sprang. These facts hasten to this +conclusion--that the orange-grower has something beyond mere money in +compensation for his toil. Can it be called toil? Does he not for the +most part, after the first and essential preliminaries are of the past, +permit Nature to have her own wayward will with his dutiful trees? Does +he always and invariably cut out the dead wood which tells of much too +strenuous efforts on their part to justify their existence and his care? +Does he attempt to exterminate the pretty flies which send to the ground +a certain percentage, while yet the fruit is immature and bitter? Does +he let the light of the caressing sun into the hearts of his pet trees +by removing superfluous twigs? Well does he know that if he tended them +as he should their bounty to him would be much magnified. Yet does +he dream on, accepting that which comes, admiring leafage, bloom, and +fragrant fruit, and always postponing the day when substantial aid and +credit should be given. There is something to be said in favour of this +happy attitude towards good-natured trees. Should it not suffice to +have given them monopoly and choice? Many others, and some of far +nobler proportions, have been exterminated for their special benefit and +advantage. They have been grown from seed of most highly complimented +fruit; their infancy and youth have been nurtured and protected; each +has been assigned its proper place with due regard to the welfare of +neighbours; less promising vegetation has been summarily checked; the +first flowers have been sniffed with high delight, the first fruits +sampled with extravagant praise. Having bestowed upon trees care and +attention, while they were yet mere sprouts of tender green, and admired +their sturdy development, and approved their best efforts, is it not +yours to accept whatsoever they offer as reward and recompense for past +labour and present appreciation? + +From the artistic standpoint the most admirable of all the citrus-trees +is the pomelo, which, however, lacks merit from the commercial side. +The tree grows more sedately than the orange or the mandarin, but on +a grander scale. The leaves are bigger, tougher, and the appendages +on either side of the stalk (which botanists call the stipules) more +developed. The blooms are greater, and endowed with a much richer +perfume than the orange; the fruit is huge and fragrant, though somewhat +disappointing to the individual who expects the sweetness of the +mandarin; while, if the views of the learned in such attributes are +trustworthy it possesses medicinal qualities which are foreign to its +dainty, diminutive relative. It would be mere affectation to refrain +from these compliments to the pomelo when the atmosphere is saturated +with the perfume from lusty trees. Certainly one has to wait patiently +for many a long year ere his trees greet him with white flowers which +pour out perfume of rare density and enrich him with golden fruit +almost as big as footballs. From nine to twelve years must elapse, but +expectancy is not wholly measurable by the arbitrariness of time. The +true standard is the desire, tempered by the patience of the custodian +of the trees. + +In August the pomeloes put on their most attractive appearances. The +young leaves of lively tint contrast with the almost sombre green of the +older foliage, and flowers in clusters give a most becoming adornment. +Big and beautiful as they are, scent is their most conspicuous feature. +Even in the open air it is rich almost to cloyness. It hangs about the +tree while the wind is still, and the slightest movement of the air +wafts it hither and thither. It stings sensitive folk with its intensity +at close quarters, but when diffused is fragrance of ethereal delight. +All day long birds frolic in the trees, some to cull the nectar, some +to search for insects attracted for like purpose, some to nibble and +discard white petals. All the moist soil beneath is strewn with snowy +flakes, for at night flying foxes blunder among the branches, destroying +more blooms than they eat. But why grumble? Birds which nip off petals +and musty foxes which brush down whole posies in their clumsiness are +but positive checks to overproduction. Do they not avert the unthankful +task of carting away dozens of barrow loads of superfluous fruit? Last +night at dusk there was a sensation of the coming of rain, though the +air was still and the sky clear. I paused under the trees to expand my +lungs with their scented breathings. A semi-intoxicated bird twittered +drowsily among the branches, + + “His happy good-night air, + Some blessed hope, whereof he knew, + And I was unaware.” + +Dozens of sphinx moths--big torpedo-shaped bodies carried by wings of +soft brown and dull red--floated about, sipping where and when and as +long as they liked. Sometimes the sphinx has almost an aggressive tone +In his flight--hasty, important, brooking no interference. Last night's +note was of supreme content. A rich and overflowing feast was spread +and the insects hovered over the posies and sipped and fluted like +merry roysterers, without a care or thought of the morrow. It was a +love-feast, for the still night seemed to invite the trees to give of +their richest and best; the psalm of the insects was audible, not to the +distance whence the perfume was dissipated, but for many a scented yard. +The trees seemed sanctified, and I stood bare-headed among them and gave +my silent praise for a delightsome experience. Expectancy and patience +had been overpaid. + + + + +THE SCENE-SHIFTER + + + +“We are all going to the play or coming from it.”--DICKENS. + + +In a few hours came “the season's difference.” The scene-shifter worked +with almost magical haste, with silence, and with supreme effect. The +gloomy days and nights of misty hill-tops and damp hollows, where the +grass was sodden and the air dull and irresponsive to sound, gave way +to bright sunshine, cloudless skies, calm seas, echoing hills, and the +tinge of that which for lack of the ideal word we call “spring.” Spring +does not visit the tropical coast, where vegetation does not tolerate +any period of rest. When plants are not actually romping with excess of +vital force, as during the height of the wet season, they grow with the +haste of summer. And yet immediately on the dispersal of the mists of +July the least observance could not fail to recognise that a certain and +elaborate change had taken place. The mango-trees had been flowering for +several weeks in a trivial, half-hearted way, but when the sun sent +its thrills down into the moist soil the lemons and pomeloes began to +sweeten the air; the sunflower-tree displayed its golden crowns among +huge soft leaves, and the last blooms of belated wattles fell, showing +that it is possible for tributes representative of May and September to +be paid on one and the same date. + +The scene-shifter came softly “as the small rain upon the tender herb,” + but with an orchestra of his own. Years of observation have shown that +the weather does control the habits of some birds--birds of distinct and +regular methods of life. Two such are common--the nutmeg pigeon and the +metallic starling. Both species leave this part of the North during the +third week of March, flying in flocks to regions nearer the equator. +For several weeks the starlings train themselves for the long Northern +flight and its perils, dashing with impetuous speed through the forest +and wheeling up into the sky until they disappear, to become visible +again as black dots hurtling through space when the sunlight plays on +their glossy feathers as the course of the flock is changed. With the +rush of a wind of small measure but immense velocity, the flock descends +earthwards, among and over the trees, perfecting itself by trials of +endurance and intricate alertness. The birds return during the first +week in August, in small and silent companies, to reoccupy favourite +resorts in common. The nutmeg pigeons are also of exact habit, the time +for their return generally coinciding with that of the starlings. This +year (1916) both birds were noticed just after the scene-shifter had +swept the hills of mists, and now other birds seem to have awakened to +the conditions which the starlings and the nutmegs brought with them +from hotter lands. The swamp pheasants are whooping and gurgling, and +that semi-migratory fellow, the spangled drongo--a flattering name, for +he jangles but does not spangle--sits on the slim branch of the Moreton +Bay ash which held last year's nest and chatters discordances in the +very ears of his responsive mate. They will start building a loose nest +on the brittlest branch forthwith, and while the lady sits on her three +eggs he will screech defiances to the high heavens and perform aerial +gymnastics with delirious delight. + +The sun-birds are searching the lemon blooms. The breast of the gay, +assertive little bird is far richer in tint than the brightest of the +lemons. A minute ago one perched on a ripe fruit as if to shame it by +contrast, and the fruit has since seemed a trifle dull of tint, and with +light-hearted inconsequence the pair are now probing narrow throats of +papaw flowers. The ground has been too much overgrown with grass and +weeds for the comfort of the little green pigeons which come strutting +down the paths for seeds and crumbs. Dry soil, which may be easily +scanned and scratched, is more to their liking, so they keep to the +forest, where in some places the undergrowth of wattles is so dense that +the sun may not visit the ground, and the bare places glitter with seed. + +When rain was seriously deficient, proof was given that some proportion +of the wattle seeds eaten by pigeons are not digested. In the crevices +of logs supporting the water-trough, which proved to be a popular +refreshment spot of many species of birds, clamorous with thirst, seeds +were deposited, and when the rains came the trough was fringed and +decorated with pinnate leaves of sprouting wattles, some of which grew +so strongly, notwithstanding the absence of soil, save that which occurs +from the slow decay of seasoned bloodwood, that if summary measures had +not been taken the trough might have been embowered. The season seems to +have been too damp for the night-jars, though quite to the taste of +all species of pigeons. In the course of a few minutes the voice of +the timid, tremulous, barred-shouldered dove came from among the +yellow-flowered hibiscus of the beach, while the pheasant-tailed pigeon +sounded its rich, dual note, the red-crowned fruit pigeon tolled its +mournful chime, and the guttural of the magnificent fruit pigeon--often +heard, but seldom seen--came from the jungle close at hand. Not one of +these birds was visible, nor was the fluty-voiced shrike thrush, which +answers every strange call and mimics crude attempts to reproduce its +varied notes. The blue kingfisher is investigating the tumour made by +white ants in the bloodwood wherein the nest is annually excavated, +and soon the chattering notes of the pair will be heard. A week ago +few signs of the approach of the scene-shifter were discernible. He +has come, and plants and birds respond to his genial and becoming +presence--plants with richer growth and more abundant flowers, birds +with the unreflecting gaiety of nuptial days. + + + + +BEACH PLANTS + + + +“Remove the vegetable kingdom, or interrupt the flow of its unconscious +benefactions, and the whole higher life of the world ends.”--HENRY +DRUMMOND. + + +Strolling on the curving footway of broken shells and coral chips +marking the limit of the morning's tide, a vague attempt was made to +catalogue the plants which crowd each other on the verge of salt water, +and so to make comparison with that part of Australia the features +of which provoked Adam Lindsay Gordon to frame an adhesive phrase +concerning bright scentless blossoms and songless, bright birds. +Excluding the acacias and eucalypts, said to have given sameness to +the scenes among which the exotic poet ranged, a long list might be +compiled; nor will the pleasant sounds of the afternoon be set down in +formal order to the vexing of his memory, for possibly he never heard +the whoop and gurgle of the swamp pheasant or the blended voices of +hundreds of nutmeg pigeons mellowed by half a mile of still, warm air. + +Nor may such unassuming vegetation as the grasses--at least a dozen +varieties--find place in an enumeration which appeals primarily on the +grounds of prominence, though it would not do to despise the soft and +pleasant carpet beneath the orderly row of Casuarinas which the tide +planted during the last big cyclone with gardener's art. The common +name for the trees--“she” (or “shea” oaks, as the late F. Manson Bailey +preferred)--mimics the sound of the wind among the branches, which the +slightest zephyr stirs and, the storm lashes into sea-like roar. The +bright green of the grasses sets off the dull green and bronze of the +steadfast harps of the beach. At certain seasons and in some lights, +when the sun is in the west, the minute scales at the joints of +the slender, pendulous branchlets shine like old gold, producing a +theatrical effect which, if not experienced before, startles and almost +persuades to the belief that the complaining trees have been decorated +by one who “has sought out many inventions.” But the slant of the sun +alters, the light fades, leaving them sombre in hue and whispering +more and more discreetly as the night calm settles over the scene. Such +communicable trees should stand together, commenting on passing events, +booming in unison with the cyclone, and mimicking the tenderest tones of +the idlest wind. During a storm, when the big waves crash on the beach +and the Casuarinas are tormented, the tumult is bewildering; but however +loud their plaint, very few suffer, though growing in loose sand; for +the roots are widespread and, like the trunk and main branches, tough, +while the branchlets stream before the wind. + +Close behind the screen of Casuarinas is a magnificent specimen of a +wide-spreading shrub, in form a squat dome, which commemorates the name +of a French naturalist--TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA. The leaves, crowded at +the ends of thick branchlets, are covered with soft, silky hairs of +a silvery cast, which reflect the sun's rays. It would be gross +exaggeration to say that the finely shaped shrub shines like silver, for +the general hue of the foliage is sage green, but that it has a silvery +cast, which in certain lights contrasts with the dull gold of its +neighbours, is an alluring fact which must not be strained. Moreover, +the shrub covers an almost perfect circle, about thirty feet in +diameter, and since it is not more than ten feet high, its form is as if +Nature had designed the creation of a circus of shadow, dense and cool, +for the comfort of mankind. + +At high-water mark stands one of the Terminalias with big terminal light +green leaves, musty flowers, and purple fruit--gold, silver, and purple +in close array--while over the sand the goat-footed convolvulus sends +long, succulent shoots bearing huge pink flowers complementary to the +purple of the beach-pea (CANVALIA OBTUSIFOLIA). + +Under the she-oaks young coral trees have sprung up, but the red flowers +are of the past, and so also have the gold and white of the Calophyllums +disappeared. But in the evening the breeze brings whiffs of a singular +savour, pleasant yet not sweet, which comes from the acre or two of +native hops a few yards back. The bruised leaves thereof give off +anything but an attractive odour, yet the faint natural exhalations +from the plant are sniffed eagerly and to the revivification of pleasant +recollections. + +Among a crowd of massive shrubs sprawls a plant of loose habit known as +CAESALPINA BONDUCELLA, the long clinging branches and the pods of which +are armed with hooked prickles. It is a plant of wide range, for the +bluish-grey seeds are said to be used in Arabia for necklets. In the +idle days of the past the blacks were wont to enclose a single seed in +a miniature basket woven of strips of cane for the amusement of +infants--probably the first of rattles. It has seized for support some +of the branches of a rare tree (CERBERA ODOLLAM) which bears long, +glossy, lanceolate leaves, large, pink-centred, white flowers, +delicately fragrant, and compressed oval fruit, brilliantly scarlet. The +tempting appearance of the fruit is all that may be said in its favour, +for it is hard and bitter, and said to be vicious in its effects on +the human system; hence the generic title, after the three-headed dog, +guardian of the portals of the infernal regions. + +Grouped here and there are pale green, big-leaved shrubs (PREMNA +OBTUSIFOLIA,) bearing flowers and fruit calling to mind the elder of +the old country. The wood is deep yellow in colour, but apparently of no +practical use. + +Another small tree, suggesting in its regular and well-balanced shape +the use of the pruning-knife, is GUETTARDIA SPECIOSA, the flowers of +which are white with a tinge of pink in the centre and highly fragrant. +The fruit is a hard, woody drupe, containing small seeds. TIMONIUS +RUMPHII, belonging to the same Family, but of more frequent occurrence, +bears small white flowers and globular fruit. The white, finely grained +wood is said to resemble English sycamore. Though harsh and flaky, the +surface of the bark seems to retain moisture, making it attractive to +several species of fungi and epiphytal ferns, the most conspicuous of +the latter being the stag's-horn. Few of the trees near the beach are +free from such encumbrances. + +To unaccustomed eyes the Pandanus palm is chief among the noticeable +features of the flora of the coast of tropical Queensland. Two species +are represented on these accommodating sands, each suffering no ill, +from imbibing salt water, each exhibiting the peculiarity whence the +genus derives its common name--the screw palm, the arrangement of the +long, narrow, prickle-edged leaves displaying in the most regular +and demonstrative style the perfect spiral. The single stem of youth +frequently deteriorates and occasionally disappears altogether, +adventitious roots, descending from various heights, forming an +elaborate and sure and ever-developing support. The huge, bright +orange-tinted fruit of the species known as Odoratissimus is highly +attractive in appearance, and to the uninitiated offers pleasing hopes +and delicious expectations. It is, however, delusive, being constituted +of woody drupes in close clusters collected into a globular head, +with meagre yellow pulp at the base of each group, the pulp having an +aromatic and unsatisfactory flavour. Each drupe contains an oblong oval +kernel, pleasant to the taste, but so trivial in size as to be hardly +worth the trouble of extraction unless there is little else to occupy +attention save the pangs of hunger. These defects do not detract from +the parade of the tree--picturesque, singular, and replete with interest +to the observer of the infinite variety of the vegetation of the +tropics. + +The cockatoo apple (CAREYA AUSTRALIS), which has several useful +qualities, flourishes exceedingly. The ripe fruit, green and insipid, +was wont to be eaten by the blacks, bark from the branches was twisted +into fishing-lines, that of the roots used for poisoning fish, while +the leaves, heated over the fire until the oil exuded, were applied to +bruised and aching parts of the body. Extraordinary tenacity of life +distinguished the tree, the axe, fire, and poison failing under some +circumstances to vanquish it. + +Another and closely related member of the same Family (Myrtaceae) +is BARRINGTONIA SPECIOSA, which, so far as local experience is to be +trusted, is restricted to the beaches, growing lustily in pure sand +at the very verge of high-water mark. The glossy leaves of this +many-branched tree often exceed a foot in length; the flowers, too, +are large and singular in style, the petals being comparatively +insignificant, while the numerous stamens attain a length of four inches +and are of a lovely shade of red. Like its relative, the cockatoo apple, +the flowers of the Barringtonia have a meaty smell, which seems to +attract many species of insects. In keeping with other characteristics, +the fruit is large, consisting of a thick, woody covering, as if Nature +designed that the single seeds should be adequately protected during a +protracted oceanic drift. It is often cast up on the sand, but the seed +does not germinate as consistently as that of the cannon-ball-tree; but +when it does it rarely fails to become established. + +Two species of Ficus deserve to be mentioned, though this catalogue does +not claim to be exhaustive. FICUS FASCICULATA, as the title implies, +bears its inedible fruit in bundles, branches, trunk, and exposed roots, +being alike fertile, and is almost as retentive of life as the cockatoo +apple. Opposita is remarkable for varied form of foliage, referred to +particularly elsewhere, and for the sweetness of its fruit. + +One of the loveliest and most remarkable plants of the beach is the +seacoast laburnum (SOPHORA TOMENTOSA), with its pinnate leaves of sage +green, hoary with silvery fur as soft as seal-skin, and bearing terminal +spikes of golden flowers with scent invoking slight comparison with +mignonette. The thick, silky leaves, the yellow flowers, and the strange +pods, are distinctive qualities, which atone for the absence of the +special sweetness of the garden favourite. The pods begin as slender, +silvery, dangling threads, which speedily lengthen and become +constricted. When the breeze flusters the shrubs, revealing the +undersides of the leaves at a reflective angle and shaking the tasselled +pods, and the splashes of gold sway hither and thither, the character +of the shrub as one of the most attractive ornaments of the beach is +so truly displayed that it might be likened to the tree of the sun +described by Marco Polo--green on one side, but white when perceived on +the other. + +This quality, however, is not special or peculiar. The brown kurrajong +(COMMERSONIA ECHINATA) exhibits it even more conspicuously, and, when +the dusty white flowers--displayed in almost horizontal planes--are +buffeted by the winds and the white undersides of the leaves are +revealed, the whole style of the tree is transformed as a demure damsel +is by tempestuous petticoats. + +With the grey-green of the Sophora is often intertwined the leafless +creeper CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS, which in the days of the past the blacks +were wont to use with other beach plants in the composition of a crude +seine net. The long-reaching, white-flowered CLERODENDRON INERME and the +tough, sprawling BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA, with its small, harsh flowers, +yellow as buttercups but resembling a daisy in form, were also embodied +in the net. + +The Poonga oil-tree, the new and old leaves the colour of new copper, +and the mature the darkest of green, bears spikes of pale lavender +flowers, and makes a decided blotch among the light green succulent +leaves of the native cabbage (SCAEVOLA KOENIGII), with its strange white +flowers and milk-white fruit. All parts of the plant are said to be +emetic. + +Two varieties of VITEX TRIFOLIA, each bearing pretty lavender flowers, +but in other respects sharply contrasted, are among the commonest of +denizens of the beach. The one is a prostrate plant with sage-coloured +and sage-scented leaves; the other a shrub or small tree with light +green foliage, the underside of which is mealy-white, and flowers paler +than those of its lowly kin. Each is pretty, and the creeping variety +(known in Egypt as the “Hand of Mary”) decidedly one of the most eager +lovers of the sand, to which it keeps strictly. + +Almost within reach from high water are representatives of a tall, +shining-leaved shrub known as MORINDA CITRIFOLIA, the flower-heads of +which merge into a berry which has a most disagreeable odour and a still +more objectionable flavour. It is related that when La Perouse was cast +away on one of the islands of the South Pacific, a native undertook +to ward off the pangs of hunger by converting the fruit into an +edible dish. But his manipulation seemed but to intensify original +nauseousness, and the brave Frenchman and his companions found +semi-starvation more endurable than the repugnant mess. + +Magnificent representatives of the umbrella-tree (BRASSAIA +ACTINOPHYLLA), unique among the many novelties of the tropical coast, +are massed in groups or stand in solitary grace close to the sea. +Queensland has a monopoly over this handsome and remarkable tree, the +genus to which it belongs being limited to a single species occurring +nowhere else in a native state. Discovered by Banks and Solander at +Cooktown in 1770, the second record of its existence, it is believed, +was made from specimens obtained on this island by Macgillivray and +Huxley in 1848. Possibly the very trees which attracted their attention +still crown their rayed and glossy leaflets with long, radiating rods +thickly set with red, stud-like flowers. Such foliage and such flowers +would appeal gloriously to an enthusiastic botanist, and to so devoted, +indefatigable, and successful a searcher after the wonders and the +higher truths of the world as Huxley. + +Few of the ornaments of the beach are more noticeable than that known +commonly as the sunflower-tree and by the natives as Gingee (DIPLANTHERA +TETRAPHYLLA), with its big leaves, soft of surface when young, but harsh +and coarse at maturity. The golden flowers, grouped in huge heads, are +rich in nectar, attracting birds and butterflies by day and flying foxes +at night. The fruit, enclosed in a crisp capsule, is tough and leathery, +in shape a flattened oval, and is entirely covered with silken seeds +lying close and dense as the feathers of the grebe. When numbers of the +capsules open simultaneously, the seeds float earthwards like a silvery +mantle or stream before the wind like a veil. Rarely the capsule falls +to the ground complete, and then the parting of the valves reveals the +fruit, in form not unlike a small fish covered with glistening scales. +The soft white wood is generally condemned, but duly seasoned it becomes +tough, and is durable when not exposed to the weather. Like other +quick-growing trees, the Gin-gee takes no long time in arriving at +maturity, and its life is comparatively brief. Often big trees die from +no apparent cause, and the wood becoming dry and tindery, the limbs +crash to the ground suddenly, and in a few months the whole substance +disappears in dust and mould. + +Though the flowering season of the Calophyllum is of the past, the tree +which bestows on the beaches the deepest shade and is handsome in all +its parts must not be disregarded, for does it not, ever and anon, +strive after a higher purpose than the production of goodly leaves, +white flowers, and nuts “harsh and crude”? On rare occasions the +external covering of the nut turns yellow on the tree, and is then found +to enclose a thin envelope of pulp of aromatic and rather gratifying +flavour. Such a phenomenon seems to manifest inherent excellencies, a +laudable effort towards self-improvement, a plea for assistance on the +part of some approving and patient man, an indication of the lines on +which he might co-operate. The tree does not need gloss for its perfect +leaves or fragrance for its flowers, nor need the qualities of its pink +wood of wavering figure be extolled. With the exception of the stamens, +all parts of the inflorescence, inclusive of the long pedicles, are +milk-white, and the perfume is as sweet and refreshing as an English +spring posy. Chemists tell us that the oil from the kernels contains a +green pigment which changes to yellow on saponification, and that the +resin is emetic and purgative, and healing when applied as plaster. +If botanical science can develop the meritorious tendencies the fruit +occasionally exhibits, the Calophyllum would certainly rank as one of +the most wonderful of all tropical fruits. And may it not be wise to +indulge the highest hopes when it is borne in mind that at the head +of the Family to which the Calophyllum belongs stands that queen of +fruits--the mangosteen? Faith in the probable idealisation of the +Calophyllum is justified by reference to the “Prefatory and Other Notes” + to the late F. M. Bailey's great work, the “Comprehensive Catalogue of +Queensland Plants,” where is to be found these encouraging words: “When +any particular plant is said to furnish a useful fruit, it must not be +imagined that the fruit equals the apple, pear, or peach of the present +day, but all so marked are superior to the fruits known to our far-back +forefathers.” + +Two eucalypts--bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash (CORYMBOSA and TESSELLARIS +respectively)--and two acacias are represented, the former developing +into great trees of economic value, the latter being comparatively +short-lived and ornamental. The young shoots of Acacia flavescens are +covered as with golden fleece, and its globular flowers are pale yellow. +The wood resembles in tint and texture its ally, the raspberry-jam wood +of Western Australia, though lacking its significant and remarkable +aroma. ACACIA AULACOCARPA displays in pendant masses golden tassels rich +in fragrance. + +The yellow-flowered hibiscus (cotton-tree) overhangs the tide, and the +small-leaved shrub the blacks name Tee-bee (WIKSTRAEMIA INDICA), the +pink, semi-transparent fruit of which is eaten in times of stress, +springs from pure sand. + +A tall, almost branchless shrub (MACARANGA TANARIUS), the Toogantoogan +of the natives, grows in close clumps conducive to the production of +light, straight, slim stems used as fish-spears. The bark peels readily +in long strands, easily convertible into lines, and the sap from incised +stems, which crystallises with a reddish tint, is a fast cement. Huge +platter-shaped leaves are supported on long stalks from nearly the +centre, whence radiate prominent nerves of pale green. Some plants +exhibit leaf-stalks of ruby red, with central leaf-spot and nerves like +in hue, producing the most beautiful effect. If the growth of the plant +could be kept within bounds it would be gladly admitted as a garden +shrub. The stems and the base of the leaf-stalk are coated with, +glaucous bloom, like that of a ripe plum. The bloom, easily to be rubbed +off, is said to derive its title from that Glaucus who took part in the +Trojan War and had the simplicity, or the wisdom, to exchange his suit +of golden armour for one of iron. + +The length of the beach thus casually examined is not more than a +quarter of a mile long, and no plant mentioned is more than a few yards +from high-water mark, the soil being almost pure sand. Imagine some +three square miles of country varied by hills and flats of rich soil, +with creeks and ravines, precipices and bluffs, dense jungle and thick +forest, hollows wherein water lodges in the wet season, and granite +ridges, and then endeavour to comprehend the botany of one small island +of the tropical coast! + +To obtain demonstration of the vitalising and nourishing principles in +maritime sands under the effects of heat, light, and moisture, it +is necessary to retrace our steps and walk round the sandspit to the +transfigured and degenerate mouth of that once mangrove-creek known to +the blacks by a name signifying that a boy once tethered in it a sucking +fish (Remora). Obstructed by a bank, the creek is dead and dry save when +the floods of the wet season co-operate with high tides and effect a +breach, to be repaired on the cessation of the rains. No more than four +years have passed since the formation of the bank began. It is now a +shrubbery made by the incessant and tireless sea from materials hostile, +insipid, and loose-sand, shells, and coral debris, with pumice from some +far-away volcano. On this newly made, restricted strip one may peep and +botanise without restraint, discovering that though it does not offer +conditions at all favourable to the retention of moisture, plants of +varied character crowd each other for space and flourish as if drawing +nutriment from rich loam. + +Several botanical Families are represented, the genera and species +being: + + Casuarina equisetifolia (she-oak) + Avicennia officinalis (white mangrove). + Clerodendron inerme. + Premna obtusifolia. + Vitex trifolia. + Vitex trifolia, var. obovata. + Carapa moluccensis (cannon-ball-tree). + Erylhrina indica (coral-tree). + Sophora tomentosa (sea-coast laburnum). + Pongamia glabra (poonga oil-tree). + Vigna luteola (yellow-flowered pea). + Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel). + Terminalia melanocarpa. + Ximenia americana (yellow plum). + Scoevola koenigii (native cabbage). + Hibiscus tiliaceus (cotton-tree). + Wikstroemia indica. Macaranga tanarius. + Euphorbia eremophilla (caustic bush). + Dodonaea viscosa (hop-bush). + Passiflora foetida (stinking passion fruit). + Ipomea pes caprae (goat-footed convolvulus). + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form A. + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form B (spade-flower). + Blainvillea latifolia. + Gnaphalium luteo-album (flannel-leaf or cud-weed). + Vernonia cinerea (erect, fluffy-seeded weed). + Remirea maritima (spiky sand-binder). + Cyperus decompositus (giant sedge). + Erigeron linifolius (cobbler's pegs or rag-weed). + Tribulus terrestris (caltrops). + Triumfetta procumbens (burr). + Salsola kali (prickly salt-wort). + Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale (pig's face). + Anthistria ciliata (kangaroo-grass). + Paspalum distichum (water couch-grass). + Zoysia pungens (coast couch-grass). + Lepturus repens (creeping wire-grass). + Panicum leucophaeum (pasture-grass). + Andropogon refractus (barbed wire-grass). + Tragus racemosus (burr-grass). + Eragrostis brownii, var. pubescens (love-grass). + +With the exception of some of the grasses and two noxious weeds, this +assemblage is representative of plants which grow just beyond the +sweep of the waves, and are prosperously at home nowhere else. One, +the cannonball-tree, is so highly specialised that its presence is but +temporary, for it endures but a single set of conditions--saline mud +and the shade of mangroves. The thick, leathery capsule contains several +irregularly shaped seeds, somewhat similar to Brazil nuts, but larger in +size and not to be reassembled readily after separation. When stranded, +germination is prompt, but the young plants, lacking essential +conditions, invariably perish. One of the trailers--the caltrops--has +trilobed, saw-edged leaves (harsh on both sides), yellow flowers of +unpleasant odour, and fruit which, perhaps, formed the model of the war +weapon of the time of the Crusaders. In whatever position it rests on +the ground it presents an array of spikes to the bare foot. Though +all its superficial qualities are graceless, it performs the admirable +office of binding sand, and thus prepares the way for benign and +faultless vegetation. + +That his garden might not only be instructive but profitable to mankind, +Neptune heaved on to its verge three coco-nuts, the goose-barnacles on +two of which bore testimony to a long drift. That which retained the +germ of life fell into the hands of a visiting black boy, who split it +open to feast on the pithy and insipid “apple” within its shell at +the base of the sprout. This mischance ruined for the time being the +prospect of a fine effect; but the perseverance and prodigality of +Neptune none may estimate. He will certainly bring from distant +domain another nut which may escape the observation of the +never-to-be-satisfied black boys until the young plant itself has +assimilated its concentrated food, and begins to spread its glossy +fronds in the face of the sun. In the meantime the garden displays four +weeds, two of the nature of pests, two of discomfort merely; ornamental, +scented, and flowering shrubs, and trees promising to be conspicuous and +picturesque, so that credit is to be divided--the sea made the site, the +adjacent land provided all the becoming plants. + +What are the elements in this primitive spot which afford nutriment +to vegetation of such varied character? Probably there are few of the +beaches of islands within the Great Barrier Reef on which the majority +of the plants do not exist. It is typical, therefore, not of isolated +experiments on the part of Nature, but of conditions and processes +repeated in similitude wheresoever in the region raw sand heals the +wounds inflicted by the sea or the grumbling sea retreats before the +sibilant, incessant sand. + + + + +SHADOWS + + + +“The wish--that ages have not yet subdued--In man to have no master save +his mood.” + + BYRON. + + +Before the coming of the obscuring grey of these wet-season days, when +the tranquil sea absorbed the lustrous blue of the sky, I discovered +myself day-dreaming for a blissful moment or two ere the crude anchor of +the flattie slipped slowly to the mud twelve feet below. The rough iron +and rusty chain cast curious crinkled shadows, and presently, as the +iron sank into the slate-coloured mud and the chain tightened, the +shadow was single but infirm. Light and the magic of the sea, which, +though it takes its ease, is forbidden absolute rest, transformed +it until imagination created similitude to a serpent in its natural +element. Its half-concealed, formless head was verified by a flake of +rust just where a watchful eye might have been, and the sun played upon +it. + +So here at last was the sea-serpent with alert eye and without end. It +was all so realistic and endowed with such benignity and such gentleness +of motion that I gazed at it with the gladness of a discoverer. In +response to a slight motion of the hand, the sea-serpent wriggled as +though in haste; but wriggle as it might the end never came. + +The boat drifted back. The serpent became seriously elongated, but +though the beginning was now a grey blotch in the mud, the end was not. +I might beat up a little foam with the chain, and see below a giddy +dance or at least lively flourishes and swaying. Yet there was something +lacking--the end. But for that very commonplace default did there not +here exist a very good beginning for another romance of the sea? + +The phantom, born of light and limpid salt water and iron into which +rust had deeply gnawed, gave zest to the pursuit of shadows. What is +commoner under the tropic sun? The boat was now over the sand of the +steeply shelving beach, where the water takes the tint of the chrysolite +and creatures of fairy lightness come into view. Often on still days +small sea-spiders sport under the lea of the boat, each of the eight +legs supported by a bubble. With astonishing nimbleness, the spider +slips and glides over the surface as a man in laborious snow-shoes over +the snow. Having basked in the sun and frolicked with its kind, the +spider abandons its pads, takes to its hairy bosom a bubble of air, +and dives below. The shadows, not the spiders alone, gave pleasing +entertainment. Each vague shadow and the eight bubble-shod feet formed +a brooch-like ornament on the yellow sand--a grey jewel surrounded by +diamonds, for every bubble acted as a lens concentrating the light. When +the frail creatures darted hither and thither--the majestic sun does not +disdain to lend his brilliance to the most prosaic of happenings--the +shadows of the bubbles became jewels or daylight lightnings. The hour +was so restful, the light so searching, that many of the spiders, long +of leg and pearly-grey of body, gathered about the boat, the shade +of which seemed to be grateful. A wave of the hand dispersed the gay +assemblage, but in a few seconds the playful creatures--not too easily +to be deprived of their place in the sun--reappeared from nowhere, +and the beads and flashes on the floor of old Ocean once more began to +glitter. + +Small, slim fish took shelter from the intense light. Some hung +motionless in the water; others nibbled daintily the green and lazy +slime on the batten at the bilge, their gently waving shadows being +barely perceptible, for their delicate, semi-transparent bodies absorbed +but the merest particle of the brightness of noonday. + +The unnoticeable swing of the tide took the responsive boat out from +the beach, and again the serpent swayed sleepily. Down in the mud an +organised conflict was taking place between a tiny soft-bodied crab +and four molluscs which used whip-like tentacles with unceasing energy, +while the crab defended itself with ever-ready claws. Borne down by +numbers, it sank into the mud, the energy of the victors creating a +tiny spiral of slush. A huge stingray passed on its way, the edges of +extended wings rippling never so gently, its shadow half the size of the +boat; and presently, with ghostly glide, a dull-skinned shark came into +view with motion so steady and apparently effortless that it might have +been a spectre. The pectoral fins swayed listlessly. The swirl of the +tail was as tender as a caress. Passing the boat a few yards, it turned +with a gracious sweep and nestled in its shade, and, though motionless, +it was wide awake. The eyes on each end of the projecting extremities of +the head blinked up at the boat. It was comfortable, but suspicious. Was +its conscience quite clear? The hammer-head has not the reputation +of being an active enemy of man. Why should it be distrustful? This +hammer-head would not sleep in the shadow, so let it be made aware of +the serpent. I took hold of the chain cautiously, the shark watching, +and with a quick turn of the wrist the docile serpent lashed +offensively. Then did the shark, frightened of a shadow, flee with +mud-stirring haste, like the wicked when no man pursueth. + +The hour of day-dreaming was past. I slip over the side of the boat to +roll and splash in tepid water limpid almost to invisibility, and to +test the wondrous buoyancy of the substantial part of man. Sit down, the +lips just awash, so that the accurately ballasted portion cushions on +the cleanly sand. Stretch out the legs so that the heels barely rest. +Head thrown back and arms extended, fill the lungs to their utmost +capacity with the placid, revivifying air, and you will find yourself so +uplifted that the heels alone gently touch the sand. At each inspiration +almost sufficient air is imbibed to float the whole bulk and machinery +of the body. And when the radiant air is all one's own, why be +niggardly? Let it be gulped greedily, strongly, wilfully, and let the +smiling sea, responding to the embraces of your widespread arms, salute +your lips with ripples. + + + + +“SMILING MORN” + + + +“The light of the morning, When the sun riseth, even a morning without +clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining +after rain.” + + Holy Writ. + + +A cloudless sky, the long grass wet with the night's gentle shower, +a thin veil of mist on the hills, a glassy, steel-blue sea, the air +saturated with the essences from myriads of leaves and scented with +the last whiffs from the tea-trees and the primal blossoms of the +wattles--such are the features of this smiling morn. + +A spangled drongo--ardent lover of light and free air--talkatively +announced the dawn long before its coming; the noisy pitta--bird of the +moist soil and leafy gloom--triumphs in three notes. For an hour the +scrub fowl have been violently noisy, but have retired to the recesses +of the jungle, whence comes an occasional chuckle of satisfaction or +a coarse, triumphant crow. The fasciated honey-eater has loudly called +“with a voice that seemed the very sound of happiness”; the leaden +flycatcher, often silent but seldom still, has twittered and whispered +plaintively; the sun-birds are playing gymnastics among the lemon +blossoms, and the centre of activity for butterflies is the red-flowered +shrub bordering the wavering path. + +Since--sometimes wantonly, often thoughtlessly--man interferes with +plants, time out of mind the banqueting-table of the butterflies, is +it not a duty to provide substitutes for devastated natural vegetation? +When it is discovered that a plant, introduced to give satisfaction to +the lust of the eye, provides from year's end to year's end nectar as +unfailing as the widow's cruse of oil, is it not becoming to reproduce +it plentifully so that excited and virtuous insects may be encouraged +to return to former scenes? If not a duty, at least it is a source of +happiness, for the particular insects which revel in the nectar of the +perpetually flowering shrub are the two most gorgeous butterflies of the +land--pleasantly known as Ulysses and Cassandra. + +Science changes its titles so frequently that unless the intellect is +to be increasingly burdened it is well to refuse to be divorced from +the old and often explicit and fulfilling names. Cassandra is the lovely +green and gold fly which dances in the air so delightfully when he +woos his sober, fluttering mate. That of gorgeous royal blue with black +edging to the wings and dandyish swallow-tails, which wanders far and +wide and flies high and swiftly, is Ulysses. + +This glorious morn the ruddy shrub is as lively as a merry-go-round with +the feasting and antics of flitting gems, and there are others by the +dozen attentive to less seductive fare. For half an hour the courtship +of a perfect Ulysses has interfered with the staid ways of those not +in holiday humour. Unlike Cassandra, there is little in appearance to +distinguish the sexes, nor in the wooing does the dame exhibit staid +demeanour. The object of Ulysses' love is almost, if not quite, +as brilliantly decorated as himself. She is not, therefore, to be +fascinated by the display of blue no more lustrous than that of her +own proud wings. He may flit and toss about her, but she seems to take +scanty notice of his affected aerial limpings. Her raiment is just as +brave, and she has swallow-tails too. The wider black margin on her +wings is no badge of subserviency, but rather an additional charm +inciting tremulous fascination. She may soar over the mango-trees with +ease as careless as his, and slide down straight to the red flowers +with like certainty. She is not to be bewildered by his gyrations, nor +thrilled by mock hostile swoops. However sprightly his activities, +she has a mood to correspond and power to mimic. Indeed, is she not +indifferent?--so much on an equality with him that she might say: + +“If thou thinkest I am too easily won, I'll frown and be perverse, and +say thee nay.” + +Might she not say more at the moment, since her airs are those of +independence? Possibly she imagines hers to be the superior sex. Is she +to be distinguished from her wooer as she flits from him disdainfully? +Can she not imitate his most audacious feats? Ah! but for how long may +she restrain primal emotions? The blue-mantled dandy understands his +art. His wings beat with the passion of the dominant lover. He tosses +himself before her, impeding her flight until she imitates his antics. +Tossing is not the privilege of his sex. She exercises her right to +toss, and the pair toss in delightful but bewildering confusion, like +jewels sent skyward by a conjurer. And thus having established her +rights if not her equality, she consents to play the part Nature +decrees, and the pair tumble and toss over the mango-trees, while half a +dozen others sip contentedly the red flowers. + +Many other winged creatures flit and glisten in the garden and down +along the grass-invaded path between the coco-nuts. Dragon-flies hover +over the moist spots, transparent wings carrying coral-red bodies, +and two sand-wasps pilot my steps, following the narrow ribbon of bare +ground as a fish the course of a shallow stream, buzzing ominously as if +in warning of some possible mischance. They are friends, and will in a +moment swerve, and boom back to the shafts they have excavated in sand +as depositaries for their eggs, and into which they will pack living +caterpillars as fresh food for their young. They dig with such deftness +and vigour that the sand is expelled in a continuous jet. When the mouth +of the shaft, round to exactness, is lumbered with soil, the insect +emerges backward and shovels away dog-like with its forelegs. Then it +disappears again, until the sand-jet has made another encumbering heap. + +These alert and furiously resentful insects are endowed with +resourcefulness and “intelligence” in keeping with their physical +activities. One had foraged a caterpillar in bulk and weight beyond +its flight strength, and was, therefore, compelled to haul it along the +toilful earth. On the wing the wasp finds its home unhesitatingly. On +the unfamiliar ground it lost its bearings, and, moreover, the lumbering +caterpillar had to be tugged through a bewildering forest of grass +stems, among which it went astray. During a pause the wasp surveyed the +scene, and, locating the shaft, after stupendous exertions deposited +its prey conveniently thereto, to find itself confronted with a problem, +since the diameter of the caterpillar exceeded that of the shaft. +It seemed to reflect for a few moments, and then with feverish haste +enlarged the shaft. Another difficulty had then to be overcome. Was it +possible to force such a bulky and unwieldy body head first down--the +habitual way? The insect came to a rapid decision in the negative. +Backing into the shaft, it seized the caterpillar by the head and drew +it down, presently emerging, and how it managed to squeeze past so tight +a plug is another of the magics of the morn. Having butted with its +highly competent head the caterpillar well home, the wasp selected +a neatly fitting stone as a wad, and, filling the shaft with earth, +strewed the surface with grass fragments, to the artistic concealment of +the site. + +On the beach is another industrious winged miner which has not learned +the art of the rapid evacuation of the spoil, but follows the slower +ways of the crab, carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, +and as it backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is made. But +it is a fussy worker, so charged with nervous energy that its glittering +wings quiver even while down in the depths of its shaft, as you may +assure yourself if you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air +makes competitive noises. + + + + +ANCESTRAL SHADE + + + +“Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the +root--and time has been When tempests could not.” + + COWPER. + + +If it were possible to recall the spirits of the departed of this Isle +to solemn session and to exact from them expression of opinion as to +the central point of it, the popular, most comfortable and convenient +camping-place, there can be no question that the voice of the majority +would favour the curve of the bay rendered conspicuous by a bin-gum +or coral tree. Within a few yards of permanent fresh water, on sand +blackened by the mould of centuries of vegetation, close to an almost +inextricable forest merging into jungle, whence a great portion of the +necessaries of life were obtained, and but ten paces from the sea, +the tree stood as a landmark, not of soaring height, but of bulk and +comeliness withal. + +Generation after generation of careless coloured folk must have been +born and bred under its branches. When the soil became rank because of +continuous residence and insects of diabolical activity pestered its +occupants, the camp would shift to another site; but there existed +proofs that the bin-gum-tree localised the thoughts of those aimless, +unstable wanderers to whom a few bushes stuck in the sand as a screen +from prevailing winds represent the home of the hour and all that the +word signifies and embodies. Many a one was laid to rest beneath its +spreading branches, for it was the custom of the pre-white folk's days +to swathe the dead in frail strips of bark, knees to chin, and place the +stiffened corpse in a shallow pit in the humpy which had been in most +recent occupation. If the dead during life had possessed exceptional +qualities, burial rites would be ceremonious and prolonged. With tear +and blood stained faces (for the mourners enforced grief by laceration +of the flesh) incidents in the admirable career of the departed would +be rehearsed in pantomime. The enactment of scenes from the life of the +hunter and fighter might occupy hours. The art of the canoe or sword +maker would be graphically mimicked. The life of the woman found +rehearsal from infancy until she passed from the protection of her +father into the arms of her lover. If she had died childless, a +protesting infant or an effigy in bark would be placed on her shrunken +bosom, so that she might not suffer the reproach of matrons who had +preceded her to the mysterious better country. + +The ancestral shade was a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, +and the soil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree displayed its +ruddy flowers and gave of its best in nectar for birds and butterflies +and gauze-winged, ever-flitting creatures. + +It was not a comfortable tree to climb, for its grey-green branches were +studded with wens each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. It +offered the hospitality of its shade to man, but little else, save +flowers to gladden his eyes, though it stood as a perpetual calendar, or +rather floral harbinger, of some of the most excellent things in life. +At a certain season its big, trilobed, hollow-stalked leaves changed +from bright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before +the last disappeared, flower-buds registered the date with almost +almanac exactitude. Then, as the rich red began to glow here and there, +and impatient small birds to assemble in anticipation of the annual +feast, the old inhabitants of the Isle would comfort one another with +reminiscences of the “Oo-goo-ju,” the nutmeg pigeon, which was wont to +congregate in such numbers that adjacent and easily accessible isles +were whitened. There would be plenty of eggs then, and in a few weeks +squabs quiveringly, helplessly fat. + +It was a good tree, for it gave good tidings, and it centralised the +shelter of the Isle. Its blooms were delightfully, dashingly red, and +they lasted long--that is, if the camp--the soil rectified by sun +and rain--happened to be in residence, for then the sulphur-crested +cockatoos would be scared. Otherwise the profligate birds would sever +the heavy racemes of flower in their eagerness for honey until the +ground beneath glowed with a furnace-hued shadow. But there would be +still plenty for the gay sun-birds and the honey eaters, while the grey +goshawk would make the site of regular call, for the bibulous lesser +birds could not always be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent +tea-trees. The hawk would abide its time, and have occasion, after its +kind, to be grateful because of the tree and its seductive nectar which +translated artless little songsters into shrill-tongued roysterers, +careless of the ills of life, or at least less watchful for the presence +of crafty enemies. Flying foxes would swoop into the tree at sundown to +squeak and gibber among its repellent branches till dawn, when some, too +full for flight, would hang among the lower limbs all day, sleeping with +eyes veiled by leathery wings. + +For many a long day the bin-gum tolerated no undergrowth. Despotic over +its territory, the shade was clean but for a carpet of ferns, and its +branches free from the embraces of orchids, save that which bears the +ghostly white flowers which set off its own of bold red. But as it +passed its maturity shrubs and saplings began to encroach, until it was +the centre of a circus of upstart vegetation, though still stretching +big, knotty limbs over the slim youths of yesterday. Anterior to this +era a neglected fire had scorched a portion of its trunk. Decay set in. +A huge cavity gradually appeared, betokening vital injuries. The soft +though tough wood does not patiently endure the annihilating fret of +time. Far up in a recess of this cavity a toy boomerang was found, +placed there by some provident but forgetful piccaninny. At the date of +the discovery of the missile the age of the resident blacks had passed +away; but still the tree stood, stout of limb, while the encompassing +saplings shot up until sun-seeking shoots caressed the branches and +familiarised with the blooms, as if taking credit for the seasonal +gaiety of the patriarch. + +In the prime of life the wood of the bin-gum is of pale straw colour +with a faint pinkish tinge, and tough though light. Sapless age makes +it tindery, and the decaying fibre descends in dust--glissades of dust +which form moraines within the hollow of the base. Then the end is not +far off. + +The old tree might have been credited with premonition of its fate. +However fanciful to ascribe to it power of utterance, some phenomena, +perhaps associated with the dusty flux draining its vitals, gave +it distinct voice. On silent days it was often heard--a whispering, +whimpering sing-song, pitifully weak for so great a tree, but not +without appeal. Did it not suggest the sanctuary of some wood-nymph +chanting never so faint a death psalm--a monotone which the idlest +zephyr might still? + +Disdaining to die while consenting to disappear, the great tree, proudly +green of head, did not fall headlong, like a giant, in its pride, but +subsided silently behind its leafy screen while all the winds were +still, and as one who passes away full of years and with untarnished +conscience. + +Though the saplings and shrubs which fought for its place decently +conceal its shattered relics, addressing glossy leaves to the face of +the sun, is it quite vain to expect that its graceful proportions--a +true and stately dome--will be transmitted to the most worthy of its +descendants? Or that they will escape for so long a term the many +mischances that befall soft-wooded trees? No; the bin-gum of the bay was +unique. Afar off its flowers assumed a bricky shade, which contrasted +with the sage-green background of huge and overtopping melaleucas, while +but a strip of creamy sand intervened between its low and spreading +branches and the shallow sea, with its varying tints of pale green and +blue. So lovely and conspicuous a feature is not to be reconstituted +under a century. + +If it be permitted to assume that trees are sentient, that each--since +it differs from all others in some material quality and condition--has +its individuality, and that one may stand out from the rest as a +figure and representative of its age, then was this old monarch which +maintained its red robes to the last an examplar of the race whose +births, nuptials, pastimes, deaths and burials it witnessed from the +date when the good ship ENDEAVOUR slowly plodded along the alien coast. +The dust of the witness is blending in common decay. A few months and +not a trace will be discoverable, and what is left of those who rested +in its shade? In the pages of history they will be unchronicled, for +were not their lives less beautiful than the life of a tree, and their +renown no more durable? + + + + +QUIET WATERS + + + +“Like playhouse scenes the shore slid past.” + + KIPLING. + + +Lovable as is the open sea when the spray drenches the scanty clothing +of the steersman and rains upon his lips salty salutation, yet is there +rare delightsomeness in reverse of the wet frolic. + +A few minutes past the deck glistened in the sun as each rollicking +billow sent its herald over the bows, and here the surface of the river +is almost rippleless. Shallows and uncertainties perplex its union with +the ocean. Sombre green mangroves screen its muddy banks at full tide +and trail leathery leaves and the tips of spindly fruit on its placid +surface. Pendant roots and immersed branches create on each hand a +continuous scroll of wavering ridges and eddies bordered with the +living tints of the steadfast wall of leafage. The sun so burnishes the +midstream ribbon that the boat seems to float on an invisible element. +Though the topmost leaves of the mangroves fail to disclose any movement +in the air, an unceasing and inharmonious hum tells of the sea idly +shouldering the orange-hued sands outside. + +The original inhabitants of the country knew the stream as Marang. +None call it so; but half stranded on the bank at the mouth lies a raft +typical of the past, and of the ease and resource with which those of +the day are wont to avail themselves of Nature's suggestions in the art +of crossing flooded waters. The name of the river has gone, but not that +of the three buoyant logs lashed together with strips of cane which with +sullen lurch, take the wash of the boat. The boys jerk their heads in +the direction and murmur “wur-gun,” and speculate on the last user. +The day is young. For the time being the best the ancient river has to +show--the quintessence of the season, superb October--shall be ours. The +cloudless sky is richly blue, lighter in shade than the shapely mountain +which seems to block the way miles ahead. The sun gives a taste of its +quality, not to fret or discomfort, but merely to add a slightly richer +tint to skin glowing with previous marks of his fervour and favour. + +All the sounds of the little engine are maliciously exaggerated as the +boat forges ahead. The silent green river has become vociferous with +echoes, which snap and grunt, groan and hiss, in mockery of inevitable +and earnest doings. Out at sea the merry moods of the boat and hasty +and determined throbs of the engine are manifestations of something +accomplished in the overcoming of distance. Here it is all mere idle +fancy, while the echoes jeer. Surely the uncouth imps of the dimly-lit +jungles need not proclaim their spite with such exaggerated fuss. + +With but little effort of imagination the boat becomes stationary on +a shining ribbon with strips of dark green on each side, and the banks +glide past with never so gentle undulations. The tide screens most of +the mud on which the many-rooted trees stand. Some are in full bloom, +the hawthorn-like flowers breathing perfume as from an orangery +soliciting the raids of millions of bees. Scents cling to the placid +surface. It is as a stream of scent, bounded and confined by changeful +tints as the sun toys with the shadows, and curve after curve, reach +after reach, slip by. Sometimes the chattering boat heads due east. +South she knows too, and then she bows her duty to the west, along +reaches which run straight and clean as a canal; and round hairpin bends +she sweeps with disdainful air, as if conscious of besoiling banks. + +Gradually the monopolistic mangroves become more tolerant of the rights +of other vegetation. Tea-trees with white papery bark and pale yellow +flowers dripping with spirity nectar, the sunflower-tree with its masses +of gold, an occasional wattle, and slim palms mirror themselves, and +here and there compact jungle, with its entanglement of ponderous vines +and smothering creepers, shoulders away the salt-loving plants. +Scents may vary as the river's fringe; but only a delicate blend is +recognised--the breathings of honey-secreting flowers and of sapful +plants free from all uncleanliness. Many trees endure sadly the +decoration of orchids in full flower, some lovely to look on and +deliciously scented. The snowy plumes of one species sway gently, as +if offering friendly greeting. A worthy similitude to the lily of the +valley clings to a decaying limb, and a passing smudge of lustrous brown +is but the reflection from a mass of the commonest of the Dendrobiums +which encumbers a long-suffering host. Where forest trees and wattles +guard the bank the water is of a different hue, as if the face of the +river had absorbed less of the actualities of the sun. The screen +of vegetation is not only higher, but it is varied and impresses its +individuality. Only during the pelting rains of the wet season may +this delightful stream be monotonous, for at intervals brief and +narrow vistas open out on patches of yellowing grass, and beyond lie +forest-clad hills. + +All save the boat is wonderfully still. The birds are silent, for this +is the first hot day of the season, and they have retired to the patches +of jungle where shade and dimness afford relief from the sunlight +spaces. For many a mile a cormorant, lacking valour to double on its +tracks, has fled before the boat, settling out of sight ever and anon, +only to be scared further from its nest. A mangrove bittern sitting +humpbacked on a root and roused from its night thoughts has flown ahead, +following the bends of the stream until it crossed a familiar loop and +so evaded incessant harrying. + +No murmur of the sea is audible, though the water is as briny as at the +mouth. Mangroves still reinforce the muddy banks at intervals, and big +barramundi swirl aside to give the boat precedence in the narrow way. +If in no impetuous haste, one might drift with the tide up and down with +but little exertion except during periods of flood, which quickly rise +and quickly subside. Drifters become familiar with characteristics of +the stream unknown to those who hurry up and down in an echo-rousing +motor-boat. They see crocodiles basking on their sides, as many as +seven on a sunny morning in the cool season, and many curse them in +De Quincey's phrase as “miscreated gigantic vermin” because the rifle +happens to be unavailable. Crocodiles have their moods. Sometimes they +are lazy and indifferent and will not be disturbed though the boat may +clink and chatter as it passes, and the then easygoing man disposes +of them. More often the faculties of the crocodile are disappointingly +acute. He is visible for such a fragment of time that the authoritative +man who has promised sport looks foolish and tries to relieve the strain +by the relation of anecdotes in which circumstances have not been all +in favour of the illusive creature. He tells of the slumbering one which +lay on a mud-bank with its jaws distended, weary of the monotony of +the mangroves, and took but sleepy notice when upbraided for being a +sluggard. And of that other monstrous beast which, with eyelids like +saucers and a bulk which filled a narrow tributary of the river, +floundered, splashed, and flurried into deep water, while the awestruck +individual with the rifle was too astounded to fire a shot. He may tell, +too, of another instance of good luck on the part of the crocodile. +How, drifting down silently with the ebb, the black boy indicated the +presence of game on a slide overhung by a deep verandah of mud; how a +shot was fired and a big log splashed into the water and the little +one remained bearing the bullet-wound, the real having been too big and +impressive for sight. + +The day is well spent among strange plants. Here is a tall hibiscus with +coarse leaves, diversely lobed, and great pink, fragile flowers, each +with a blotch of maroon at the base and each containing a fat and +lumbering bee spangled with maroon-tinted pollen. A trailing eugenia +bears dark red flowers shaped like a mop, and a tiny white lily with +petals and strangely protuberant anthers scents the air as with honey +and almonds. + +The tide ebbs fast. All the country teems with entertainment, and the +river, cool in the dusk, and black, reflects the dead mangroves, white +and spectral, on its brink. + +This breathless night the sea is as tetchy as petrol. Trailing fingers +are terminals which ignite living flames, and the propeller of the +little boat creates an avengeful commotion of light which trails far +astern. Blobs of light are cast off from her bows as she rounds the +familiar sandspit and glides to her moorings. + + + + +“THE LOWING HERD” + + + +“Your cattle, too--Allah made them; serviceable, dumb creatures; +they change the grass into milk; they come ranking home at evening +time.”--CARLYLE. + + +Remote from the manners and the sights of the street, here are we secure +against most of the pains which come of the contemplation, casual +or intimate, of other folk's sufferings. No hooded ambulance moves +joltlessly, tended by enwrapt bearers, on pathless way; no formal +procession paces from the house of death to the long last home. Immune +from the associations which oft subdue the crowd, as well as from +its too exciting pleasures, and participating only indirectly in its +inevitable sorrows, yet we are occasionally forced to remember that +troubles do come to all that is flesh, and that keen is the grief +attendant upon enforced separations even among animals which cannot call +reason to their solace. Man cannot claim to be the sole proprietor +of the luxury of woe, and may he not draw edifying lessons from +contemplating the transient sorrows of his pets and domestic animals? +Is he to confine his schooling on the wholesome theme of the frailty +of flesh solely to his own species? It is not to be denied that animals +lower in the scale than mankind have acute sense of bereavement, though +it is equally certain that in their case the healing influences of time +are more prompt and potent. + +An illustration may be cited. Two favourite Irish terriers, in violation +of an all-precautionary training, molested a death adder, the emulation +of each inciting the other to recklessness. When the fray was over and +the wicked little serpent lay squirming in death, both dogs took joyful +credit on account of the feat. An hour after one began to froth at the +lips, and in another hour he lay dead. His son and companion, as well as +rival in all rat and lizard hunts, softly approached the body, lifting +each foot with almost solemn deliberation. He sniffed, and catching a +whiff of the scent of death, sat on his haunches, threw back his head, +and in loud and piercing tones lamented the tragedy until from very +hoarseness he could howl no longer. He stood the solitary spectator of +the burial, and as the soil was patted down tenderly, sniffed the spot, +whimpered plaintively, and followed with downcast mien. Unable to fathom +the mystery of death, yet fearful, if not resentful, he wandered about +for days rebuking the moon, or its dire influence, and hailing passing +steamers with weak whines. Time soon soothed the mental hurt. + +Since I became a milker and tender of pet cows many instances have been +revealed of the patience and amiability of these inestimable beasts. The +man who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who employs stockmen by the +dozen, who sends off hundreds of fat, contented, happy, liberty-loving +oxen in droves to end their days in an unknown locality amid the clatter +and swish of machinery and with the fearful scents of blood and decaying +offal defiling the air, has few opportunities of studying the nicer +qualities of his possessions. He may be full of bullock lore and able to +recite sensational and entertaining stories illustrative of the ways of +the big mobs which tramp from native hills and downs to the city of the +thousand deaths. He knows, perhaps, something of the individualities of +his herds, and will tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how +they pine when separated. Then will he register his personal regrets, +counting in the measure for fat, for, refusing food, the animals fall +away in condition, so that the sorrows of two fat bullocks due to +parting, enforced by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and +using violent and threatening language, come home to the owner in terms +of pounds, shillings, and pence. + +Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the full-fed and +contented herd supply generously milk and cream with no apprehensions +of the butcher? Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek cows +are more tender. At least it has been noticed that when the time comes +for the flash young bulls to be banished, and they are transported, the +mother's grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of departure +and all the novel excitement of a first experience of the motion of the +sea, the fat calf, which has rollicked in all that makes for good temper +and ease and comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, affrighted +eyes, and the head is turned wistfully when terms of comfort are +uttered. He is of the make of man and will not whimper. But the mother, +on the discovery of her bereavement, arouses the echoes of the hills +with her calls. + +Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your herd, your ears are +also attuned to the significant tones of each--the low warning hum of +the mother to her safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to +obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering offspring is out of +sight, the anxious call when it is absent from her side unaccountably, +the angry bellow when she thinks injury is being done. + +The other day a lusty young bull which had been wont to treat me as a +chum, and perhaps as a slightly inferior animal, was reluctantly +parted from. His face displayed his emotions-astonishment, grief, +resignation--and once, and only once, did he permit himself to protest +vocally. But for a week his mother's sorrow has been insistent. Early on +the morning following, the banishment, she led off the rest of the +herd in Indian file, to search accustomed scenes. At times she +hastened--perhaps she heard in fancy the loved one's voice--but more +often and with rare persistency she shrewdly scrutinised every possible +hiding-place, lowing plaintively and with a coaxing, wistful tone. +Frequently, attended by silent, sympathising companions, she made +frantic appeals to me, and then there seemed to be a note as of +upbraiding, if not accusation, in her voice. Knowing her feelings, it +was easy to interpret them, and her doleful mood and loud yet melodious +protests against the arbitrary usage of man affected the wonted serenity +of the Isle. + +How many lusty, fat, sleek, good-humoured, straight-backed, frolicsome +calves had she reared, and when they had come to the age when a +mother's pride must be in the full, each in its turn had mysteriously +disappeared. Was this not a subject of moan? Why should she not tell +her grief to the responsive hills, and send it as far as her voice might +carry over the irresponsive sea? + +Time soothes all such pangs. She calls now when she spies me in the +forest, still suspecting where responsibility rests, and mumbles as she +crops the succulent herbage. A few more days and her sturdy offspring +will be forgotten; but the recollection of her material woes excites the +thought that human beings, in guiding the destinies of domestic animals, +may not always be conscious of certain moral aspects of such incidents. +Are we justified in lacerating the feelings of those creatures, which +have become accustomed to our ways, which submit to our arbitrary +authority with wondrous patience, which depend on us in many ways, and +which trust us with unquestioning fidelity? + +Against all precedent, the dairy herd was started with a bull. Though +such a beginning is not to be recommended as a general precept, it must +be confessed that in this particular instance developments proved its +wisdom. Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by +society of his kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank +and friendly manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite +excursions in the bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable +of the frogs and the boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his +sportful moods, for what would have proved pure frolic to him might have +been fraught with disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, +he spent most of his leisure moments in the paddock where poultry +congregates, and where many of the domestic rites are performed. He +was at home, and he was a gentleman, and did no one premeditated ill. +Longing for something to play with, he would make hostile demonstration +against the wheelbarrow, but that dull-hearted vehicle never responded +except by ignominious collapse at tenderest touch of horn. One evening, +when all the good little chicks had been put to bed for the night, the +bull, impatient for play, overturned two coops so suddenly that two of +the inmates were crushed flat. There was no sheltering mother to protest +against such violation, and so the adjoining coop was visited. But for +once he went wrong in strategy. The coop contained an exceptionally +numerous family, the mother of which richly deserved the name of +“Scotty.” The coop was overturned none too politely; the squeaking +chicks vanished in the grass and remained discreetly silent; the irate +hen, with the valour of ignorance and all feathers on end, flew in the +face of the startled bull. Though a white leghorn, she has fighting +blood in her veins, and as she hurled herself--stuttering with +frantic exclamations--at the violator of her home, he backed with a +mirth-provoking look of surprise and dismay. He seemed to wish to say +that he regretted the intrusion, and would apologise and ask permission +to retire. The hen was not in the mood to accept apologies, however +seemly the cringing attitude of the bull. Making herself ever so much +bigger than Nature intended, she followed up her advantages, slapping +her enemy's face with widespread wings until he winced again, and +clawing with truly feminine extravagance and uncertainty of aim. The +first round was all to the credit of the hen, and the startled poultry +cackled derisively as the bull retreated. Sure of victory, the hen +followed him up, skipping, flapping, clawing, and scolding as only an +irate hen in transports of rage can. Still the bull backed. He was a +gentleman, and genuinely afraid of female tantrums. With half-shut eyes, +he submitted to the buffets of the wings, while encouraging remarks +from friends and companions further excited the delirious pugnacity +of “Scotty.” Then it seemed to dawn on him that honour was at stake. +Gallantry forbade him to do violence to a lady; honour forbade him to +run away. What other recourse was open? He must treat the whole episode +as a joke. So, rubbing his muzzle on the ground, he invited the hen to +come on. She did so. There was a splash of outspread feathers against +his front and more clatter than ever. He pawed the ground, jerking +little clods over his shoulders, and, lowering his head, menaced the +hen with horns that could have tossed her over the highest of the +mango-trees. But there was a smile on his face the while, and the +spectators knew, though “Scotty” did not, that it was all a joke. Again +and again she flew in his face. Just as often he refused to take her +seriously, though all the pantomime of battle was displayed. She cackled +in impotent anger. He bellowed with gratification. Not a fowl in the +yard saw the joke, and all the little chicks in adjacent coops strained +their necks to watch the battle and their voices in shrill comments. +Having made not the slightest impression on the jovial little bull, +“Scotty” retired, feinting and scolding, while he, still blue mouldy +for a game, coaxed her by unmistakable gesticulation to one round +more. Twice during the night “Scotty” dispelled the silences with loud +exclamations of wrath and defiance. She was fighting her battle again in +her dreams, and though I was not there to see, I am very sure that the +gentle bull beguiled his wakeful moments with smiles. There are several +white hens in the yard, and whensoever one crosses his path the +bull, who does not pretend to discriminate, tosses his head with an +interrogative gesture. “Do you want to fight?” he says, and the hens +flee--all except “Scotty.” + +The herd comprises a dainty little cow of most placid disposition. +Nothing disturbs her placidity, incites her to hurry, or bewilders her. +Cure the dove of its timidity and shrinking and you will have a good +prototype of Parilla, who, taking life easily and affably, is fat and +amiable. When she brought home her firstborn, mooing plaintively, he, +big and fat for his age, walked into the byre as a matter of course. +Here was the first evidence of heredity. It was patent that Fillo +Billaroo was born with a mind like that of his sweet-tempered mother. +He earned his name because of acute dissimilarity to the swiftlet which +swoops about the cleared spaces, never resting save in a dark and dirty +cave. + +Though, apparently, entirely unselfconscious, Fillo Billaroo at once +established himself as a superior sort of creature. He did not exact any +rights. They were conceded with all possible grace. He enjoys privileges +none other dares to imagine. When he has exhausted for the time being +the maternal source of refreshment, he visits other mothers, and with +such a pompous, patronising, good-humoured, thoroughly appreciative and +yet gentle way, that the absurd creatures are flattered. They realise he +is something quite out of the common, and give agreeably of their best. +Thus he has become a favourite, and he drinks so much and has become so +fat that he could not for a couple of weeks accompany his lazy-pacing +mother on her daily rounds, but would be planted in shade and coolness +with cautions against straying until called for late in the afternoon. +Often would Parilla forget the hiding-place, or rather pretend to, +and beseech in wistful tones for help in the search, and when it was +successful the greetings she bestowed displayed the bigness of her +heart. + +Once the little mother left Fillo Billaroo in charge of Lady Clare, +a much more experienced matron, who cannot bear to permit her frisky +heifer out of her sight for a moment unless safely planted, and then the +treasure must not be wandered from more than a hundred yards. Parilla +went off for the day. Late in the afternoon, Lady Clare with her heifer +and Fillo Billaroo were found far away from the mob and driven home. It +had been hot, and the big calf has an enormous appetite and apparently +Lady Clare had been coy. When he saw his mother and his mother saw him, +he stooped with uplifting nose, sniffing; she stopped feeding and begin +to sniff. He seemed to say to himself, “I do believe I know that little +creature. Yes; I am certain I must have met her before. She rather +resembles my own mother; but I have so many fond, kind, and obliging +aunts that it is not so very easy to make sure. She has a special look. +Can I be mistaken? I really hope not, for I am painfully hungry.” + +In the meantime Parilla was saying to herself--you could see it all +plainly written in her big, round, bulging eyes, so full of inquiry, +hope and longing--! “The sight of that really fine fellow reminds me +that I, too, am a mother. He is a pretty fellow; I fancy that Fillo +Billaroo is not unlike him. I now recollect with dismay that I have not +seen him since morning, when Lady Clare condescended to look after him. +And there's Lady Clare! Oh! if she's mislaid Fillo Billaroo! But can +that fine, beautiful fellow be mine? I must inquire. Come!” And she +moo'd, and Fillo Billaroo murmured “Mum,” and they rushed to one +another, and the look in Parilla's face was that of perfect happiness. + + + + +BABBLING BEACHES + + + +“By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more pleasure may be +taken in small things than in great.”--Ruskin. + + +On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and the wind +continuously sweeps off the dry surface, and your ears detect the +musical sound accompanying the process--vague as the visible part of it +is blurred and misty--then it is that you are made aware of the agencies +by which time creates geographical differences. Precipitated at the apex +of the spit, the sand as it sinks tints the verge of the sea, while +the lighter spoil, leaves and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent +voyage. The current from the south pares the spit, preserving its +shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the fluent inner curve. +The dry wind, the current with its northerly set, and the ebb in +conjunction, push the spit to the north, and as the sand advances, +vegetation consolidates the work. Then comes the season of northerly +winds, when the apex of the spit is forced backwards and outwards into +a brief but graceful flourish, in the bight of which small boats may +nestle, though the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards away. +Since the winds of the north are less in duration and persistency than +those from the south and east, the tendency of the spit--in defiance +of the yearly setback--is to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees +with bare, branchless limbs become stranded, to dry and whiten in the +sun and reinforce the sand, and in their decay, with ever contributed +seaweed, to make mould for vegetation. The work of encroachment and +consolidation is incessant and strangely rapid, for vegetation never +lacks pioneers of special character to prepare the way for the less +venturesome and less hardy. Often before vegetation appears, coral +chips, shells, small stones, and sharp gravel, are concreted into +platter-shaped masses which seem to become the base of blocks of rough +conglomerate, capable of resisting the attacks of the sea; and a few +yards back, where a mangrove-bordered creek once existed, the mud and +decayed fragments of wood have been transformed into a black, cheesy +substance which might be mistaken for soft coal. So do these beaches lay +bare their secrets. + +When the mainland streams pour out their floods and the commingled +volume hurries north in a mud-tinted, sharply delimited current, and +whole trees are cast up on the beaches of far-away isles, vivid examples +of the dispersion of animate and inanimate things by purely natural +means are afforded. Weighty stones are found locked among roots which, +as the wood decays, are deposited on alien sands, thereafter to invite +speculation as to origin and means of transport. On one such raft +voyaged a living specimen of the white and black banded snake, one of +the most singular of the family, for Nature has bestowed on it a placid +disposition, and provided it with an unmischievous mouth and fangs +so minute that, although classed as venomous, it is not considered +injurious to man. Though strange and interesting, on the plea that the +family is quite sufficiently represented, the derelict was unwelcome, +save as a living proof of the practicability of natural transports. +By what grace, indeed, could the creature which earned the Almighty's +bitter curse be accepted as “wilsam”--goods of God's mercy driven +ashore, no wreck or ship being visible? + +This small bay never ceases the laying of tribute at one's feet. There +are seasons when the amount is less than at others; but how seldom +are its sands trodden without a display of the infinite variety of +productions of the ocean? When the mood of the sea is savage and the +spoil from the reef is flung in ridges among the vegetation of the +shore--coral in blocks and shattered masses, shells, seaweed, sponges, +and other dead marine animals and driftwood, heap on heap--days of +enthusiastic toil might be spent in sorting out the oversurplus of the +secrets of the sea. But for months together the beach maintains its +cleanly orderliness, and during these dreamy days the sea will tell of +many a pretty treasure which the sands will reveal in the face of the +sun. + +The most famous of botanists compiled a floral almanac; the months, +and in some cases the weeks, being associated with the development and +flowering of significant plants. So might it be possible to ascribe to +particular months the tokens with which the obliging sea bestrews the +beaches. It is not proposed herein to attempt any such design, which +would involve special knowledge of the science of conchology and the +compilation of the records of years of patient observation. A few +examples of the material on which the delightful work might be +undertaken are given, so that the wealth of one brief strip of beach may +be taken as typical of a vast stretch of calm waters within the Great +Barrier Reef. + +The ridges and furrows of the cyclone season, when the clean sand is +covered and stained with weed, dead and living molluscs, coral, leaves +carried from the hills by flooded streams, all fermenting in the heat, +tell that Christmas is past and March not yet over. Many a year passes +without such a storm as compels the groaning ocean to ravage its reefs. +Then the beaches, during the first three months are not particularly +fertile, nor are the shells to be found special or peculiar. In April +many specimens of the mollusc known as Tapes, of which there are several +species, are cast ashore, empty but fresh. In life the animal buries +itself in the mud at the edge of the sand, and some disturbance of +natural conditions, possibly due to the fresh water from flooded rivers, +causes seasonal mortality. The most conspicuous of the species is that +known as “literati,” because of the erratic scribblings decorating its +valves. With others of the genera, it is to be found cast away at other +times of the year, but the end of the wet season seems exceptionally +direful. + +April is confirmed, too, but transiently, by the presence of a frail +mollusc (HAMINAEA CYMBALUM) which is washed ashore attached to seaweed, +soon to disappear desiccated by the sun and ground to powder. The shell +is semi-transparent with a sandy tint, and in form not unlike that of +a common snail. As the weather becomes cooler, a thin, delicate bivalve +decorates high-water mark. It is one of the tellinas--semi-transparent, +lustrous, and fragile--which occurs in muddy sand, but why the species +should be more susceptible to the ills of life during a particular +season is not apparent. When the fates do conspire against its welfare +dozen of bright specimens may be picked up during a casual stroll, the +animal having disappeared. The epidemic the beach thus announced +with pink and glittering shells coincides with low night tides, which +possibly leave the inefficiently protected animals exposed to the +attacks of uncustomary enemies which thrive only when the muddy banks +are exposed. The cause of the exhibition of the relics is not of so much +concern to the unlearned observer as the relics themselves and the part +they play in signifying the progress of the season. If strong winds +occur during the cool months, among the wreaths of broken seaweed thrown +on the beach may be found unbroken and fresh specimens of a singularly +beautiful and fragile univalve known commonly and most appropriately as +the “bubble shell” (HYDATINA PHYSIS), which when alive is a most lovely +object, its fine spiral lines being black and faint yellow with faint +purple edges, while the mantle is fringed with light blue intermingled +with pale yellow. In some specimens the base colouring is fawn, the +lines, of varying width, being brown and “comely crinkled,” like the +face of the pleasant old woman of whom a poet wrote. Such a frail shell +is subject to many mischances before it reaches the beach, and a few +hours of exposure to the sun tarnishes its lustre. To obtain it in +perfection the beach must be patrolled every day during due season, +and very rarely is the collector rewarded by the discovery of unsullied +specimens. + +When the chill is out of the surface the spring-time of the sea begins. +Vegetable life is strenuous, so that one may chance to see a lazy turtle +bearing on its back a weedy garden. The water is alive. Miles of space +are belted with that plant to which Captain Cook applied a significant +name, likening it in its myriads to “sea sawdust.” Some dare call it +“whale spawn,” forgetful that the whale is not a fish. Others assert it +to be none other than the “coral insect,” which does not exist save in +the minds of those who write odes to such creatures: + + “Ye build, ye build, but ye enter not in, + Like the tribes whom the desert devoured in their sin.” + +It consists of minute vegetation in bundles, to be individualised under +a strong microscope, though when countless billions drift on to the +beaches and die and become green and grey with corruption, the fumes are +by no means in proportion to the marvellous littleness of the individual +plants. Then we know by the organs of scent and sight that August has +come. The beaches are foul. The breakers roll in unbroken or with a +muddy, froth, for the scum acts as oil, calming even troubled water. + +The Red Sea is said by some authorities to derive its title from the +scum formed by this plant (TRICHODESMIUM ERYTHRAEUM), which is strongly +impregnated with iodine. It emits a most disagreeable odour and exhales +a gas which affects the mucous membrane, causing in some individuals +sneezing and inflammation of the eyes. One amateur fisherman of +considerable experience and by no means susceptible to intangible +irritations, and not to be diverted from his sport by trifles, has +frequently been compelled to move from a favourite ground by a stream of +the scum drifting to his anchored boat. The fumes gave intense smartness +to the eyes, which were relieved by a gush of tears, but keen discomfort +recurred when the tears were wiped away. + +Following the least desirable of marine phenomena is that which is known +as the “blanket weed,” which floats ashore in loathsome blobs, a hand's +breadth and more, the centre a grey, solidified slime, with a periphery +of long, dull green, slimy, shapeless fringes Individual plants coalesce +on the sand and, mingling with other weeds, cover respectable beaches +with a woolly, compact mass not unlike a rough, thick blanket, but +teeming with unpleasantnesses. Isolated plants cling to ropes, which +become garlanded with thickened slime, from which evil-smelling mud +oozes. Offensive to man afloat and ashore, the “blanket weed” is a +luxury to mullet and garfish, for during its period both may be seen +in shoals skimming the surface of the sea in abandonment of habitual +shyness, and the stomachs of both are found to be full of the +greenish-grey slime. With the compliance of the sun the impurity +disappears, giving place to the graceful weed of vivid green that +attaches itself to dead and whitened shells and fingers of coral covered +at low water. Every flood-tide deposits a zone of shells splashed +with green, while the shallows glow as a field of rich pasturage. In +favourable situations, such as the upper part of a long immersed log, +coated to the water-line with goose barnacles, the plant grows long and +luxuriantly, falling on each side like a silken mantle. + +One other season, ephemeral but universal, do the babbling but +truth-telling beaches record. No rocky cove, no smooth strand, no +rubbish-accumulating creek, no mangrove-fringed islet, no coral +esplanade white under the tropic sun, no sand-bank with crest of +windshaken bush, is free. It is Christmas. Christian and pagan alike +tell it to the sea, and the sea tells it to the beaches in--corks. + +Though there are grounds for the belief that some molluscs are seasonal +in their appearances and disappearances, the majority are always with +us, though subject to many casualties. A few months since an epidemic +broke out among a certain species of sea urchins (Echinus), spherical +animals with shells thickly set with spines, keen and exceedingly +brittle. The beaches were strewn with thousands of the dead, no apparent +exterior injury having been suffered. The particular species afflicted +gathers to itself, seemingly as a disguise, but perhaps as ballast, the +dead shells of cockles, which are retained by the spines. It was noticed +that the dead were not encumbered. + +A curious and one of the rarest of local shells is that known as the +elephant's tusk (DENTALIUM APTINUM). Pure white and slightly fluted +longitudinally, it typifies the marvellous extent of Nature's +requirements and her fertility in design. It is especially interesting +to note that the existence of the species in Australian waters has not +hitherto been recorded, the nearest known locality being the Moluccas. + +The DRUPA RICINUS (so specifically called because of resemblance to +the prickly seeds of the castor-oil plant) has another feature almost +unique--two ivory-white projections in the mouth, singularly like a +baby's teeth. In the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the +form of an altogether different mollusc which is commonly known as the +“bleeding-tooth shell,” the gory stains about the base of the tooth +being highly significant. The local example of the whimsicality of +Nature owes its excellence to absolute purity. No fond mother crooning +to her first-born ever looked on budding teeth more delightful in +modelling and pearliness. + +CHAMA LAXARUS belongs to the same family as the clams, the largest of +living molluscs, its specific title being an allusion to the tattered +raiment of the beggar of the most edifying of parables. Occasionally the +china-white upper valve is decorated with a broad streak of buff. Some +of the genera are attached to coral or rock indifferently by +either valve, and it is exceptional to find on the beach a perfect +specimen--that is, the valves united. Since on the reef the shells are +frequently protectively disguised with seaweed and other growth, it is +only after the violence of a cyclone that the amateur collector expects +to be rewarded. + +Unlike some others of the family, the cockscomb oyster, though not +objecting to the near-by presence of its kind, seems to hate a crowd. +Half a dozen may occupy separate areas on a rock, and solitary specimens +lie embedded and strongly anchored in the sand. A typical example may +weigh over seven pounds. So big and weighty a shell can scarcely +be sensible of its invariable burden of parasites and other +encumbrances--but the variety of such tenants never fails to excite +curiosity. That which is illustrated accommodated another oyster of +delicate texture, a thorny clam (which has the reputation of being +poisonous), a mass of seaweed, a serpentine mollusc, two species of +coral--the red organ-pipe and a mushroom--three burrowing crabs, besides +a number of smaller animals, fixed and mobile, in addition to the +congregation of less obvious life critical examination would undoubtedly +have revealed. + +Most species of univalves are wanderers, many bivalves are free, +and multivalves become fixed at an early stage of existence. The +goose-necked barnacle, with its five valves, comes in its myriads +attached to derelict coco-nuts, floating logs, and pumice-stone. The +species owes its name to the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary +state of the barnacle goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments +representing the plumage and the valves the wings. It has been found on +shells, whales, turtles, and marine snakes. + +In the mud close to the edge of the beach sand one of the most singular +of marine animals exists, and often its empty, horny, flexible, +semi-transparent shell, always tinted green, may be found. It is known +in some works as LINGULA ANATINA, and by the natives of this Isle, by +whom a certain part of it is eaten, as “Mill-ar-ing.” A pinhole in the +mud indicates the presence of the animal, and the hungry black boy, +thrusting his hand with outspread fingers below it, closes the fingers +and withdraws anything but an inviting morsel. To the tongue-shaped +shell is attached a pedicle or stalk, attaining a length of ten inches, +opaque and tough, which is broken off, seared over the fire, and eaten +with apparent relish. It is remarkable that in localities in which this +mollusc is found a seaweed occurs similar in shape and size, the chief +difference in appearance being in the length of the stalk, which in the +plant is thin and membranous. + +The Phorous, or carrier, otherwise the mineralogist, is remarkable for +its extraordinary habit of cementing to its exterior stones of irregular +size, and in some cases dead shells of other species, an office +performed by the use of an exceptionally long tongue. Its movements are +said to be very clumsy and erratic, as if its self-imposed burden was +too cumbersome for its strength. Personal observation fails to verify +its staggering gait, for dead specimens only have been found. The +stones are, no doubt, designedly acquired as a disguise and so represent +another form of life insurance. When stationary the mineralogist +successfully baffles observation; but some day, peradventure, in a +moment of preoccupation, it will reveal itself lurching along over the +rough country it favours. How few living things escape the “penalties of +Adam.” Some bear sorrows, some stones. + +Among the fixed molluscs are what is known as the winged shells, to +which the “pearl oysters” belong. The name is apt, for the expanded +valves are not unlike the form of a bird in flight. The illustration +shows a rare species, several specimens of which were found attached to +the mooring-chain of a buoy by what is known as the “byssus,” a bunch +of tough fibres which passes through an hiatus in the margins of the +valves. Like the king's daughter of the Psalmist, PTERIA PEASEI is “all +glorious within,” the nacreous surface, margined with lustrous black, +shining like silver with a tinge of blue. + +Only a very small proportion of the species of shells to be found on the +shore of this bay have been enumerated. In a work of general character a +complete commentary on any particular branch of natural science would +be out of place, nor is it competent for one who has but a trifling +knowledge of a special subject to deal with it in an enlightening +manner. It would be highly interesting to ascertain by study and +observation why the denizens of so many parts of the ocean meet in +community in such a narrow space, though it may not be very difficult to +present a fairly satisfactory theory for the continuous presence of +many species by reference to existing features and prevalent conditions. +Within the area of the bay the water varies in depth from a few feet to +four fathoms, the rise and fall of the tide being about two fathoms. The +fringing coral reef represents all stages of development and decay--live +growth on the outer edge, ever encroaching on the deeper water, and +comprising many varieties; dying masses on the shore-side, and a +considerable extent of dead and denuded relics lying in mud. There are +also weedy patches, bare sand-banks of limited extent, uncovered at low +water, and muddy depressions both in the deep and shallow portions and +clean sand. Strong currents race past the sand-spit and across the bay, +carrying, no doubt, continual supplies of spat from elsewhere to settle +in quiet places. No one who has lived on the margin of the tropic sea +can be astounded at its prolific life, though it may be a matter of +unceasing wonder that along a beach not more than four hundred yards +in extent should be found shells representative of species existing in +nearly all the warm waters of the world. + +And there are other isles with other beaches. One may present a narrow +strip of soft sand, cringing and squeaking under foot, almost entirely +composed of finely ground coral and shells, among which polished +fragments of red coral are to the beach-comber as the “colours” the gold +fossicker may find in his dish--prospective of reward. They reinspire +the like fervour which leads to the discovery of mountains as well as +microbes, for may they not signify the existence within the bounds of +the Great Barrier Reef of the precious coral of the Mediterranean and +the Red Sea? Above such hopeful sands lies a band formed of stag's-horn +coral, bleached snow-white, each time lying at right angles to the sea, +and higher up on the strand are blocks and lumps of weather-stained +coral among which vegetation is springing. A few yards further back +stands a group of Pandanus palms, the van of the dense and intricate +jungle covering rock and ridge. + +The shore of the sister islet may at the moment be but series of steeply +shelving banks of coral debris, to the base of the granite ramparts over +which the luxuriant foliage falls. + +Each islet has its distinguishing features, each beach its budget of +news for ears attuned to “small measures,” each its display of seemly +things--the sweepings of the floor of the sea. + + + + +THE LOST ISLE + + + +“Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas.” + + BROWNING. + + +In a region of rare serenity it lay--a blue stud on a silver +shield--aloof from other lands--unmapped, untarnished, pure, gleaming in +the dawn of exultant day. + +Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative, partly because of +remoteness from the taint of man-trodden land, mainly because, by right +of discovery, it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable +than such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, verdurous hills, +sheltered valleys, orange-tinted beaches, with the shadows of white +headlands staining the sea purple? + +An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in the shape of a +five-rayed star, each ray irregularly serrated. Here was promise of many +a landlocked cove to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. +Unsalted streams wound among the foothills of the central mountain, +whence a spire of rose-red porphyry shot into the luminous sky from +unbroken jungle, the superficies of which were soft and brilliant as +sodden moss. + +Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, flower-bedecked +glades, with great trees and blossoming shrubs in scattered clumps and +patches, among which sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of +deep hidden streams. Others were merely precipitous depressions in the +unbroken mass of foliage, variegated with aspiring palms so slender of +shaft that their unceasing swaying in the still air seemed an act of +unconscious affectation for the display of huge bunches of gaudy fruit, +seductive and dulcet to the taste. Spider-webbed tree-ferns with +furry, water-bespangled trunks stood in crowded groves on the brink of +spray-creating cascades and along the margins of cool rivulets which +murmured as they hurried to the sea. + +Water-dripping moss padded the lintels of grottos, before which dangled +translucent ferns of delicate form, yet so rich and intense with +life that crozier-tipped fronds took the hue of flowers--coral-red, +golden-bronze, and yellow; while golden dust clung to hairy undersides +like pollen to the thighs of hive-returning bees. Deep in perpetual +shadow lived a shy plant with heart-shaped leaves, so succulent and +distended as to resemble green capsules, and in association with each +leaf was a single semi-transparent fruit, pink with a central glow +like the fire of opal, but so frail that upon touch it resolved into a +dewdrop which glistened, trembled, and was gone in a moment. + +In the full blaze, feather-foliaged trees crowned with gigantic red +blossoms offered as a sacrifice fruit which blushed before the insistent +gaze of the sun; while beneath this gay canopy vine and creeper and +pliant shrub wove an undergarment which screened the moist earth and +created a realm of subdued light in which all the flowers were pale of +tint and tremulously fragile, though of almost forbidding magnitude of +form. + +Birds of painted plumage and loud and sonorous note sang and fluttered +among the flowers and fruit with no ill thing to disturb them, no +dissonance to compel them to silence and fear. + +Whithersoever I gazed, the lone and lovely Isle denoted a paradise of +unkempt vegetation, unfeared birds. No stump was there to betray +the passing of the devastating axe. No footprint except that of +birds--erratic, rectangular, scribbling--dented the sand. No human being +had ever visited those groves perfumed by orchids, gauzy as the wings of +the butterflies which poised over them and sipped the nectar stored in +their slender throats. + +Each bay and inlet and cove differed in delightsomeness. Unsoiled, +weedless sand littered with shells floored this deep and sheltered nook, +where shadow and substance blended to the complete deceit of the closest +scrutiny. The next was as a garden of shrubs with living blossoms and +fruit in strange shapes and gaudy colours. Many of the subaqueous plants +expanded and retracted their blossoms harmoniously, as if to the strains +of music audible only to the mute denizens of the sea--a measured, +waving dance, fantastic and wondrously beautiful. Crystalline clearness +magnified the detail of the next, the portals of which were coral, dyed +extravagantly and variously according to the secret of the sea, with its +inexhaustible chemicals. Fish in unimaginable shapes, fantastic hues, +and sea-things harmless and educative to the sight, roamed the coral +gardens, retiring at will into sapphire-blue caverns or flashing in +the clearness with lightning speed and scarce visible effort. Cream +and yellow, old gold, blue, pink and lavender, the corals flourished in +myriad shapes. Anemones, large as plates, royal blue and greyish-green, +and each bristling with thousands of independent activities, embossed +snow-white blocks. + +Opening out into an oval basin, the inlet was again constricted, the +bottle-neck entrance to a perfect haven being guarded by huge masses of +limestone, weathered grotesquely, from the crevices of which sprays +of peach-coloured orchids quivered, while the flora of land and sea +commingled on the lustrous surface. Beyond again, the inlet wound round +the base of it cliff vocal with the fugue of birds which flew from +flowery parapet to flowery parapet. + + +Gradually the cliffs retreated, leaving fair banks with shrubs and great +trees with branches pendulous over unbroken placidity, and there, on +a knoll, stood a palm, rigid and straight as a column, crowned with +shimmering fronds which shielded masses of nuts, brown and green, +and great sprays of straw-coloured infloresence. More palms beyond, +thick-set; and beyond again an avenue in perfect alignment, each tree +perfect in stately form, with one blotch of glorious purple--as high and +compact as a church--to block the diminished distance. + +The boat drifted to the landing never touched by foot of man. Lost in +admiration of the imposing and manifold perfections of the Isle, eager +to wander at will among those enticing glades, and to make festival with +their genial gods, I stepped out--and into nothingness! + +Can it be that never again shall be discovered in the Land of Dreams the +Lost Isle? + + + + + +PART II.--THE PASSING FACE + + + +THE CORROBOREE + + +“No ceremony that to great ones 'longs.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summoned, invited, children, men, women, and piccaninnies assembled to +participate in the duties and recreations of the moment. + +Message-sticks had been carried into unfamiliar country by nervous boys. +One of the organisers at ease with his pen sent to his kin formal and +official invitations mingled with social and affectionate greetings. All +responded. + +The beach sent its silent-footed contingents trailing along the yellow +sands, carrying in well-worn dilly-bags oysters and scraps of half-baked +fish smeared with smoke, and gritty. All their lives had they trudged +along the convenient margin of the sea, where the receding tide leaves +a firm, level, springy track. They were familiar with all its moods, and +took little heed of any. + +The fame of a previous Parliament had spread far and wide, even to that +aspect of the Dividing Range which sends its waters to the great shallow +gulf to the west. Natives who, though living among the mountains but two +days' journey from the coast, had never seen the sea, hastened thither +in bee-line, passing through unknown but not unfriendly country. Though +the age of tribal feuds was past, special weapons of defence were +carried, for did not strange jungles teem with spectral denizens whom +imagination endowed with appalling shape, with cunning, and with rending +ferocity? Unmolested, the party arrived one evening, to gaze with +mute astonishment on the sea. It was almost as incomprehensible, and +therefore almost as fearsome, as the phantoms of the bush. Mysterious, +vast beyond the range of vision, here grumbling on the sand, there +mingling with the sky, the strangers peered at it through the screen +of whimpering casuarinas and trembled. The rustle of the subsiding +north-easter made for fear. They told one another that the big salt +water was alive. It talked in austere tones, while their own sleepy +lagoons were silent and tame. Wonderingly, they retreated to the jungle +for the night, there to take counsel of the long-shoremen. + +“That b-i-g fella salt water, him talk all asame?” + +“Yowi! Him sing out plenty. Mak'm b-i-g fella row!” + +“That fella him walk about lika that?” + +“Yowi! Him walk about. Quiet little bit. Sometime run about splash'm +water; mak'm boat capsize. Plenty men drown finis!” + +The strangers shivered and longed to return to their cool hills; but the +long-shoremen beguiled them with descriptions of the fish and the crabs +and oysters the generous sea gave, and told that in the morning it would +be “quiet fella” and that they need not be afraid. + +With taut-strung nerves, the highlanders approached the sea, which shone +in matutinal placidity. When the ripples wavered on the smooth sand and +ran in caressing ripples towards their feet, they started and shrunk. +The incomprehensible ocean was alive and much to be feared, for was it +not so big that no one could see where it ended? They sat and watched +its enticing gestures, and, gathering courage, stood tremulously while +the tide splashed their feet and retreated. The boldest walked in +ankle-deep and danced in daredevilry, and soon young and old were +gambolling uncouthly, tasting the sea's quality, shouting and splashing. +None ventured more than knee-deep; some crawled and wallowed in the wet +sand, too fearful to trust their lives to so big a thing which showed +itself to be alive by breathing and moving. The morning was spent in +moist frolics, and when the north-easter began to work up a little sea, +which spoke in menacing tones, the terrified strangers withdrew. + +Late in the afternoon the corroboree began, many of the participators +having spent hours in the assumption of the festive costume of the down +of sulphur-crested cockatoos plastered to the skin with grease and +the blood. It is not to be supposed that white down in the hands +of experienced dressers is incapable of variation in style. Several +original designs excited the approbation of spectators. The down was +arranged in tufts following the perpendiculars of the body from shoulder +to shin, or in a series of circles accurately spaced, or in intersecting +spirals, while the heads of all performers and combatants were converted +into white mops. + +And with the clapping of hollowed hands and the clicking of boomerangs +the function began. And having danced to their own satisfaction and the +delight of the crowd, the warriors with ostentation and bluster recited +private grievances and challenged those against whom they had real or +fancied wrongs to combat. Most of the noisy declamation was ill-founded. +The many had no grievances and no intentions of fighting, but out of the +shouting crowd stepped two big men who sought compensation for “another +Helen.” Though not lovely or winsome or an heiress, she sufficed as the +motive for an honourable and public strife, quite as sincere as many +of the scuffles without the walls of Troy. Spears and boomerangs were +thrown viciously and dodged and evaded skilfully until one of the men +found a boomerang sticking fast in his leg. The wound was decisive, and +with much hullabaloo the defeated warrior limped away, while the lady, +whom niggardly Nature had denied the grace of blushing, passively went +to the victor. + +Among the strangers to the coast was an old man but a yard and a +quarter high, with unkempt, grisly beard, a head which needed not the +glorification of cockatoo's down, long, thin arms, huge hands, thick, +stump legs, and sprawling feet. No far-reaching crab of the reef just +showing its worn brown tusks off-shore was more grotesque of mien and +gait. To emphasise his malignant mood, he carried a huge boomerang, +which seemed to obey and embody his whims. It sprang from his powerful +hands in resolute and impetuous flight, whirred threateningly overhead, +and returned to foot, fluttering and purring, as if endowed with +affection for its unlovable master. None so mastered the missile; but +for all his weird influence over it, he was subject to the restraints of +another weapon which seldom left his hands. Is there not a spiritual +law which imposes checks on the bombastic tricks of crude and cultured +alike, or was it by force of gravity that the point of the dwarf's +long and slender spear dipped into the ground, punctuating mock martial +struts with perverse irregularity? Prodigious in his own estimation, his +jibes and taunts were almost as terrifying as the erratic flights of his +boomerang; for the dwarf was a privileged individual, the Thersites +of the campaign, and with one advantage over his prototype--he really +wanted to fight. So he swaggered, heeding not the reproving spear; he +fumed; he mocked; for no warrior affected to notice his vainglorious +absurdities. He was as much in earnest as those who fought on account +of elemental love, and far more so than any of the blusterers who talked +big and looked small. He longed to fight, and for money. + +Each warrior was challenged individually, and when none responded he +railed against all for cowards and sent the boomerang hissing defiance +against the blue sky, to fall with mutter and thud at his feet. In his +rage the little man became hysterical, and the more he scolded the less +important, while the swaying spear emphasised increasing agitation, +but brought him neither humility nor jibe, for the race does not +intentionally relieve its drama with comedy. + +No more influential personage was present than “Mooty,” the crafty, +determined, plausible philosopher--the sagest of the counsellors, the +most flowery of orators, the most weird of the wizards. Long before +he had established his reputation as a medicine-man. A settler had +purchased some cast-off goats in a distant town, and had employed a +black boy of the district as assistant drover, and the name of the boy +was Tom. Since there are many “Toms,” a distinguishing surname had to +be bestowed, so “Goat” was affixed, and as “Tom Goat” the stranger was +known. Having no sweetheart, he made love to several dusky dames, all +of whom rejected him because his absurd name made him a figure for +fun. Rosey, wife of Jack, was persistently courted, and scornfully she +despised her wooer. That individual, however, was not without malignant +resource. Rosey complained of a sore throat, and as she got worse her +boy became similarly afflicted. The faces and throats of both swelled +alarmingly, so that Mooty, who had the cases in hand, gave up hope. Both +were resigned, when Mooty, to his own horror and the dismay of everyone, +caught the dread disease. + +No such illness had ever been known in the district, and since it had +not only baffled Mooty's skill, but had irreverently seized him--the +only physician of credit and renown--its cause must be supernatural. +Thus did he reason, as he began occult investigations. Jack and Rosey +lay in their camp passively dying. Mooty prowled about, the sleeves of +a discarded shirt tied under his distended jaws. No physical origin +for the mysterious disease was found during the two days he devoted to +methodic search and secret rite. Then an anticipated discovery rewarded +him and made his name thrill among his race. To a condescending white +man he told of his skill in these terms: + +“Two fella him close up finis. Me bin look out camp belonga two fella. +B'mbi me bin find'm little fella fork stick close up alonga groun'. Me +frait. My word, me bin pick'm up easy fella. Me look out longa little +fella hole. Me bin see hair, too much, belonga Tom Goat. That hair bin +mak'm two fella no good. Him mak'm me fella no good. Me catch'm that +fella hair along two fella stick. Tchuck'm along ribber. My word! That +fella hair no good! Him go phuff! Kill'm fish, too many. B'mbi me fella +go alonga camp. Me tell'm two fella, 'You no more mak'm die. Me bin +find'm that fella hair belonga Tom Goat.' B'mbi two fella him get up; +him no more die; he walk about.” + +Exasperated by such impropriety, aghast at the consequences, +Mooty--doctor alike of laws, of science, and of medicine, and a man of +imperative mood--sharpened his tomahawk at the Chinaman's grindstone, +theatrically testing its edge with distorted thumb. Tom Goat disappeared +as silently as last night's dew, for Mooty does not hesitate to +summarily administer his own judgment when his professions are scorned, +his family bewitched, his countenance distorted with mumps. + +With feasting and fighting, with dancing and storytelling, quarrelling +and reconciliations, the assemblage spent a happy week. Then the jungle +reabsorbed the nervous hillmen, and beach-combers straggled along the +yellow sands. + + + + +THE CANOE-MAKER + + + +“Last scene of all, . . . Is second childishness and mere oblivion.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +A tottering old man, frail alike in frame and mind, squats dying in an +alien camp. His teeth have almost disappeared, worn to the gums by +the mastication of food in which sand has been mingled in immoderate +proportion. All his life has been spent on the verge of the sea. He has +never known smooth food. Before he left his mother's breast grit was on +his lips, for in her sleep she snoodled naked in the sand. Hers was the +age of bark rugs or none, and was ever lord of the beach who shared with +his lady so rare a comfort? + +Counterparts of Cassowary's babyhood are extant to this +day--milk-bellied, nose-neglected, fumbling-fingered toddlers, who +smash with stones almost beyond their strength infant oysters and gulp a +mixture of squash and sand. + +As he grew up his food, seared on a fire on the beach, was always more +or less gritty. Possibly it would hardly have been relished if the +accustomed condiment had been absent. + +For many a long year Cassowary was a sort of king in the locality of his +birth, though this rank brought him no isolation. Now he is without rank +and grim in his lonesomeness. True to the sentiments of his race, the +men and women who knew him when he was strong and lusty strive to make +him comfortable in his dotage; but he is repellent. His surliness does +not vex them. They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To strangers +whom Cassowary has never loved and would now assault with spear and +nulla-nulla, they apologise. + +“Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up that fella finis.” + +Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similar delusions have +afflicted notable men of the world, and even to this day are there not +apprehensive monarchs whose precautions are similar to those of +the age-worn savage? He imagines that he is regarded as a useless +encumbrance, and that his fellows would gladly hasten his departure to +that country on the bourne of which he painfully lingers. Suspicious of +plots to rob him of the poor vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard +against poison, his special dread. Rather than run risk he submits to +semi-starvation, for the decayed monarch of a narrow strip of shore +has no servitor on whom to impose the office of taster of his dishes. A +stranger may of his goodwill offer a tribute of tobacco. It is cast away +with every manifestation of indignation and haste. He is sure that the +one solace of existence has been drugged, and that if he indulges he +must die. How marvellous the self-denial! How many of us would purchase +half an hour's existence such as his at the cost of declining the one +luxury of life! + +Flour from his master's hands is served like the stranger's tobacco, +though he may not have tasted food for days; nor does he accept a +portion of the damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others +eat. Then he feeds reluctantly and with extreme caution, not to gratify +the palate, but to maintain life. + +Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more vindictive and envious +foes than this helpless old savage who possesses nothing save a grimy +shirt and the fragments of a blanket? + +Cassowary, an old man when I first met him, was of the sort which does +not make friends with white men. Silent, resolute, reserved, a man +apart, he disdained the race-shattering language his fellows hastened +to acquire. His pidgin English, limited to a few words, was almost as +unintelligible as his own rude tongue. Once I landed on the beach which +was his favourite resort, and as the anchor slipped into the sea, smoke +puffed and drifted from the camp and the lonesome man's dogs barked; but +by the time the camp was reached the smell of the fire had gone, and all +tracks had been obliterated as if by the efficient touch of the wind. +The heat of the sand at the entrance of the dome-shaped humpy revealed +the site of the covered embers, and the rest was silence. + +At the back of the humpy, concealed by carelessly disposed bark and +grass, was a bark canoe which Cassowary, fisherman and oyster-eater, +was never without. In those days he deserved the reputation of being an +unrivalled maker of canoes which, during the first few weeks of their +prime, were sound, neat of appearance, quite seaworthy, though of small +dimensions and exceedingly light. Others might be expert fishermen and +skilful in more exacting sport of turtle and dugong catching, but all +acknowledged his special superiority. Though custom had made him a king, +Nature had designed him for a canoe-maker, while with that invincible +irony with which she rebukes the self-esteem and baffles the ambitions +of mortals, she discounted her gift by the bestowal of frank distrust +of the sea. He was so impelled to the exercise of the one talent that +during youth and manhood his chief occupation and never-ending delight +lay therein. That which his right hand had found to do he did with +all his might, his frail craft being the admiration of all, while the +confidence with which others managed them proved their quality. They +toyed with the sea in its placid moods, and were deferential in its +ill-humour. But Cassowary never ventured beyond easy hail from the +shore, however urgent the occasion or propitious the day. + +Fear also restricted his wanderings in the bush, which kept him within +sound of the dreaded waves. He was an unaffected beach-comber. Neither +the food-bestowing sea nor the safe dry land was for him. + +By instinct he seemed to be guided to the best trees for bark, generally +selecting “gulgong,” though others were equally pliant in his hands. Raw +from the tree, he would soak the single sheet in water, and while sodden +steam it over a smoky fire, and, as it softened, mould it with hand +and knee. Bringing the edges of the end designed for the stem into +apposition, using a device on the principle of the harness-maker's +clamp, he sewed them together with strips of freshly cut cane. +Two stretchers gave to the craft beam, and the necessary sheer and +thwart-ship stays of twisted cane stiffness. Gunwales of cane were +sewn on, the stitches being cemented with gum made plastic by frequent +renderings over the fire on a flat stone, and then the canoe was +complete save for the hand-paddles, spoon-bowl-shaped pieces of bark. + +Each canoe sat well down by the stern when the fisherman knelt in it, +crouching forward like a jockey on the withers of his mount, and sending +it along by the alternate strokes. + +Cassowary was wont to scan each new work with the tilted head of an +artist. All the stitches were regularly spaced, and since they were +burnished with smoke, the canoe became a study in brown, braided with +gold, representative of something more than a means towards earning +a diet of fish, and inevitable grit. It was neat and of harmonious +colouring; innocent of the least touch of finery; not a scratch expended +on ornament. All its lines, save those of the stretchers and stays +which stood for rigidity, were fluent. It was not made to model or +measurement, but developed under the maker's hard hands and tough +fingers--a tribute to his artistry and skill. On the water it was as +blithe as a bubble. + +Often had the wish to possess one of Cassowary's masterpieces arisen. +He scorned barter by abandoning his property whenever the interferer +appeared. When the camp was deserted while the boat was being brought +to anchor there was a strong temptation to take the canoe, leaving some +adequate reward. The self-denial is almost regretted, for the old +man with the thin white tuft on his chin, his shyness, his hatred of +strangers, and delusions of his decrepitude, are characteristic of an +age soon to be of the irrecoverable past. A canoe from such accomplished +hands would have represented a complimentary record of a race deficient +in the elements of history. + +Several years have elapsed since Cassowary made his last canoe. He +acknowledged that his fingers had lost their cunning, but the fates +ordained that his ideas should blossom as his manipulatory skill +withered Gradually he became feeble in mind and body, and was wont to +spend his time crouched in a rough shelter dreaming prodigious dreams. +He would wake not only his fellows, but a pitying neighbour of other +complexion, with enthusiastic shouts announcing that a “big fella +steamer” was whistling out at sea; that it was his steamer; that it +carried two bags of flour, and tea and sugar and tobacco, and one +“good fella trousis”; and he would demand help in the landing of his +merchandise. Worn with age, sleep would soon again claim him, but never +and anon his great cry, hailing the phantom steamer with her beneficent +cargo, would wake the poor and squalid camp. + +The time came when Cassowary could no longer obtain for himself the +coarse and trivial food essential to life, and he and another outcast, +blind and maimed, quartered themselves on the camp on the beach; arid +in spite of fretfulnesses and suspicions, their fellows administered +to their wants. Being brought face to face with facts, the State gave +orders which meant an old-age pension for the outcasts. The dole was +liberal enough. The mistake was that it came too late. + +There was no reaction, as is oft the case with those who retire after +the bustling phase to live on the bounty of the State, for Cassowary and +his blind companion had never been strenuous workers or brain-compelling +men. The pension represented unexampled abundance. It was real, and yet +it came from a source almost as intangible as Cassowary's ship. Food +and tobacco! What more could the heart of a casual relic of such a race +want? Actually he wanted nothing more, save, peradventure, a blanket; +but he dreamt he did, and no earthly agent could diminish the festal +extravagance of the scenes among which he revelled, conducted by the +enchanted sleep. + +Cassowary had at last come to his kingdom. His time had always been his +own. The ready-to-hand food gave him leisure. His days were all dreams. +Weary of crouching over the fire before the opening of his humpy, he +began to wander in the flesh as he was wont to wander in mind. He was +seen a mile away from the cheerless camp, where his companions, with +smoke-dried eyes, lamented his absence. + +Was he searching for a tree which might provide bark for yet another +canoe--his last work, a paragon? A few days passed and it became known +that Cassowary was missing. His shrunken body disordered a patch of buff +sand just above high water. + +Had the desolate old man, in his fancy, made the best of all canoes, and +for once ventured out to sea? + + + + +TWO LADIES + + + +“To one, resolution; to another, a disposition to dance.” + + +NELLY, THE SHREW. + + +As the steamer from the South enters the bay, the traveller sees ahead +the fringe of houses on the low lands fronting the inlet where shipping +finds safe and convenient harbourage. To the left he may be introduced +to a strip of open beach between two low points of grey granite, back +from which are scattered groups of modest buildings and huts which form +the aboriginal settlement. The choice of the site for the settlement +was influenced by the character of the country. Although but a short +distance by sea from the port, it is isolated by its background of hard +and inhospitable hills patched with almost impenetrable jungle. Few +consigned there ever leave of their own motive, however earnest the +longing may be. The home-sick realise that escape is difficult and, if +successful, futile, for are not the police everywhere, and strong and +compelling? Why undertake the unknown perils of unknown hills--spiritual +perils more to be dreaded than physical--when capture and again +banishment are certain? + +Nellie Oongle-bi, among whose matrimonial experiences was Tom, of this +Isle, and who since his death has gone from bad to worse, had been +found under the protection of a coloured alien, sadly degenerated and +saturated with opium. For her own salvation she was transported to +the settlement afar off, with its frontier of sea and background of +repulsive hills. She went, being in the clutches of a superior force, +tractably enough, but with none of her unconquerable love of country +subdued. Nelly has nothing of an attractive nature. She has a vixenish +temper at times; is always on the alert for fancied slights; is by no +means cleanly, unless under duress; and does not hesitate to foment +subjects of quarrel. Few among her relations and friends would mourn her +exile. Even her own son, Jim, was scoffingly indifferent. She was far +from being so, but played her part well, being obedient, quite tame, and +ever observant. + +She “sat down” at the settlement, and made friends with two or three of +the women there with whom she had previously been acquainted; but while +she talked with apparent resignation, she scanned the hills, especially +fixing in her mind a particular gully which leads up to a ridge +promising an outlook to the south, upon which her hopes were fixed. +Soon after dark on the second night she took to the bush, carrying +a dilly-bag and a blanket. She is now one of the population of a +far-distant settlement, the site of which happens to be within her +own country. How she overcame the distance without food, friends, or +resources, has to be told, though not altogether in her own language, +for such would be unintelligible to the ordinary reader. + +She was determined to run away as soon as the steamer landed her, for +that part of the North was not her country, and she could not live +anywhere else. Besides, she was “sorry belonga that boy Jim.” During the +first night of her homeward pilgrimage she never ceased walking among +rocks and through the scrub, for she was fearful of being recaptured. +Without pause she clambered on until well into the next day, when she +slept for a little while. Then on again until dark. One big “mung-um” + (mountain) stood in the hopeful direction. Thitherwards she hastened, +losing count of the days and nights. Nelly has no conception of figures +beyond one, two, and a great many. The climbing of the mountain +occupied many days. She was bewildered, for she could not “catch'm +that sal'water” which would lead her home. At last from a spur of the +mountain she saw the sea--“L-o-n-g way. Too far. Me close up sing out.” + Though she might cry, the sight of big salt water beside which all her +life had been spent was a joy and a stimulant. Pushing and worming her +way through the jungle, she encountered nothing but birds, wallabies, +and snakes. + +Once she was startled by what seemed to be a worn narrow track. +Advancing cautiously along it, she came across a huge carpet snake +coiled “all a same rope alonga boat.” It was asleep where an opening in +the roof of vegetation made a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor, and +she passed by, treading noiselessly. For food she had the fruits of the +jungle, crude, harsh, and bitter. Food, indeed, was almost repugnant, +for her thoughts were concentrated on her country, so she hastened down +towards the now hidden sea. Far inland she heard its welcome noise--a +greeting and a call from home which made her forgetful of all weariness +and fret. + +In course of time--a weak woman carrying a blanket and living on +innutritious foods does not struggle through jungle at any remarkable +speed--the foothills and then the low-lying country at the junction +of two rivers were reached. Here she took off her few and bedraggled +garments, and, making them into a bundle with her blanket and bag, waded +through swamps, eventually emerging on a sandy beach, which she intended +to follow until she regained her country, many a weary mile to the +south. Providence provided an easy means of crossing the estuary of the +rivers--a kindly white man, owner of a “little fella boat, little fella +ingin.” To him she told the story of her escape and her longing for her +own country and her own people, and was ferried across. Then she picked +up a camp of her race, the members of which, sympathising with her, +accompanied her on her way for a couple of days. One day she woke from +her sleep on the edge of the mangroves with her blanket sopping with +blood which had flowed from her mouth and nose during sleep. “Me bin +sorry belonga that boy Jim. Me bin sorry belonga country. That 'nother +country no good belonga me. Me think me die. Me walk alonga sandy beach. +Some time alonga b-i-g fella rock. Me close up tumble down altogether. +Me tired. B'mbi catch'm Liberfool Crik (Liverpool Creek). Plenty fella +sit down. He bin sing out, 'Hello! You come back from that place?' Me +bin say 'Yes; that country no good belonga me.'” + +A month or so after Nelly was again found in the service of a coloured +alien, tugging away with another weak gin at what she calls a “two-fella +saw.” For her task of sleeper-cutting her reward would probably be a +handful of rice and a dose of opium per day. + +Nelly is now at her leisure within a mile or so from the place of +her birth, hardly conscious of the feat represented by her solitary +pilgrimage. Occasionally she has the company of her tall and indifferent +boy. She enjoys the society of her relations, and indulges as oft as +may be in exhilarating misunderstandings with them. Without a vehement +squabble now and again life would be intolerably insipid. Anger, +accompanied by fluent abuse, is to her a kind of spiritual blood-letting +for the casement of her suddenly plethoric temperament. But such is of +her frailty. Proof of her strength of purpose, has it not been given? + + +MARIA DANCES. + + +In her youth Maria gave promise of a rare condition among coastal +blacks--tendency to width and breadth. As she grew in bulk she seemed, +if not to decrease in stature, at least to remain stationary. Thus it +was that her figure became perfect. + +If there be one feature of animal physiology more adorable than aught +else in the eyes of the lords of the soil, it is fat--fat under any +and every circumstance. They admire it in animals of the chase, and +the paltry, greasy relics of a feast may be smeared over the body with +something of the pride and gratification derivable in other and cleaner +walks of life from perfumed powder, pink and white. + +Being fat and shiny as a girl, Maria had keen and ardent lovers. She was +an adorable novelty. + +Blacks do not gaze into the faces of their sweethearts. They have +never found chaste delight in the writing of woeful ballads to their +mistress's eyebrows, or to the glorification of their snubby and +expansive noses. If any of Maria's admirers had been lyrical, her buxom +condition would have been the theme of their idealisations. In time she +became the mother of children, still retaining that charming superiority +of bulk which excited the rage of sisters whose skins did not shine, +whose flesh did not quiver whensoever they walked, talked, or even +smiled. + +No marvel that her matrimonial experiences were the comment of the camp +and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have +been known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, +Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the +flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her +the belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the +stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not an +ounce of irresistible fascination of which to boast. + +For some years the form of Maria had not waddled across accustomed +scenes. Quite unexpectedly it loomed up as large and buoyant as ever. +The light-hearted denizens of the camp had arranged an evening's +entertainment. The fires burned low, the sea babbled, making +white-skirted frolic on the hard level sand, and the piping voices of +the honey-seeking flying foxes among the tea-trees seemed to chide +the parrots of the day for having left so little refreshment in the +blossoms. Behind a screen of faded blankets the warriors of the camp +were adorning themselves with white clay and feathers and long, shaggy +beards of bark, while the leader of the orchestra began to tune his +boomerang and fire-hardened sticks, and his attendants to squat ready to +drum on thighs and lap with hollowed hand in time with his refrain and +clicking music. The fires flared up, and the band emerged with thumping +step and emphatic grunts to illustrate the ceremonious visit of +strangers to a camp at which the nature of the reception was in doubt. +One individual, in chalk for the most part, advanced, half nervously, +half anxiously, to the musician, and modestly retired, and advanced +again and retired, until reassured, and then the crowd came forward +whirling and grunting, and, with high-waving arms in unison and swaying +bodies, gave token of happiness. + +ACT II.--The master of ceremonies carried to the front a big and rough +sapling. The fires glowed again, the orchestra clicked and thumped, and +a single boy in an ancient red handkerchief and chalks danced into the +light, and, keeping time with the music, began in pantomime to fashion +the sapling into a sword, using a fictitious shell, with which he +scraped off imaginary bark. While absorbed in his work, his companions +came from the screen in haste, skipping round him and mimicking all his +actions and grunting in unison with him, while making the sand-ridge to +quiver with intensity of tread. Presently all flopped down on haunches +in close formation round the sword-maker, still maintaining rhythmical +sway of body and limb, and while some held the sapling, others toiled +strenuously towards the completion of a good and true weapon, the master +of ceremonies encouraging and exhorting the workers until nature could +hold out no longer, and they bounded to their feet and, with grunts +and signs and with bodies reeking with perspiration, whirled away into +darkness. + +ACT III.--Each of the noisy players came suddenly into the glare +carrying a rotund, compact bundle, and, squatting down, began with +grunts and sighs the great “coco-nut” act, obviously one of the +masterpieces of the corroboree. In perfect time the sham coco-nuts +were beaten with hands in lieu of sticks or tomahawks, while the +accompaniment became faster and faster. Ever and anon each, still +rocking, would peer closely at his prize to satisfy himself as to its +quality, and forthwith continue the resonant belabouring of the shell, +until the meat therein was available with joyous shout. + +ACT IV.--Most of the accumulated bark and leaves having by this time +passed into flame and smoke, the attendants raided the nearest gunyah +for fresh supplies of material for illumination. The big fires lit up +the arena anew, and, marshalled by the conductor, the band rushed out +of the darkness uttering grunts which rang a change on the monotony of +previous vocal efforts. A masterpiece of composition, it conjured up the +dimness of the jungle and the smell of damp vegetation. All squatted in +a double ring, back to back. This formation was not strictly maintained, +for each individual made half turns to right and left alternately, +simultaneously scratching the sand with distended fingers and kicking +vigorously until the sand ascended in the smoke-tinged glow, heads +bowing and ducking with mechanical regularity, as the entertainers +sought--and with conspicuous success--to portray a community of scrub +turkeys building an incubating mound. + +Then it was that the favourite and belle of the camp, the fascinating +creature whose magnificent condition bestowed privileges undreamt of +by other ladies, became conspicuous. Her costume had evidently been +designed for a lady not divinely tall, but considerably less of flesh +than the wearer. Maria did not actually overflow, though perilously near +that point. Surely buttons were never designed to resist such strain. +Coloured ladies generally sit meekly among the audience and chatter +and maintain the drum-beats, lacking which no corroboree could be +successful. During the intervals they may emboss pictures in the +impressionable sand with cunning forefinger and giggle, for the subjects +are often quaint. Maria, sure of her privileges, waddled out from the +flame-obscuring dusk, turned an ample back upon the double ring of boys, +and played her part as one of the giddy and industrious wild-fowls. Her +fingers scratched the air and her feet the dust with a realism not to +be excelled by the most gifted of the boys, while her half grunt, half +chuckle, exactly imitative of the social garrulity of the turkey, gave +artistic finish to a scene which would have been absolutely delusive +if feathers had been in fashion. Maria, a fleer at mere ponderosity, +skipped and whisked from left to right with fay-like airiness of foot +until a thrill of delight went through the camp. The frolicsome turkeys +scratched and scattered leaves that were not, and gobbled and clucked, +until, panting and perspiring, all rose, and with a simultaneous +shout scampered for the screen, while the master of ceremonies shouted +“Finis!” The music ceased, the flames faded, and substantial Maria +dissolved in the gloom. + + + + +SOOSIE + + + +“No legend! Well, let us invent one.”--SCOTT. + + +A crinkled fist, fumbling and twisting, protruded from a rent in a +dilapidated dilly-bag. It had done so with infinite feebleness for many +an hour in unavailing protest against the woes and weight of life, for +faint scratch smeared with blood denoted the friction of tender skin +against the broken edges of the cane-made bag. + +A scarcely audible, inhuman wail--pathetically staccato--told of +unceasing pain. Whomsoever the bag contained was enduring martyrdom. + +“That fella, him no good. Close up finis. B'mbi me plant'm along scrub.” + +Thus spoke the pleasant-faced gin who passed with the dilly-bag along a +narrow aisle of the jungle, intent upon ridding herself of a vexatious +encumbrance, and at the same time performing the rite of unrighteous +burial. + +Squirming in dirt was a naked infant-black, foul, and but a few days +old. + +“Mother belonga that fella him dead--finis. That fella, him no good. Him +sing out all a time. More better tchuck'm away.” + +Frail outcast--the very scum of a blacks' camp, its repulsiveness was +tragic. Dirt and odour sickened, yet its appeal was irresistible. That +universal language, a human cry, which everywhere and always quickened +the pulse, stirred pity to its depths. I seized the stained bag (it +was a desperate deed) and, breaking down its worn sides, displayed its +contents--a girl in all the infamy of neglect, starvation, and dirt--a +panting mummy reeking with offence. + +Spreading out a handkerchief, I put the awful atom on it gingerly, while +the foster-mother reiterated her counsel to “tchuck'm alonga scrub.” + +In the guise of a frail bundle at arm's-length was Soosie conducted to a +civilised home. + +Dismay tempered with pity greeted her. + +“How horrible! How dirty!” + +“Is it really a little girl? It looks like a wild animal.” + +“Do let me nurse it.” + +Thus was crinkled-faced Soosie welcomed. + +Many successive baths did she endure, faintly wailing, until dirt soaked +off and the wails ceased for the time being as Soosie sucked ravenously +at a tiny sugar-bag. + +What a frail little life it was--feeble beyond expression, and ugly +with the ugliness of savagery. She wriggled and screwed up her skinny +features with inane ferocity. A motherless wallaby would have submitted +to human solace and ministrations with daintier mien; but the whole +household thrilled with excitement. Could the spluttering spark of life +be made to glow? That was the all-absorbing topic for days. Gradually +some sort of a human rotundity became manifest, and on the occasion +of the bath it was more and more apparent that instead of being +impenetrably black the skin-tint was a mingling of pale brown and pink; +and as regular nourishment began to be effective the features changed, +losing their gross animalism. + +Just because of the waif's helplessness was repugnance to her conquered. +She had no other redeeming quality. In a certain sense she was fearsome; +she required unremitting attention and care; her whimpering fits, +in beast-like monotone, shook the nerve of the most patient of her +attendants. She was a charge to keep and foster, and the duty was +performed with devotion, which took little concern for self-sacrifice. +Before many months had passed Soosie had been transformed into a fat +roly-poly with a perpetual smile and gurgles of satisfaction, which even +vocalised sleep. + +All this happened years ago. In infancy Soosie had been informally +adopted. She was now a bright, sensible, slender girl, whose full, +melting eyes pleaded for inevitable facial defects, and whose complexion +was very greatly at fault. She grew up more averse from the manners +and moods of her mother than those of us who better understand the +differences of race. To her a black was more abhorrent than a snake. +She loathed the sight of those who came about the place, and would not +defile herself by touching the cleanest--kind-hearted “Wethera,” who had +so nearly interred her, and to whom she was as a princess; “Wethera,” + who was wont to say, “That fella Tchoosie, too flash. Close up me bin +tchuck'm away. Boss he bin catch'm.” + +Soosie evaded all possible reference to her kin, and when others spoke +in sympathetic terms would say: “How can you bear to think of those +horrible people who live in dirt and only half dressed in the bush? I +love the scrub, and but for them would like to wander in it all day. I +dare not while they are about, for some day one of them might touch me, +and I would never feel clean again.” + +We often wondered at the irreconcilable attitude which Soosie (she was +always “Miss Soosie” to all but members of the household) adopted to her +own race, for she well understood where she had been born and the manner +of her salvation from imminent death. + +Though no special training had been hers, none of the domestic arts were +unknown to her. She acquired them with ease and practised them with the +air of a dignified princess and neat-handed facility. While the other +children of the house stewed over lessons and rebelled against essential +tasks, to Soosie everything seemed to make for holiday. She read +voraciously, so that her application of English became so keen that she +was the first to detect verbal dissonances. She, the youngest of two +girls and a boy, would often correct their speech, not as a budding +pedant, but because her ears were delicately attuned to the music of the +tongue and could not, without offence, hearken to discords. She was an +affected prude. Her self-chosen style of dress, her pose, her disdainful +airs, her repugnance to coarse work, her inclination towards occupations +and pastimes which involved isolation, showed that self-consciousness +ruled her life. She lived within herself, and her life was gentle, +contrasting with the boisterous playfulness of her foster sisters and +brother, upon whose romps she smiled indulgently, but in which she +never took part. In her own estimation she was a girl quite out of the +ordinary, and one to whom the most honoured of guests must be polite, if +not deferential. She exacted little niceties of demeanour from all, +her equals and inferiors, for was she not treated as a daughter of the +house? Often, however, in her preoccupied moods would she assume an air +of detachment and jealousy towards the other children, for she could not +but contrast herself with them. They were white; she was pronouncedly of +the despised race. How wistfully would she scan the face of strangers! +How teeming with resentment against fate her inevitable conclusions! +In all save features she was white. Over her inheritance, the cruellest +which fortune could bestow, she was shudderingly horrified. Not all the +longings of an untainted mind could make her skin less tawny. Its stain +was too deep to be blanched by the most fervent of prayers. Her outlook +on life, her intensest wishes, were those of a white girl of more +than decent perceptions--of actual refinement, for they tended to the +avoidance of everything unpleasant and unsightly. In other respects, +too, she was an absolute variant from the type, for her sensitiveness to +the pain of others and of the lower animals amounted almost to a mania; +for though she had a girlish horror of blood, her eagerness to solace +sufferings made her so courageous that she became most apt and prompt +in the administration of first aid. Her big, startled eyes showed +the sincerity of her feelings, while her firm, slender fingers deftly +applied bandages as she spoke in soothing tones. + +The soul of a white damsel was in habitation of the body of one whose +parents had been black and utterly degraded. In the days of old evil +spirits were believed to be capable of taking spiteful possession of the +bodies of the weak to work, in unseemlinesses and indecencies, for the +mischief of the soul. Here was a good and gentle spirit which strove +undemonstratively for the salvation of a being the circumstances of +whose birth bordered on the infernal. It was as if the baths of infancy +had purified the soul, while the permanence and perversity of blood +triumphed in feature and complexion. + +While the other children of the house deserved and obtained love +and affection in full measure, towards Soosie were exhibited similar +sentiments, with, perhaps, more consideration, for was it not plain that +her life was a continual conflict--a conflict between body and soul--a +body self-abhorred, a soul which needed no purification? + +A creek which had its source in a ravine of the huge mountain which +intercepted the rising sun and caused accustomed shadow an hour after +the illumination of the western hills, ran past the lonely little +house, which stood in a clearing the upright walls of which were on the +sky-line scalloped with fan-palms. For many years Soosie never ventured +into the jungle unaccompanied, yet she seemed to possess a sense of +happenings beyond the almost solid screen of vegetation. Primal instinct +contended against her affections and her love for a sheltered, clean +life. Though she had always avoided association with the children of the +camp, and her knowledge by imitation or precept was negative, yet +was the bush an open book to her. She knew when and where to look for +birds'-nests. She knew at a glance a venomous from a non-venomous snake, +an edible from an inedible nut. As a child her favourite head-dress was +a squat, fat mantis, the bright orange and yellow of which contrasted +boldly with her fuzzy, coarse hair; and when the insect palled as an +ornament it would be frizzled and slyly eaten. + +Once as we strolled on the bank of the creek gazing at the lazy, +red-finned fish among the swaying weeds, her wandering eyes detected +a neat circular bore in the trunk of a huge silky oak. Having shrewdly +scrutinised the bark, she judged the tenant to be at home. With a +portion of one of the “feelers” of creeping palm stripped of all the +prickles save two, she probed the tunnel and, screwing the instrument +triumphantly, withdrew a huge white grub, which she ate forthwith; and +then, with a grimace, assumed an air of shame and contrition, for she +had astonished herself as well as others by an exhibition of untaught +bush-craft and ancestral appetite. + +She more than once confessed in shamefaced terms to an almost +uncontrollable impulse to rush away to the mountain, that she might +solace herself with the solitude and food in plenty there; but that when +she conjured up the chance of meeting some “dreadful native” she thanked +God for home and loving companions. How frequent and how intense was +this unconfessed lust for the bush we knew not. + +When Soosie was fourteen there came to the neighbourhood a hardy young +fellow who began to clear a small area of jungle land; for civilisation, +which had been marking time for nigh upon two decades, now marched +slowly, and to no throb of drum, in our direction. Times were changing, +and in some details less desirable conditions arose. The infinite +privacy of the bush suffered. The little clearing was no longer our own. +Soosie's demeanour became more reposeful. She had seemed to think that +it might be her fate, in common with others, to become a ward of the +State at some mission-station; but as settlement advanced, though still +miles away, for we were the furthest out, and no interfering guardian of +the peace came to enforce officialdom and insist upon obedience to the +letter of the law, it was comforting to reflect that this unofficial +daughter might be permitted to live out her life unhampered even by the +goodwill expressed, in the first stages, by the visit of a policeman. + +Her presence was necessary, not only on account of her amiable +disposition and self-sacrificing ways, but for the actual load she bore +of the duties of a quiet home. We had failed, however, to take into +calculation the chances of another means of separation. There was now +no disguising the fact that our new neighbour, Dan, was casting sheep's +eyes in Soosie's direction, and to her evident dismay. It was of little +avail to upbraid him as to the unseemliness of attachment to a girl who, +however civilised, was of inferior race and despised colour. He frankly +confessed that he wanted a wife as a companion and helpmeet; that he +could not hope, in consideration of his own lowly birth and slender +means and uphill task, to induce a white girl to halve his loneliness. +He had studied Soosie, and was sure that she was his superior except +in matter of colour. She was far better schooled and had been used to +softer life. + +“What,” he asked, “don't you and the Missis and Miss Clare and Fan, and +Bob, here, love her? You couldn't help it; and you are not ashamed. You +treat her as your own child. It would be no sin for me to take her as my +own wife. If she'll have me I'll marry her before the best parson in +the North. What of her complexion? It's only a little more sunburnt than +mine.” + +But Soosie was shy--more than shy. Her sensitiveness amounted to +physical repulsion. She declared that, though she liked Dan, she would +never marry. + +“I do feel in my heart that I am nothing more than a black girl, and +almost a savage. What if some day the horrible part of me got stronger, +and I did go to the mountain by myself? I have heard you say that blood +will tell. Often I am frightened of myself, especially when the nights +are very still and I listen to the scrub hens chuckling and the flying +foxes squealing, and smell the scents of the scrub. It must be very +nice to live away from everybody in the very loneliest part of the big +mountain, and to feel at home with actually wild things.” + +There was no affectation between us, so I said in comfort: “But my dear +girl, you are whiter at heart than many a girl born white. It is only +your skin that is dark. Perhaps if in a year or so you did marry Dan it +would be the best, for a good woman, no matter what her complexion, will +always earn respect. Society may not want you, but you would not want +society; and it will be very many years before society hampers life in +this part of the bush.” + +Soosie thought for a few minutes, and then replied with delicate +discretion. “I can never marry Dan. Sooner or later he would despise +me. It might be all right while I was young, but--we--we--blacks get +old very soon. Fancy Dan having an old gin in his house; for he won't be +living in a one-roomed hut all his life!” + +“You are spiteful against yourself, and that's not like you, Soosie.” + +“I have my feelings. How else may I restrain them?” she petulantly +exclaimed. “He must never think of me. It might drive me to the +mountain--just to save him from me.” + +Dan, good fellow, was discreet. He decided to play the laggard in love, +realising that any show of impetuosity might frighten Soosie. It came +to be understood that in time she might see the wisdom of accepting +him, and I, knowing both, and to whom mixed marriages are abhorrent, +was convinced that no girl could have been better qualified to fill the +position of a bushman's wife. Modest, clever, sympathetic, healthful, +none of the stains of the town had ever tarnished her mind. Her +voice was that of a well-schooled white girl, and all her perceptions +coincided. If the wander lust was to be suppressed for ever, it seemed +to me that Soosie must marry, and marry young. + +While Soosie's demeanour was still the cause of earnest solicitude, a +perplexing complication arose. An old man of the camp whence she had +been discarded began to do his best to attract her attention. + +Gifts of birds'-nests, eggs, ferns, orchids in flower, a cassowary +chick, neat dilly-bags, gay with crude Pigments, were brought to the +house with messages such as this: + +“That fella 'Pad-oo-byer' he bin gib'em alonga 'Ky-ee-rah.'” + +“Ky-ee-rah” (the evening star) had been proclaimed to be Soosie's +totemic name, and “Pad-oo-byer” we knew as “Duckbill,” because of a +fancied resemblance to a platypus. + +The gifts were tearfully repudiated. They seemed to announce that +Soosie, was regarded by her mother's kin as one of themselves, +notwithstanding her civilised environment. + +Though for the girl's sake, not on account of any personal repugnance or +despiteful attitude, the blacks had been kept at arm's length, I was on +good terms with all in the district, and took interest in their doings +and folk-lore. One of their primary beliefs was that children, black +and white, were actually the produce of the locality, belonging, not to +chance parents, but to the very land on which they were born. The germs +of life, they assumed, came from the soil; the soil assimilated all +flesh after death. Infants were but phases of the life with which the +soil teemed. All the neighbourhood belonged to the camp--the land and +everything which sprang from it, for they were the original possessors. +It was their country. They argued that such things as sweet potatoes, +pumpkins and mangoes, the very roses which adorned a sprawling bush, the +richly tinted crotons, the flaunting alamanda over the gateway, were, +strictly speaking, common property. So, too, over those children born +on the place certain proprietary rights were claimed. They were akin +to them, alien to their parents. Whites and blacks born in the same +district must, according to their ideas, be more closely related +than folks whose birthplaces were separated by distances beyond +comprehension. + +Such being the general opinion, fortified by undeviating oral tradition, +in Soosie's case the theory was ever so much the more arguable. She was +claimed, not alone on the grounds that she was a native of their own +land, but because, having been born in their own camp, she must be +subject to it. + +Duckbill intercepted me on the edge of the clearing one morning +especially to propound the law of the land. + +Soosie, he told in his pidgin English, had been given to him by her +uncle. She was to be his gin now that she was grown up. “More better you +hunt that fella. Him want sit down alonga camp.” + +The bald proposition shook me, for I could not but see the logic of it +from Duckbill's standpoint. He was the “big man,” a wizard--ugly, old, +and villainously dirty. Here was the camp's husband for the coloured +girl with the white heart. The idea was revolting, and then and there I +resolved at whatever cost to save the girl from such degradation. + +“Clear out!” I shouted, assuming frantic anger. “You fella chuck'm +Soosie away when she little fella piccaninny. That one belonga me now. +Suppose you fella kick'm up row big fella government come clear you +fella out. No more let you sit down longa this country.” + +“Country belonga me. You no humbug. You bin catch'm that fella Tchoosie +l-o-n-g time. You bin make'm good fella. Belonga me now.” + +The disgusting old fellow went on to explain that he intended to come up +to the house that evening. “You hunt'm that fella Tchoosie, me catch'm. +No good belonga you.” + +I was to drive the gently nurtured girl out of the house so that this +foul creature might seize her as he would a struggling wallaby, and take +her to live a degraded life in the camp! Explanations and threats were +of no avail. Duckbill, who was unable to comprehend that he and others +of the camp had by abandonment forfeited all rights to Soosie and that +she was now a “white Mary,” made it plain that he would forcibly +abduct her if I would but give him the slight assistance of expulsion. +Otherwise he would catch her himself. + +Threatening the camp with the presence of the “big fella government” if +he or any of them dared to interfere, I went off, while he shouted his +orders to “hunt that fella close up karrie badgin!” (sunset). + +Forthwith the house was put in a state of semi-siege. Soosie, with +tearful eyes and tremulous hands, hysterically implored us to protect +her from a fate worse than death. A message brought Dan, who first +disdained to take Duckbill seriously. Told how Soosie had been wooed +with gifts, and that her maternal uncle had officiously bestowed her +upon the gaunt, ill-favoured king of the camp in accordance with tribal +law, which regarded her as a mere chattel at the disposal of the +whim and fancy of the nearest relative or at the demand of the most +authoritative man, he became concerned and installed himself as Soosie's +special guardian. + +A few minutes after sundown Duckbill appeared, quite unconscious of +offence against civilised customs, carrying a waddy with which to +administer an anodyne should his capture prove the least refractory. +Threats and scoldings were lost. He was incapable of comprehending +why there should be a moment's hesitation about the fulfilment of his +legitimate rights and demands. + +Though protests were vain, the fact that Soosie did not show herself +imparted some glimmering of sense of the situation to him, and he +wandered off in the gloom grumbling “That fella too flash,” and frankly +announcing “B'mbi me catch'm.” + +For weeks Soosie kept within doors, or if she ventured out was +accompanied by one or other well able and determined to protect her. Her +nerves were at acute tension; her life that of a hunted creature; for +though she thought her fate inevitable, she concentrated her mind on +what seemed to others pitiably weak and inconsequent schemes for the +bafflement of Duckbill. + +Was it that some ineffaceable trait told her that the tribal law as +expounded by Duckbill was so wise that resistance to it was vain, and +that the trivial plans over which she worried were merely invented as a +sort of temporary palliative? She scorned the possibility of existence +in the camp, yet strove to contest it by the use of fantastical devices. +She urged that Dan and I should get some fearsome masks and rush the +camp in the gloom, at the same time setting off fireworks, and so create +such terrifying effects that none would venture near the spot again. +With bated breath, she even suggested that I should make a “death-bone” + to be employed for the secret ill of Duckbill; she thus exposed the +dross of hereditary superstition which rose to the surface during mental +ebullition. + +It was quite in the nature of things that under stress such a nature +should break down. She nestled close to Dan, promising to be his +sweetheart on the condition that, rather than that Duckbill should take +her away, he would shoot her. If it came about that the dreadful black +man was himself driven off or disposed of by some other means and the +country made safe for her, then she would marry the man who had saved +her, and she hoped that she might never disgrace him. + +Dan accepted the guardianship. His hut was two miles away and on the far +side of the river. He saw little of it for the next few weeks. + +Duckbill and his friends, as we were well aware, knew of our plans for +the defeat of his proposed outrage. If Soosie could be ceremoniously +married to the faithful Dan, no black in the neighbourhood would +endeavour to molest her. Indeed, all, even to Duckbill, would be +flattered and demonstrative of pride in the alliance. + +A fortnight later Duckbill again intercepted me. Since the previous +verbal encounter I had gone armed. He carried, somewhat ostentatiously, +a tomahawk and a couple of nulla-nullas. + +“No good you keep'm that fella Tchoosie. Me bin look out plenty. That +fella belonga me. Suppose you no lat'm come, more worse b'mbi. Me want +mak'm that fella all asame black fella. You gib it Clare belonga Dan.” + +My fingers twitched on the butt of the revolver. It was an ultimatum. +That which from other lips would have been resented as complacent +insolence had to be endured with apparent calmness. Threatening him +with all the consequences of a visit from the “big fella government,” I +hurriedly left, for I was not too sure of self-control. + +A stricter watch than ever was maintained, for the least relaxation of +precautions might have involved results for which a lifetime of regrets +would not have atoned. Though of such a low type of the human race, the +North Queensland aboriginal possesses certain admirable characteristics. +His mind seldom swerves from a set purpose within view of attainment. +He may be rebuffed and disappointed, and may assume indifference to or +forgetfulness of his purpose; but in his heart he does not accept defeat +until an absolutely decisive blow is received. Invisible to us, the old +man persistently waited, and watched. The dogs frequently detected +his presence, if their eloquent alarms and their excursions were to +be credited. Though she continued to pit her wits against the secret +cunningness of the dreaded old man, Soosie was often preoccupied, +seeming to regard herself as one not primarily concerned. Her calmness +was preternatural, contrasting strangely with her previous petulant +agitation and tragic despair. She avoided Dan, while clinging with +profuse demonstrations of affection to her foster-sisters. + +The reason for her change of policy and manner was revealed with +distressing suddenness. At daylight one morning the door of the room in +which she slept under lock and key was wide open, and on her quaintly +embellished table a primly written note: + + +“DEAR MUM, + +“That horrible man who wants to take me away is right, and the Bible is +right. I belong to this country, and must go. I would rather die than go +to the camp; but I must know the big mountain. The dreadful people don't +go there. They are frightened of it; I love it. I shall live there by +myself till I die, and Dan will never be disgraced. You and Dada and +Clare and Fan and Bob have been all the world to me. You did your best +to make me white at heart; but since this trouble began I have thought +and thought, and found that the black in me smudges all the good out. +Don't try to come after me. I shall hide. I would be too much ashamed +ever to look at you again. Forget me, for I am nothing but an ungrateful +little savage. + +“SOOSIE.” + + +In all haste Dan and I set out for the camp, a mile or so further in +the jungle. It was situated in a natural, symmetrical clearing, a circus +hemmed in by sullen vegetation, and upon which no plant save blady grass +ever invaded. + +The camp was deserted. Save for a few still warm spots indicative +of artfully smothered fires, there were few signs to indicate recent +occupation. An hour's search revealed definite tracks leading east--to +the mountain. + +No pains had been taken to baffle pursuers. Apparently the blacks had +just wandered off aimlessly in obedience to a whim of the moment. There +was nothing but conjecture to support the opinion that the decampment +had anything to do with the disappearance of Soosie. Probably the blacks +were aware, in advance of ourselves, that she had stolen away. If so, +they would inevitably get her, having, possibly, the advantage of hours +of start and being efficient in the art of tracking. Our plan was to +hasten so that we might, if fortune favoured, be in time to save the +distracted girl from the repulsive and obscene ceremonies to which she +would be subject if she fell into the hands of Duckbill. + +An hour's walk brought us to the foothills of the mountain. The tracks +turned abruptly north, winding indeterminately as if no special object +had been in view. It might be that while the men of the camp had +been intent on following Soosie's tracks, the women and children had +straggled after as if the quest was of no special concern to them. + +In the broken country well in to the base of the mountain all traces of +the exodus was lost, though bush instinct, supplemented by the actions +of the dogs, gave sense of its direction. Blundering down into a ravine +where blanched vegetation betokened complete seclusion from the sun, we +clambered up the opposing steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle +on a high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded view to the +west--a scene of theatrical clarity with a single theatrical smear. From +a hollow far below slothful smoke filtered through the matted, +sombre, dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted abruptly, +dissolving from diaphanous blue to nothingness. The resonant whooping +of a swamp pheasant, antiphonal to a bell-voiced, crimson-crowned fruit +pigeon in a giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur-crested cockatoo +as it tumbled in the air, evading the swoops of a grey goshawk, +materialised the peace and the conflicts of a scene upon which no man +had made mark. + +The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting-place of the fugitives, +though all tracks on the uneasy earth had failed. Odours of the jungle +soothed my mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, and +gave assurance that the men had unravelled Soosie's wanderings until she +had begun to ascend the mountain, and that, being then on strange and +terrifying ground, they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar +level country free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. + +With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, plunging again into the +dimness of the jungle, struck as direct a route as possible for the +smoke-revealed camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently through +the screen of ferns and banana plants, where in a secluded glade were +the wanderers in happy festival. + +Could any scene approach nearer the ideal? Men, women and children, +mostly unclad, talking and laughing in modulated tones, while amusing +themselves with trivial occupations and eating convenient food in the +depths of the jungle, sanctified by distance and scene and sound! Peace +smiled, propriety approved. They ate of the fruits of the earth. The +fern-embowered stream gave them to drink. No sign of the white man, with +his interfering and desolating ways, assailed the sight. It was as if +the mist of centuries had lifted, and for once time-soiled mortals were +permitted to gaze on a Garden of Eden free from danger and innocent of +sin. There was none here to make the quiet folk afraid or discontented. + +As I stepped out, the scene changed with pantomimic celerity. We were in +the midst of a community of excitable and resentful people, who, viewing +us, if not with active hostility, at least with surprise and anger, +seemed embarrassed by guilty knowledge. None of the customary greetings +welcomed us. None offered other than scowls. + +“Where Soosie?” I demanded in authoritative tones of a boy accustomed to +treat my slightest word with respect. + +With averted face he sullenly said: “That fella Tchoosie he run away. He +go l-o-n-g way, alonga mountain!” + +“Look here! You no humbug. Where Soosie sit down? Plenty row along +white man suppose Soosie no come back. That fella Soosie belonga Missis. +Missis very sorry. She bin make'm Soosie all asame white Mary.” + +Still the face-averting boy reiterated: “That fella Soosie he bin go +long way--more far. You fella make'm Soosie no good.” + +Others gathered round. Several carried weapons--nulla-nullas and wooden +swords--and assumed hostile attitudes. + +Dan became uncontrollably excited, storming for the production of +Soosie, and being met with inconclusive statements and evasions. Being +one who knew no fear, who deemed his questions justifiable, who felt +himself more than a match for the whole camp, and was convinced that the +blacks were in possession of essential information, he urged the policy +of chastising the sullenness out of a couple of incommunicative boys. +His attitude, and mine, hitherto, towards the blacks had been of cheery +good-nature tempered with considerate authority. Present moroseness was +novel, and he was eager to sweep it away with a sturdy stick, and thus +to demonstrate that when a friendly white man visited a camp blacks +should be deferential and alert to assist his mission. + +In the mood of the men tragedy was inevitable unless both of us kept +cool. What would be the ending of a fray between two white men and +many armed blacks, some of whom were aching under a prolonged, however +inconsequent, grievance against a white family? + +“Look here, Dan. Leave those fellows alone,” I said firmly but quietly. +“There'll be sorrow for some if you begin a row.” + +“I don't care for a hundred blacks! I'd kick myself if I could not floor +half a dozen single-handed! Where that Soosie?” + +To distract attention from Dan, I moved off a few yards. + +“What you ki-ki?” I asked of Wethera, who gnawed with concentrated +satisfaction at a charred bone. “You ki-ki wallaby?” + +“No wallaby! This one 'mandee' (hand) belonga Tchoosie!” + +Scorched flesh and blackened bone had left their smear on the face of +the kindest cannibal of them all. On the fire was a foot with +charred ankle-bones; in a dilly-bag other fragments, but in Wethera's +countenance no consciousness of evil-doing. + +“Come here!” I shouted. + +The excited man strode to the spot. + +“Soosie,” I said, in the calmest tones I could command, “has been +murdered. This is a cannibal feast!” + +With a bound he upset the gin, who shrieked as she grovelled in the +embers. + +“You wretches! You kill Soosie! I kill you!” + +As he drew his revolver from his belt I seized his hand, and, +restraining him as best I could for a moment, spoke authoritative and +soothing words, and led him away weak and tremulous. + + + +Not for many months--long after Dan had left the district--did exact +information as to the fate of the hapless girl reach our ears. Wethera +told of the tragedy. Duckbill had followed her tracks from the house +towards the mountain, had overtaken her, and, since she had fought +frenziedly, had “killed her alonga head little bit,” not intending to +kill her “dead, finis.” Carried to the camp, it had been found out that +she was actually dead. Then all had become stricken and run away. + +By her obstinacy Soosie had offended tribal law. She had suffered. In +the necessitous jungle animal food is never wasted, be it beast, bird, +or reptile. + +It had been an edifying sacrament, too, founded on immemorial truth, +for had it not been devoutly believed that Soosie's most excellent and +potent personality would remain with and glorify every participant? + + + + +BLUE SHIRT + + + +“A strong, untutored intellect, eyesight, heart; a strong, wild +Man.”--CARLYLE. + + +Half a century ago, when hardy and adventurous men made laws unto +themselves, and their somewhat hasty and inconsiderate hands began to +sting the aboriginal population, there lived on this Isle a stalwart +native whose force of character constituted him a captain among his +fellows. + +Possibly he was Tom's father. Before he passed away, Tom had often told +that his father was king of this realm and a man of parts. He it was +who harpooned a huge green turtle to the east. The game was so +extraordinarily strong that others hastened to his aid, for the capture +was beyond the capabilities of one man kneeling in a tucked-up sheet of +bark. The whole fleet of canoes barely succeeded in towing the massive +and reluctant creature to the nearest beach, and Tom was wont to +tell that it took eight strong men to turn it on its back. It was +“kummaoried” on the sand, and Tom oft pointed out the very spot as proof +of the most famous feast within the range of tradition. + +Let it be accepted, then, that Blue Shirt was Tom's father, since +history is silent on the point, and none is left to question or +authenticate it. He was a big man, and his son was like him. He was +fond of colours; so, too, was his son. He was a fighter; his son's +meritorious scars proved him worthy of his blood. He was a man in +authority and full of territorial pride; his son's dominance was +undoubted, for did he not chide the “big fella gubbermen” on its +audacity in disposing of his Island--his country--even to a friendly +white man? + +Blue Shirt was the ruler and lawgiver of this Island when a barque +strove with a cyclone which eventually shattered her to pieces and +scattered her cargo of cedar-logs to the four winds. After the wreck a +boat put out from a not distant port on a beach-combing cruise. The boat +was known as the CAPTAIN COOK. About a hundred years before her namesake +had reported that he had seen about thirty natives, all unclad, on an +adjacent islet. With the captain was his mate, two other white men, a +black boy, and a young gin. Many derelict logs were seen and certain +wreckage, which made the boat's company inclined to the belief that some +of the castaways might have landed on Dunk Island. They steered hither, +anchoring in the evening. + +Early the next morning three stalwart black boys put off in canoes to +the CAPTAIN COOK, and, making friendly demonstrations, were invited on +board. Food was given them, and to the leader the captain presented a +blue shirt. No dweller of the Island had ever before possessed such a +sumptuous and glorious garment. Indeed, if the absolute truth must +be told, no dweller had dreamt of anything more desirable than an +inadequate cloak laboriously wrought from the inner bark of a fig-tree, +raiment sanctioned by the first of fashions. + +Having made it known that they belonged to a neighbouring islet at the +moment unfriendly to the overbearing Dunk Island tribe, Blue Shirt and +his attendants mentioned that cedar-logs and other attractive flotsam +bestrewed the beaches, and volunteered to conduct the strangers to the +best places on the understanding that they, being alien and hostile, +should remain under the protection of the rifle-carrying white men. + +The captain, two men, and the black boy, followed Blue Shirt ashore; +but, although he was conspicuously clad, could not find him or any other +man. A few old and casual women represented the hospitable inhabitants, +while Sabbath quietude brooded over the scene as they strolled along the +yellow beach. By chance one of the party glanced towards the spot where +they had landed, and saw half a dozen vigorous gins endeavouring to haul +the boat above tideway. + +How excellent the strategy! + +The designing but faint-hearted women fled when the white men charged +for the boat, which now was seen to be endowed with an incredible, +uncanny rocking movement of its own. Looking beneath, they saw a huge +cripple straining himself, Atlas-like, to heave it over. In spite of +inferior legs, his brawny shoulders had almost accomplished the feat +when he was unceremoniously interrupted. While he sprawled away, a mob +of blacks rushed suddenly from the cover of some rocks, the leader +of the assailants being Blue Shirt, who had painted his unclad parts +martial red and white. The strength of the party was guessed at thirty. +An exact census was not taken, for with spears and nulla-nullas and big +swords, each warrior having the protection of a shield, the treacherous +band swept on the deluded guests of their leader, whose hostile yells +scandalised the meek phrases and friendly signs of a short hour before. + +The captain, poor, outwitted man, had laid his rifle beside the boat. +It was too late now to bring it into decisive action. Keeping close +together, the defenders warded off the first rush with whatever came +to hand. The rifle was recovered; but Blue Shirt, recognising that it +represented victory, struggled for it determinedly. A spear was thrown +at close quarters straight for the captain's neck, but one of the men +deftly twitched it off, a feat that so enraged the warriors that they +made him their special target, until at last one of their spears pierced +his hand. Being rough and thready, the black palm-point made an ugly +wound; but the resolute man drew it out, and, breaking the spear in +twain, threw it into the boat, and as he did so, another grazed his +abdomen. While he was thus defending himself against the spears and +nulla-nullas of outrageous fortune, the captain made wide, sweeping +movements with the butt of his rifle, and the other man and the boy, the +boat being by this time afloat, tugged at the oars. The attacking party +followed, the captain making good misuse of the rifle, the odd man and +the boy occasionally perverting an oar to wrongful but, at the crisis, +effective purpose, while the wounded suffered the hate of him who earns +personal as well as racial animosity. He sustained a cut on the head +from a wooden sword, yet he fought on, retaining his wits, while a +kind Providence, and his own artfulness and agility protected him from +hurtling spears. + +The cost of the little excursion was paid in wounds and bruises and, +eventually, putrefying sores, while the souls of all instantly mortified +under the sight of triumphant Blue Shirt jeering and gesticulating as +only an uncouth black dare, as he waved over his head a tomahawk he had +abstracted from the boat during the morning's pleasant entertainment. + +No one of the poor, depraved representatives of the race has any +knowledge of the event in which Blue Shirt showed himself to be a +successful plotter, a bold strategist, an original tactician, and a +brave fighter. His son is dust. His grandson, though true in complexion, +knows more about engines than he does of wooden swords and how to use +them. The zest of life was with his ancestor, who during a long life had +but one shirt. + + + + +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD + + + +“Of lonely folk cut off unseen.” + + HOOD. + + +A few months ago chance bestowed the opportunity of listening to the +conversation of one who for very many yearn has hung upon the skirts of +civilisation. A bushman of rare resourcefulness, wide knowledge of the +dry as well as the moist parts of North Queensland, a reader, and +an acute and accurate observer of natural phenomena, he has often +entertained me with the relation of episodes in his career which, though +quite unsensational, is of the material of which the history of the +bush must be compiled. He is now settled on a tidal creek, his nearest +neighbours miles away. Independent of the regular assistance of +blacks in the cultivation of his land, he is one of those who, while +acknowledging no such thing as comradeship, and who, true to his +sentiments, keeps them at arm's-length, has, albeit, acquired +confidences rather unusual. + +When his reading matter has become exhausted, he has sat night after +night for months together absorbing the lore of the camp. To him has +been disclosed many a well-guarded secret. Not unto every man who asks +do the blacks tell their thoughts or impart their legends. You may study +them; but they, too, are discreet students, who often keep their counsel +while seeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their ways and be +wise as they are wise. + +My friend is one of those undemonstrative, self-contained men in whom +some of the coloured, cautious metaphysicians find a congenial +soul. Therefore is he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covert +knowledge. + +As we talked on the subject of the unexplained disappearances of men in +the bush of Australia, he told the incidents of the forgotten dead to +which these writings have special reference. I use my own words, so do +not bind myself to historic exactness. + +He had been away earning his own living, for his estate, fruitful as it +is, did not then quite provide for his sustenance, markets being +distant and far from consistent. Returning, he found the blacks who had +associated themselves with his humble establishment had in the interval +sought change of scene. The land that he called his had belonged +to their ancestors centuries before Cook tied the ENDEAVOUR to that +disputed and historic tree, and was theirs when he had first intruded. +His hut, his horses, his implements, were much as he had left them. The +camping-place of the blacks appeared to have been unoccupied for some +time. Such was in accordance with usual happenings. Going about his +lonesome work, he reflected that his dusky acquaintances would return +in their own good time, and being a man of mental resource, the solitude +was by no means irksome. + +Within a fortnight they appeared unceremoniously, and, taking casual +part in the ordinary work, the affairs of the isolated estate went on as +smoothly as before. There was a stranger in the camp, a middle-aged man, +timorous, and knowing little of the ways of white men. Of him scarcely +any notice was taken. Yet in a few weeks it was evident that the +stranger was determined to make himself pleasant. Accordingly, the white +man refrained from advances, while for the love of mental exhilaration +he pondered: “That boy wants to tell me something. He shall tell me all +he wants to in his own way, while I will play the part of an indifferent +auditor.” + +That the stranger had some secret on his soul was apparent. My friend +resolved to receive that secret in the spirit of gracious condescension. +So played he his part, and line upon line, here a little and there a +little, the story was told. + +Few of the tribe of the stranger had ever seen a white man. None +had ever visited the coast. All were myalls, living naked among the +mountains in gorges gloomy with jungle, and but rarely hunting on the +foothills. One day consternation and curiosity spread through the camp. +Three strange men with yellow faces and short black hair had been seen. +They carried nothing in their hands, and seemed frightened. Thus the +nervous couriers of the camp spoke. + +Next morning the men took up the tracks, and, sneaking close up, +followed, alert and unseen, the unsuspecting visitors to their country. + +Bewildered in the jungle, the queer-looking men wandered aimlessly, +moaning and wailing. They were lost. Suddenly the blacks appeared. +Two of the strangers, glad of the company of any sort of human beings, +smiled and gesticulated pleasantly, making it plain that they were +hungry, tired, and frightened, and, longing to get back to the coast, +would bestow upon their guides unheard-of blessings for safe-conduct +thither. Strangely, the black men accepted the trust. Four each took +a hand of the confiding strangers, and, pointing ahead and chattering, +induced them to walk quickly in a direction in which by signs they +indicated the dwelling of a white man. + +The third wanderer had run away, blundering through the jungle, and the +blacks had refrained from following him. Nodding gaily and jabbering +volubly, but with mutual intelligibility, hosts and guests paced along a +narrow track, each of the latter personally and firmly conducted by +two of his newly found and most attentive friends. Others of the tribe, +“like frightful fiends, did close beside them tread”; and while the +escorts lured the yellow men with comforting pantomime, the frightful +fiends fell on them suddenly with great wooden swords, killing them +off-hand and on the very verge of the camp. + +Willingly hurrying to the place of execution, the murdered men had saved +the calculating blacks the trouble of carrying their carcasses. + +Then four went back for the nervous escapee. He was safe, for the tracks +were as obvious to them as a plough furrow to a European. Crouching +beside a fallen, decaying tree, where bird's-nest ferns grew +outrageously gross, they found him; and they jeered. He screamed and +shouted in unknown tongue, while the brisk, stubby hair of his head +stood on end. (My friend's hair-brush was alluded to in graphic +illustration.) They struck him down, and, smashing in his head and +seizing arms and legs, jogged back to the camp. + +And the festival lasted many days, though plenty made gluttons of them +all. + +The forgotten dead were Javanese--deserters from a sugar-plantation; for +the tragedy happened long ago, when labour was being drawn from Java +and other oversupplied countries. Desertions were not uncommon, for the +sanguine men of the equator endure with less philosophy than others that +sickness of the heart which comes from love of one's native land when +absent from it. + +From Java's seething millions were the nostalgic three ever missed? + + + + +EAGLES-NEST FLOAT + + + +“My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight.” + + ROBINSON CRUSOE. + + +Those who study primitive races, applying their wisdom and learning to +the investigation of the origin of domestic and other implements and +contrivances, inform us that the first boat was probably a log, on which +the man sat astride, using a stick as a means of propulsion. In time the +idea of hollowing the log occurred, Nature undoubtedly presenting +the model and inviting the novice to squat inside. But what was the +inhabitant of a certain island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to do since +Nature failed to provide a tree big enough to possess the degree of +buoyancy necessary for his frail frame, when he wished to cross the +narrow channel separating him from a lesser island where turtle are +plentiful and unsuspicious? + +Being in status something above a wallaby--the largest animal other than +himself of his native land which, when hunted, occasionally swam towards +the opposite shore, he constructed one or other of two rafts or floats, +both derivable from Nature's models. One was in the form of an eagle's +nest, and not nearly so large as that in which some eaglets are reared, +made by interlacing branchlets of white mangrove until the mass was +sufficient to support his weight. With a double ended paddle rudely +shaped from the thin buttress roots of the red mangrove, and comic in +the crudeness and disproportion of its parts, he felt himself safe +miles out to sea. When he approached a passing vessel he presented the +illusion, not of walking, but of sitting on the water, for the float +was almost completely submerged. If it became necessary for his wife to +attend him on his marine excursions, she was towed behind, and used her +own pedal power. Possibly this primitive raft is the pathetic expression +of man's first struggle against the restrictions of the sea. + +The other resource of the boatless islander was another description of +float, also retrogressive from the log; the idea not transmitted to +him by any high-minded bird, but forced upon his attention by elemental +strife. He would have seen that the wind and the waves occasionally +tore from his beaches Pandanus palms, and that the matted, fibrous roots +thereof floated. Pondering in his dim way, and being sadly an hungered +and aware that fat and lazy turtle were basking in the sighed-for +shallows, he took a bundle of buoyant roots and light sticks and lashed +it securely at one end with strips of bark. He then spread out the other +end until it took the shape of a fan, and weaved the strands loosely +together with beach trailers. His raft was complete. At least this +description applies to that in use to-day, which represents the highest +stage to which the design has been brought. + +Under the influence of the peril-ignoring hunger, the hunter sat on +the float with legs extended frontally. Across his thighs crouched +his favourite dog, and behind him, her thin shanks outside his and her +skinny arms round his slim waist, sat, uncomfortable, his cowed wife--a +necessary part of his equipment. Can he be imagined half turning to his +deferential spouse, and saying: “My dear, in the words of Shakespeare, + + “On such a full sea are we now afloat + And we must take the current when it serves + Or lose our'--turtle”? + +Is it not edifying, too, to reflect that the timid man, encouraged +by the object-lessons of Nature, given in pity of his simplicity, had +contrived the only rafts the resources of his island made possible? +And does not the fact that he had courage to cross the estranging deep +thereon give graphic proof of the inhospitality of his native soil? + +Flat and generally of sad aspect, the country of the raftsman lies +remote and uncommended. The scented sandalwood is there, dwarfed, +attenuated, worthless. The most fragrant of the Pandanus palms is +plentiful, the fruit forming the chief part of the vegetable diet of the +lean and stunted inhabitants, who find difficulty in fashioning weapons +with which to obtain fish and turtle, the land failing to supply +straight sticks of the length needed for spears. Each has to be spliced. +The islands are expressed in the race they sustain--possibly the lowest +of Australian types. Does it not bespeak much to the credit of men +and women who have been used to the cities where the advantages of +civilisation are at command and its comforts available, that they should +abandon the society of kin and friends and isolate themselves in a drear +and unfriendly tract for the sake of a few coloured folk whose mental +capacities are feeble and whose habits are shockingly disgusting? + + + + +NATURE IN RETALIATION + + + +“Red in tooth and claw.” + + TENNYSON. + + +In a mangrove creek a shoal of barramundi had been bombed with dynamite. +Immediately after the explosion the white onlookers as well as the +blacks dived off-hand into the stream to secure the helpless fish. One +of the party seized a weighty and unconscious victim of the outrage, and +to retain it thrust his fist through the gills and found himself unable +to withdraw, and when the fish began to revive he realised that he was +not master. With a supreme effort he did manage to get his head above +water to gulp a mouthful of air, but the gallant fish promptly exerted +itself, and a deadly struggle took place on the muddy bottom. Once more +the fish was tugged to the surface, only to dive just as the man became +conscious of the applause of the interested spectators. When they came +to the surface again ill luck on the part of the fish had brought it +into the shallows caused by a ridge of rocks, and the man hauled his +prize ashore, frankly acknowledging that the happy chance of the rocks +and not his own wits and strength had given the victory into his hands. + +On another occasion heartless dynamite was used in a creek, where had +assembled many blacks, who scrambled riotously in the muddy water for +the spoil, among which were several huge crabs, some dismembered by the +force of the explosion, some stunned, some merely agitated. Dilly Boy, +the biggest and the greediest of the crowd, acquired several fish and +three or four crabs, the largest of the latter of which seemed sound +asleep. The dynamite had ministered an anodyne from which, apparently, +there would be no awakening. It the boy disregarded, while he secured +those which were more or less active. Busily engaged, he was not aware +that a crab when he seems asleep may be merely plotting. This hero was +hatching out a scheme whereby it might be revenged for the outrage. +It watched and deliberated, and as the boy sat down grabbed him with +ponderous and toothed pinchers on that part of the body which is said to +be most susceptible to insult. The boy rose. Not half a plug of +dynamite could have given more hearty impulse, not all the clamour of a +corroboree equal his yell of surprise and anguish. He capered. The crab, +which had not speculated on the caper, and to avert summary divorce, +locked its claws, now guaranteed to hold to death and beyond it--to +destruction. Astounded--indeed, petrified--by the high antics of the +boy, none of the spectators could venture to his aid. They were fully +engaged with unrestrained and joyful hysteria. The more the boy +yelled and cavorted, the more frantic the fun. Blood trickled down the +chocolate-coloured skin, but the valiant crab held on. It was there for +a definite purpose. The hour and the crab had arrived. Vengeance for +centuries of wrongs to the race and heroic self-sacrifice animated brain +and inspired the claw with the dynamics of ten; while the afflicted +victim imagined--he had no mirror to hold up to Nature--that he was the +sport of a lusty crocodile. + +Amidst his shrieks he commanded the ministration of his wife. She ran +to meet him with a waddy. True to the limitations of her sex, though her +intentions were admirable and dutiful, the result was disastrous. The +boy got a paralysing blow on the small of the back, and flopped down. Up +jumped Dilly Boy, and the gin raced after him, murderously inclined +to the crab. Half her blows were misses and the other half seriously +embarrassed her husband, as his tumbles testified. She belaboured him +impartially and with perverted goodwill from shoulder to heel, for she +aimed invariably at the crab, and where is the woman who ever hit where +she designed? The crab was merely tickling; the faithful spouse, with +the tenderest motives, was cruelly beating her lord and master to +disablement, and it can scarcely be credited that the echo of his +remarks has yet subsided. In his fervour the boy made an exceptionally +vicious threat against the gin, and in response she missed him and hit +the crab. Under such forceful compulsion the crab parted with its claw. +It was ponderous and toothed, be it remembered, and well and truly +locked, and retained its grip. The target being smaller, the aims of +the gin went more and more astray. The back of the boy, owing to the +incessant misses of the waddy, changed from brown to purple, and a red +ribbon wavered down his thigh. Still he ran, and the devoted gin coursed +after him with the energy of a half-back, the fury of a disappointed +politician, and the riot of three-dozen cockatoos scared from a +corn-field. Almost worn out, the boy sprang round, and, seizing the +waddy, began to chastise the gin, whose screams blended with his +unwholesome threats. But the claws held on--not like grim death; they +were grim death. Every second blow was directed aft--one blow forward, +which generally severely disagreed with the gin; one blow astern, which +afforded neither mental relief nor physical comfort. The gin fled from +the infuriated boy; the boy from the fearsome relic of the crab, and +called louder as he ran. When in full flight, the gin tripped over a +mangrove root, and, spread-eagled, fell. The boy came tumbling after, +but the remnants of the crab--the bony bud of a tail--stood erect and +firm. Then the pitying spectators seized Dilly Boy, and, holding +him, unlocked the pinchers. He rolled over--it was the only easeful +attitude--as he cursed all gins, crabs, and dynamiters with wondrous +fluency. And may the potency of those coloured curses rest upon the +latter! + + + + +“STAR RUN ABOUT” + + + + “It is the stars, + The stars above us, govern our conditions.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Primitive folk have ever looked up to the heavens for signs of good and +ill. Celestial appearances have fought for them terrestrial battles, or +have weakened their arms by prognostications of impending disaster. + +Appeals have been made to passionless planets for justice against +mundane decrees, and when coincidences have been favourable the devout +student of the skies has loudly proclaimed them as proof of supernatural +interest in trivial, transient occurrences. In accordance with the +degree of poetry in the fibre of the people, so, in a certain degree, +has the belief in stellar influence been manifest. + +The blacks of North Queensland, being, possibly, the least of the races +in a poetic sense, have but slight regard for the interference of the +stars in their poor little affairs, and in this respect are saner than +many a nation which has given abundant proof of wisdom. One of their +beliefs is that meteors are baleful, though under given conditions they +derive from such phenomena longed-for assurance. A meteor is described +as “Star run about.” “That fella no good; him kill'em man!” Yet in +circumstances to be mentioned they find in a meteor a sign that life has +been restored to an individual whom they have done to death. It is the +opinion of men who have studied the customs of the blacks that they--and +to their honour be it said--were never among themselves premeditated, +gluttonous cannibals. Human flesh was eaten, if not with solemnity, at +least with ceremony, for the belief exists to this day that the moral +and physical excellencies of the victim are assimilated by those who +partake of his flesh. + +Reincarnation is prompt and practical, and unaccompanied by wasteful +and delusive hope. Herein lies the explanation of many a deliberate and +confessed killing, while to the meteor have the perpetrators looked for +absolution and remission of their sin. That which in the eyes of the +white man is regarded as an atrocious murder has not been, in their +semi-religious code, in any sense criminal, but a rite from which many +if not all the camp must inevitably benefit. + +In one respect the killing of a boy is the highest compliment which may +be paid him, for it is proof that he has personal qualities which are +the envy and admiration of others, and for general welfare should be +shared by all. The boy who so dies is an unconscious patriot. This is +proved sufficiently by the fact that only what are considered to be +the more vitalising portions of the boy's body are eaten, whereas if +gluttony were the impulse of the deed the whole of the body would be +consumed. + +An illustrative incident has been told me by one who has gained the +confidence of the blacks, and to whom other facts connected with it were +personally known. Not many years ago a boy from from a distant locality +visited a certain district in company with his master. He was tall, well +favoured, a good rider, quite an athlete, an accomplished performer with +the mouth-organ and concertina; ready and persuasive of tongue. These +qualities provoked unaffected admiration; for the natives of the place +are undersized, ill-looking, and deficient generally in the arts of +pleasing. Before the master left, Caesar was persuaded by his envious +fellow-countrymen to remain with them to be flattered and courted. + +To evade trouble, the whole camp took to the hills for a while. In the +meantime Caesar's master departed, thinking, no doubt, that the boy +would follow him to his own “more better country.” After several weeks +the local blacks returned, but Caesar was not of the party, and it did +not occur to any of the white residents to ask questions concerning +him. In accordance with the love of notoriety which affects humanity +irrespective of complexion, one of the boys began to boast of being as +good as Caesar, and to prove his contentions by aping the manners of his +absent friend. It was not long before he blurted out the secret by which +he had become superfine--he had participated with others in a cannibal +rite after Caesar had been good-naturedly killed. + +Rumours of the tragedy came to the ears of the police. The ringleaders +of the assassins were arrested, and one at least endured a term of +imprisonment as punishment. Caesar had been lured away and killed +because he was a good fellow and strong, and because his murderers +wanted to be good and strong like him. Certain parts of his body were +eaten, without relish, but with fervent hope. A remarkable circumstance +in connection with the sacrifice and ceremonial rite for the general +welfare is that the perpetrators console and comfort themselves with the +belief that should a meteor appear it is a sign that the victim did not +actually die, or if he died under their hands, that he has come to life +again. Those who were concerned in the killing and who had partaken of +the flesh sat together for several evenings gazing with expectation into +the sky. A meteor flashed across it, and it was hailed as a sign that +Caesar was alive and had gone to his own country. The contrary +evidence of relics of the dead was waved away before the imperious and +disinterested testimony of the falling star. “No matter. That fella him +no dead--finish. Him walk about 'nother country. Him good fella. That +fella star run about bin tell 'em.” + +They felt themselves to have benefited materially and spiritually by +participation in the rite, and were calm in their belief that the victim +was none the worse for the temporary misfortune from which he suffered. + +In another locality a meteor signifies the death of an individual, +and is referred to as “Tee-go-binah.” When a death cannot be directly +attributed to it locally, the phenomenon is referred to with such rustic +logic as this: “Some fella dead alonga 'nother camp. Might be longa +way.” The ancients felt “the sweet influences of the Pleiades.” One +of the two intimacies of the blacks of North Queensland with +stellar phenomena which has come to my knowledge is associated with +reincarnation after a deed of blood. Their faith is as absolute, +perhaps, as was that of the men of old. + + + + +BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + + + +“For I tell you, scholar, fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to +catch fish.”--IZAAK WALTON. + + +Along the coast of North Queensland evidence may still be obtained, +though it ever becomes more difficult to secure practical demonstration, +of several novel methods of killing fish in vogue among the blacks prior +to the advent of civilisation. In many parts, indeed, the presence of +the white man has swept away not only the use of decent, if trivial, +pursuits and handicrafts, but the knowledge also that they ever existed. + +The few facts here presented are, with some slight reservations, drawn +from actual observation. No doubt the well-informed on such subjects +will have plenary reasons--if ever these lines are honoured by perusal +of the class--for the accusation that there is nothing in them having +the virtue of newness or novelty. But I am not a professor with a mind +like a warehouse, rich with the spoils of time, but a mere peddler, +conscious of the janglings of an ill-sorted, ill-packed knapsack of +unconsidered trifles. + +Some pioneers know more about the acts of the past than the best +informed of the younger blacks, who look with wonder and unconstrained +doubt when shown articles similar to those which their grandfathers must +have used almost every day. + +Though the blacks of the past had but casual knowledge of the cruel +little barb that the resourceful white fisherman finds essential to +sport, and had neither neat tackle, nor reels, nor creels; though they +were denied the solace of tobacco, and every other accessory, they were +adepts at fishing. They had at command a stock of accumulated lore so +graphically transmitted that the babe and suckling must have seemed to +acquire it almost intuitively. They knew much of the habits of fish. +Their methods of laying under tribute the harvest of the sea were +so varied and unconventional that when one expedient failed, others, +equally free from the ethics of sport, were available at the shortest +notice. Fishing was not a pastime, but a serious occupation in which +nearly everyone was proficient. + +Times are changing; but still the mouths of smaller creeks are sometimes +dammed, save for certain sluices and by-washes where puzzling pockets +are set. Weirs formed by stakes driven into the sand and interwoven with +twigs guide incoming fish into ingenious traps, whence they are scooped +up in dilly-bags. Occasionally the whole camp, dogs and piccaninnies +included, take part in a raid upon the sea. Men in deeper water, women +and boys and girls forming wings at right angles to the beach, enclose +a prescribed area in the ever shifting, mobile fence. Certain of the men +have huge dilly-bags made of strips of lawyer-cane, and shaped like a +ninepin with a funnel for a head. The tactics of the party combine to +drive the fish towards the silent men having charge of the dilly-bags, +who manipulate what certainly has the appearance of being a very awkward +utensil in the water with great skill and alertness. Hurried to frenzy +by the shouting and splashing of the crowd, and the flurrying of the +surface with bushes, the fish dart hither and thither until most of them +have found their way into the bags, at the only spots where, for the +time being, peace and quietude prevail. At other times a somewhat +similar design of basket is used for trapping eels. + +Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in +shallow water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the +spear form the weapons of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands +of the Gulf of Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is used, the +blacks being so expert that little is left to chance. + +Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the yellamun, is common +in the neighbourhood of Dunk Island, it is not employed as an accessory +in the spearing of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a +combination of boomerang and wommera being the most popular form. This +dual-purpose weapon is merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is +fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of the spear. While +on this subject, it is interesting to note that, though the common form +of the implement for increasing the velocity and range of the spear +is generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its principle is +embodied in a contrivance which was used for a similar purpose in the +New Hebrides in Captain Cook's day. + +Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of Tanna, Cook (“Voyages +of Captain Cook round the World,” vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in +the throwing of darts “they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of +stiff plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a +knot in the other. The eye is fixed on the forefinger of the right hand, +and the other end is hitched round the dart where it is nearly on +an equipoise. They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining +finger, which serve only to give direction, the velocity being +communicated by the becket and forefinger. The former flies off from the +dart the instant its velocity becomes greater than that of the hand, but +it remains on the finger ready to be used again.” + +It is obvious that the Australian implement is much the more reliable +and effective. Cook mentions that with the dart the Tanna Islanders “are +sure of hitting a mark within the compass of the crown of a hat at a +distance of eight or ten yards; but at double that distance it is chance +if they hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the +weapon sixty or seventy yards.” Such a standard of marksmanship would be +regarded with contempt by the average black of North Queensland. The +use of this becket (introduced very many years ago by the Kanaka) is a +fairly common accomplishment among coastal blacks. + +In shallow water, too, fish are chased until they become so exhausted +and nerve-shaken that they partially bury themselves in the sand, or +endeavour to elude observation by concealing themselves beneath stone +or coral, or by remaining passive among seaweed, trusting, no doubt, to +protective tints and assimilation with their surroundings. Few of these +stratagems of the fish are of avail when once a hungry black is on its +track. The science of war, we are bidden to believe, is not designed +for the slaughter of mankind, but so to impress the enemy with a +demonstration of overwhelming power, force, and majesty, that he may +become mentally unable or unwilling to offer resistance, because of its +obvious futility. So it is with the black in pursuit of a fish or turtle +in shallow water. By noise and bluster he works on the senses of the +fish until it becomes semi-paralysed. Then he proceeds callously to the +killing, which, in the case of fish, if his right hand is encumbered, +he generally accomplishes by a crunching bite into the back-bone at the +shoulders. + +At rare intervals the black varies his tactics by a night attack, which +is often highly demoralising. When the moon is on the other side of the +world, with spears and flaring torches of paper-bark, he rushes in a +band to raid the reef, to the dismay of startled and bewildered fish. +Substitute for the gurgling cadences of semi-submerged coral and +muteness and universal dimness instant noise and splashing, and dazzling +lights here and there and everywhere, and it is not to be considered +strange that the fish--tipsy with panic and confusion--fail to exercise +their habitual alertness. + +At a certain season of the year--November and December in the +neighbourhood of Dunk Island--myriads of fish, about the size of a +sardine, appear in shoals, an acre or so in area, or encircle the +islands with a living, bluish-grey frill yards broad. The blacks bestow +on this godsend, popularly known as “sprats”--HARENGULA STEREOLEPIS +(Ogilby)--the name of “Oon-gnahr.” + +How skilfully does Nature dovetail her designs! This great multitude +of fish appears when it is most needed. The terns (sea-swallows) +are rearing their families, and ever need fresh food in unstinted +quantities. The small fry come to an excited and enthusiastic market. +Slim, silvery kingfish, grey sharks, and blue bonito, harry the shoals, +ripping through them with steel-like flashes, and as the little fish +ruffle the surface of sea or emerge therefrom in living silvery spray, +in frantic efforts to escape, the terns take all they want, screaming +with satisfaction. Then, too, the blacks join in the work of +destruction. When the frill of fish lies limp on the beach, they +fabricate a seine net, cheap, but admirably suited for the purpose. Long +strands of beach trailers and grass and slender twigs are rolled and +twisted up--apparently without the slightest art--into a huge loose +cable eight inches in diameter. The men run out the cable into the water +at right angles to the beach while still the gins, with nervous haste, +are adding to its length. If it breaks, a few twists and pokes suffice +to repair it. The men at the lead curve in towards the beach, and the +gins and piccaninnies wade out in line to meet them. Gradually the +cable, shocking in its frailty, is worked in, enclosing a patch of +the fish in a perilous coffer dam. Tumult and commotion are almost +as necessary contributories to the success of the stratagem as is the +cable. But before they realise what has happened, they are in such close +company that escape is impossible; dilly-bags are filled in a single +dip, and it may take half an hour to pick out those “meshed” in the +cable. It is all the work of a few minutes, and the haul often amounts +in quantity to a surfeit for the whole camp. + +One of these rude seines which was overhauled was composed largely +of the long, leafless, twine-like branches of the leafless parasite +CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS (which the blacks term “Bungoonno”), IPOMEA +PESCAPRAE (“Koree”), Blady-grass (“Jin-dagi”), and the tough sprawling +branches of BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA (“Gallan-jarrah”), the whole being +reinforced with withes of CLERODENDRON IMERME (“Missim”), all of which +plants grow on the verge of the sea. + +Vast as is the congregation of small fry, it gradually fritters away, +martyred to fish, flesh, and fowl. By the time the little terns are +thrown upon their own resources the violet frill of the sweet islands is +frayed and ragged, and drifts loosely in shabby remnants. + +For large fish--groper, the giant perch, king, bonito, rhoombah, +sweet-lips, parrot-fish, sea-mullet, and the sting-rays (brown and +grey)--a harpoon and long line are used. When iron is not available a +point is made of one of the black palms, the barb being strapped on with +fibre, the binding being made impervious to water by a liberal coating +of a pitch-like substance prepared from the resinous gum of the +arral-tree (EVODIA ACCEDENS). + +The point is eight or ten inches long, the barbless end being swathed in +fibre so that it may fit easily into the socket of the eight or ten feet +shaft. A long line is tied to a point above the swathing, and, being +drawn taut along the shaft, is secured to the end by a series of +clove-hitches. When the fish is struck the point is drawn from the +socket, while the shaft acts as a cheek on, and an indicator of, its +course when just below the surface. Such harpoons and lines are also +used for the capture of dugong and turtle, the line being made of the +inner bark (the bast layer) of one of the fig-trees, and is of two +strands only. Occasionally the HIBISCUS TILLIACEUS is laid under tribute +for ropes and lines, which, however, are not considered as durable as +those from the fig. Nets, set and hand, are also made with twine from +the fig or hibiscus. + +When, at low spring tides, the coral reef is uncovered, small rock-cod, +slim eels, parrot-fish, perch, soles, the lovely blue-spotted sting-ray, +catfish, flathead, etc., are poked out unceremoniously with spears or +sharp-pointed sticks from labyrinthine mazes, or from the concealment +afforded by the flabby folds and fringes of the skeleton-less coral +(ALCYONARIA), or from among the weeds and stones--a kind of additional +sense leading the black to the discovery of fish in places that a white +man would never dream of investigating. At this opportune time, too, +huge, defiantly armed and brilliantly coloured crayfish are exposed to +capture. A statement was published recently that this was the speediest +of all marine animals. The assertion is much to be questioned, but there +can be no doubt that the crayfish is a wonderful sprinter. Familiar with +its lack of staying power, blacks race after it uproariously as it flees +face to foe, all the graduated blades of its turbine apparatus beating +under high pressure. Two or three rushes and the crayfish pauses, and +then the agile black breaks its long, exquisitely sensitive and brittle +antennae, deprived of which it becomes less capable of taking care of +itself; or it may find its gorgeous armour-plates smashed with a stone +or penetrated by a spear. For the most part, however, the crayfish +lurks in coral caves, sweeping a considerable frontal radius with +ever-shifting antennae--not in pride or conceit of their beautiful tints +and wonderful mechanism, but with a pitiful apprehension of danger, for +the admirers of the creature are many and ever so much in earnest--the +earnestness of unceasing voracity. + +Having a decided partiality for eels, the blacks of North Queensland +have devised several means of capture, one of which does not call for +the exercise of the least skill on the part of the individual whose +longing for the dainty becomes imperative. His placid perseverance, +too, is of no avail, unless luck favours. Wading in a shallow, +mangrove-bordered creek, he blindly probes the bottom with a six-feet +length of fencing wire, the modern substitute for the black palm spear. +Frequently he trifles thus with coy Fortune for hours, an inch or so +separating each prod; and again, in a spasm of indignant impatience, +he stabs determinedly into the mud at random. Non-success does not make +shipwreck of his faith in the existence of the much-desired food in +the black mud, for as far back as his own experience and the camp's +traditions go, substantial reason for that faith has been plentifully +revealed. He returns to the monotonous occupation until an unlucky eel +is impaled, and then it is given no chance of escape. + +Pushing his spear a couple of feet through, the boy grips the prize +with both hands, or bends the wire into the form of a hook. Fortune may +continue to smile, and the boy takes several during the afternoon. + +Many boys enhance the charms of solitude by ingeniously tricking +eels, Nature presenting them with an efficient engine of deceit and +destruction, so designed that neither the agitations of art nor the +invention of science could much improve it. About two feet of the thong +or lorum of one of the creeping palms (CALAMUS OBSTRUENS) is all that +is necessary. These lora are armed with definitely spaced whorls of +recurved hooks, keen as needles, true as steel, about one-eighth of +an inch long. Three or four of the whorls are removed to provide an +unfretful but firm grip. The pot-holes and shallow pools and gullies +and trickling creeks are populated by nervous, yet inquisitive, +semi-transparent prawns, upon which eels liberally diet. So silent and +steady of movement is the boy that even the alert prawns are unaware +of, or become accustomed to, his presence; and what is there to warn the +eel, enjoying its comfort among the dead leaves in the gloomiest corner +of the pool, of danger? Could any but a black boy detect the difference +between the brown sodden leaves and the half-inch of body which the eel +has unwittingly exposed? The “pig-gee” (as some term the lorum) is used +with almost surgical delicacy of touch to hook away two or three of the +leaves. Then it is placed parallel to whatever increased length has thus +been made visible, and with a decisive twitch the eel is torn from its +retreat and killed off-hand. + +Even the shy, long-armed little prawns (PALAEMON AUSTRALIS) do not +escape special means for their destruction. A pliant rod about four +feet long is improvised from the midrib of the creeping palm before +mentioned, to the end of which is fastened a slender thread of the same +material, split off by using the nails of the thumb and second finger. +This strand, which is about four inches long, is delicately noosed. +Standing a few feet away from the water-hole, the black so manipulates +the line that the noose encircles the tail of the prawn, which, making +a retrogressive dart upon alarm, finds itself fatally snared. The prawns +are not, as a rule, eaten, being reserved for bait. + +In creeks and lagoons thin, hollow logs are submerged. Eels naturally +seek such refuges, and in due course the boy dives, and, sealing the +ends with his hands, brings log and eel to land. Dr. W. E. Roth mentions +that crayfish and a certain fish resembling the rock-cod are similarly +captured, and remarks that the log is lifted at an angle, with one hand +closing the lower aperture, in which position it is brought to and held +above the surface, when the water trickles out between the fingers of +the sealing hand. + +Yet another method (analogous to “bobbing”) is practised for securing +eels. Huge worms, found under decaying logs, are threaded by means of a +needle formed of a thin strip of cane on a line from ten to twelve +feet long until several feet of bait are available. The line is merely +doubled, the ends made fast to a stout pole, and the loop dangled in the +water. The boy fishes patiently, nor does he strike at the first nibble, +but permits the eel to swallow slowly what might be considered an undue +proportion of the bait, when it is landed and compelled to disgorge for +the benefit of the next comer. + +Among coastal blacks--all of whom may be said to be fishermen--some are +ardent devotees to the sea. Others of the same camp restrict themselves +to unsensational creeks and lagoons. The frog in the well knows nothing +of the salt sea, and its aboriginal prototype contents himself with +milder and generally less remunerative kind of sport than that in which +his bolder cousins revel. Such a man, however, may possess aquatic lore +of which the other is admittedly ignorant, and be apt in devices +towards which the attitude of the salt-water man is adverse, if not +contemptuous. The fresh-water man is skilful in the use of a net shaped +something like the secondary wings of a certain species of moth, and +expanding and closing similarly. It is made of fine twine (one-inch +mesh), preferably from the bark of one of the fig-trees or the brown +kurrajong, tightly stretched on two pieces of lawyer-cane each bent +to form the half of an irregular ellipse. This net (“moorgaroo”) is +manipulated by two men working in concert, principally for the capture +of eels. They do not wait for the eel to come to them, but by shrewd +scrutiny discover its whereabouts under the bank of the creek or among +the weeds and roots. Then one silent man holds the net widespread, or +adroitly dodges it into intercepting positions, while the other beats +the luckless fish in its direction with more or less fluster. The +persistency with which the creeks are patrolled by men with spears, +netted and poisoned, invites one to marvel that any fish escape, and yet +once again quite a haul is made. + +That great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, once in his life made a joke +and confessed to it, with apologies for its littleness. Lunching at a +tavern in the Isle of Wight, he asked: “Oh, is not this a very large +chop for such a small island?” Similarly, I have been astonished at +the apparent disproportion between the size of the eel and the +insignificance of the creek whence the exultant black has hauled it. + +An instance of the poor part which the slimmest eel plays when pitted +against the Smartness and resourcefulness of the black may be related. +A large eel, in a moment of indiscretion, showed itself in a fairly deep +creek. Bewailing the absence of his wing-net, or “moorgaroo,” the boy +hunted the elusive fish hither and thither with cunning determination. +At last it disappeared under a log. In most of his activities the black +boy sniffs at conventions. Hastily stripping, the boy dived and when +he reappeared the eel was vainly squirming in one of the legs of his +trousers which had been knotted below the knee. + +Another boy, a stranger, brought with him traditions which he +successfully materialised in favour of the employment of several light +darts instead of a single heavy spear for fishing. The subject was +frequently debated, but none of the camp adopted George's theories. His +favourite weapons were the dried stems of an all too common weed, which +generally grows straight and true. Into the thick end he would insert a +four-inch length of No. 10 fencing wire, sharpened to a delicate point, +and with a battery of eight or ten of these he would sally forth. His +bag averaged high. Often he treated me to practical demonstrations of +the success of his methods. A big flathead reposed in two feet of +water, half buried in the sand. George had one of his darts fast in a +twinkling, and the fish flashed away, the tip indicating its movement. +In a few minutes the hapless flathead was carrying no less than six +darts, and as such a handicap was absurd it abandoned the race for life. + +On another occasion he struck a big sting-ray so full of his impish +darts that it resembled an animated pincushion of monstrous proportions. +It, too, realised the futility of kicking against so many pricks. On +the other hand, Tom, with his heavy shaft and barbed point, relied on +a single weapon. It seldom failed, for his right arm was strong and +disciplined to a nicety. + +On a shallow tidal creek a settler had made a corduroy crossing of +the fibrous trunks of the Pandanus palms, which the blacks of the +neighbourhood turned to account in the capture of fish. A few frail +sticks, artlessly interwoven with grass, formed a primitive weir at +the down-stream end of the crossing. Fish which went up with the tide +frequently found themselves stranded on the way down, for the water +passed freely between the palm-tree trunks without affording them right +of way, and the rude weir often stopped for ever belated bream, mullet, +and barramundi. This simple trap, though it does not appear to be put +into use on the coast generally, seems almost to indicate an instinctive +knowledge of a studied design described to me by an observant friend who +has travelled into many an odd nook and corner of Queensland. On a deep +but narrow tributary of the Georgina River a permanent trap on a large +scale was wont to be maintained. A tree had been felled across the +stream so that each end of the trunk was supported by the respective +bank. Straight stakes were driven firmly into the bed of the creek as +closely together as possible, the heads resting against the horizontal +tree-trunk. This palisading formed the base of an embankment of packed +grass and rubbish, sufficiently tight to raise the level of the stream +about three feet. In the middle of the embankment, and about one foot +below water-level, a hole about one foot square had been cut. A platform +about ten feet long by three feet wide, having a fall of about one +foot and formed of a number of straight saplings laid parallel with the +stream, and supported by a couple of transverse bearers on four stout +forked sticks, received the escape from the sluice. At the lower end of +the platform was a rough weir of twisted grass, which was continued up +each side for about half its length. Water passed with little hindrance +through the platform, while jew-fish, yellow-tail, and bream, were +retained in considerable numbers. + +Many years have elapsed--peradventure centuries--since the blacks of +Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, built a weir of blocks and boulders +of granite which oysters cemented here and there. On the fulness of +spring tides fish frolicked over and among the boulders. Those which +delayed their exit found themselves in an enclosed pool which at certain +seasons of the year runs dry. To this day the sea continues to pay +tribute, though the blacks of the locality have passed away, and there +is none but the red-backed sea-eagle or the heavy-flighted osprey and a +rare and casual white man, to receive it. Among the few emblems of the +vanishing race, this persistent weir-taking toll of the fish month after +month, year after Year, for the benefit of successive generations of +eagles and ospreys, appeals vividly to the imagination. + + +HOOKS. + + +From what can be ascertained at this late date, pearl shell hooks +were very sure and killing, but seem to have been used principally for +smaller fish--whiting, perch, bream, flathead, etc.--the occurrence +of large hooks being exceedingly rare. Mullet (if tradition is to be +credited) were seldom caught by hook and line, but were speared among +the mangroves at high tide--a practice which prevails to this day. +The Dunk Island examples have a resemblance to one of the forms of +pearl-shell hooks used by the Tahitians in Captain Cook's day. + +Tortoise-shell hooks capable of holding large kingfish and fair sized +sharks are common among the natives of Darnley Island, Torres Straits. +During the process of cutting and paring the hooks to the size and +design required, the shell is frequently immersed in boiling water, +which temporarily overcomes its inherent toughness. Incidentally, it may +be pointed out that the evidence derivable from these fish-hooks does +not afford proof of Papuan influence on the mind of the Australian +aboriginal, except at the extreme north of Cape York Peninsula and a few +miles down the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This default +seems the more remarkable in face of the fact that outrigger canoes, +doubtless of Papuan or Malayan origin, were known as far south as the +Johnstone River. + +To say that the coastal blacks of North Queensland had no knowledge of +the use of barbed hooks is misleading. In sheer desperation, when the +supply of pearl-shell hooks was exhausted, they were wont to attach +bait to their harpoon-points, and they used such unpropitious means +successfully, and occasionally made a miniature hook by tying a sharp +spur to a thin, straight stick. Recent proof has been obtained of the +use of the lorum of one of the creeping palms, from which all the spurs +save three at the thicker end were scraped off. With the knowledge of +the efficacy of the barb under extraordinary circumstances, is it not +the more remarkable that they failed to employ it systematically? Dr. +W. E. Roth describes crescentic hooks of coco-nut shell and wooden hooks +with bone barb, and also barbs improvised from one of the spines of the +catfish. He also mentions as “the most primitive form of hook” the +dried tendril of HUGONIA JENKENSII (“pattel-pattel” of the Dunk Island +blacks). To anyone familiar with the crescent pearl-shell hooks, the use +of the singular tendrils of the Hugonia would immediately be suggested; +but my observation, inquiries, and opinion do not support the theory. +The shape of the tendril is all that can be said in its favour. It is +neither sharp nor tough enough for actual use. + +With these barbless hooks the bait was not impaled, but strapped on with +shreds of bark. + + +NARCOTICS AND POISONS. + + +It is said of the great Mogul Emperor Babur that he boasted of being +able to make fish drunk so that he might haul them in shoals, and when +“Carathis” pronounced her “barbarous incantations” the fish with one +accord thrust forth their heads from the water. Is it generally known +that the North Queensland blacks also are expert in the use of narcotics +and indifferent to the ethics of sport? The most commonly used of the +fish poisons on the coast of North Queensland is likewise employed by +the natives of Zambesi Land for a similar purpose. The plant is known +botanically as “Derris.” Two varieties, “scandens” and “uligijiosa,” are +known in this State. The aboriginal titles vary in different localities, +but “Paggarra” will suit the present purpose. Some blacks are so +offensively civilised that they know the plant by the name of “Wild +Dynamite.” Possibly it owes its popularity among fish poisons to the +fact that it is the handiest of all. It trails over the rocks, just out +of touch of high-water mark, but not beyond the reach of the spray +of surges. With roots investigating inclement crevices, and salt air +damping its leaves, the plant flourishes, and flowers prettily in +graceful racemes. In the semi-obscurity of the crevices the flowers put +on a tinge of pink, literally blushing unseen. The heartless blacks tear +up the plant, branches, leaves, flowers and all, coarsely bundle them +together, and, wading into an enclosed pool where fish are observed, +beat the mass (after dipping it into the water and while held in the +left hand) with a nulla-nulla. The action is repeated until the bark and +leaves are macerated, and then the bundle is thrown into the pool. In +a few minutes the fish rise to the surface, gasping and making +extraordinary efforts to get out of the infected water. Death ensues +rapidly, but the fish are quite wholesome as food. + +Another of the vegetable poisons is known as “Raroo” (CAREYA AUSTRALIS). +The bark at the base of the trunk and of the roots contains an effective +principle, which is released in a somewhat similar fashion to that +employed with “Paggarra.” + +The fruit of the handsome, shrubby tree known botanically as DIOSPYROS +HEBECARPA is also a most effective fish poison. It is oval-shaped, red +when ripe, and, as the name implies, covered with soft, fine hair. For +all its lofty title and attractive appearance, the fruit is deceptive, +for it bites and blisters the lips and tongue like caustic, and on +being bruised and thrown into a pool on the reef, all fish are killed +outright. + +A different and, for a black, singularly complicated process is employed +for the extraction of the noxious principle residing in the plant known +as “Koie-yan” (FARADAYA SPLENDIDA). This is one of the most rampant and +ambitious of the many vines of the jungle. + +It combines exceeding vigour with rare gracefulness. The leaves are a +light glossy green, ovate, and often a foot long, while the flowers +are pure white (resembling slightly the azalea, but free from its +fragility), large, and with an elusive scent, sweet and yet indefinite. +The fruit, smooth and of porcelain whiteness, varies in size and shape, +and is said to be edible, though blacks ignore it. A large marble and +an undersized hen's egg may dangle together, or in company with others, +from the topmost branches of some tall tree, which has acted as host to +the clinging vine. The handsome but inconsiderate plant is turned +from its purpose of lending fictitious and fugitive charms to quite +commonplace but passive trees to the office of stupefying uncomplaining +fish. But the element which holds such deadly enmity to the sense of the +fish is not obtainable by the simple primary means successful with other +plants. Indeed, the process is quite elaborate, and goes to prove that +the Australian aboriginal has to his credit as a chemist the results of +successful original research, and that he is also a herbalist from whom +it is no condescension to learn. In this detail, at any rate, he is +distinctly an accomplished person. Portions of the vine are cut into +foot lengths; the outer layer of bark is removed and rejected, the +middle layer alone being preserved. This is carefully scraped off and +made up into shapely little piles on fresh green leaves. One might +imagine that a black boy preparing the deadly “Koie-yan” was really +playing at chemist's shop with neat-handed scrupulousness. When a +sufficiency is obtained it is rubbed on to stones previously heated by +fire. The stones then being thrown into a creek or a little lagoon left +by the receding tide, the poison becomes disseminated, with fatal effect +to all fish and other marine animals. + +It is pointed out, however, by Dr. Hamlyn-Harris that the nature of the +active principle of the “Koie yan” does not permit of elaboration by +such means. The heating of the shredded bark would, therefore, appear +to fall into line with the gibberish of ancient alchemists. It would +bewilder the uninitiated without enhancing results. + +Many other plants supply the means of killing small fish wholesale, or +of reducing them to palsied cripples. The three described are fairly +common, and have, therefore, been selected to point a moral. Poisoning +fish is a poor sort of sport, perhaps, but there are two classes of +fishermen--the hungry and the artistic. The latter use flimsy tackle and +complicated gear, and play the game, giving the victims to their wiles a +sporting chance. Though not the only representative of the hungry class, +the black boy generally fishes on an empty stomach, and his demeanour +coincides. No slobbering sentiment affects him. Yet he is not so cruel +as the mean white who throws a plug of dynamite into the river while +the fish are enjoying their crowded hour, though he will with as little +taint upon his conscience poison a pool full of fish as drag with hooked +stick a reluctant crab piecemeal from its burrow among the mangrove +roots. But then he is responding to the appeals of a clamant and +not over-particular stomach, while your dynamitard is occasionally a +well-fed barbarian with a queasy palate. + + +FLY-FISHING. + + +The neatest and most artistic method by which the blacks kill fish +necessitates the employment of a particular species of spider known to +the learned as NEPHILA MACULATA PISCATORUM. This spider was discovered +on Dunk Island by Macgillivray, the naturalist of the expedition of +H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE in 1848. It has a large ovate abdomen of olive-green +bespangled with golden dust; black thorax, with coral-red mandibles; +and long, slender legs, glossy black, and tricked out at the joints with +golden touches. A fine creature, gentle and stately in demeanour, it +spins a large web, strong enough to hold the biggest of beetles +and other insects, and, to harmonise with the superior air of the +manufacturer, the gossamer is of golden-green. The great spider at the +focus of the resplendent web is a frequent and conspicuous ornament +to the edges of the jungle, and having no fear, and no indocility of +temper, it undergoes the ordeal of admiration with an assumption +of disdainful coquettism. The local name of this comely creature +is “Karan-jamara.” Shameless polyandrist, she maintains several +consorts--from three to five seems to be the average number--and +they, semi-transparent, feeble, meek, subdued little fellows, maintain +precarious isolated existences in the outskirts of the web. + +Though my own experience is negative, direct incontrovertible evidence +is extant to the effect that birds often meet their fate by blundering +into the web, to be devoured by the nimble and gaily decorated owner. I +have frequently seen karan-jamara disposing of hard-shelled beetles +as big in bulk as some birds, and the strongest of butterflies, once +entangled, is powerless. The long-legged spider leaps on the struggling +prey and stills its beating wings with one pinch of powerful red +mandibles. March flies form the most frequent diet. One has been +observed to dispose of fourteen of the great stupid flies in a single +evening, and if the flies could reason they might, while whimpering +because of the existence of such voracious spiders, acknowledge that +they design their webs in a very perplexing and masterly manner. + +In pursuance of inquiries--the results of which are herein recorded--a +casual black boy, a stranger to these parts, and therefore unfamiliar +with the local name and the special purpose to which the spider is put, +was cross-examined. At first he failed to recognise the photograph, but +when it was explained by the pointed allusion to a living Maltese-cross +spider close at hand, a gleam of intelligence brightened his bewildered +face, and he delivered a self-satisfied dissertation on the order +Arachnida that is worth quoting: + +“That fella Oo-boo-boo. That fella mammy belonga 'nother fella +altogether. You no savee, come close up--that fella ply way. You no +savee, come close up, that fella no good; that fella vite.” + +And the boy looked gravely sagacious and smiled the wide, wise smile +betokening proud superiority of information. Had Macgillivray but known +that the “Oo-boo-boo” was the parent of all the many species, and that +it belongs to the discreetly valorous class that “vites” and flies away, +and lives to “vite” another day, he might have achieved renown of a +more popular kind than is the reward of the unromantic naturalist who +discovers merely a superior spider. + +This spider is used on some of the rivers as a lure, virtues almost +irresistible being ascribed to it. Experiments in salt water, though not +absolutely negative in their results, have not afforded any specially +exciting sport; but possibly the fascination of the lure is more +efficient in fresh than in salt water, and is influential over the +habitual caution throughout a certain species of fish only. The trick is +worked in the following manner: + +The angler takes a light, thin switch and entangles one end in the web, +which, by dexterous waving action, is converted (without being touched +with the fingers) into a strand about two feet long. The spider is +secured and squashed, and the end of the line moistened in the juices of +the body, some of the fragments of which are reserved for bait, and +also to be thrown into the water as a preliminary charm. These buoyant +titbits attract shoals of small fish, among which the line, with its +extract of spider, is delicately trailed; a fish rises to the lure, the +gossamer becomes entangled in its teeth, and it is landed by a brisk yet +easy movement of the wrist. A great angler recently said that throwing +a fly is an act of feeling or instinct rather than reason. So the black +boy with a careless flourish fills his dilly-bag, while he smiles at the +serious attempts of the white man to imitate his skill. + +Owing to the brevity and the frailness of the line, the catch is limited +to fish under the recognised standard as to size. Tests prove that the +breaking strain of the line is nearly three-quarters of a pound, but the +weight of the individual is of no great consideration, since numbers are +caught quickly. The gossamer is singularly sticky. The viscid substance +with which it is coated is not readily dissolvable in water; indeed, +water seems to have the effect of hardening it, so that the line' +wears longer than might be expected. Piquant morsels of the spider are +entangled in the frayed end of the line as its original potency becomes +non-effective. + +A friend for whose edification this novel method was demonstrated thus +writes it: + +“It did not take the boy long to get ready. They simply broke a switch +about three feet long and attached a portion of the web about six inches +long to the end; squeezed out on to a leaf the fluid internals of the +spider, into which they dipped the end of the line, started a rather +melodious chant, and put the line in shallow water. I was only a few +feet away and could see no fish at first, but they came very soon. They +were very small, about one and a half inches long. They fasten their +teeth in the web, and are lifted out quite slowly. Some require to be +pulled off the line after being landed. I watched for about ten minutes, +during which time seventeen were caught.” + +Sir William Macgreggor, ex-Governor of Queensland, has described the +Papuan art of fishing by means of kites, the lure being a tassel of the +web of a spider of the Nephila species. No doubt the blacks here made an +independent and original discovery, and in their simplicity applied +it in a different, but none the less effective, style from that of the +advanced Papuan. + +Thus, to use the web and the fragments of a spider for fly-fishing is +certainly meting out poetic justice to the spider on account of the many +ensnared flies; and the black angler never pauses to reflect whether +the comminuted remains of a spider can possibly be construed into a fair +fly. + + + + + +PART II--MISCELLANEA + + + + +PEARLS + + + +WHAT IS A PEARL? + + +What is a pearl? The substance of a sensation--the consolidation of +discomfort on the part of an oyster or other nacre-secreting mollusc. It +is a globular deposit of carbonate of lime, with a very small proportion +of water, generally enclosing a trifle which is its cause and core +and, so to speak, is a waste product of the body's chemistry. In the +restricted, scientific sense, “true pearls are bodies consisting of +calcareous material with an organic basis.” Similar bodies having cores +of sand grains or other foreign substance are known as “blisters.” + +Science, which peers and probes into the innermost affairs of oysters, +and speaks of them in terms of uneasy familiarity, asserts that pearls +are frequently caused by a parasite to which they are subject. + +It would ill become one who has no scientific pretensions to suggest +other definitions, though he may claim to be among the few who have +been privileged to observe a pearl in the making, or, rather, to watch +Nature's finishing touches. + +In the case of the oyster the radical home cure for the living irritant +or insoluble substance which had gained entrance between its valves +is an encasement of pearl-film. If this encasement is globular or +pear-shaped, or takes the form of a button and is lucid, lustrous, +flawless, and of large size, it may be of almost inestimable worth. + +Does the proud beauty who glories in the possession of a pearl +condescend to imagine that she flaunts on her bosom just so many tombs +containing the dust of the germs of a parasite? Does she not rather love +to think of the gems as emblems of almost celestial purity, and to dwell +on the fable of the Persians rather than the audacious modern fact? + +Addison has set the fable in imperishable gold: A drop of water fell out +of a cloud into the sea, and finding herself lost in such immensity of +fluid matter, broke out into the following reflection: “Alas! What an +inconsiderable creature am I in this prodigious ocean of waters; my +existence is of no concern to the universe; I am reduced to a kind of +nothing, and am less than the least of the works of God.” It so happened +that an oyster which lay in the neighbourhood chanced to gape and +swallow it up in the midst of this its humble soliloquy. The drop, says +the fable, lay a great while hardening in the shell, until by degrees it +was ripened into a pearl, which, falling into the hands of a diver after +a long series of adventures, is at present that famous pearl which is +affixed on the top of the Persian diadem. + +Though one may count his pearls by the score, the hoard may be +valueless. Upon such examples entertaining, if not valuable, experiments +may be made without affectation or giving hostages to fortune. In all +the little deformed specimens thus dissected the core has been found to +consist of a foreign substance, generally what seemed under a microscope +of limited power a speck of dirt. The heart of one was a blob of +mud, which gave off a most baleful vapour. This was the result of the +house-cleaning of a common, edible rock oyster, and the pearl, dirty +green and lustreless, merely a thin casket, for the noisome mud had not +solidified. The care with which the impurity had been rendered innocuous +demonstrated the correct ideas of the oyster on sanitation. No doubt the +germ of the special form of tape-worm which troubles oysters, irritates +to pearl-making, and passes through other transformations in other +hosts, and completes its cycle in the body of a shark, would be too +minute for inexpert detection. The fact that molluscs do intern foreign +and obnoxious substances is testimony to their decency and love of +cleanliness, and so may the pearl be still accepted as the embodiment of +purity. Though all its little soul be dirt, the pearl is pure, and but +for the dirt or the germ of a filthy ailment it would not be pearl. + +So many molluscs produce pearls that it would be absurd for the great +oyster family to set up exclusive rights. They do not, for your oyster +is ever humble even when tenanted with a rivalless pearl. On the coast +of North Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef, pinnas of at least +two species are among the producing agents, which, covering a wide +range, seem to meet in two distinct genera, far apart in appearance and +habit. There is the frail, flat, translucent “window-shell” (Placuna), +the valves of which fit so closely that the poor little inhabitant +is squeezed to a wafer, a film, a fragment of muscle. Yet in some +localities nearly every individual has a pearl, pretty in tint, but +too minute to be of value. An allied species is common on the coast of +China, where the pearls are collected for export to India, to be reduced +to lime by calcination for the use of luxurious betel-nut chewers. These +almost microscopic pearls are also burnt in the mouths of the dead who +have been influential and wealthy. + +Coal-black pearls occur in one of the pinnas, the interior of which +is sooty, shot with iridescent purple, and since the pearl, whether +produced by oyster, mussel, pinna, or window-shell, is generally more +brilliant than the containing shell, that of the black pinna, with the +high lights of its environment concentrated, may be a gem of surpassing +novelty and beauty. But the habitual product of this pinna is small, +dull, mud-tinted or brown, and of no value whatever. Another of the +genera grows “seed” of excellent lustre, corresponding with the azure +brightness of the shell. + +The chief source of orient pearls on the coast of North Queensland +is the gold-lip mother-of-pearl PINCTADA MAXIMA, while the black lip +PINCTADA MARGARITIFERA occasionally yields fine and flawless specimens +of a silvery lustre. One which is still lovingly remembered was of pale +blue and wonderfully lighted. The commonest of the giant clams TRIDACNA +GIGAS sometimes betrays evidence of past internal trouble by the +presence of a concretion of porcelain whiteness and of porcellaneous +texture, but such are not to be described as pearls and to be prized as +rarities only. + +That some huge molluscs produced pearls before man, with his faculty for +admiration, came on the scene is proved by their existence as fossils in +chalk. Hemispherical specimens have been found on the inner surface of a +shell which has no living representative--viz., the Inoceramus (some +of which attained a length of two feet)--and spherical ones of the same +prismatical structure occur detached in the chalk. It were curious +to let the imagination run over the fact that the hosts of these +uncommended gems died ages before the advent of man. The best of modern +prizes may be puny in comparison with those which caused distress to +the giant molluscs of the age when the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and +Pterodactylus were the aristocrats of the animal world. Such gems have +gone for ever, and even during this age of insatiable and adventurous +search man does not secure a tithe of the ocean's tribute, for, since a +pearl is a source of discomfort to its host, the unceasing effort of +the animal is towards expulsion. The greatest and possibly the most +magnificent are cast out as rubbish on the ocean floor, or are retained +within the valves when the animal dies of old age. + +So-called pearls have been found in elephants' tusks and semi-adherent +to the bones of fish, and concretions--hard, smooth, and round, and +of the flat hue of skimmed milk--in coconuts and in the cavities of +bamboos; but in the production of the real gem neither oyster nor mussel +nor pinna need fear the rivalry of anything on the earth's surface. The +pearl belongs to the sea. + +Completely spherical pearls can be formed only loose in the mantle or +soft parts of the body of the animal; but intrusions incite a deposit +of nacre in the form of a projection on the interior, which projection, +often a mere bubble, but sometimes semi-detached, may take the shape and +dimensions of the foreign substance. Or an inoffensive mollusc may be +goaded by the piercing of its shell from the exterior to create that +for which men venture into the depths of the sea. If a pearl-secreting +oyster be inherently robust, its defence against assault from without +may consist of the strengthening of the interior at the point of attack +by deposits of nacre. Thus, a slight protuberance arises which becomes +the base of a blister or button or the starting-point of a pear-shaped +gem. Many a lovely gem is, therefore, nothing more than the imperishable +record of aggression on the part of a flabby sponge on a resourceful +oyster. Occasionally valuable pearls are found within huge blisters. +Such pearls originate, no doubt, in the ordinary way, but, becoming +an intolerable nuisance on account of increasing size, are confined in +nacre. + +One of the accompanying illustrations shows the fate which befell +an infant chiton upon intrusion on a small black-lip oyster, and +coincidentally the origin of a blister. The chiton family being +notorious for stolidity, the infant could not have realised the risks of +its trespass until the strait-jacket made its retirement impossible. +The nacre has reproduced the details of the chiton's exterior with the +fidelity of a casting, and further reveals the fact that it was alive +when entombed, for its struggles to escape are solidified. + +This deliberate act of the oyster may not stand comparison with the +stone of Pyrrhus's ring, which had the figure of Apollo and the nine +Muses in the veins of it produced by the spontaneous handiwork of Nature +without any help from art. The marvellous stone belonged to the fabulous +past; the imprisoned chiton to the prosaic present. + +Another illustration is that of an accumulation of nacre which has +assumed accidental resemblance to a miniature shark. It was found in a +gold-lip pearl shell in Torres Straits. The like quantity in globular +shape would represent a pearl of great value. + + +A PEARL IN THE MAKING. + + +On a calm and luminous day I waded, disrobed, in shallow water as limpid +as the fictitious stream which legend says King Solomon improvised +at the foot of his throne when the Queen of Sheba attended his court. +Lifting her robes--for she imagined the crossing of the water to be a +ceremonial device--the gorgeous Queen displayed her shapely calves. The +water resting on the verge of the lovely Isle was as delusively clear, +but was not deceptive. + +It revealed living coral, good to avoid by the barefooted; clams with +patterned mantles of various tints--grey, slate-blue, sea-green, brown, +and buff; anemones in many shapes, some like spikes of lavender, +and irritant and repellent to the touch; some platter-shaped and +cobalt-blue; some as living vases with the opalescent tints of Venetian +glass, which, abhorring the hand of man, retreat into the sand until +only an inconspicuous fringe of neutral tint is visible. Sea-slugs +in almost endless form and variety of hue, and many other strange sea +things, were among the inhabitants of the reef--a closely packed arena +of never-ceasing slaughter. + +In the middle of a clump of brown seaweed, which had fallen apart like +the neatly dressed hair of a woman, was a black streak, signifying the +gape of a wedge-shaped mollusc known as a pinna. The gape was about as +long as the parting of a woman's hair and about thrice as wide. As I +crouched to note the functions of the animal, my shadow intervened and +the caution of the creature was roused, the valves closing so that no +sign of the presence of the shell was distinguishable among the slightly +wavering, minute particles of alga. Changing my position, so that the +pinna might not be deprived of its share of the rays of the sun, the +valves soon furtively opened. A slight movement on my part and they +closed again, without having revealed any hidden charms. + +After a few minutes, a certain confidence being established between us, +the pinna emerged from its retirement, in so far as such creatures are +permitted by Nature. The mantle of this particular species is shown as +a delicate fringe of lace in old gold and black. It ripples along the +upper edges of the confining valves, which are intensely black with a +pearly lustre. The pretty movements of the mantle--like the swinging +of the skirts of a well-apparelled damsel--attracted admiration, and on +peering into the shell a glimpse of something precious was obtained. + +Tossed and twirled about just below the old gold fringe was a black +pearl about the size of a pea. The prize was safe. Without risk of loss +it could be watched in its unceasing revolutions. It seemed as if the +animal, with automatic perseverance, attempted to eject the incubus, the +weight of which kept it about an inch below the aperture of the valves. +Such motion would naturally tend to perfection. Whatsoever its lustre, +it would certainly be a sphere. Besides, it was a pearl in the making. +As long as it remained within the pinna and it could not be voluntarily +rejected, its size would inevitably increase. It was the rolling stone +to which time and the secretions of the animal would add weight and, +peradventure, beauty. + +Was mortal ever before privileged to watch over the growth of a black +pearl? The activities of the mantle, a blending of enticing colour +and poetic motion, were slow, free, and light-attracting. The ancients +believed that some pearls were constituted by flashes of lightning +playing on bubbles within the oyster. A relative of the family here +seemed to be wooing the tropic sun of its beams, if not to vitalise, at +least to burnish its treasure. + +Close scrutiny showed that the pearl was not absolutely free. It was +enclosed in a transparent membrane, the merest film, which confined +it to a particular position in the mantle, while it seemed to possess +independent actions--vertical and revolutionary. Perhaps the rays of +light which fell unequally on it through the water created the illusion +of revolutions, but it is certain that the pearl seemed to be playing a +game of hide-and-seek. + +Was it possible for human nature to deny itself so easily gotten +and pretty a prize? I confess, though the possibility of the pearl +increasing in size and loveliness was obvious, that the fact that pinnas +are subject to ills, chances, and mishaps, was also recognised. Left to +be slowly tossed about, the pearl would become greater; but size, though +an important feature, is not the only desirable quality. And while it +grew might not another barefooted beach-comber discover it? Or might not +one of the many unintelligent admirers of the pinna itself find entrance +by drilling or by the violent crushing of the valves, and, ignoring the +treasure, destroy the organs and the substance by and from which it +was being delicately elaborated? Suppose, I argued, I remove the gaping +shell, I shall no longer be able to enjoy the rare, the unique pleasure +of presiding over the gradual perfection of a pearl, an aesthetic +advantage to which I alone had been made free. Could present possession +of a little sphere of carbonate of lime, polished and sooty black, +compensate for the continuance of the chaste joy of watching one of the +most covert and intimate processes of Nature? Balancing the immediate +material gain against the inevitable moral loss, I was almost persuaded +to self-denial, when, with a sudden impulse, begot of the consciousness +of rightful acquisition, the pinna was forcibly yet carefully drawn out +of the sand in which it was deeply embedded and in which it was anchored +by toughened byssus. Directly the valves were prised apart the pearl +fell into my hand. Never before had I seen one so loosely retained +within its shell. Generally, in the case of the pinna, pearls +are embedded in the muscles or soft parts, and are not primarily +discernible, but have to be sought for by passing the “meat” through +the fingers. On this occasion all previous experience had been set at +naught, so that it might seem that the prize had been presented by the +animal as its perfect and most opulent work. + + +STRANGE PEARLS. + + +The engaging theory of the ancients that pearls were made of glutinous +dewdrops condensed by the sun's heat does not take into account the +fact that some of the rarest, though not the most valuable, have assumed +contrary and fantastic shape. Fish, crabs, and marine insects have +proved a common origin of pearly developments while they have been +regarded by some as almost miraculous conceptions on the part of the +afflicted mollusc. + +Hamed of Jeddah, the stubby Arab who deals in fish and oysters, and who +professes to have groped over in his youth a considerable extent of +the Red Sea for coral and pearls, relates many experiences in which +the popular gem takes pride of place. Oriental that he is, he loves +exaggeration, and while lending a propitious car to the stories in which +he enshrines his prime, when he could dive deep and long, and when the +precious red coral was “thick” and every shell contained a pearl, it is +discreet to disregard obvious breaks and bulges along the prim path of +truth. The very crudeness of his embellishments invests with kind of +comic relief some of his fables, which end invariably with insipid +uniformity. All the pearls which have slipped through Hamed's rough +hands have been valued at five hundred pounds, never more or less. It is +not for me to rub the gilt off the innocent inventions of the emotional +Arab, but merely to relate one of his time-beguiling tales, and one +which, probably, is of clean-cut truth. + +A huge gold-lip, found four fathoms deep, where the sea grass sways +indolently long, contained a tinted pearl like: + +“That fella sitting down along a tree and sing out along night time.” + +“Flying fox?” I guessed grimly. + +“No!” snapped Hamed indignantly. “'Nother fella.” + +“That bird which says 'chump, chump, chump?'” I meekly asked. + +Again Hamed sneered ironically. “No bird. No bird carn get along oyster. +Little fella-green like leaf. Sing out 'Ko-rog, ko-rog, ko-rog!'” + +“Oh! Frog!” + +“Yes. Like frog. Me call him 'ghouk' along my country. That fella inside +gold-lip. One inch long. Leg, hand, mouth, eyes all asame. I bin get +five hundred pounds for that fella.” + +Azure pearls in the similitude of tiny fish can be vouched for by people +far more careful of their facts than Hamed--fish which have intruded +themselves on the oysters and have been encased in nacre. Probably the +rarity which fell into Hamed's hands was the pearly presentment of a +crustacean, for marine frogs are infinitely rarer than pearls. Several +molluscs admit tenants, one particular species a rotund crab; but in +the case in point the wrong mansion was entered and, so to speak, the +obtruder was transformed. + +A common and neat industry in China is the production of fraudulent +pearls, pretty and in accordance with submitted design, in which the +co-operation of the obedient but frail mussel is necessary. If a round +pearl is desired, a naked shot is introduced between the valves so much +to the discomfort of the animal that it proceeds to cover it decently +with layer after layer of pearl-film, the bulk of which depends upon +the length of life granted to the mussel. Sometimes little josses are +stamped out in thin uncorrosive metal, which, being presented to the +mussel, are faithfully modelled, the thrifty Chinese obtaining in course +of time quaint pearly gods--as potent as the best--without money and +without price. + +Not so long as a quarter of a century ago a spirit-bottle full +of pearls--buttons, blisters, and chips of all sorts, sizes, and +shapes--was purchased in North Queensland by one who had but the crudest +ideas as to the value of such gems. The vendor was a whity-brown man, +thin, and thinly clad in cotton. The complexion of the buyer was ruddier +than the cherry, for the tropic sun had beamed ardently on his peachy +Scotch skin, proclaiming him a new-chum, a bright and shining new-chum. +Because he was new he was alert to the value of money. Had he not come, +as all new-chums do, to Tom Tiddler's ground to pick up gold and silver? +Hence, when the hatless, spare, whity-brown man in soiled cotton offered +for sale the odd-shaped beads in a besmeared whisky-bottle for five +pounds, his national trait expressed itself in a scoff. + +The whity-brown man's seriousness, his confidentiality, his keen +desire to sell, his mysticism and misty English, the ruddy young man +interpreted as manifestations of the arts and wiles by means of which +innocent strangers from far away lands are tempted into bankruptcy +bargains. The seller, anxious to dispossess himself of ill-gotten gains +prejudicial to his love of liberty, pursued the Scotch youth almost +tearfully, until the bottle changed hands, but at a considerable +reduction on the price originally demanded. Shortly after a friend +enlightened the youth as to the probable value of the collection, and +gave him some cheap advice, especially on the desirableness of secrecy. +The youth accepted the advice so literally that the story ends. No one +ever knew how, when, where, and for what consideration, he disposed of +his embarrassments. Fresh from the land of his birth, and with the text +of Burns's poetic letter in his mind, he kept that something to himself. + +The days of such sensational deals are past. The primal crop has long +since been harvested. Science is now bidden to stimulate the docile +oyster, for the rage for pearls is as the rage of the heathen. Is it +not the wish of every woman, old and young, to possess pearls? And while +subject man, flushed with hope, ventures to the “utmost port, washed by +the furthest sea,” for such merchandise at the caprice of woman, Science +plods sedately after man, beguiling him with the hope of some less risky +and laborious means of acquiring the gems, while at the same time +she soothes the irrepressible passion of every damsel with strings of +artistic counterfeits manufactured from the scales of silvery fish, and +as pleasant to glance at as many an orient. + +The Spaniards say that a paper cigarette, a glass of water, and the kiss +of a pretty girl, will sustain a man for a day without eating. But what +is a man to do who has no tobacco, only stale water, who is separated +from the nearest girl by seventy miles of perilous seas forlorn, and +whose appetite sickens at the sight of the coarse fare of a béche-de-mer +boat? There is but one resource for such a martyr. He must do “a +perisher.” That is precisely what the master of a lonely boat in an +odd angle of the Coral Sea was doing when a joyful sail appeared--a +dove-like messenger from civilisation and shops. It was a pitiable +famine. No one had had a smoke for a week. The black boys had broken +up their nicotine-saturated clay pipes and masticated them to pulp, and +still treasured the quids, while the “Boss” pondered cigars during the +day and dreamt them at night. But relief was at hand. The master of the +strange craft, though well stocked, was not disposed to be generous, +until tempted by the sight of a lovely yellow pearl, about the size of a +small marble and of satiny lustre--sweet to look upon, sweeter still +to possess. Aware of the other man's agonising needs, he drove a hard +bargain, and the gem became his at the cost of a box of tobacco. He +hugged himself for joy, and after a decent lapse, during which he acted +the part of the virtuous who had relieved another's necessities out of +sheer goodwill (for the pearl was only a curio, was it not?), he set +sail for the nearest port. + +Certain that fortune had at last beamed upon him, he laid up his lugger, +wound up his affairs, and hurried off to Sydney, secretly, to dispose +of his prize first-hand. An expert weighed the treasure, scrutinised it +shrewdly through a microscope, and handed it back with a casual remark +that it was a pretty curio, but that its market value was about half a +crown. “It has been exposed to great heat, and may crumble to pieces at +a change of temperature. Get me one like that uncooked and I'll give you +twelve hundred pounds.” + +Some time after, the grasping man discovered that the pearl had been +found in the “meat” of a “helmet” shell which had been roasted by a +hungry and tobaccoless boy. + +Without appearing to suggest anything beyond a trifling blemish in this +story, replete as it is with edifying illustrations of the frailties of +human nature, it would be well to remember that the helmet shell (CASSIS +FLAMMEA) is not nacreous and could not therefore produce a true pearl, +but merely g porcellaneous concretion, which, however, might possess a +most attractive tint, possibly pale salmon or orange. Such a gem might +be valuable. + +Great pearls are not generally found on shallow reefs. He who would +search for them systematically must dive, and if he does not possess the +proper costume and accessories his trips below are but brief, and not +always profitable. When a diver boasts that he can remain under water +two or three minutes--and the boast is very common--he has gauged his +endurance by his sensations, not by the clock. Once an expert was timed, +a coloured gentleman who had great repute among his companions, all +capable divers. He made a special and supreme effort, and though the +watch recorded barely seventy seconds, he was much distressed. Recovery +was, however, speedy; of ten subsequent minutes he spent more than +half out of sight. It is not argued that human beings cannot remain +voluntarily under water more than seventy seconds, but the feat is so +rare that those who accomplish it are not usually pearl-divers. + +The natives of some parts of Borneo declare that the valves of the +oysters containing the largest pearls are always open, and that by +peering into the water the pearls may be seen. They tell a story of a +gigantic pearl which was thus discovered by the men of old and actually +brought while within the oyster into a canoe, but had slipped from the +fingers of a careless holder into deep water. + +Spencer St. John, author of “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” had +among his friends a chief who ventured most of his possessions in a +pearling cruise. Disaster attended the enterprise, but without subduing +his faith in luck; mortgaging everything, even to his wife and child, he +went out to woo fortune again. His slave-boy was preparing to dive one +day when he started back, touched his master's hand, and with signs of +great emotion pointed into the water. The chief looked, and there, seven +fathoms below, lay an oyster with an enormous pearl distinctly visible. +Without a moment's reflection he plunged in, and, diving with skill +and speed, reached the shell before it closed, his fingers being caught +between the valves. He quickly rose to the surface, and was helped into +the boat by his anxious follower. Upon the oyster being forced open, a +pearl, unsurpassed in size and of extraordinary beauty, was revealed. +Returning to his native village, the chief sold all his smaller pearls, +and having redeemed his wife and child, set sail for Manila, where lived +an English friend who advanced him money, to whom he said: “Take this +pearl, clear off my debt, give me what you like in return. I shall be +satisfied.” The author adds: “The merchant took the pearl, gave him what +he considered its value--at all events enough to make Sulu ring with +his generosity--and sent the pearl to China; but what became of it +afterwards I could never distinctly trace; but I learned that a pearl in +Bengal called 'The Mermaid' originally came from China, and as the one +found in Sulu was said to be shaped like a woman's bust, it is probably +the same.” + + + +Possibly the golden age of the pearl is passing as the golden age of the +reptile has passed, for can it not be imagined that, in those far-back +days when oysters attained a length of two feet and better deserved +the title of Tridacna (three bites) than the present clams, pearls +of corresponding magnificence of size were produced? Or are robust +pearlless oysters to be accepted as the type of the strong era, and +small oysters and pearls merely as signs of degeneracy? The largest of +modern pearls measured two inches long by a circumference of four inches +and weighed eighteen hundred grains. The containing shell may have been +big only in comparison with its contemporaries. A very small man has +been known to be afflicted with a disproportioned goitre, and there are +some who argue that the goitre may be but the prototype of the pearl. + +Is fact or fable to claim the most glorious of pearl stories? Some +verily believe that Cleopatra did quaff the costliest beverage the world +has ever known. The incident is so faithful to the character of “that +rare Egyptian” that all sober record shall not discount delight in its +transcendent sumptuousness. Though the pearl may have been worth eighty +thousand pounds of our money, though Cleopatra was gay, though her +extravagance was impious, she was a glorious woman, and she had at least +one glorious, if nauseating, drink. The pearl decoction was merely an +episode in her policy, which was to fascinate Antony--Antony who had +called her to account for having aided his enemies in their war against +him. And what was an eighty thousand pound bauble in the high affairs +of State? “She was at the age when a woman's beauty is at its prime, and +she was also of the best judgment. So she furnished herself with a world +of gifts, stores of gold and silver, and of riches and other sumptuous +ornaments as is credible she might bring from so great a house and from +so wealthy and rich a realm as Egypt. But yet she carried nothing +with her wherein she trusted more than herself, and in the charms and +enchantment of her surpassing beauty and grace.” + +And then the supper following the magnificent pageant! Anything less +than an eighty thousand pound pearl would have been an anti-climax, a +mean and clumsy culmination of a “gaudy night.” That soul-delighting gem +which vanished in foam told of a superb Cleopatra's “calm felicity and +power.” + +Some say that, the jewel--cast away so majestically was one of a pair +which Cleopatra wore as ear-rings, and that when Antony restrained +his hostess from a repetition of the draught, she presented the now +matchless pearl to him. Another version implies that the ear-ring had +been originally one monster pearl, which Cleopatra had caused to be sawn +in two to gratify her lust for unique and lavish ornament. + +It is said, too, that the pearl was dissolved in wine. By a simple +practical test and at the sacrifice of a small quantity of baroque, +proof was obtained that ordinary culinary vinegar is a solvent of +pearls. The experiment also yielded these notable conclusions--that +either the wine of Cleopatra's age was much more corrosive than the +vinegar of ours, or that the costly beverage was prepared beforehand, +or that the stately banquet was long-drawn-out while the inestimable gem +spluttered and simmered in the goblet. The dissolution of such a large +pearl must have been slow, and the product far from nice, but it was one +of the effects by which a sovereign woman conquered the “most courteous +lord” of his day. + +A curious superstition prevails in some parts of the East Indies, it +being believed that if gold and pearls are placed by themselves in a +packet they will certainly decrease in quantity or number, and in the +end totally disappear; but, if a few grains of rice are added, the +treasure is safe. Rice is thought not only to preserve the original +number of pearls, but to actually cause increase. + +Tarnished pearls are occasionally submitted to the process of +“skinning”--the removal with fine steel files under a magnifying +glass of the outer 'layer, on the chance of the existence of a better +underneath. The ancients treated lustreless gems differently, placing +them before doves, under the belief that they could be polished by being +pecked and played with by the gentle birds. + +In some respects pearls are superior to all other gems. They are +emblematic of serenity, and serenity is often power in the highest +manifestation. None ever said an unkind word of pearls; no dubious +legend clings to them, making the timid afraid. They come to us +perfectly fashioned. No coarse handiwork has touched them, no soulless +machine ground them to conventional pattern. The last diamond may be, +the last pearl never, until the sea gives up more than its dead, its +very being. Pearls may begin and end in foam; but the beginning is now +and always, and the ending rare, for the Cleopatras are gone. Emblems +of purity, refinement, and peace, they are truly the gems for woman. +Queenly or demure, they become her, and she bestows on them a quality +hard to define, but singularly sweet and acceptable. Gold and precious +stones may occupy billions of years in the making, or may be the product +of-- + + + “The war of elements, + The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds.” + + +Once we find these hard, cold things and take hold of and seize them, we +know that we have, to use a homely simile, eaten our cake. The supply +of pearls is continuous, and under the control of the cruel ingenuity of +man they grow to an ordinary size in less than a decade. + +Many years ago an opinion was expressed that the increasing knowledge +'of the mollusc and its habits would enable man literally to sow the sea +with pearls as he sows a field with grain, and that the harvest would +be certain. Under natural conditions not one oyster in a hundred is +troubled with a pearl, and not one pearl in the hundred is of any real +value. It is demanded that unsuspecting oysters shall be inflicted with +a kind of plague, so that there shall be not one but several pearls +in every suffering individual, and in the greater number chance +will contrive a larger proportion of orients. Every oyster has +its potentialities; Science seeks to convert potentialities into +certainties. + + +PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY. + + +Such merchandise has ever provoked the spirit of adventure in hardy, +healthy men, and pearls have claimed the lives of the best among them. +The health and figure of the friend who beguiled many an evening were +sacrificed to the lustrous gem so prized of women. A model of stalwart +manhood of the Viking strain, he died early, worn out with the stress +with which he sought the most serene of personal adornments. There may +have been some slight exaggeration in the popular belief that he had +walked along the bottom of the sea from one end of the Great Barrier +Reef to the other, a stretch of over one thousand miles; but that he had +accomplished more than that distance in the aggregate of his submarine +wanderings may be quite credible. Probably there was no human being who +possessed such intimate knowledge of the character of the ocean floor +within the living bounds of the Great Barrier; and since he was silent, +reserved, and self-contained to all save friends of long standing, was +never guilty of boasting, and ever reluctant to tell of his adventures, +the world is little the wiser from his work, though at the best time +of his life most of his days were spent under water in fairyland-like +scenes. It may seem absurd to associate fairyland with the depths of the +sea; but the shy explorer of many a coral grove has been heard to say +that the scenes fulfilled his ideals of what the realms of the fairies +might be like. + +Pearl-divers are more susceptible to the charms of wayward Fortune than +those who have not realised the thrill of expectancy with which a huge +goldlip, encrusted with coral and swathed with seaweed, is seized. It +may contain a gem worth a king's ransom, or but an animal which, though +it may be crossed in love, is not engaging in appearance or in any +feature or quality commendable. There is the chance; and it appeals +to most rational men. Secretive Fortune lures on, promising the bubble +pearl 'and proffering that which satisfieth not, until the stress and +perils of the avocation tell on the enthusiast, who finds himself not +exuberant as wont; that Fortune has been tricking him; that in the +pursuit of pearls Chance is oft repellent; and that the prize which +seemed impossible to avoid has eluded the most devoted seekers. + +It may be that my captain did not seek his pearls with zeal beyond that +which is common to the calling the world over; but that his enthusiasm +beguiled him into remote and odd parts of the Barrier, that he became +familiar with rare scenes (denied to all save submarine adventurers +in tropical waters), that he was oft in peril of his life, and that he +could pause in the midst of strenuous, nerve-racking work to watch +the never-ceasing hostilities of the denizens of the sea, may not be +questioned. + +Not long before he passed away he told of one of his adventures in a +few hurried words, after the manner of one who loves not to dwell on +personal reminiscences, save as a text for the rectification of popular +error in respect of sensational happenings. The story is here repeated, +for it throws light on an incident which sent one ship of warfare on +dubious patrol, and reveals the manner of the men who sought pearls in +the old days. + +“Have you found that pearl?” he asked smilingly; for we had often talked +of the possibility of being rewarded with a fortune-bestowing gem. + +“Yes, indeed, I have; and a real beauty. I very much doubt if you, for +all your experience, ever saw such perfect shape and fine lustre. Here +is an instance of the perversity of Chance. You, tied up in a rubber +bag, rake the floor of the Barrier, fighting sharks and being hustled +by turtle, and never find anything out of the way. I stroll about the +beaches, and see what Fortune bestows!” + +The size of a small marble, it lay swathed in white wadding. Minute +furrows sculptured the surface in radiating lines from pole to pole, +enhancing rare radiance. + +The captain took the little casket in his hand that he might gloat over +the treasure, as, his eyes shining, he said: + +“You lucky fellow! Where did you get it? I never saw a finer pearl, and +I have seen a few in my days. Fair numbers have passed through my hands; +but--you fraud!” + +He lifted it, revealing a counterfeit, which had once ornamented a +hatpin. + +In good-humour he settled down on a lounge and gradually drifted into +reminiscences. + +“About two years before what I am going to tell you happened, I heard +of a patch of shell off an island Sud-Est way; I kept the tip to myself, +determined to work the spot on my own account if ever I got the chance. +I waited till I saved a few pounds, and, taking in a mate, fitted out a +craft, and with a crew of very fair boys sailed away. I found the spot +all right; but--my usual luck--someone had been there before me. Strange +to say, the spot was by no means worked out, though it was fairly good +ground and easy working, and the shell large. We did good business for +a while, until one day I got a proper start. The life-line fouled on +something, and I found that it had taken a turn round the bowsprit of a +wreck. I got on top pretty quick, and, having had a talk with my mate, +went down again. Very soon I knew the boat. It was the ----, and she +had belonged to a man I had known very well. The strange part about the +business was that the boat had been burned. Her deck was gone; she had +burned to the water's edge and had sunk, and there she rested on her +keel. I knew that the owner had left port some months before on a secret +cruise. Someone must have given him the tip, too. He was well known and +liked, and generally did good business. My mate and I talked over the +business. We wanted to clean up that patch, so decided to remain a few +days longer before clearing out to report. I was convinced that murder +had been committed-that the natives of the island had massacred the +party and had sunk the lugger. + +“While I was below next day an urgent message came down. I bobbed up +pretty quickly. A boat was sneaking out from the beach, apparently with +the plan of cutting us off from our lugger, which was anchored some +distance off, with only a couple of boys on board. You bet, we got up +steam pretty quickly. When we got on board we reached for our rifles, +and then felt safe. + +“The boat was then making straight for us, and it appeared to be crowded +with darkies. We had been off the island for four days, and had not seen +the sight of a native. I knew there were plenty, and the fact that they +had kept away had made me a bit suspicious. As the boat came along I +was sure they meant mischief, and was determined, no matter how friendly +they wanted to be, not to let one of the beggars on deck. + +“About half a mile away we saw one of them, who appeared to be a bit +lighter in colour than the rest, stand up in the bow and wave a kind +of message. He kept one arm going like a semaphore. Then we saw that +he carried under the other arm a basket--a peace-offering of yams and +fruit, no doubt. He had only a shirt on, and still he kept his right +arm working. When he got within hailing distance, the man in the bows +shouted my name. He was a brawny chap. I thought to myself that if it +came to a row I would pot him first, for he was ringleader. + +“All the rest were naked. His scanty uniform marked him out. Probably +he got that shirt from the owner of the sunken lugger. I wetted my lips +with my tongue as I thought it might be my duty to wipe him out. Then my +name was shouted out again, and, recognising the voice, I discovered the +man in the shirt to be a well-known character who goes under the name of +----. + +“I've got something nice for you, captain! Don't look so nasty with that +rifle to an old friend!' + +“Still keeping our rifles ready, we let the boat come alongside and the +tinted man passed up the basket, It was native-made, and all the top was +covered with green leaves. Thinking of fresh yams and fruit, I pulled +off the leaves, and there--poof!--the head of a man-an old man who must +have died a violent death about two days before. + +“The man in the shirt laughed loud and long at the disgust in my face, +and, coming on board, soon told of the tragedy of which the awful head +was a symbol of retaliation. + +“The owner of the sunken lugger had fitted her out with unusual care. +His crew consisted of natives of the island off which we were lying. As +a special inducement to one of the boys, whose name was Massai, he had +promised a rifle, but designedly withheld the gift until towards the end +of the term of agreement. Massai had persistently begged for the rifle, +and it having become necessary for the Boss' to take a trip to the port, +he had definitely, promised to bring it with him. Again he designedly +forgot. Massai became morose. Things went on calmly enough until one +day, when the mate was below, the 'Boss' was suddenly thrown overboard. +As he floundered on the surface one of the boys struck at him with a +tomahawk, and then he must have realised that his life was at stake. + +“Diving until well clear of the boat, he swam off to the lugger, about +a quarter of a mile away. As his master came up, Massai leaned over the +side, his master's rifle in his hand. + +“'Don't shoot me, Massai,' he shouted. 'I give you good rifle belonga +yourself.' + +“Massai shouted back, 'Me catch 'em plenty riple! You no good!' and +fired. The bullet splashed over the man's head. The next struck him fair +in the forehead, and he sank. + +“In the meantime Massai's confederates were sporting with the diver, +hauling him up to the surface, pumping sufficient air to keep him alive, +shutting it off until he must have been nearly suffocated, reviving him +with fresh supplies, and with joy prolonging life until the fun of the +thing ceased; then they had cut the pipe so that he might drown. + +“The lugger having been ransacked, she was fired, and she had sunk at +her anchorage. + +“A few days after the man with the shirt arrived at the island, and +since these simple children of Nature cannot keep their doings to +themselves, he very soon was made a confidant, learning the whole +details of the tragedy by pidgin English and expressive pantomime, and +obtaining as proof the coat of the reckless man who had made a promise +to Massai which, possibly, he had never intended to fulfil. The plot of +the revenge and murder had been hatched out ashore at the instigation of +Massai's mother. + +“Fortified with full information, he sailed away to a neighbouring port, +where he exhibited the coat of the murdered 'Boss.' Being impressed, the +official representing the majesty of the law gave some vague commission +to the man, who now wears other clothes than a shirt, and he sailed away +for ports unknown. + +“Interpreting his commission to make further inquiries very broadly, +he appeared off the island, and received a cordial welcome, for he was +'Hail fellow well met' with the inhabitants of many a remote isle. He +made himself very friendly, and the frank natives rather gloried than +otherwise in the recitation of evidence which condemned them. + +“Then he made plans for unauthorised punishment. Having disarmed +suspicion--just as the boat's crew had done in the case of his +friend--he waited, and one dark night surrounded the village with a +well-armed, hostile force. These Papuan villages are fortified in a +certain sense. Some of the exits are set with traps and spring spears, +and none but those in the secret dares venture along a track when the +village has been made secure for the night. + +“The man with the shirt posted his forces so that the exits were +commanded, and waited for dawn, his instructions being that no +demonstration was to be made until he gave the signal. Before the +designed time a shot was fired, and the conscience-stricken community +fled, all save one old man and infant, who met their fate. + +“The village was spoiled and fired, and thus retributive justice done +to those who had wantonly murdered two white men and destroyed their +property. + +“Once again,” said the captain, “my luck was out. Goodness knows! There +might have been a big pearl in that patch. We didn't wait to find it!” + + + + +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE + + + +“Surely, then, it interests us to know the lot of other animal +creatures. However far below us, they are still the sole created things +which share with us the capability of pleasure and the susceptibility to +pain.”--HUXLEY. + + +It may be edifying to confess a particular interest in man's first +enemy-not such interest as the man of science displays when he seeks to +add to the knowledge of the world, but a kind of social concern. None +of us is likely to forget that on the authority of Holy Writ the serpent +became familiar with mankind very shortly after his appearance on earth, +and whispered injurious secrets into guileless ears. Ever since the +scene in the Garden of Eden, war between man and the serpent has +prevailed, and now, if we are to credit the sayings of the wise, the end +of all reptiles, if not actually in view, cannot be long postponed. +Is it not mete, therefore, to take fair opportunity of studying the +characteristics and qualities of an animal, closely associated with +us by fable and in fact, which is doomed to extinction by the ruthless +strides of civilisation, which is regarded by some as cleanly and +decent, and by others as repulsive and direful? Plain, unromantic, +unsensational statements make for the acquirement of knowledge +illustrative of the habits and faculties of the creature against +which the hand of the average man is raised with a mixture of wrath, +vengeance, and fear. + +By study and observation one may come to understand the higher +principles of Nature, and so learn how to withstand influences inimical +to his interests without upsetting laws which tend to his welfare. + +Occasionally quite casual happenings and bare and slight matters of fact +show that those who study natural history first-hand acquire information +not to be obtained from authoritative works. Let one instance concerning +the varied diet of the death adder be quoted, since it confounds the +experience of one of the most learned men in Australia on the subject. +On the beach just at high-water mark, beneath an overhanging shrub, +several birds sounded an alarm, notifying by peculiar and persistent +screeching the presence of an enemy. After a few minutes' search, for +the strained attitudes of the birds indicated the direction, a death +adder was seen gliding among thickly strewn brown leaves with a limp +bird between its jaws. It was quickly killed, and then the bird, a dusky +honey-cater, was seen to be dead. Dusky honey-eaters generally spend +their days among the topmost sprays of flowering trees and shrubs, while +death adders habitually seek the seclusion of the shadiest places on the +surface of the soil. In this case the adder was small, so small that it +seemed to be a vain if not impossible feat for it to swallow the bird. + +Hitherto the food of the adder had been deemed to be frogs, lizards, +beetles, and such game of the ground. Was it curiosity which brought +the sun-loving bird within reach of the shade-loving snake? Upon the +incident being referred to Mr. Dudley Le Souef, who has quite an uneasy +familiarity with Australian snakes, dating from the days of ardent +youth, when he was wont to carry some species about with him in his +pockets, that authority wrote: “I did not know that death adders ever +killed birds; I did not think they were active enough, their usual +prey being frogs, lizards, etc. The honey-eater must have been taken +unawares.” + +Though scientifically regarded as “the most dangerous and probably the +most deadly” of Australian snakes, the death adder has to its credit +many everyday proofs to the contrary: so many, indeed, that some are +inclined to class it as comparatively harmless, the reasons for such +opinion being--(1) the small size of the creature, reducing the risks +of its being interfered with inadvertently; (2) its amiability; (3) the +fact that unless the sensitive membrane at the end of the tail, to which +the curved spine is the culminating-point, is trodden on or otherwise +insulted, the chances are that there will be, no active resentment. +While adopting all precautions, accepting no risks, and being very eager +to reduce the number by all and every possible means, it is well to +avoid overexcitement; for though the reptilian age is passing away, +those who live in the bush are too often reminded that snakes are still +numerous, and some of them decidedly vicious. + +To disappoint the snake and at the same time to discredit its +reputation, calmness on the part of the individual who may happen to be +bitten is counselled. He should behave as a neighbour who one dark night +stepped off his verandah barefooted on to nearly cleared land. As he +strode along the scarcely distinguishable track, he trod on something +other than a half-burnt stick. Almost instantaneously the Scripture was +fulfilled--the serpent had bruised the man's heel. Now, this man has +been in many strange, not to say fear-provoking, situations, and has +listened to more than one close call without spoiling the occasion by +anticipatory and hideous outcry. He does not smoke or drink whisky or +give way to any nerve-affecting habit. He lives within hearing of the +soothing lullaby of the sea. When his heel was gripped he did not +jump or offend the air with unmanly plaint and ineffectual clamour, +or otherwise fluster his heart with pernicious apprehension. With calm +deliberation he put his hand into his pocket and drew forth--no! not a +razor-edged knife, with which to slash the region of the punctures, but +a box of matches, so that the scene might temporarily be surveyed. He +saw, not the expected death adder, not a deadly copper head, not the +venomous black which flattens and distends the neck like a cobra when +its passions are roused, not the great red pugnacious beast which has +been known to kill off-hand a big horse, but a shame-faced carpet snake, +which, though innocent and inoffensive, will, like the worm, turn if +rudely trodden on. The snake was quite ready to apologise for impulsive +and graceless misbehaviour; but it seemed fascinated by the sudden +light--how little of brightness bewilders such lovers of darkness--and +maintained its repentant attitude until the sacred law was finally +vindicated by the fatal bruising of its head. + +Many years ago a locality a few miles away suffered from a raid by bush +rats, which congregated in great numbers. Similar plagues have often +been recorded from the western downs; but the coastal visitation was +singular, for it was associated with death adders, which seemed to be on +good terms with the rats. One of the settlers was growing sweet-potatoes +on a fairly large scale for pig food, the plough being used for the +harvesting of the crop. Seldom was a furrow run for the full length of +the field without turning up both adders and rats. Suddenly the rats +migrated, and then the death adders disappeared, few of either +being seen for a decade, when the association between them was again +sensationally illustrated. The daughter of a settler rose at dawn, and +with others ran off to the vegetable garden for salads for breakfast. +While she was looking for a seemly cucumber, a rat was disturbed, and +almost immediately after she was bitten by a death adder which had lain +inert at the very spot whence the rat had fled. The child recovered, +while the deceptive snake, which will not submit to have its tail +saluted even by the airiest of treads, was killed. Not only have we here +another proof of the non-fatal character of the bite of an adder, but a +singular instance of association between an adder and a rat. Why and for +what purpose does this apparent amicability exist? + +Sometimes mankind is startled by the unexpected appearance of a snake. +Will credit be given to an almost magic disappearance? Those who hearken +to the voices of birds learn to discriminate between the language of +content and happiness and love and that of dismay and terror. A number +of loud and pleasant-noted fasciating honey-eaters suddenly changed +their tune to that indicative of fear. They were, gathered on a +thick-leaved tree on the edge of the jungle in a crude circle, with +heads pointing to a common centre. It was simplicity to conclude that +a snake was present, but not at all easy to see it, for the flustered +birds began to change their manoeuvres directly help was at hand. +Eventually a thin brown snake was seen doubled up and apparently sound +asleep among the branchlets The gun was called for, and two others +hastened to the scene, each of whom distinctly saw the snake. When the +shot was fired, a peephole was made through dense leafage just where the +snake had reposed, but with the report it had 'disappeared. Fragments +of twigs and leaves came to Mother Earth, but even a smart black tracker +failed to find a trace of the snake, though the force of the explosion +must have carried portions out into the open. The point of this artless +narrative is that the black boy formed the firm opinion that that which +he and two others had concluded to be a snake must have been “'Nother +kind. Him no good. Close up 'debil-debil!'” To him a visible snake was +quite commonplace; but one that vanished under the impulse of a charge +of shot represented a mystery which called for caution and hasty +departure, and the boy strode away with the suggestion of hot bricks +below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material only, +returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered off with--was it?--a note +of thankfulness. + +The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it is automatic, regard +for its own comfort and well-being--it cannot be induced to tie itself +into a knot. It is in mind that once in the old country a very long +and very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed and forgot the +primal instinct of the family, and paid for its absent-mindedness +with its life. But the ordinary snake under extraordinary conditions, +whatsoever its length, is most careful to disentangle itself even when +knots are designed for the special purpose of embarrassing it. Though +the head of a snake be battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, +the lithe body will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to disregard the +great law. However tight the corner into which it may squeeze or narrow +the quarters into which it may be driven, and though head and tail may +be close together and in the midst of a complication of coils, and the +twisting and writhing may appear to be without method, yet the snake +emerges a triumph of single purpose. + +A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch specimen, and truth bids +me say that the snake did not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest +of eggs six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited to a +snake, and it being calculated that the meal would suffice for several +days, no particular zeal was displayed in tracing out the thief. +Experience has taught that snakes do not wander very far when good and +nutritious food is to be obtained by intrusion on the cosy quarters of a +pet hen., Three days were permitted to pass, and then in the nest a rat +trap was placed baited with two eggs, the door being secured with +wire. The bait proved to be irresistible and the trap effective. In +the morning the trap was crowded with snake, which had thrust its head +between the wires, swallowed the eggs, and was a prisoner until they +were dissolved by the processes of digestion or the door was unbolted. +The natural process was not complete when the discovery was made, but +the snake had managed to make itself as comfortable as possible in its +temporary habitation. The trap seemed almost suffocatingly full, and +when the occupant thrust its head and more than half its length between +the bars, only to be checked by the hard-hearted eggs, it was thought +that possibly, in its confusion, the snake might entangle itself; but +invariably it retired into the trap without putting itself into any +false position. It was killed, the executioner justly reflecting that a +snake has mental limitations. Nothing could induce it to tie itself into +a knot, and yet, wilfully and with its eyes open, it had entered a trap +from which there was no possibility of escape until in the course of +nature it had digested the bait. + +Is it generally known that a snake does everything with its eyes +open--that it is denied the privilege of closing its eyes? Such is the +indisputable fact. 'But without presuming to trespass on the preserves +of men of science, the belief may be expressed that some species, if +not in possession of a movable eyelid, have some means of suspending the +faculty of sight. Indeed, there is evidence in support of the view that +one species has a membranous eyelid similar to, but slighter than, +that of a bird. It is not to be doubted that another reptile--the green +turtle--is thus endowed, and that the “winking membrane” is found in +many animals at the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye. +This membrane is represented in animals by a rudiment only. In the eyes +of human beings the small reddish patch in the corner corresponds to the +winking membrane--indeed, is the vestige of it. In monkeys, and in most +mammals below them, there is present in this vestige a small piece of +cartilage, and this is found occasionally in man. In white races it is +very rare, occurring, as far as observations have shown, in less than +one per cent. Recent investigations by Dr. Paul Bartels show that in +twenty-five South African natives whom he had examined it occurred +in twelve. Another investigation found it five times in twenty-five +Japanese. It is curious to find that vestige more common in certain +races, as it shows that in this small point they are less advanced than +the white race. + +This quotation from a forgotten source supplies important links in the +chain of evidence in favour of the theory that certain species of snakes +may have the winking muscle, which exists in marine reptiles and +is present in some human beings. Apart from theory, it has been my +good-fortune to see a sleeping snake the eyes of which were obscured +by a greyish film, giving it the appearance of being “wall-eyed.” + Being satisfied that it was blind, for it betrayed no uneasiness at a +threatening demonstration, a determination was made to preserve it for +critical examination. As soon as the snake was touched the cloudy veils +were withdrawn, and the eyes flashed with the fire of malignity. It +appeared to be spiteful because it had been caught napping. The specimen +was not preserved, although it was bottled. + +The blacks of this district are more nervous about adders than any +other snake, with the exception of that known to them as the “Wat-tam” + (pronounce the “a” as in cat), and believed to belong to the same genus +as the brown snake. This is a large snake, reddish-brown in colour, +the underside, for about half the length, being bright orange, the +tint gradually subsiding to pale yellow towards the tail. Post-mortem +examination of the first specimen detected on this Island cleared up a +bush tragedy. A nest had been built in a conspicuous spot by a pair +of shrike thrushes, which the blacks, according to locality, know as +“Moorgoody” and “Too-dring.” The birds are the sweetest-voiced of all +natives, and become wondrous tame and confiding. After the big spotted +and blotched eggs were hatched, the hen would perch on the side of the +nest within a foot of admirers, accepting compliments with tilted head +and bright and twinkling eyes. One night the brood disappeared, and +desperate things were held in store if ever a snake were found in the +neighbourhood. Two days after, the alert dog gave tongue, his language +demanding urgency and extreme caution. Within twenty yards of the site +of the violated nest he was found “setting” at a big snake, which had +raised the forepart of its body and appeared to be concentrating +its strength and agility on one fatal and perfidious spring. But the +faithful dog was watchful too, and agile, as he crouched fearlessly +across the track of man's first enemy, with its crafty pose and +glittering eyes. The black boys stood afar off, for the “Wat-tam” is +so arrogant and pugnacious that it does not hesitate to attack a man, +invariably with fatal results if great vigilance be not exercised--at +least, such is their belief. Science, however, shows that though the +snake has poison fangs, they are located so far back in the jaws as to +be practically ineffective. Its fierce demeanour is probably, therefore, +assumed for the purposes of intimidation. The gun speedily put the +wicked-looking snake out of action, and a bulge in the body indicated +the site of the last meal--the confiding thrush and her fledgeless +brood. The incident illustrates another favourite theory--viz., that +venomous snakes have a specific, distinctive odour, which warns animals +likely to be attacked of their presence. The dog kills green tree, +ordinary whip snakes, and the black, white-bellied species fond of +reposing in the mounds of scrub hens, without ceremony and with all the +zest and enthusiasm of a good sport; but in the case of venomous species +so far he has not failed to call for help, but if assistance be delayed +he takes the law into his own hands. + + + +Be it far from me to cast doubt on the truth of that which follows. The +record is found in “Memoirs of the Queensland Museum,” vol. ii., page +43: “Although the scientific worker is hopelessly handicapped by +the vividly imaginative journalist when snake stories are told, yet +occasionally there are noticed incidents startling enough in their way. +During the cooler months a young and lithe DIEMENIA PSAMMOPHIS, Schleg, +popularly known as a 'whip snake,' usually retired under a piece of bark +placed in its case, and it was only to be tempted out on warm and sunny +days. On one occasion a small skink lizard was introduced, and the snake +commenced a lively chase. The lizard ran under the bark, and on reaching +the other side scampered back over the top, closely pursued by the +snake. Again the lizard entered the bark tunnel, through which the tail +of the snake was rapidly disappearing, making a spurt to keep up with +the main body. The snake darted for the lizard, missed it, and then +seized its own retreating tail about two inches from the tip. With +characteristic pertinacity it held on, and apparently the classic +episode of a snake swallowing itself was to be attempted. It was not +until the snake was taken, out of the case and forcibly handled that +it let go, there being apparently no distinction to the ophidian palate +between its own flesh and that of its favourite lizard.” The only +comment that an unversed student of Nature may presume to make on this +incident is that, possibly, the snake retained its tail because it +could not do otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some snakes so +constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied? The interests +alike of science and the speculative world demanded that in the +circumstances Nature should not have been balked. Why deprive the +serpent of having its own blundering way with its own tail? + +There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by the conflicts which +rage continuously between living things lower in the scale of life +than himself; but the common slaughter is at times so cruel and so +inexplicable that it is not given the average intellect to discover good +and sufficient cause, though he may observe the more obvious habits and +appetites of frogs and snakes. The former oft implore aid against the +attacks of green tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of +sleeping in hollow logs, and since one does not understand from the +beseeching tones of the frog whether it is being molested by the +universal enemy or not, he often hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts +down to the scene, to find, instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps +more useful in the harmony of Nature than a frog, and certainly more +endearing, since it possesses the habit of silence. Unless the frog +is past recovery it has become a practice to scare the lizard, and to +suggest to the frog the sanctuary of another hollow. + +But frogs are not always considerate of other and gayer creatures. A +friend who possessed a pet canary noticed that one morning in the cage +of his pet there sat a panting frog, blinking in the sunlight. Thinking +that the intruder had entered the cage to assuage his thirst, he did not +eject it. It was the habit of the canary to hail the smiling morn with +cheerful carol. In a few minutes unaccustomed silence prevailed, and +then it was noticed that the frog was distended to a degree which must +have caused it infinite satisfaction, while the canary had vanished. The +conclusion was obvious and damning. Being accustomed to post mortems, my +friend settled the point forthwith, the warm canary being revealed, with +but slightly disarrayed feathers. + +A further illustration of the capacious and criminal appetite of the +frog may be quoted. The wet season had been generous and prolonged, the +crop of frogs prolific. The verge of a lagoon was crowded with active +and lusty creatures, belonging, if colour was to be accepted as +evidence, to different species, in fairly equal numbers. A casual glance +inspired the thought that the occasion was nothing more than a vast +assembly of greys and greens enjoying the pastime which boys imitate. +All round were leaping frogs engaged in contests--greys against +greens. Suspecting no evil intent, it was interesting thus to note the +derivation of the game we have all played in sportful youth; but closer +inspection proved that, instead of a friendly tournament on the grand +scale, the rival frogs were indulging in shocking cannibalism. A grey +frog would approach a green, when each would appear to become fascinated +by the appearance of the other. Thus would they squat for several +minutes, contemplating each other's proportions and perfections. Then +both would leap high with mouths agape, and that which timed the feat to +the best advantage, or had the widest gape, seized the less fortunate, +and slowly and with much straining and little apparent joy swallowed it. +Often the rivals would not meet in mid air, and the lapse provided the +delusion of innocent play. There were hundreds of examples of absorption +of the least fit by the fittest to survive, and the chronicling of the +cannibal feast would be incomplete if a singular detail were unrelated. +The participators seemed of like size. Complexion alone varied and +foppish discrimination was exercised, for since dog does not in a +general way eat dog, greys did not eat greys or greens greens. With +unswerving decision, greys swallowed greens and greens greys, and +extreme corpulency was the inevitable result. Does this not smack of +the snake story? It certainly does, but it has the virtue of being +unexaggerated, and why shrink from the telling of the plain truth? + +An unwitnessed tragedy may be told in a very few words. About +twenty-five feet above high-water mark was the shaft of a white +sand-crab. The site was not common, for the crabs are in the habit of +burrowing well within the range of the tide. For two or three +days--for the spot was at the back of the boat-shed and under daily +observation--the alert creature was oft disturbed by my coming and +going. One morning it remained motionless on the verge of its retreat. +It seemed to be on guard, and as a companionable feeling had been +aroused, I was careful as I passed not to unduly affright it. The +statuesque position being abnormally retained, I stooped down, to find +the crab dead, with the froth still on the complicated lips, while +beside it was a huge wolf spider, “tremendous still in death,” with head +crushed to pulp. One may theorise that the spider invaded the crab's +burrow and was promptly evicted; a fight took place for possession of +the retreat, resulting in untoned tragedy. Venom and ponderous weapon +each had done its work. Each participant had been victorious, each a +victim. + +A still more singular bush conflict was witnessed by a friend. He heard, +and not without concern, the pleading of a frog from the assaults of +an enemy, but having far too many of them about the premises decided on +noninterference, thinking that the hungry snake would soon silence +the clamour. But the cries becoming shriller and more piteous, he +investigated, finding among the leaves of a creeper on the verandah a +large green Mantis--religiosa, too--voraciously making a meal off the +hind-leg of a little green frog, which it grasped firmly. Almost the +whole of the flesh of the limb had been eaten, and the observer was +of opinion from the rapacity of the insect that there would have been +little left of the screaming frog if he had not interfered. + + + + +THE BUSH TRACK + + + +“They trade with Nature and the earth--a trade by which all that breathe +upon the earth live.”--RALEIGH. + + +It has no beginning. It ends--who shall say where Every high tide +smooths away the footprints of those who use it now, just as it did the +erratic tramplings of the host of the past. In those free, unregulated +days piccaninnies sprawled and scampered hard, glistening beach; young +men and girls there; men lazed and fought on its convenient spaces; +women wandered on the serious business of food-getting. The camps stood +a pace or two above high-water mark in the meagre shelter of sighing +casuarinas, and were often changed, for there were six miles of gently +curving, ripple-embroidered shore on which to rest. To this day most of +the traffic is regulated by the tide. High water drives the wayfarer +to the loose, impeding sand, over which the great convolvulus sends its +tireless tentacles, to be thrown back twisted and burnt by salt surges. + +The ebb discovers a broad space, firm and wellnigh unimpresslonable. The +barefooted traveller may walk for miles and be trackless, so tough and +elastic the moist sand. It is not an officious thoroughfare, made formal +and precise by coarse hands working to plans correct to a hair, but +subject to economic deviations of some soulless contractor. It was not +laid with the foundation of the earth, and compacted by heat and stress. +It is still in the making, and sand, coral, and shell-grit ground to +pollen-like fineness and certain chemicals from the reef outside +are among its component parts. One other element invokes perpetual +thanksgiving--the flaked mica, which glistens delusively with hues of +silver and gold, and gives to the tide-swept track that singular pliancy +which resists the stamp of passing generations. + +Midway between high and low water is a zone sensible to the airiest +tread, being fitted for such temporary effect by a mechanical operation. +Millions of the smallest of crabs, sand-tinted, delicate, apprehensive +and alert, possess this area, working out their destiny by digging +circular shafts. Obedient agents in the execution of the imperative +ordinances of Nature, they have the quality of compacting the almost +fluid spoil and carrying it to the surface in pellets complementary to +the size of the individual, and such pellets retain their rotundity. +They are scattered about, not without design, as may be seen if the +industrious workers are closely observed, and in such profusion that the +feet of the user of a crab-infested zone must press them flat. Then +it is that the track becomes visible as far as the eyes reach. But +the incoming wavelets, babbling in unison, dissolve the myriads of +laboriously lifted pellets, effacing the record of the passing of man. +As the tides ebb, the crabs begin their work again, preparing for the +next-coming wayfarer. There is something almost incomprehensively great +in the tireless activities of the nervous crabs, for not only do they +carry compacted sand from their burrows, but they seem to spend odd +moments in forming similar globes from material gathered from the +surface. Digging, furrowing the surface in stellate patterns, moulding +pellets which to the tenderest ripple are but the plaything of a moment, +so are the lives of the shy crustaceans spent. What may be the motive +for the perpetual labour, as useless, apparently, as the rolling of +Sisyphus's stone? For part of the year the beach is the resort of the +red-necked sandpiper, which has an enormous appetite for the small, live +things of the sea's margin. To bewilder the birds and so reduce the risk +to life, Nature imposes the task upon the crabs of forming replicas of +themselves not readily distinguishable in size and tint, which +represent labour unconsciously expended as life insurance, and serve the +subsidiary purpose of detecting the passing of man. + +What material has been left by the wayside for the history, not to be +altogether despised because of its rusticity, of the unstable ways of +one of the ancient peoples of the world, now few in numbers, forgetful +of the past, estranged from the customs of their fathers, and dying +without mourners and without records? Search the sites of camps the +track passes, and there is naught to tell of the manner of those who +recently occupied them save a tomahawk or a rare domestic implement of +stone, and such stones do not preach thrilling but distinctive sermons. +Why hurry along this pleasant way? Is not the one domestic appliance of +the long-deserted camps worthy of passing notice? There it rests, half +buried in the sand--a worn stone, with two others complementary to it +to be had for the searching. It is meet that the most primitive of mills +should be examined, and that one of the several and slow processes +by which a poisonous, repugnant, and intractable nut was wont to be +converted into food should be cited to the credit of the economic +forethought of the most thriftless of people. + +On adjacent flats and slopes grow survivals from one of the most ancient +of all plants--a Cycad, that botanical paradox, combining some of the +characteristics of the lie palm and of the pine with the appearance of a +tree-fern, while being of distinctive order, which flourished during +the age when the Iguanodon and the Polacanthus and other monstrous and +ungainly reptiles roamed the land. + +Let us rest awhile reviewing the earlier operations by which its nuts +were rendered innocuous, and while the ghosts of the past make and bake +their bread. + +The fresh nuts of the plant (CYCAS MEDIA) known as Kim-alo, were +roasted, and while hot bruised between two stones, the upper (Ookara) a +sphere flattened at the poles into which the use of ages wore thumb +and finger indentations, the nether (Diban) flat with a saucerlike +depression. Fragments of the husks were carefully eliminated. The coarse +meal was put into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight +fall, from the lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native +ginger, conducted a gentle stream. Two days were sufficient to leach the +poisonous principle; but if the initial process of roasting the nuts +was omitted--as in some districts--the meal was submitted to the +purification of water for as long as two months, when it would be +tasteless. It was then ground on the nether stone by the Moo-ki +(almost a perfect sphere), used with a rotary action, until reduced to +flour-like fineness, when it was made into flat or sausage-shaped cakes, +wrapped in green leaves and baked. The intractability of the Cycad +is such that if cattle eat the leaves they die or become permanently +afflicted with a disease of the nature of rickets. To the human palate +the fresh nuts-are inflammatory, and are said to cause intense pain +ending with death. That the blacks discovered the means of converting +such a substance into desirable food proves that they were often +enterprisingly, daringly hungry. + +Let us push on, there is far to go. Chance rather than principle, it +has been said, turned the paths of old England into roads. Here may +be studied the germ of the primal path worn by the tread of the least +reflective and least mobile of human beings, the causes of its erratic +course, and the transitions by which, with amendments due to the +irrefutable facts of topography, it becomes formal and authoritative--a +highway for the usurping race. + +Leaving the shore, one branch of the track crosses the high-water fold, +follows the bend of a mangrove creek, through which it Makes a muddy +ford, and is firmly impressed through forest country where every tree is +orchid-encumbered, and where the eager soil produces its own varieties. +It wriggles up and along a ridge, with the glaucous spathes of grass +trees standing like spears on each hand, and where wattle and tough +she-oaks grow leanly out of hard soil, thickly strewn with buckshot +gravel, rust-coloured. + +Soon it descends into a low valley and through a belt of fan-palms +and jungle bordering an ever-flowering stream the banks of which are +knee-deep in fat, rich loam. Huge tea-trees stand in the water, where +the fibrous roots are matted like peat. + +Out of the moist coolness the track abruptly ascends to a pleasant +forest, and thence drops almost imperceptibly to tea-tree flats +intersected by Pandanus creeks, which bulge here and there into +sedge-margined lagoons. In this “devil-devil” country it is barely the +width of the foot, and it wanders sinuously like the trail of a lazy +snake. Sometimes it is barely more discernible than such a trail, and +again in the soft places it broadens and deepens, for the man with boots +has taken the place of the original soft-footed traveller, and horses +and cattle are ever fond of the short-cuts which their owners design. + +Here a distinct branch is made towards a river, across which Nature, the +first of bridge-builders, many a generation ago afforded an easy, dry +passage by throwing down a huge tree. It spans from bank to bank, and +the wood is worn to slippery smoothness by the passing of shoeless feet. +Thence it leads through forest and jungle and mangrove belts to another +river, and away south. + +The western branch keeps to forest and jungle, following, generally, +the ridges, for in the wet season the grass lands are flooded, when the +track is but a silvery grey ribbon on a carpet of green. With careless +indecision it trends west, with here an angle and there a curve, dipping +and twisting, crossing gullies and creeping up slopes. The men whose +feet made it in ancient days knew all the landmarks. Mostly it keeps to +sound ground, albeit its wanderings perpetuate wayward impulses. + +Imagination may follow the blacks of bygone days as they swung past, +a fallen tree; where sportful youths wandered a few yards to throw +grass-tree spears at white-ants' nests on bloodwood-trees; where +they turned aside for a drink from the palm creek. Possibly the track +deviated to follow the run of a scrub turkey, or because the boys knew +of a scrub hen's mound, where the rich pink eggs were raked out by the +gins. It was gin's work to overhaul the mounds; the boys did not like +to do the digging with their hands, for often little snakes bedded +themselves in the warm compost--snakes, though they bite not to the +death, make one's hands big and sore. Why incur any risk when there was +a well-disciplined woman to take it? There was a turn off (which was +officially followed) leading to a huge tree where in the hollow bees had +hived; and another straggled up the creek to the pool where eels secrete +themselves in the moist, decaying leaves. + +Six or seven miles from the beach, where the scarcely discernible +crabs, with persistency as eternal as the sea, are strewing the way with +millions of tell-tale pellets, the track, skirting swamps, following +the bends of a river, passing through forest and jungle, is lost in +vagueness and indecision. + +When it was ordained that roads should be defined in the interests +of settlers, it was natural that the original track as it then +existed--broadened and amended and bridged by the good bushmen who had +used it for practical purposes--should be followed. On the plan the +formal road runs a strangely erratic course, for in many places it is +faithful to the footpad. Some of the zigzags of the long past, some of +its elbows and angles, its stringent lines and curves, have been copied +and confirmed, for the bush track is one of the fundamental things, +bearing the stamp of Nature, and no more to be obliterated by the +trivialities of art than is the sand of the shore and the illimitable +crabs. + + + + +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN + + + +“Care, that troubles all the world, was forgotten in his +composition.”--CHARLES LAMB. + + +If you chance to visit the Chief Protector of Aborigines on board +his yacht the MELBIDIR, one of the first to greet you, be you an old +acquaintance or a stranger, may be “Jimmy,” the cook. + +He is a little brown man who wears blue shoes, which are also socks, and +a perpetual smile. The shoes, which are of some soft material, have +a separate compartment for the great-toe, and hook down the heel. The +Chief Protector has a similar pair of combination shoes--a gift from +“Jimmy”--and is given to smiling; but he does not pretend to compete +with his cook in that quality. “Jimmy's” smile is almost a fixture. It +is set, yet not professional. It is the smile of a happy man, and of one +who is a diplomat as well as a ship's cook. His customary costume is of +holland. When on duty he wears an exaggerated bib, and “Jimmy” without +his bib would be as little conceivable as “Jimmy” without his smile. He +may discard it when he puts on his sky-blue pyjamas for the night, but +that he smiles in his sleep is sure. The honourable wrinkles on his +mahogany-hued face forbid him to relax the appearance of unceasing +good-humour, and who would suggest that his serenity is artificial? + +When he takes a hand with the whole of the ship's company to get up sail +or hoist the dinghy on board, he whistles as well as smiles, and then +the black boys laugh, and life on the trim ship is more buoyant than +ever. He goes down into the doll's-house galley backwards, smiling. Now, +it is no smiling matter to be jambed up against a hot stove on a hot +day when the seas run high and the yacht digs her crescent nose into the +blue and washes her own decks with Neptune's suds. But “Jimmy” will bob +up again in due season with a plate of hot cakes or, perhaps, even cool +cakes--and the smile. He has been smiling to the oven, which is inclined +to gymnastics, only it is restrained by effectual bolts. “Jimmy” is a +gymnast, and his free great-toes enable him to cook under circumstances +and conditions which others not so equipped would profane. + +Smiles are his antidote for all injurious mental ferments, and how many +diseases of the mind are there which are not to be alleviated by such +apt physic? + +It has been said that “Jimmy” is a diplomat. He certainly is. The +MELBIDIR had run within hailing distance of another yacht, the owner and +commander of which is an old friend of the Protector and “Jimmy.” When +we did hail, a silvery head and a sunburnt pair of shoulders popped +up from below, and with a comprehensive wave of sunburnt arms--the red +type--vanished. Soon the same head and the same shoulders, decently +but loosely clad in blue and followed by the rest of the hearty body, +emerged, and in a few minutes friends were gripping each other's hands +and talking furiously about a particular island, pilots, pearls, and +Torres Straits “Jimmy” passed, and the florid man in blue said, nudging +his friend, “I seem to know that boy.” + +“Of course you do,” replied the Protector; “that's 'Jimmy' from T. I.” + +When “Jimmy” next appeared he had a jug of water in his hand and a +bigger smile than ever. + +“Well, 'Jimmy,' you haven't forgotten me?” suggested the big man in +blue. + +“No. You capitain! My word, you young fellow now!” + +And we all laughed, for though the years had been tender to the man in +blue, still, they had come and gone by the decade since the previous +meeting. “Jimmy's” smiles became vocal. Professional diplomats use +the great gift of speech, it is said, to delude the enemies of their +country. “Jimmy's” adroit compliment was the more delicate in that it +was not official and he cannot possess an enemy. + +When he puckers his lips to whistle, “Jimmy's” smiles are singularly +infectious. The Protector's yacht is not a missionary, but merely, as +her name signifies, a messenger; but the Protector does not forbid the +hymnal. “Jimmy” has one, and as he studies the pious poems, for he reads +fluently, whistles appropriately. While we lolled on deck, familiar +tunes wooed my wandering thoughts. “Jesu, Lover of my Soul,” came line +after line, verse after verse, precisely, though the tone was soft. +Was the black boy thus accompanying his work at the pump? No; for the +strokes were not in time, and the boy occasionally chatted with his +chum. I asked, and was told that “'Jimmy' mak'm good fellow corroboree.” + Presently he came up--smiling, and with the last notes of “Abide with +Me” on his lips. Then I questioned him, and for a space we discussed our +favourite hymns and hummed them, or rather I did, for “Jimmy” was too +shy to do more than nod in time before a stranger. He confided, almost +in a whisper, that when he was alone he learned the words of the hymns, +and afterwards picked up the tunes. Is it not pretty to think of the +wrinkled Japanese in bunk beside the hot and clamorous engine conning +hymnal--a trifle blotched with grease here and there--and whistling +softly those endearing tunes on which so many of us were brought up? + +Long may “Jimmy” cook and wear blue shoes a modestly supplicate “For +those in Peril on the Sea”! That he may smile to the last would be a +superfluous prayer. He cannot do else. + + + + +UP AND AWAY + + + +“Man is the merriest species of creation; all above and below him are +serious.”--ADDISON. + + +“Let's up and away, Bill,” said Breezy Jim, as he started to his feet. +“I'm dog tired of this game. We're just working for tucker for the boys +and nothing--not even a smoke--for ourselves.” + +“Don't be in such a flurry. We might drop on a patch yet. I vote we stay +for another week. The anchorage is all right, and the season's +young. The little bit of fish we've got ain't too stinking. It'll pay +expenses.” Placid and patient, the half-caste Solomon Islander, Billy +Boolah, kept cheek on his impetuous partner, whose restless disposition +forbade him to continue long in one stay unless circumstances were +essentially favourable. + +Certainly fish were not too plentiful, but the aboriginal crew worked +well, and were lighthearted almost to a fault. They had had no credit +to pledge for the season's stores. They had merely to pick up inert and +unresisting béche-de-mer from among the coral five fathoms down, where +the deceptive sea looked no more than ten feet deep under the squalid +flatties; to smoke and jabber in idle moments; to eat and to sleep, and +to listen to Mammerroo's version of the opening phrases of “The Last +Rose of Summer” on a mouth-organ worn with inveterate usage to the bold +brass. The tune was not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was +ever more in earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, unwritten air +than the black boy who wore little else than his own unwashed complexion +and a strip of red Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with +all the fervour of his simple soul, and though it said him nay, still +did he hope and woo. Out of his scanty earnings he bought mouth-organs +by the dozen, for he believed that owing to some defect on the part +of such instruments the tune was impossible save to one. Would he ever +obtain that prize? The organ which could play that tune as he had +once heard it when his boss took him to a concert at Cairns had to +be discovered, and to earn money to buy it Mammerroo shipped on these +detestable béche-de-mer cruises. In the meantime he would play with all +his energies and with endless repetition the halting, nerve-disturbing +notes he knew to be incorrect. + +“That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten mouth-organs at Cooktown, and +he hasn't got the one that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like 'The +Last Rose of Summer'? Why, you can hear those fish of yours humming! +What with hardly any fish, the stink of the whole boat, and that +maddening mouth-organ, I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and +marry a mermaid. Let's chuck it.” + +“It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man when he gets nasty +temper he gets bad breath. That tune it's little bit close up. He can +play right up to the 'left blooming alone' sometimes.” + +“He's taken four months to get up to the 'left blooming alone'! At that +rate it will be years before he gets to the finish. I'll be mad if he +stays on this hooker another month. I'll chuck the three of them--organ, +boy, and tune--overboard.” + +“If you make yourself a fool like that, no more work from that boy. +Don't be a fool and spoil this game. We're out till November. Let's make +the best of it.” + +It was not clean work. The reek of the fish-raw, cooked, smoked, and +drying in the sun-saturated everything, even the damper. The brown, +shrivelled things were scattered in orderly profusion wherever the +sun could catch them to top them off prior to bagging. The bitter, +eye-searing smoke from the red mangrove fire in the hold, where the +meagre catch of yesterday was lying on a couple of trays, stung the +nostrils. The odour was as interminable as the half-accomplished tune, +and Breezy Bill writhed. He was not new to the game, but bad luck had +been the portion of the ship from the start, and small things irritated +him, rasping his far from sensitive soul. + +“I think you are going to catch fever, Jim. That's what's the matter +with you. At the mission I used to read about that bird you call the +brain-fever bird. It just keeps on whistling the same old thing, and +white men go mad. That 'Last Rose of Summer,' it's got hold of you. +Don't be a fool! It's only a good tune half done. It won't kill +anybody--at any rate, a tough old shell-back like you!” + +“Oh, bother! Stinks and rotten 'Last Rose of Summer' are driving me mad. +I could stand lots of both if we were doing well. They might be forty +overproof and played by forty bands, and every darned piccolo of them +out of tune, if only we were making money. Come, let's up stick and +away. We can't do worse and we might do better on that bit of 'reef +Mammerroo talks about. Here, Mammerroo, stop that blasted corroboree! +Come and tell us where that little fella reef sit down.” + +Mammerroo shuffled down to the hatchway covering and traced a chart of +the locality with a grimy forefinger. + +“That fella reef sit down 'nother side Red Hill alongside mainlan'. No +deep water. Plenty mangrove--my word full up pigeon. Reef him little +fella. Full up tit fish, calla-calla, mainlan' black. Fill'um up boat. +Take'm alonga Thors'dilan'. Come back. Fill'm up one time more. Too +much. Full up.” + +“The same old yarn. I've been all over that ground. There's no reef +there, and if there had been it would have been found and skinned years +ago,” said dogmatic Billy, with a sneer. + +“I see,” said Jim; “the season's over as far as you are concerned. You +can go where you like. I'm sick of it now.” + +TROPIC DAYS + +The next morning saw the NAUTILUS scudding before a strong south-east +breeze, Jim, true to his name, sulky as a toad-fish. The good wind +harped on the rigging as Mammerroo tirelessly lagged after the ever +evasive tune. Jim heard him not. Billy, in a rage, was inclined to +bundle the boy and his battered instrument overboard, for he saw in the +race north nothing but a waste of time. + +Three days later the NAUTILUS anchored to the north of Red Hill under +the lee of a low mangrove island uproarious with nutmeg pigeons. + +All hands turned out to prospect, with Mammerroo as pilot. He was not +long in locating the reef--a forgotten and neglected patch that teemed +with fish. Béche-de-mer lay in shallow water, thick and big, by +the ton.. The reef, with its clear sandy patches, seemed to be the +gathering-ground, the metropolis, the parliament of the curious creature +which makes feeble eddies with its distended gills, moves with infinite +and mysterious deliberation, and which, though it may be two feet long +and three inches thick, can pass through a half-inch space, constricting +its bulging body during the progress. + +The mangroves of the islet provided the best of fuels for the +preservative smoke. The fortnightly steamer passed not so very far out, +so that it would be possible to send away a couple of tons at a time +without leaving the locality or suspending work for more than an hour or +two. + +With cheerfulness and enthusiastic haste all started to work. No +irritating odour, no vexing tune, was perceptible or audible. Boys +brought in such quantities of fish that the mates could hardly cook and +cure them. Money was being coined, and the making of money begat dreams. +Seamen do not invariably build castles in the air. They devise aerial +fleets. They build bigger, better, and faster boats to sail on bluer +seas into more prosperous and happy havens than belong to this too +substantial world. Each sketches out the boat of his desire, and fits +her with wondrous comfort and conveniences. He glances, approving head +thrown back, up her tall, tapering, well-oiled masts, silver-topped +with golden trucks. He paints her in rival colours, rigs her with silken +sails, names her after a sweetheart, and sails away to lands fairer than +any of the isles of the Pacific--those isles of dreams where in coral +groves the gold-lip is embarrassed with pearls of ineffable lustre and +of excessive size. + +As they day-dreamed they gathered in actual riches, for the lazy fish +were big and almost overlying each other in their crowded spaces. + +Never was there a happier béche-de-mer cruise, for the prospects of good +wages soon and a quick return to accustomed camps overladen with the +spoils of the Cooktown stores made each boy as joyful as a cherub and as +industrious as a scrub hen. Mammerroo saw visions of mouth-organs, +one of which was sure to contain the coveted tune. Little deaf Antony +thought of tobacco unlimited, a silver-mounted pipe, and plenty of +unforbidden rum. Indeed, most of the boys contented themselves with +these ingredients to fill the cup of happiness. But big lazy Johnnie's +fancy went to a small jockey's cap of red and yellow, to be worn with a +football jersey of orange and green in stripes, and blue trousers. This +gorgeous costume was to compensate for present pains and humiliation, +for he had nothing but a scanty and dirty loin-cloth, a necklace of +grass beads, and a chip of lustrous black-lip pearl-shell stuck in one +ear. As they worked they let their fancies range, and thus was the +toil eased and the bags of dried fish safely stowed in the hold. +With twenty-eight bags in prime condition, the NAULITUS sailed out to +intercept the steamer--the LAVA KAVA. The honest stuff was sent off to +the agent at the Island post, and back the stout little vessel went to +the reef. + +“As good as a gold-mine,” said Breezy Jim, who every day became +breezier, so that he threatened to develop into a gale of good humour. + +“Better than splitting coco-nuts at the Mission Station,” said Billy +Boolah. + +“Do you ever feel like chucking Mammerroo overboard now?” + +Another fortnight saw another big load on the way to the agents. +Mammerroo poured out his soul in fervency over the limping phrases of +his besetting tune, and even Boisterous Jim applauded his persistency. + +“That boy will catch 'The Last Rose of Summer' some day if the +mouth-organ market holds out. I'll give him the best to be got in +Cooktown, and I'm bothered if I don't teach him the tune!” + +Late one afternoon a strange sail came into view. Slowly the big cutter +made for the anchorage, for the wind, busy elsewhere, could spare only a +few idle puffs for her business. + +“That's a dago, I bet,” said Bill. “And I know who it is! Why, it's that +humbug, Black Charley!” + +“We'll have to be pretty spry, or he'll have some of this patch. We'll +head him off, and ship what we've got to-morrow.” + +A flattie slid over the side of the cutter and plopped into the water, +and Black Charley, with a couple of downcast boys, came alongside the +NAUTILUS. + +“Hullo, Bill! Hullo, Jim! How's yous getting on? Yous drop on good +place. I see yous boys picking up fish like a hen picking up corn.” + +“Not much,” replied Jim. “It was pretty thick, but it was only a small +patch, and we've pretty well cleaned it up. Sent away half a dozen bags, +mostly mainlan' black. Too close in to be much good.” + +“Well, I suppose you'se no objection to me anchoring here for a bit and +'seeing what I can do with the leavings?” said Black Charley. + +“We found the patch, and it's too small for two boats. We'd be better +friends if you cleared off and left it to us,” replied Jim. “But if +you're up to dirty tricks stay where you are. We don't want sneaks on +board this craft.” + +“It's no good being nasty. All the fish on the Barrier don't belong to +yous. I got a ton and more on board now, and I'm going to run out with +it to-morrow.” + +“So are we. Come on board and have a drink” + +It was late in the afternoon when the smoke of the LAVA KAVA showed +south-east. Both boats were waiting as she slowed down in her course, +and while they made fast transhipment began. Then she steamed slowly +ahead. + +“Better send you'se boys back with the NAUTILUS,” suggested Black +Charley, “and me and my mate will take yous back when we've had a drink +and a bit to eat. It's a long time since I've had a decent feed, and +Captain Andrews, he won't mind.” + +Breezy Jim and Bill agreeing, the NAUTILUS cast off, with instructions +to anchor at the old spot and to work until the bosses returned. + +There was more than one drink as the steamer forged ahead, with Black +Charley's cutter romping and curtseying behind. Then tea-time came, and +the captain asked his guests to remain. Black Charley had had so many +refreshments that he was scarcely fit company for the saloon, so he +offered his excuses and they were accepted with politely veiled relief. + +The mates told of their bad luck down at the Barnards and the Palms; +how they had been driven away by the unmusical black boy in desperate +pursuit of “The Last Rose of Summer,” and of their great stroke of luck +on the reef of which he had told. + +“There's plenty more fish on it yet. We'll be troubling you to stop for a +couple of months yet.” + +“You won't be making a very early start to-morrow if we jerk your boat +much further,” remarked Captain Andrews, with a smile. + +“Come,” urged Bill. “We'll hunt up Charley and cut away back.” + +The well-contented partners strolled on deck, anticipating a very tipsy +Charley, whom neither steward nor bo'sun could discover. + +The sun had just set. A bewildering blank astern excited a wide and +comprehensive survey, and there in the blue-grey of the south-east Black +Charley's big white-winged cutter was fast fading from view. + +When the partners got back to the reef, via Thursday Island and +Cooktown, a fortnight later, the boys were there, looking somewhat +jaded. The NAUTILUS was as trim as ever, for which the owners were +sufficiently thankful; but cute Black Charley, working both crews day +and night like galley slaves, had mopped up the patch as clean as the +floor of a hospital ward. + +“We've bin had proper, Bill, old fellow. Let's up and away for Cooktown. +Mammerroo moans for that mouth-organ!” + +And the Christian in Billy Boolah smiled as he hummed “Left blooming +Alone.” + + + + +“PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” + + + +“Whence has the man the balm that brightens all?” + +BROWNING. + + +Though not popular, perhaps Tsing Hi was the best known of his +contemporaries on the tableland through which the Palmer River wanders +a hundred miles from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Short, slimly made as a +fourteen-year-old boy, nimble, fussy, plausible, he stood out from +among his countrymen as one having authority, while he posed among +the Europeans as a kind of diplomatic agent, explaining away +misunderstandings, conciliating grievances, and generally comporting +himself as the chartered representative of the horde of yellow new-chums +which invaded the most sensational of all Australian goldfields. He +appeared to have cousins among every fresh shipload from China, as well +as among the hundreds who ferreted in the gullies. There was not a white +man, from the Police Magistrate to Frank Deester's off-sider, with whom +he was not on terms of easy familiarity. + +Had he not often confidentially consulted the Warden when a cousin had +blundered into the hands of the police, embarrassing that flustered +official with torrents of half intelligible speech, the purport of which +generally was to flout the proceedings with evidence of indubitable +alibi? All this he translated to his countrymen as proof of personal +influence with court authorities, and, what was more to the point, made +them pay for it. + +No case in which a Chinaman was concerned as the accused, or plaintiff, +or disinterested witness, but Tsing Hi took, if not an official, an +officious part. Every new-comer from the Flowery Land passed through his +hands. He knew what personal property each possessed, and the value of +the gold of the lucky departing ones. That he prospered exceedingly was +evident. The fact was expressed in his costume. Beyond the court fees +as interpreter, the merry, chirping little fellow had really no lawful, +visible means of support. Yet he glistened and gleamed with emblems of +riches. He was a dandy from the soles of his shiny elastic-side boots +to the crown of his jaunty hard-hitter. Across a yellow waistcoat hung +a very aggressive chain, from which dangled a huge masonic jewel +in gold-and-blue enamel, and the frequently consulted watch--a big, +bold-faced lever--ticked with snappy determination. Tsing Hi had much +more to live up to than the huge watch, the chain, and the emblem; +but they seemed to constitute special and peculiar insignia. They were +always to the front. He was one of the men of his day and scene--to +be admired, feared, and to be conciliated by his fellow-countrymen all +along the traffic-torn road. + +The dust from that tortuous road rose in an earth adhering cloud from +out which honest, clean-souled men came like pain-distorted spectres, +wearing grey tear stained masks with pink-rimmed eyeholes and mud edged +mouths. But the dust was less distressing than that which Tsing Hi threw +in the eyes of bewildered mankind by this burst and gusts of speech. + +In the heyday of his fame and prosperity Tsing Hi disappeared. +His absences were customary, for did he not flit here, there, and +everywhere? The police were not troubled to make inquiries. They knew +where he was, and the reason for his sudden retirement from accustomed +scenes. The next day all Byerstown knew also. + +Tsing Hi, within the rough-hewn walls of the lock-up, was sad and +silent. He had been arrested for gold-stealing. + +It was a clear case. Hundreds of complaints had been made. Dozens of +suspects had been shadowed, until a quick-witted detective intuitively +fastened the responsibility on the court interpreter, who, on the +instant of arrest, had become dumb. + +The ransacking of his hut revealed a magazine of riches, the earthen +floor beneath the bunk being honeycombed with pits containing easily +portable but valuable property. In a jam-tin were several nuggets, among +them the very specimen which Bill Haddon had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +landlady of the Carriers' Arms--a plane of crystal from which rose a +wonderfully true pyramid of gold. It had been admired by hundreds, +and could be sworn to by everyone who had seen it. There was the white +sapphire, with a tell-tale flaw running down the middle, which had been +found in the hopperings at Revolver Point (where fighting Cameron made +his pile) by Sam Kickford, and likewise bestowed on Mrs. Sinclair as a +“curio,” and because that bounteous lady had mothered the unlucky Sam +and nursed him through the fever which took him to the very gates of +a filthy hell. Dozens could swear to it, but ever so many more were +capable of bearing witness against Tsing Hi on account of the specimen +which Sam's mate, who had died of the fever, had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +having picked it out from the face of his drive. It was a slug of rough +gold in the shape of a tiny canoe, with an upright splinter of white +quartz at each end. Sam's mate had intended it for a girl down at +Ballarat, and she eventually got it--an emblem of what might have been. +Dozens of fancy slugs were brought to light, in addition to two hundred +ounces of fine gold against which no one could make good claim. + +Another tin held six rings, two of decidedly suspicious metal, the +others genuine and with good stones. A fine pearl was wrapped in a +fragment of silk. A pale green jade amulet, with three sets of. Chinese +toilet contrivances--ear-cleaners, tongue-scrapers, back-scratchers--in +ivory, were in a box with two rolls of gold-embroidered silk illustrated +with weirdly indecent scenes. Three gold watches wrapped in silk +handkerchiefs were stuffed into a ginger-jar. The sordid hut was a mine +of wealth, and the buzzing town became furious. It had accepted Tsing +Hi as a character, but not as a bad one. Being deceived, it swerved +from tolerance to righteous indignation and absolute wrath. The quaking +thief, not too comfortable, for the bloodwood slabs seemed too frail +a partition against the virtuous anger of the crowd, was condemned +forthwith. + +All the identifiable gold and other property was handed over to those +who successfully established claims, and Tsing Hi, limp and dejected, +passed into the custody of Tim Mullane for escort to Cooktown. + +Tim was rough and raw, teeming with good-nature and blessed with a +brogue as thick as the soles of the massive boots made for him by +his cousin Terence at misty Ballinrobe. The once perky Tsing Hi slunk +alongside the far-striding Tim, and Tim looked down at him and was half +ashamed of such a “wee scrap of a Chinkee” as his first prisoner. + +“Come away wid ye, me little fella--come away. Doan give me trouble, and +ye'll fin' me gintle wid ye. Thry to maake a fool af me, and be the Holy +Saints ye'll have occasion to be sorrowful.” And he picked Tsing Hi +up with one hand and set him down again with as big a jolt as such a +fag-end of humanity could expect to produce. Tsing Hi remained meek. +The crowd was unanimously against him. Big Tim might jolt him again and +again rather than he would take the risk of venturing among his recent +friends, for tales of his thieving, his acceptance of bribes, and +imposition of levies, were coming in so fast and thick that the crowd +would have relished adding something on its own account. + +Before daylight next morning Tim left with his disconsolate captive, who +wore handcuffs and was manacled to the “D's” in the saddle of the horse +which he bestrode manifestly ill at case. In front of him was a huge +swag containing the unidentifiable gold, three watches, three rings, +silk stuffs, three pairs of elastic-side boots., several pairs of +puce-coloured socks, flash neckties, four hats, three suits of clothes, +and other clothing., All this was his own, to be handed over at the +expiration of the sentence. Tim merely held the inventory. There was +some sort of gratification for ill-doing, for the swag contained a +fortune. He savagely reflected that six months would soon pass. He would +then vanish from “Qee'lan,” to enjoy himself for the rest of his days. +The sadness which had stagnated during the past week began to dissolve. +He sought to make a friend of his escort. + +“I tink we cam' harp way to-ni', Tim.” + +“Shut up, you implicating tadpole! Wasn't I ordhered to hold convarse +wid me prisoner? Spake win Ye're spoke ter and be civil, Or I'll jolt +the teeth troo your hat!” + +Tim jogged on, and the led horse bearing Tsing Hi jogged after. Tsing Hi +bumped until he was fain to lean heavily on his precious swag, trying to +discover by sensation an' unbruised part of his body on which to jolt. + +“Hi! hi!” he shouted. “Horsey, him no goo'! You l'me walk!” + +Tim whistled and jogged. Tsing Hi jolted and whimpered. The hot miles +wriggled slowly past. Dust lay a foot deep on the track. It was a +windless day. Tsing Hi, gripping with fearful intensity his swag, could +not lift a finger to wipe the stains which stood for many tears and +coursed down his cheeks in tiny rivulets, making puddles on his cramped +hands. He, the dandy, smothered in dust, weeping, sore in every +bone, blistered and scalded, pondered over his petty sins, moaned +continuously, and longed for the hard floor of the gaol. + +He, a disciple of Confucius, found no present relief in the tags of the +master's philosophy that he could call to mind. Tears made him a grim +spectacle. The beautiful yellow waistcoat was indistinguishable beneath +dirt and dust. His carefully tended queue shook out in disordered +loops, and finally dangled, dust-soiled, behind. His trousers worked and +wrinkled up to the knees, chafed his unaccustomed skin, and still Tim in +a cloud of dust jogged on singing: + + “Until that day, plase God, I'll shtick + To the wearin' o' the green.” + + +It was a poor little prisoner, but his first and his own, and Tim +was elated, and when a true Irishman is happy he becomes poetically +patriotic. But happy though he undoubtedly was, even Tim was not sorry +when the chance came of stretching his legs and incidentally sluicing +down the dust. The halfway house looked cool and clean to him. In fact +it was neither. It must have appeared a celestial scene to moaning Tsing +Hi. The rough upright slabs (once rich yellow, now dingy) promised some +sort of refuge from the dust, and the narrow strip of verandah a thin +slice of shade. The mound of broken bottles at the rear betokened +the drinks of the past, while the mind dwelt lovingly on those of +the present. Three panting goats, all aslant, but tressed themselves +determinedly against the end of the house, and two boys, long since dust +immune, occasionally hunted the goats into the sun and away among the +ant-hills. But when Tsing Hi slid from the horse and into the shade, he +felt like a saint in bliss. They gave him water, and he wailed until +Tim silenced him with threats of jolts and locked the manacles round the +middle post. + +Tim sighed profoundly as he scented beer. “I do belave I'm dhry, Jerry. +Give's a long un. I've swallowed mud by the bucket. Give the wee little +divil outside a pannikin o' tay. Maybe it'll revoive, him!” + +Tim drank long and well. + +“I've heard about the case,” Jerry said, as he filled the thick glass a +third time. “Fancy the little beggar, an' him commin' and goin' as flash +as ye make 'ern, and pickin' and thavin' all the time. Maybe he got the +ear-rings the missis is after missin'.” + +“Nawthin' o' the sort's in the swag we took with the raskil.” + +A bit of dinner in the back room waited, for Jerry believed in keeping +well in with the force. Tim fed heartily, and, in spite of dust, heat, +and the chatter of the children, dozed, to wake with a start. + +“Me sowl to glory! It's aslape I've bin! Let's hav' a look at the little +fella and be off.” + +The horses stood limply, as much out of the shade as in, the big swag +leaned against the wall, the handcuffs lay half buried in the dust, but +Tsing Hi had vanished. + +“Me sowl to glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! +In the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' +'em like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of +darbies like the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a +horse-collar, and the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' +hope! I'm the ruined man, I am!” + +“Off after him,” advised Jerry. “There's his tracks.” + +“Just none o' your blasted interfarances! Lave 'm to me. He's away back +to hell, an' I'll folly him! How much does I owe yer, Jerry!” + +“Nothing at all, sure, Tim. 'Tis little ye've had, and yer welcome as +posies in May, though it's little we see of 'em here. And good luck. +Shall I tell him away, back to look out V' + +“Say nothing and be damned to yer! Keep your mout closed and lave me to +do the bizinis me own road,” shouted Tim as he disappeared in the dust, +led horse, swag and all. + +A mile and a half back and a bit off the road lay the narrow, sheltered +flat between two forbiddingly barren ridges which Hu Dra, the gardener, +had converted into an oasis. Thin-leaved tea-trees fringed the little +dam whence the industrious fellow hauled water for his vegetables. +Drought-stricken, broad, blue-leaved, scented ironbarks stood in envious +array on the steep sides of the ridges, and grass-trees, blackened at +the butts, struggled with loose boulders for foothold. The muddy water +which the forethought of Hu Dra had conserved created the green patch +which insulted the aridity of the ridge. He was a proud and happy man, +a follower of the healing Buddha, a new-churn with scarce a word of +English, and a gardener. He had a way with vegetables. They prospered +under his hands, and he also prospered, for next to gold, vegetables +were highly prized in that dry, almost verdureless country. Just now he +swayed along with a pair of heavy baskets slung on a bamboo all the way +from Wu Shu, as the pilgrim under his load of sin, and as he swayed he +sang in a weak falsetto a ditty which sounded like-- + + “Nam mo pen shih shih chia + Man tan lai lei tsun fo; + Hu fa chu t'ien p'u sa, + An fu ssu, Li she tzn.” + + +His baskets, each screened with languid gum-leaves, held the week's +output of his garden, representing in money value at least two pounds. +It wag not likely to yield half as much, for, being a new-chum, he was +fair game, and it was considered smart to impose on his good-nature. +He also paid through an agent a weekly levy to Tsing Hi, which he +understood purchased the tolerance, if not goodwill, under all and every +circumstance of the dreaded police and the populace generally. It was a +tax; but Hu Dra was patient under such exactions, as all his ancestors +had been. They were unavoidable, inevitable, a part of the mystery of +life, and consequently to be endured, if not with complacency, at +least without murmur. His profits for the week might total one pound, +a princely sum considering the scene and circumstances of his birth and +upbringing in far Li-Chiang, where his father had reared a large family +in a shed over a sewer, and had never possessed property or estate worth +more than five shillings. Soon, if this money-making business continued +to thrive, he would return thither. He might--for had he not been reared +to the art of living in such places?--resume the sewer habit; but with +three hundred pounds in good English gold what sewer in Li-Chiang could +not be transformed into Paradise? + +One basket contained a huge fruit which he understood his white +customers to term “plonkn”; with it was a broad-bladed knife, with which +he would slice off slabs according to demand. That one item might +bring him in more money than his revered father's fortune. Wrapped in +day-dreams, he hummed again his chant, dwelling on the refrain with +lyrical gladness-- + + + “Li she tzu.” + + +Perhaps it was the name of the maiden he proposed to ask to share his +fortune and his portion of the sewer, and so he repeated-- + +---“Li she t----!” + + +A big, strong, authoritative hand had gripped him by the shoulder. + +He screamed. The baskets sat down plump. + +“Come away wid ye! I've cotched yer! I'll tache ye to escape from lawful +custody!” + +“No savee! No savee!” screamed Hu Dra. + +“I'll tache ye, thin V' shouted Tim, and Hu Dra reeled under the +severity of the first lesson--a back-hander across the face. + +“Wha' for?” asked Hu Dra, still staggering. + +“Come on! You know wha' for! I'll stan' none o' yer wha' for's!” + +Hu Dra clung to the basket-stick threateningly. + +“Fwhat! Resisting the pollis in the execution of dooty. Me bhoy, ye're a +new-chum or yer niver wad be so bould. It is sarious bizinis.” The stick +flew out of Hu Dra's hands, and, as if by magic, he found his hands +clamped in iron bands, which pinched his wrists excruciatingly. + +He yelled with vexation, fear, and pain. + +“Ye can holler as much as ye have the moind ter. Be jabers, the next +haythen Chinkee that gits out of the darbies I clap on'm 'll be a +slippery, slathery eel, and meself after fergittin' to maake a knot in +his taale! Come quiet, me good haythen, and I'll dale aisy wid yer.” + +Hu Dra securely manacled to a scented gum, Tim dealt with the baskets, +capsizing the contents and belabouring them with the bamboo until they +looked as if they had been the playthings of a baboon. Hu Dra watched +the foundation of his fortune vanish. He wailed. + +“Come away, me bhoy! I arrest ye, Tsing Hi, fer escaping from lawful +custody. Ye may be charged also with resisting the pollis in the +execution of dooty. It's a sarious charge. If ye come quiet I'll maake +it aisy fer ye. If ye maake it a haard job for me, be gorra I'll inuake +ye sorryful!” + +Hu Dra gathered that it was a case of mistaken identity. He endeavoured +to explain that he was Hu Dra, and not Tsing Hi. Tim curtly informed +him that he was none other than Tsing Hi, that he had been convicted of +stealing gold, and while on the way to Cooktown had wilfully and with +malice aforethought escaped from legal custody. He would be taken to +Cooktown at once. Hu Dra understood but little of the harangue, but +being a pious Buddhist, having once climbed the Holy Mountain to gain +merit, and being in the hands of a strong man armed, he accepted the +fate of the moment. Meekly he followed Tim to the spot where the horses +had been left, and was hoisted into the saddle and manacled. It was all +a dreadful mystery, but he was sage enough to accept hard facts. + +“Me Hu Dra,” he explained over and over again, in vain repetition. + +“Ye're Tsing Hi, I tell yer. Ye're Tsing Hi in the name of Her Majesty. +Haven't I arrested ye as sich?” + +“Me Hu Dra,” reiterated the captive as they jogged on. “Me come Coo'tow' +one yar.” + +“Shut yer mout! Didn't I tell yer before that ye're Tsing Hi? Didn't yer +wilfully and knowingly escaape from me whin I was having a bite to ate, +and I had yer tied to the post at the shanty back beyant there! Naw, +I'll hear no more of yer Hu Rahin'. Kape a civil tongue betune yer +taath, or, be gorra, worse 'll happen yer.” + +Hu Dra was patient. He thought of his pilgrimage long ago to the top of +Mount Omei. Was this the reward he had gained? + +He solaced his soul by murmuring the pious invocation which all pilgrims +to the Sacred Mount have perpetually on their lips--“Om mane padme om!” + +Torn from his secluded garden and happy and profitable toil, bruised and +manacled, bundled on to a fear-provoking horse, hurried off he knew not +whither, through a drought-stricken land under a searing sun, the road +reeking with dust--what a plight for a devout Buddhist, who had sought +to avert calamity and prolong life by the ascent of the chill mount +where, alone in all the world, is revealed the “Glory of Buddha.” + +Mystic that he was, he found sure comfort in pious meditations. Present +pains of body and mind vanished as with half-shut eyes he drifted into +the chill realm where he hearkened to chants of priests, the tinkling of +the temple bells, the fervent response of hundreds of pilgrims as meek +as himself--“Om mane padme om!” + +Such was the potency of the mechanical repetition of the all-healing +words that Tim presently found himself echoing them, and brought himself +up with a jerk. + +“It's all haythen rubbish and cussing. The pore fule's daft wid the hate +and the dust and the welt I give him. Shure it's the way I have to be +sorry for the crature.” + +Like the refrain of an infectious song, the musical phrase would not be +banished from Tim's mind and lips, and so the tough, rough Irishman +and the gentle exile from the Flowery Land went on their way, scarce +conscious of the grimy miles, both dreamingly hailing the jewel in the +lotus. + +Three days later the travel-stained pair arrived at Cooktown, where Hu +Dra--henceforth to be known officially and authoritatively, and in spite +of all protest, as Tsing Hi--was duly consigned to the custody of the +lock-up keeper, to await escort to the town where his sentence was to be +served. + +“He's that quare in his hid,” Tim informed Jock Egan, who now had +charge. “He's bin Tsing Hi-in and Hu Rah-in' and Paddy Om-in' (d'ye know +the maan, Jock?) all along the thrack till it's fair fascinated I am. +And barrin' him bein' the very thafe o' the wurrld, it's a poor honest +body he be. Shure it's little enough truble he give me, and me all alone +be meself. An' the swag of him! Glory be to God, I dunno but it's wort +five hundred pounds if it's wort a sint! Yirra! but it's weery I am. +It's little slape I've had. Shure the whole beesely thrack be lousy wid +shnaakes; and show me the man as cud slape shweet wid maybe four of the +varmint all ascroodging and squaaking nath his blanket!” + +“It's quare in yer head yerself,” ye're exclaimed Jock. “Be off to bed +wid ye. If the sargint gets ye a-talkin' like that, he'll be afther +thinkin' ye're in dhrink.” + +“Then, me sowl to glory; he'll jist be thinkin' fwhat I'm wishful for. +It's that farefull dhry up there on the Palmer I could dhrain a bucket.” + +“Get to bed, yer fool! Ye're talkin' that wild, ye'll have no care for +yerself. It's meself that'll git the good woman beyant there to git ye a +cup o' biling hot tay.” + +With that Jock got him out, with papers all in order. + +Hu Dra had disappeared from the tableland as suddenly but not as' +tracklessly as a phantom. Lonely men in their tents and three or four +mothers of families in their slab humpies looked out vainly for him for +three days, anticipating necessary vegetables, and, being disappointed, +slandered him courageously, while they found consolation in the +reflection that if he ever came his round again they would distress and +vex him by withholding payments for the vegetables of the past. Not +a customer but owed him something. His country men gave notice of his +disappearance to the police, and black-trackers off-hand told a graphic +and obvious story. Hu Dra had begun his weekly round when he had been +attacked by myalls. They had capsized his baskets and wantonly battered +them to pieces. For him had been reserved the customary fate. He had +been hustled off to the gorges contiguous to Hell's Gates, to be killed +and eaten in peace and comfort. His hut, his cherished garden +were forthwith occupied and tended by another of the race-claiming +cousinship. The newcomer even demanded payment of debts owing to his +unfortunate relation, but the whole population sniffed with such vigour +that the claim was not persisted in. Once a Chinaman had left the +district unceremoniously, more especially at the forcible persuasion +of flesh-hungry blacks, his dues lapsed by unanimous consent. He became +merely a fragrant remembrance. It is so still, and the virtue is as +virile as the odour of musk. + +To himself Hu Dra was always so. Be his official and authoritative title +for the time being what it might, he was determined not to sacrifice his +identity. + +The gaoler found him a docile and obedient creature with an abiding +affection for plants, which sprang up under his hands like magic. +Within two months corners of the desert yard began to blossom, to bear +cucumbers and radishes, and to be fragrant with shallots. + +The pride of the gentle gardener lay in a few plants of zinnias close +to a dripping tap. In bright red, gold, and white, he accepted them as +substitutes for the sacred lotus, and prison flowers never flaunted more +freely. As innocent as they, he deftly, tirelessly trained each plant, +caressed each opening bud, cherished it as if it were a jewel, and +found surcease of the pangs of exile, easement for the restraints upon +liberty, and blissful consolation. Tendance upon the garden under the +strait shadow of wall was to him, not a duty, not a pastime, but a +ritual. The captive was happy, for here was the end of his pilgrimage. + +Exemplary conduct, combined with the art with which he forced salads +from the boorish soils, found him favour and earned privileges and +concessions. + +Hu Dra kept no count of the passing months. What was time to a +contemplative Buddhist whose being was permeated with the hope of +release from delusions and sorrow and of attaining final sanctification? + +One morning he was summarily marched into the presence of the big +loud-voiced man whose orders were obeyed with instant smartness, who +told him, to his amazement and despair, that he must depart with his +property. The seals of a sack were broken before him, and its contents +displayed and duly accounted for--a sleeping-mat, a small red blanket, +the elastic-side boots, two scrolls of sinfully painted silk, a hard +round hat stuffed with gaudy handkerchiefs, three watches and varied +jewellery in a ginger-jar, the quaintly carved toilet devices, the +jam-tin full of nuggets, and a chamois-leather bag delusively heavy with +fine gold. + +The same authority which had ordered his affairs ever since he had been +torn from the burnt hills now commanded him to begone. + +For nigh upon two years he had dwelt passively in dream-land. This was +but another wonderment entrancingly agreeable. Without endeavouring to +elucidate the incomprehensible, he accepted the gifts of the gods, and +asked for a yellow zinnia. It was a reality, a guarantee, an assurance. + +Good, though gruff, the gaoler was wont to say that his departing guest +gazed on the flower with almost religious fervour and mumbled over it +a prayer; and the gaoler's insight was true, for in comparison with a +flower, the masonic emblem, the pride of Tsing Hi's life was to Hu Dra +but tinsel. + +It passed all understanding., + +Hastening to escape from the land of bewilderment and easily gotten +riches, Hu Dra-the quietest, the happiest, the wealthiest of a great +company of his fellows boarded a steamer for Hong-Kong. + + + +Many a long year after, Tim, who had blossomed into a sub-inspector, +had retired on pension, and had lost most of his brogue in the process, +confided in me the whole story. + +“You see, my friend, it was either the sack or Chinkee for me. I got the +Chinkee. There were plenty of 'em!” + + + + +TIME'S FINGER + + + +“The more cleer and the more shynynge that Fortune is, the more brutil +and the sooner breketh she.”--CHAUCER. + + +High up on the auspicious shoulder of the Island mountain stands +the Sentinel, a coarse, truncated pinnacle of granite, roughened +and wrinkled by the toll of the moist breezes, alternating with the +scorching flames of the sun. It overlooks the league-long sweep of +the treacherous bay, with its soft and smothering sands, the string of +islets of the Yacka Eebah group, while Bli and Coobie lie close under +foot, set in a swirling sea. + +One aspect of the Sentinel commands all the map-like detail of Pun-nul +Bay, with its labyrinthian creeks among a flat density of mangroves, +like lustrous, uncertain byways in a sombre field, erratic of shape, +magnificent of proportion. Beyond are many islets--dark blue on a +lighter plain. In the distance, on the other hand, islands and islets +trail away until lost in the vague blending of sea and sky; and for a +background is all Australia. In front alone does the Sentinel peer +over uninterrupted space, and not always, for at times patches of white +filigree mark the outliers of the Great Barrier Reef. + +Looking up from Pun-nul Bay before sunrise, the base of the Sentinel +'was swathed in white--night's rumpled draperies not yet tossed aside. +As the east glowed it stained the mist pink, and so warmed it that it +parted into patches of luminous fluff which floated up and dissolved +into crystalline air, and the great lumbering rock stood naked and bold +in the sunshine. + +Then it was that the apex of a splintered peak beyond the Sentinel +glittered, and that Chutter-murra Wylo, the one survivor of the +truculent natives, told once more of the wonderful stone for which +many had ventured, which had caused the disappearance of several, which +decoyed man and beast, and stored their bones close to the awful hole +whence issued the smoke which made the rain, and the dread lightning, +and the thunder. + +None ever ventured there now; but sometimes in the early morning the +stone twinkled for a moment like a malignant sprite, watchful all night, +but abashed yet impudent to the authoritative sun. + +Chutter-murra Wylo had so often indicated the exact locality of the +stone, and had described its dire influence with such sincerity that, +when it twinkled, a resolution which had been long in the back of my +mind became wilful and imperative. He said that it was “on top, along +oo-nang-mugil”--a gloomy place among rocks--and that the old men of the +country had been wont to say that this particular “oo-nang-mugil” was +the favourite resort of the “debil-debil,” the to whose arrogance and +awful deeds the bones of man and beast bore terrifying testimony. + +Between the Sentinel and a spur to the south is a narrow ravine, from +which in the rainy season mist rises like jets of steam, and this +was the very spot whence the lightning and thunder ranged when the +“debil-debil” lifted the mighty stone which blocked the entrance to +the cave of the winds. All about was fantastic ground, peopled by evil +spirits who resented the intrusion of human beings and inflicted upon +trespassers peculiar punishments. Ill befell everyone who invaded that +remote, almost inaccessible, uninviting region, at the very centre of +which the alluring stone glittered. Of those who rashly determined to +gaze at the prodigy at close quarters, some never returned. Those who +did come back were vexed with burning and smarting pains; they suffered +illnesses; their skin broke out into blotches; they became old +and enfeebled prematurely and all, whether they survived for a few +irritating weeks or a few sad years, wore to the end a startled, +awe-struck air. “That fella no more sit down quiet; him frait all time,” + Wylo explained. And the stone was good to look at. Sometimes it was +white like water; sometimes blue, like the sea; sometimes red, like +“carrie-wy-in-gin” (sunrise). Sometimes it shook, and then it became so +bright that the eyes were dazzled. The star-like stone had been on +the rock for all time, protected by distance and mystery. Was it not, +indeed, the eye of the “debil-debil” who had custody of the lightning +and thunder imps, and could it not be elevated or depressed like the +eye of a sand-crab? No intruder had ever escaped its vigil or the +consequences of his temerity. + +We were camped under the lee of a low sand-dune, the top of which +commanded Pun-nul Bay. As the wind swayed its scalp-lock of twisted +shrubs, the dune quivered, and rivulets of singing sand, almost as +fluid and as unstable as water, trickled down, for it was one of the +rubbish-heaps of the sea, over the brink of which waste was unceasingly +shot. + +The maze of mangroves whence weird hoots and bubbling cries and sharp +clicks came at night, the stealthy sand marching over the land, the +barren slopes of the mountain, and the misshapen rock, gave one's +thoughts a twist in the direction of the vague and mysterious. Wylo's +continual harping on the wonderful stone renewed the old longing for +adventure. He had seen it from a safe distance, but from the present +aspect only the indecorous glint at sunrise was visible. + +The stone was a crystallised fact, but why had the blacks invested it +with such ill omen? Here was a worthy quest--a beautiful if not precious +crystal betokening the actual presence of a wary demon guardant over +the mouldering skeletons of Wylo's forefathers! What quest could be more +sensational or likely to be so famously rewarded? + +Wylo was prepared to climb the mountain to the base of the Sentinel, +but no higher. Secrets hidden from his intemperate, insistent gaze must +surely be inconsequent. Once and for all, the legend of the crystal +might be disposed of at the cost of two or three hours' climbing. I +would bring it back to prove to Wylo that no irreverent “debil-debil” + would ever again blink at the sun from that particular spot. As for the +skeletons, they were, without doubt, as mythical as the evil spirit, and +in any case a few old bones were not to scare me from venturing to the +boldly obvious summit of the mountain. + +Wylo went wellnigh naked, carrying a day's provisions and the rifle. I, +too, was lightly clad, but wore thick-soled boots, freely studded, and +with a tomahawk felt efficiently armed. + +Beyond the entanglement of the beach scrub the way was open, though +rough, with granite boulders half hidden among rampant blady grass. The +country was decidedly hostile to the climber, though far from actually +forbidding, and with Wylo in the lead--for I held myself in reserve for +the final clamber up the ravine, to which the ascent to the base of the +Sentinel was merely a prelude--the pace was respectable and sure. Closer +acquaintance forced a certain sort of respect for the Sentinel, which +was more massive, more venerable and time-worn than could be imagined +from afar off, while all the scene below seemed softer and smoother and +more fairyland-like than in reality. + +Having indicated what he deemed to be the direct route, and firmly +resolving to take no risks by peering into the domain of the +“debil-debil,” Wylo sat in the shadow of a huge boulder whence he could +command a view of the entrance to the rock-bestrewn gorge. Not more than +eight hundred feet separated the spot from the summit of the peak. A +couple of hours at most and I would be down again, and, semi-seriously, +I counselled Wylo to stop where he was until late in the afternoon, and +if I had not then appeared to return to the camp, where he was to remain +for a couple of days, when he would be at liberty to make his way to the +head of the mangrove creek where the boat was anchored, with the design +of bringing help to kill the “debil-debil” that detained me in his +clutches. He was not too cheerful in his parting injunctions. “No +good you fight'm that fella. Suppose he catch'm you, he kill you one +time--finis. No good me come back. Me clear out quick!” + +In all seriousness he undertook to “sit down” for two days, and +finally imparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the +“debil-debil,” and either curb him or throw him out from his lair “with +wondrous potency.” Up the gorge I would find a prickly bush, from which +I was to cut a leafy branch as a frontal shield. Then, when the +fiend swooped upon me, its long arms and pliant hands, furnished with +needle-like nails, would become embarrassed by the “nails,” of the +branch, and while it howled and danced I could “kill'm alonga leg” with +the tomahawk. I was to be careful not to look up, for the eye of the +“debil-debil” was so bright and hot that it burnt up mortal sight, +leaving the intruder a blind and hopeless victim. + +Discreetly valorous, Wylo was quite enthusiastic, anxious, indeed, that +the quest should be accomplished by an audacious white man and at no +risk to himself. Therefore did I accept his counsel gravely, and in +parting promised to bring down one of the hands of the long-standing +terror of the mountain as proof that I had exacted the last penalty for +many demonic deeds. + +Thus, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through a +perplexity of shrubs growing among loosely packed stones, thankful +for strong boots and hands toughened by the sun. Overhanging trees and +shrubs almost converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a +greenish light wrought changeful patterns on the gloomy rocks, and ferns +of sombre green with unfolding fronds of ruddy brown occupied crannies +and crowned rocks favoured by drips. No sound of animal life came to my +cars, but an ever-increasing current of air was perceptible as the walls +closed in and became almost precipitous. + +The narrow footway was swept bare of loose stones and vegetable rubbish, +save where the wet-season torrents had scooped out basins, or where a +ledge of resisting rock made a wet-season water fall. Such places had to +be discreetly scaled, for the rock was worn to polished smoothness and +hand and foot holds were few and far between. Aerial roots, thin as +whipcord, hung from the branches of trees crowding on the brink of the +ravine, and with tasselled terminals sopped up moisture. A melancholy, +humming monotone pervaded the ravine, seeming to increase in +remonstrance and warning the higher I ascended. Wylo had told of the +noise like a steamer's whistle a long way off. His local knowledge was +being authenticated at every step. Such a sound was almost uncouth in +such a locality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, was +the predicted bush with keen prickles thickset on limber branches. +Half amused, I climbed to the spot, and, clinging precariously to the +principal stem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, slipped +several yards down the smooth floor. It was not worth recovering, but +a certain half-humorous sense of obedience to the black boy's cautions +induced me to return for it; and as I trimmed off some of the prickles +that it might be grasped comfortably, a stone clattered down, bouncing +on the rock almost at my feet. + +A substantial mystery! What invisible agency had given this hard fact +its force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a discordant crow dissipated +doubt-the stone had been dislodged by an industrious scrub fowl raking +on the brink of the ravine. A sense of fellowship with the harsh-voiced +bird manifested itself. A transient sensation of relief--I had not been +conscious of the least mental depression--followed the thought that in +and about the ravine there were other living things besides myself and +snakes. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally bruised just +now, had been the only sign of life, and it had been as dull-coloured +and almost as inert as the rock on which it lay--an emblem of death +at home in this almost lifeless seclusion. Dwelling with amusement on +Wylo's suggested precautions, I bore the branch before me as I climbed +a steep face, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and as +cautious and suspicious as a black boy. On the lip of what seemed to be +a hollow a fig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing roots of which made the +final stages of the ascent easy and safe. Briskly hauling myself up, I +stepped over the edge of the depression, and the solid rock lapsed and +slid underfoot. + +In a flash the head of a python arose, and with gaping jaws struck as +the branch fell from my hand.' In a moment I had whipped the tomahawk +from my belt and slashed at the body of the snake squirming at my feet, +as, baffled for a moment by the falling branch, it gathered itself for a +second attack. + +Few of the enemies of man are more easily disabled than a snake. Always +zealous in obedience to the Biblical law, it is honest to confess to a +decided preference for elbow-room when engaged in its actual fulfilment. +This was a fight with man's first enemy in close and awkward quarters--a +precipice behind, walls of rock in front and at either hand. Three times +my length, strong enough to constrict to death a giant, wily enough to +seek the cover of the matted roots of the tree, several points were in +favour of the snake. My first wild haphazard stroke, which had merely +scored its flesh, seemed to have roused its vindictiveness. Once in +those coils, the chances of victory would be remote indeed. + +Part of the python's still gliding length was within reach, while (the +forepart resting on a branch) the head was but slightly higher than +mine, though beyond the radius of the tomahawk. + +The bulging head drew slowly back, as the snake released sufficient of +its length to encompass me. The yellow, blinkless eyes, with knife-edge +pupils, flashed with the hate of agelong feud as I edged against the +wall. My arm was free. The lust of battle tightened every nerve. Neither +flashing eyes nor strangulating length made for fear. The hitherto +all-conquering snake, lord and master of the ravine, bade defiance, +joining issue with the craft of its kind. + +Slowly the pendant portion increased as the subtle beast seemed to +concentrate all its energies on one triumphant, invincible effort. + +Anticipating the fateful instant, I slashed with all my force at the +portion of the body within reach, ducking simultaneously. Shooting over +me, the head of the enemy struck the rock with brain-bemuddling impact. +For once the serpent had been foiled. With jaws awry, the head swung +limply, like a ceasing pendulum. One blow with the back of the tomahawk +established the right of man to wander at will among the rough and +secret places of the mountain. + +Still did the swaying reptile cling with a single coil round the +figtree's branch, while chill blood dripped and splashed among the +intertwined and snake-like roots. A sudden tug brought the body down a +squirming mass. With rough-shod heel, I fulfilled the letter of the law, +bruising the battered head, and then were revealed the bosses by which, +with the tail, the snake had sustained its dead weight. + +Was this the “debil-debil” which had scared so many from the quest--a +python which any man might kill in the open without running any risk, +and which a black boy, with time on his hands, would joy to eat? Yet I +own that I was somewhat flustered, and not a little tired and bruised +and angry, because such an impediment had had to be cleared from the +track. Was there not cause for indignation? Why should a gormandising +serpent, full to repletion, lie slothfully across a highway open to +all, to the checking of a holiday-making mortal in lawful pursuit of +a demon-protected crystal? Let me once more vindictively stamp on its +head. + +But which way? Here was a dead and unscalable wall to right and left and +in front, and all in deep shadow. I estimated that another one hundred +feet would take me to the mountain-top, whence it would be possible to +survey the scene in relation to the bejewelled rock. Descent was the +only practicable preliminary towards further ascent. Utilising the +interlacing roots of the fig-tree, the way down was easy enough, and, +choosing the left wall of the ravine, I began a perilous climb out of +gloom into sunshine, upon a conglomeration of immense granite boulders, +over which the Sentinel cast a shadow. This shadow indicated that the +ascent had occupied at least three hours, and in my self-complacency +I had calculated to beard the “debil-debil” in his den, dislodge the +crystal, and be back at the camp gloating over the escapade to open-eyed +Wylo in less time. + +Though a night was to be spent in the haunt of the evil spirit, yet +would I proceed. I found not one but many “oo-nang-mugils,” lowering +caves and clefts in which scores of fearsome “debil-debils” might lurk, +but which, as far as a vigilant mortal could detect, were given over to +innocent bats and those sun-loving swiftlets which rear their young in +nests adherent to rocks in dusky places. + +Over and beneath boulders, squirming through bolt-holes and up flue-like +openings, bruised and with bleeding hands, at last the top was reached, +harsh with granite, and there to the right, on a gigantic splintered +boulder which seemed to block the end of the ravine and to peer down +into the blue bay below, was the crystal glinting in sunshine. It was +not more than fifty yards away, and, easeful of mind, I sat down to +munch a piece of damper. Close by a patch of vivid green moss indicated +the existence of moisture and the further possibility of water. Sure +enough, twenty yards down spongy moss and fern spread over a lip of +rocks, and from dangling tufts and drooping fronds water dripped in +melodious splashes into a shallow depression, and overflowed in a +fan-shaped film. The facets and apex of the crystal reflected harsh +brightness as unsullied as the moss-filtered, unstable drips which +gathered second by second and were gone. How like those drips, how +unlike the scarred, time-chastened rock, that steadfast slip of light +which since the dawn of creation had flashed messages across the +unresponsive sea. + +From a ledge in which ferns and orchids grew in careless +profusion--bird's-nest fern and polypodium and white-flowering +orchid--the crystal might be reached by a little manoeuvring. But why +hurry? Every minor crevice was embossed with spongy moss, from which +sprang modest little flowers, a flower of mountaintops alone, lacking a +familiar name, but which in its dainty form and rich mauve is none the +less precious. While all the rest of the way had been barren or gloomy, +here was brave sunshine and space, a jewel-like crystal, and moss and +ferns and flowers, and calm and cool serenity which' bespoke remoteness +from the “debil-debil” and all his works, and from the noisy cave of +the winds. Magic there was in plenty-the air tingled with it--that +exhilarating, mind-expanding silence of mountain-tops which is the most +thrilling magic of all. + +Leisurely glances at the mass of granite from which the crystal shone +showed that from the ferny ledge it would be beyond reach, and that +unless care was exercised in the dislodgment it might fall among a +confusion of boulders far below and be lost for ever. My plan was of +to build a buttress of loose stone on which to stand to tap it with the +tomahawk. Like a miniature railway cutting, the ledge ran out on the +face of the rock, so that standing upon it one looked down into the +ravine; but it was broad enough to afford safe and even convenient +footing. + +As a final preliminary to the beginning of operations, I clambered up +on to the ledge. Ferns grew among decaying vegetable matter in masses +difficult to push through. Polypodiums with brown, oak-leaf like, +infantile fronds clung tightly to the rocks with furry fingers, and the +birds'-nests were big enough to conceal a man. A broad and comfortable +path it was, leading directly under the crystal, and with haste and +confidence I pushed along, smiling inwardly at “shynynge” fortune, to be +in another moment dismayed by her “brutilness.” The earth sank under me. +I shot into an acute fissure with ferns and dust piled overhead! + +Gasping and coughing, I cleared away the smothering rubbish, to find +myself a fixture--jambed fast between walls of granite. Deceptive ferns +had masked the crevice. I had walked along a treacherous track until at +a weak spot it had given way as the gallows' trap beneath the feet of a +murderer. + +Light came from ahead, too. There the lancehead-shaped fissure opened on +the ravine, whence it was flushed with cool air. + +Was ever mortal in such a plight? A drop of eight from the spacious +top of the mountain had lodged me a prisoner in the narrowest of cells. +Dismayed but not despairing, I struggled frantically, working with +shoulder and arms against the walls of granite. The right foot was +firmly fixed, while a sensation of easiness was perceptible with regard +to the left. Gently yet firmly, and fearful lest the slight grain of +comfort might be fraudulent, I felt the weight of my body on the left +foot, while scrutinising in detail the horrible trap into which the +crystal bait had lured me. + +There, a few feet below and further towards the ravine, was the skull +of a human being, and still further down, where space was more confined, +other bones were fixtures. There was a weird fascination about the +skull, for at noon it would receive the benediction of the sun, and the +diurnal glare into the secrets of the crevice had made a patch of white +desert in an oasis of grey mould. The bones below, green and earthly +with age, lay in disorder and confusion--poor fragments of the framework +of man and harmless beasts, sharing a common fate. + +Though fast a prisoner, nothing to live on but hope and fresh air, a +sense of relief, somehow, sometime, established itself in my mind. +Most of the significant features of the adventure had been faithfully +foretold by Wylo--the prickly bush, the snake (archetype of the fiend), +the mocking delusive stone, the stored bones of man and beast-all as he +had described. He must have known more than he had voluntarily told, and +assuredly would he come', when he would coo-ee, and I would shout +for very joy. In the meantime would I possess my soul in patience and +conserve all the strength of my lungs and power of endurance. + +Just beyond the platform of ferns a splash of lovely tints illuminated +the edge of the time-recording shadow--the solar spectrum produced by +the prism which had beckoned from afar. Was there no escape from the +wizardry of the crystal? No hope of evading comparison of its beauty +and permanence with the muddy and fleeting passions of mankind? Yet how +fruitless its functions--to glorify for aeons the intractable rock, +and to leave it ever unstained! For once in all the centuries may not a +human hand be interposed between those ineffectual flames and the surly +rock? Cannot even that small measure of space be overcome? + +A few inches from the tips of my outstretched fingers were the prismatic +tints with which the crystal daily registered the decline of the day; +but not for all my striving and all my wit could I get within reach. +They were as remote as the creating sun! + +The narrowness of the cleft forbade effort to reach down so that I might +unlace my boots. There wan but one chance of deliverance--the coming of +Wylo. And would he, agitated by superstitious awe, dare to venture into +the haunt of the evil spirit when he began to realise that I, too, had +fallen into the clutches he so much dreaded? Yet he must come! Of what +special impiety had I been guilty that so rare and terrible a fate +should have been reserved for me. He must come! + +Yes. Listen! I hear his coo-ee far below! He is making his way up the +ravine! And with, all my vocal power I coo-eed and yelled. But the +muffling rocks stifled all noise at lips. Listen! Yes! The sound +again--merely the mellow cadences of a swamp pheasant whooping among the +blady grass. + +Wylo dared not venture to the very door of the cave of the winds. I was +alone with my fate! Could I master it? + +The clean-cut shadow crept up the rock, and with it the colour splash +receded. As I gazed it glittered and was gone. It would not be visible +again until the next afternoon. Would I be here to watch it illuminate +the rock once more? Could I contain myself until then, and perhaps +after, and for day after day, until the last? And were my bones to +be added to the secret horde mouldering within a few feet of the +mountain-top? A few feet of nothingness--mere empty space--separated me +from lost and lovely liberty, and with frantic hands I strove against +the hard face of the rock, and cried aloud in agonising protest. + +The old rock had disregarded similar protests and supplications, and had +endured like infantile pushings! Call, and who shall listen? Push and +shove and fight, and what availed it? + +In my delirium I cursed and blasphemed, and “full of shriekynge was that +sory place.” + +Darkness followed brief twilight, and up the ravine came the murmuring +I had heard below--a sobbing sound which at first affrighted and then +soothed, for it could be nothing but the echo of the sea on the curving +beach below; and in its comfort that lulled all ineffectual clamour, and +eventually to fretful but frightful sleep. Always I awoke panting with +thirst, stiff and strained, and with unmanly cries of fear and pain +on my lips, while the chaste stars danced across the narrow slit as I +strove to stem the turbid stream of despondency. + +About midnight a singular peacefulness possessed me, overcoming me in +spite of myself. Feverish impatience and resistance seemed futile, and +in my resignation I began to realise that to avert cramp and disablement +from cold--for a chill, moist breeze from the ravine played continuously +on me--some sort of exercise must be undertaken. + +My left foot was certainly not so compressed as the right. Though +it could not be raised, it was possible to move it ever so slightly +forwards and backwards. Might it not be possible, by never-ceasing +friction, to so abrade the edges of the sole of the boot that it might +be reduced to such dimension as would permit it to be raised? + +With all the force of my mind concentrated on the one idea, I began to +work in a passion of patience. At first the play of the boot was hardly +to be registered; but hour after hour of ceaseless and calculated effort +not only counterbalanced mental tension and imparted some degree of +warmth to my body, but so amended the shape of the boot that it began +to move with some degree of freedom. The more easy the fit, the more +cautious and calm I became. + +No insipid monotony pervaded the remote, cold crevice. The operation was +lubricated with hope. Once every heart-beat--for I kept strict tally, as +further mental relaxation--my boot rubbed against the rock, and each +rub wore away minute particles of leather. As time passed and the work +became still easier, it became more engrossing, until calmness gave way, +and every nerve thrilled with excitement, and I was convinced that +I would win a joyful passage from this narrow strait by dint of the +resolute continuation of the simplest of processes. + +But the long night was not to end with such placid and entertaining +occupation. Absorbed in it, sternly waving off all sense of weariness or +despair, I was staggered and stunned by the fall, among an avalanche +of fern debris, of a heavy living body on my head and shoulders--a +grunting, struggling thing which kicked and scratched. + +With a despairing shriek, 'all my vibrant nerves collapsed, as in the +darkness and confusion I fought against infernal odds. For one appalling +instant I was convinced of the reality of Wylo's most diresome fact, and +did furiously believe that I was actually entrapped in the stronghold of +a demon at that moment, intent upon tearing me limb from limb. The most +fantastic and horrific of nightmares was actually materialised. + +But at that instant a familiar odour sluiced away all mystery. This +struggling thing, from the shock of which my very soul still trembled, +was but a fellow-victim--a wallaby which, feeding along the ledge, had +happened on the trap made by my fall. + +In a flash of remorseless energy, I seized the panting body, felt for +the throat, and, expelling pity from my heart, gripped until all was +still. How precious and comforting it was! And once again all my powers +of will and muscle were centred on a single design and action as with +machine-like rhythm the boot wore itself against the rock. Disengaged +from every other theme, my mind dwelt on the one steady, inevitable +purpose. Rub! Rub! Rub! And I fancied I saw leathern dust fall like +filings from iron down deeper into the crevice. Before dawn the boot was +working freely, and with one arm on the compressed body of the wallaby +to case my weight, rest was possible. The plan for the disengagement of +the right foot, painfully rigid and cold, was perfect in theory. Would +it hold in practice? When the left was free I would, by friction of the +iron studs In the sole, wear away the laces of the engaged boot so that +the foot might be withdrawn. + +But physical weakness became imperious. The distraction of cramped +and bruised flesh had to be withstood the while the constancy of the +function was maintained. Continual comfort came from the dead body of +the ill-fated wallaby--a sort of fellowship, and a feeling that with its +co-operation the contest between living flesh and blood and the inert +force of the mountain was not altogether one-sided. Light was certainly +cheerful, but the crevice filled with mist which distilled on the rock, +and a chill current of air benumbed my aching limbs. + +Under the pressure of fierce determination the task persisted, until, +quite unexpectedly as it seemed, the boot was free; and then, shoving +and squeezing the wallaby as a cushion for my right arm, the sole of +the left boot began to rasp away at the instep of the right. In such a +constrained position the operation, which could be persevered in by fits +and starts only, was exasperatingly slow. The sun sopped up the morning +mist and boldly explored the crevice, revealing the marvellous precision +of the space between the walls. No work of art could be more regular. +The sheer simplicity of the trap made it the more effectual. The +sunlight showed, too, that the fissure was the skylight of a cave which +opened out on the ravine. Dry boulders were strewn about fifty feet +below, while ahead I could catch a glimpse of a narrow ribbon of blue +sea. This provoking sight of unattainable water aggravated thirst almost +beyond endurance. Throughout the night had my longing increased, but +now the pangs were extreme. The most gratifying of all drinks--cool, +fern-filtered, flower-decorated water, water dripping in iridescent +spangles from green moss soft as velvet--splashed incessantly into a +hollow out there a few yards away in the free space of the mountain. +Here, manacled with “adamant eterne,” in an agony of impatience I +quaffed the thirst-stimulating draught of unsatisfied longing as I +strove fitfully to wear away the stubborn strips of leather which held +me in bondage. In a doze or dream the action went on. Startled, I awoke +to find myself pommelling with inane savagery the poor crumpled body of +the wallaby, and to the realisation that the imprisoned foot was loose +in the boot. + +A luxurious stupor took possession of my mind. I was at liberty to work +out of the crevice knees and shoulders; yet an impalpable force detained +me. It was not that I was not master of my fate, but that out there in +the glare of the sun was patient water, dripping for the refreshment +and cleansing of my grimy lips. So enchanting a thought was not to be +abruptly ended. Was it not deliciously dreamy to hold myself in +suspense awhile, to linger over anticipated sweetness and prolong blest +gratifications indefinitely? + +Strange drowsiness and peace bewitched the sunlit chink. Why should I +struggle more? Could I not, in fancy, hearken to the measured splash of +the drops from the sodden moss? Could anything be more consoling than +this cushion to my bruised and aching arms? Ease and sloth were sweet +indeed. I was free, but not at large. The amazing adaptability of the +human mind had reconciled me in a few suffering hours to this confined +space. Verily do I believe that the overcoming of this subtle anodyne +demanded the expenditure of more vital force than the sum of all the +long-sustained automatic exertion by which I had won physical release. + +One supreme mental tug and the baneful torpor was dispelled, and with +stiffened legs and bruised hand@ I began to screw myself up to the free +air cautiously and painfully; and there, in a beam of light from the +crystal, was the slow-dripping flower-bedizened water-celestial nectar +to parched lips. + +Hours after I awoke as from a dream. Far below a column of smoke showed +that Wylo still watched. My first act was to send up a responsive +signal. In a fit of petty passion I flung the toil-worn boot into the +ravine, and began the descent by way of the spur to the west. + +Wylo seemed scared by the sight of the staggering and tattered +scarecrow, barefooted, and stained with blood and dirt, who stumbled +into the camp at dusk, too weary to talk, almost too spent to eat; +and to this day he is convinced that I was actually detained by the +“debil-debil,” whom I had overcome by some means of which wonder-working +white men alone have the secret. + +After two days' rest I climbed the mountain again, blocked the fissure +with loose stones, and built a buttress, standing upon which I tapped +the crystal gently with the tomahawk. It quivered. A shaft of rainbow +tints dazzled my sight. I tapped again. As I touched it it third +time, the fragile finger with which the gaunt old rock had scorned the +plodding centuries vanished in a splutter of spangles! + + + + +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +“These ghosts of the living and of the dead assuredly illustrate in +a striking manner the mysterious workings of the human mind, and the +unsuspected influence of soul on soul.”--PRODMORE. + + +Not more than a hundred yards from its mud-besmeared mouth the +convenient mangroves disappear and the little creek assumes becoming +airs. Huge tea-trees, with cushiony bark, straddle it, and ferns grow +strongly in all its nooks and bends. When the big trees blossom in +watery yellow, yellow-eared honey-eaters, blue-bibbed sun-birds, and +screeching parrots in accordant colours, assemble joyously, for the +aroma, as of burnt honey, spreads far and wide, bidding all, butterflies +and jewel-backed beetles which buzz and hum, to the feast, until the +aerial anthem is harmonic to the rustle of the sea. + +The sturdy feet of the trees stand in black peat, through which the +water from the wholesome hills oozes and dribbles, and the russet stain +from discarded leaves is on their white bases. Russet, too, is the +surface of the ever moist soil. Some element in the water derived from +pacted roots of palm and fern tinctures whatsoever in it lies, so that +the bottoms of the shallow, erratic pools are thick with russet slime. +All above is bright and pure, and the water which flows over the +slime-smudged roots limpid and refreshing. If you cut into the bark +of the tea-tree you will find water in beads and trickles, water which +sparkles with purity and has a slightly saline taste. The bare roots +alone suffer defilement. + +Many a tall tea-tree stands sentinel on the margin of the creek, and +there are groves of slim palms with narrow truncated leaves--palms which +creep and sprawl over vegetation of independent character, and palm& +which coquette with the sun with huge fans. Orchid& display sprays of +yellowish-green flowers, which contribute a decided savour to the medley +of scents, and palm-like Cycads meander from the low bank out Into the +forest. + +But there is one tree which, if not superior to the rest in broadness +of base, height, fairness of bark, and fullness of bloom, has especial +endowment. It stands at the spot where generation after generation of +the original owners of the soil has crossed the creek, wearing a waving +path upon which ferns ever encroach and which every flood amends. In a +recess in its massive roots reposes “Kidjo-bang,” the restless stone--a +boulder, man's-head size, stained with a rim of sober brown. + +This is its accustomed scat. It roves the locality, returning, +swallow-like, to the close-fitting hollow of the root. The embraces of +the root are sometimes so strong that the dingy stone may not be moved. +But the floods of the wet season maintain an unceasing cataract to its +dislodgment, and then, according to the legends of the blacks, it begins +to “walk about.” It may rest a month just out of reach of the disturbing +water among the ferns. It has been known to appear mysteriously on the +sandy beach two hundred yards away, to which spot it is said to travel +by way of the grass lands, avoiding the slur of the muddy creek. + +Whether it seeks change of scene beyond the ripple of dead leaves and +spoil of the flood, or whether it ventures out on to the open beach, +where the breezes from the Pacific play upon it, the round white stone +returns, independent of the agency of man, to the sanctuary which time, +ever-flowing water, and the hospitable roots of the tree, have combined +to afford. It is there this day. Should it be taken to one or other of +the blue islands in the broad bay, sooner or later it will be discovered +nestling cosily in the grotto in which the dyed slime smears it as with +pale blood. + +To the ordinary investigator of the whimsicalities of “Kidj-o-bang” the +blacks betray no secret, though they would verify, with what to them is +proof positive, that it does on occasion appear in unexpected places +and unaccountably reoccupies its cell. Discreetly pursue the subject and +peradventure you may be told precisely why the stone may not always rest +in the one spot in the whole world which it fits as a kernel its shell. +It has been, they assert, associated with an evil deed of which it is +now the emblem. Among the many the mysteries of “Kidj-o-bang” dwell +with the past, though it is still associated with the ceremonies of the +bestowal of totemic names on the children of a certain father. + +More than one legend concerning it is extant, and the young fellows of +the present day frankly scoff at them all, while the old men believe +each other's versions and repeat them with bated breath. They cannot +discredit stories which were accepted as established facts when they +were young, which no one then ever dreamed of doubting, and which +provide a comfortably satisfactory account for otherwise perplexing +incidents. + +Musing on the spot, the legend of the roving stone usurped my thoughts. +The trivial and uncertain notions of the black boy who was the first to +tell it, and by theatrical gestures to illustrate its verities, became +more and more indistinct. The soothsayers of the long past had been +forbidden by Nature to doubt that which was the lore of the camp. Was it +that Nature re-asserted her influence--that the essences of the scene, +subtle and pervasive, had recurred, creating a receptive spirit, so +deep a religion of assent that shadow and substance intermingled to my +bewilderment? I was permitted to be a sensitive percipient in the midst +of the ashes of shiftless folk who had passed away, catching but a +casual and deceptive glimpse of the coming of the desolating white man. + +Piln-goi, the black boy, had wandered up the creek. A thrilling silence +prevailed. Stooping down, I laved my hands in the softly flowing water, +idly intent on lifting the stone. The tawny slime defeated irresolute +efforts, and my slipping hands bestowed a baptismal splash. + +Instantly I became conscious of a strange presence, and, glancing +over my shoulder, saw an unfamiliar black boy lurking behind a +glistening-fronded Cycad. + +The whole scene had undergone wishful transformation. The white-barked +trees, purified of smears from the sooty fingers of fire, stood out in +splendid contrast to a richer, thicker, a flowery undergrowth. Tall fern +trees spread green cobwebs to entrap sunbeams. The Cycad under which the +boy crouched was slim-shaped, and its foliage resembled that of one of +the most beautiful of ferns, with languorous, dolorous fronds, while it +was crowned with a huge fruit of golden-brown. All the scene had +been wondrously transfigured. Time's treacheries had been defeated. +A garden-like age had been restored. The sword-leaved orchid dangled +yard-long sprays of brilliant yellow flowers, which saturated the air +with delicate perfume. Fearless birds fluttered among and hovered over +the pendant blooms, whistling and calling. Water-rats sported in the +lily-bespangled stream, and a platypus basked, on the bank. + +From the strained and expectant attitude of the boy, it was apparent +that he was hunting. He stepped cautiously out of cover, and, using a +wommera of dark wood with oval clutches of white shell, threw a spear +into the long grass. A kangaroo, mad with fear and pain, staggered +forward, knowing not whence fate had struck it, and, lurching +helplessly, sank among the ferns on the margin of the water. Ignoring my +presence the boy, having completed the hunter's office with a blow from +a nulla-nulla, called in a thin, shrill voice: + +“Yano-lee!” (We go this way). + +In a few seconds a young girl of his own race stepped through the leafy +screen. She cast casual glances at the dead kangaroo, and without saying +a word to her companion came to the pool, stooped down beside me, and +drank eagerly and noisily, using a scoop improvised from a leaf. Her +back glistened with perspiration, and her coarse, fuzzy, uncleanly hair +ceased in tufts on her neck. It was a slim and shapely little figure. +The plumes of the orchid, golden and syrupy, swayed over her heedless +head and seemed to caress it. Her eyes, round, large, and brimful of the +bewildering eagerness of youth, relieved the unobtrusive expansiveness +of her nose and almost atoned for her savage lips. Though almost +touching me, the most shy, wild creature of the bush seemed unconscious +of my presence. She was in fact and deed: + +“We have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible.” I was the +phantom--invisible, intangible. The pair beside, the unembarrassed +realities. + +Do phantoms reflect? That privilege was mine. Let memory treasure every +detail of the scene, every vestige of its incidents. + +“Kidj-o-bang” had vanished. There was its cell. A full and stainless +stream, in a gurgling cataract, sparkled over the big root, while high +among the blossoms birds clambered incessantly for nectar. + +The primitive pair were at home, but not at case, In this Garden of +Eden. They spoke in mumbling tones, of which I could catch but stray +phrases, though I listened eagerly. Presently the girl took up two +dry sticks, and, using one as a drill between the palms of her hands, +essayed to make a fire. + +The boy imperatively intervened. “Poo-nee imba!” (No fire). + +The girl started up, and instantly both slid into the jungle as silently +and as tracklessly as snakes. + +The dead kangaroo, the expectant phantom (gifted for the time being with +a faculty more subtle than any moral sense), remained alone among the +birds and the orchids, while shy pencil-tailed water-rats began to sniff +and peer among the sedges. So enthralling was the scene that time passed +insensibly. The sun was overhead when the pair reappeared noiselessly. +Smears of shell and grit betrayed an intervening meal of oysters. Swarms +of green ants, in a scramble for food, almost obscured the blood-stains +on the fur of the kangaroo, and, brushing them away, the boy made and +enlarged with his fingers an opening in the body, and having torn out +the heart, liver, and kidneys, made a fire, scarce a hand's-breadth wide +and smokeless, on which the meat was singed prior to being munched with +grim deliberation. They ate largely, some of the flesh from the hind +quarters being also eaten, scrap by scrap. + +Were they fugitives? Tall and strong, the boy was as alert and +suspicious as a dingo. Every sense was strained. He seemed intent upon +subduing the very noises in his head as he slowly crushed his food and +gulped. + +A forlorn cry, half appeal, half gurgle, filtered through the leafage as +from the beach, and on the instant the jungle had soundlessly absorbed +the affrighted pair. The handful of fire and the mutilated kangaroo +remained as the only evidences of the handiwork of man. + +What of the intruder? The cry was almost too weird to be human. Again it +thrilled through the leafage, a trifle stronger, and seemed to convey a +threat commingled with a prayer for succour. + +The scene held me. I was powerless, but not indifferent; capable of +sight, incapable of action or utterance. Something in the tone of the +voice told of a member of my own race in sore distress. Yet I could not +respond to his appeal or move to his aid. + +Half an hour of intense silence passed, and then a lusty shout startled +the air. Surely, I thought, the wayfarer who makes such outcry in this +unpeopled wilderness is an uncouth fellow who has lost his way and +thinks to dialogue with echoes for relief of loneliness. Presently the +cracking of branchlets and a rumble of discontented phrases told of +someone blundering along through the mangroves. Accustomed to the +gentle sounds and the delicious silence of the jungle, the clumsy noises +irritated while preparing me for the sight of the intruder--a big, +aggressive, weather-scored man, his only clothing a pair of short pants +of canvas, stained with wear and stiff and whitened with frost like +sea-salt. The ocean had but an hour ago cast him like its scum on the +beach. + +He burst on the scene to plunge his broken lips into the water at my +feet. Like the natives, he drank long and noisily, and when his thirst +was allayed called to an imaginary mate--“Pietro, Pietro!” cursed freely +when no answer came, and whimpered like a babe. + +Huge of body, strong of limb, bully and brute stamped on his coarse +features, yet did his dread of loneliness piteously overcome him. His +bald pate, hung about with scant reddish ringlets, had been roasted by +the tropic sun until it glowed, and eyes and nose strove for supremacy +of inflammation. An unkempt moustache did not hide teeth of disreputable +tint; chin and jowl were covered with a fortnight's growth of streaky +hair. + +Turning from the water, he saw the dismembered kangaroo, and, seizing +one of the legs, tore the flesh from the bones and with ravenous greed +began an uncleanly feast. The impure drank of the pure water and gulped +the strong flesh until his gorged stomach swelled cask-shape, and then +he slept as noisily as he had eaten and drank. + +A leathern belt, cracked and whitened, furrowed his distended girth, +and as he lay stretched with the sun scrutinising his face, flies and +mosquitoes and carnivorous green ants feasted on his blood at will. +Each leaden-tinted, lean fly revelled until it assumed similitude to +a colouring grape, some “reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken +men”; bloated mosquitoes and green ants, commingling, made a living +mosaic on the skin of the unconscious man. What could the assaults and +stings of myriads of insects avail against fatigue so formidable? + +But a decree had gone forth that the sleeper should wake, and who is man +that he should flout imperious commands? The merciless sun insisted. The +strong man fidgeted under the persistent blaze. Perspiration poured from +his skin; he snarled; his eyelids twitched and quivered; the veins +of neck and forehead throbbed ominously. The sun does not tolerate +disobedience. A thin trickle of blood issued from the grimy nose, and +with a snort the man awoke, his flame-red eye% swilled with enforced +tears. Dazedly he plunged his head into the water and drank greedily, +and, sitting up, spat sullenly and with signs of disgust and contempt. +What comfort could cold water afford so repleted a stomach? + +Having disdainfully spurned the remnants of the kangaroo, he sat head +between knees, grumbling against fate. To him the fruitful and pleasant +land was disconsolate. A castaway, he had drifted on to its welcome +shores, and all that it could offer was loneliness, cold water, the raw +flesh of a strange animal, and denial of the solace of sleep. Out of the +depths of his misery and dejection he called imperatively on his God, +and taking from the lining of his belt a thumb-sized purse, of netted +silver, displayed a glorious pearl, which he held aloft, and with an +admixture of supplication and imprecation proffered it to the Most High +as grudging ransom from a God-abandoned country. + +Who is there that delights not in the susceptible purity of pearls? The +gem which symbolises virginal placidity was like to be contaminated by +the coarse handling of the fretful, bargaining castaway. + +Did I lean forward acquisitively to accept it from the noisome fingers, +reluctant that so serene a prize should be retained in so coarse a +setting? + +The man started, for the votive offering had vanished, and blasphemous +lamentations and curses against the Supreme Being, whom he abused for +defrauding him of fortune by trickery, shocked the quietude. Then a +spasm of religious fervour jerked him to his knees as he patronised the +Almighty for having accepted a pledge for safe-conduct from death-like +solitude. After transports of impious piety, as uncouth and boisterous +as his struggles through the labyrinth of mangroves to the purifying +water, he sat bareheaded in the sun. + +Steamy heat distilled strong aromatic odours from the myriad leaves; +languid flowers gave copiously and of the best of their fragrance; ferns +and lotus did obeisance to high noon. The birds had ceased to whistle, +and the droning of bees gave to the upper air slumbering rhythm of its +own. + +Again the intruder slept. Again the sun commanded and he woke raging. +Standing, he cursed both loud and long, eyes protuberant, face purpling +under the strain of vindictive oaths. + +What an unflattering contrast to the unclad natives who had dominated +yet blended with the scene-the girl the prototype of a swaying palm, the +boy that of a tough young bloodwood beside the creek, among the topmost +branches of which a crimson-flowered mistletoe made a splash of colour +in harmony with the single red feather from the wing of a black cockatoo +which the soft-tongued youth had entangled in his hair. + +This gross, profane, sun-smitten, sea-rejected herald of civilisation, +disowned by his fellows, disinherited of the world, defiled the spot, +and his voice created an inaugural discord. + +With arms uplifted, he muttered ineffectual curses against his fellows, +upbraided his saints, and defied his deity. But while his lips frothed +with the passion of a stuttering tongue, the provoked but just genius +of the spot passed sentence, and swiftly and silently the messengers of +Death came. Four slender spear& penetrated his shaggy chest, as with +a &cream which ended lit a gulp he splashed back into the water. His +struggles and splutterings soon ceased. Silence resumed its fascination. + +Blood welled from the mouth and nose and spear wounds, which the eager +water carried off in wavy, independent streams, while the dead face +whitened. + +Many minutes elapsed before a dozen white-eyed natives cautiously oozed +through the Jungle, stimulating each other's nervousness by reassuring +gestures. Certain that the trespasser on their dominion was incapable of +mischief, they began to chatter, showing fidgety interest in the body, +which they touched and poked fearsomely with spears. + +Dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the sun through a curtain of water, +which had already cleaned them of heat and passion, and wisps of red +hair drifted over the forehead. + +The untimely yelp of a dingo some few yards in the jungle inspired a +similar response from one of the men, and without shyness or reserve the +boy and girl joined the throng, and all began to talk excitedly. Some +of the men assumed threatening attitudes towards the girl, who stood +submissively, while the boy talked in a rage of excitement. He had +chosen his mate, and would not, even on pain of summary death, abandon +her. + +So trivial an incident as the love affairs of boy and girl could not +compare with the phenomenon in the water. The crisis was momentary. +Amazement was pictured in every face, and not a man but subjected the +bleeding body to gross contempt and what passed among them for ridicule. +They mimicked the high stomach as they stood, as the dead man had stood, +with arms aloft in rebellion against his lot, and fell back, as he had +fallen, screaming, to kick and wallow on the ground. Here was plot and +matter for ludicrous corroboree, the first rehearsal of which took place +on the scene. + +Soon curiosity took possession of the unstable actors. The belt was +removed, and on the purse being fumbled with, several small pearls fell +out. They were disregarded; but the strong man of the party looped the +belt about his own inadequate waist, the girl hid the purse (which had +been passed from hand to hand) in her hair, while the men tore the bone +buttons from the pants and fitted them into their ears as they strutted +foppishly. + +The dead eyes stared defiantly up into the sky, the face whitened, and +the stains of blood seemed to settle on it. + +A harsh sound came as an electric shock, and I heard as from afar off +Piln-goi shout: + +“You bin sleep long time, boss! Big low water. We fella look out +pearl-shell!” + +The scene had resumed everyday aspects. The sun concentrated its rays on +my head through a rift in the jungle, and the stone, stained dull red, +lay in its cell, while rootlets fringed with tawny slime wavered over +it. + +Had soul communed with soul on that illusive borderland we range in +dreams, the emblem of a deed of blood eloquent to reveal its secret? And +now that the tale is told, will it cease from bewildering the simple old +men of the soil who with one hand grapple the magical past and with the +other the realities of the present? + +Piln-goi's impatience drew me from the spot and out on to the reef laid +bare by the ebb. The beguiling pearl still eludes him, but memory holds +a rarer treasure than all the fecund sea contains. + + + +End + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tropic Days + +Author: E. J. Banfield + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7324] +This file was first posted on April 14, 2003 +Last Updated: May 31, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROPIC DAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat + + + + + + + + + +TROPIC DAYS (1918) + +By E. J. Banfield + + +Author Of "The Confessions Of A Beachcomber" And "My Tropic Isle" + + +"Peace and silence. . . combined with the large liberties of nature." + + De Quincey + + +TO + +MY BROTHER BEACHCOMBERS; Professing, Practising + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +In my previous books the endeavour was to give exact if prosaic details +of life on an island off the coast of North Queensland on which a few +of the original inhabitants preserved their uncontaminated ways. Here +is presented another instalment of sketches of a quiet scene. Again an +attempt is made to describe--not as ethnological specimens, but as men +and women--types of a crude race in ordinary habit as they live, though +not without a tint of imagination to embolden the better truths. + +I thankfully acknowledge indebtedness to my friends Mr. Charles Hedley, +of the Australian Museum (Sydney); Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of +the Queensland Museum; and Mr. Dodd S. Clarke, of Townsville, N.Q., for +valuable aid in the preparation of my notes for publication. + +DUNK ISLAND. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I--SUN DAYS. + +IN IDLE MOMENT +ETERNAL SUNSHINE +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT +THE SCENE-SHIFTER +BRACE PLANTS +SHADOWS +"SMILING MORN" +ANCESTRAL SHADE +QUIET WATERS +"THE LOWING HERD" +BABBLING BEACHES +THE LOST ISLE + + +PART II--THE PASSING RACE. + + +THE CORROBOREE +THE CANOE-MAKER +TWO LADIES--NELLY, THE SHREW; MARIA DANCES +SOOSIE +BLUE SHIRT +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD +EAGLE'S-NEST FLOAT +NATURE IN RETALIATION +"STAR RUN ABOUT" +BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + HOOKS + NARCOTICS AND POISONS + FLY-FISHING + + +PART III--MISCELLANEA. + + +PEARLS + WHAT IS A PEARL? + A PEARL IN THE MAKING + STRANGE PEARLS + PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE +THE BUSH TRACK +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN +UP AND AWAY +"PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING" +TIME'S FINGER +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +AT HOME ON THE TROPIC STRAND +"DEBIL-DEBIL" +NATURE'S PUZZLE: FIND THE BIRD +ORCHID (PHAIUS GRANDIFOLIUS) +ORCHID (BULBOPHYLLUM BAILEYI) +A SPIDER CRAB +A SPIDER CRAB DISGUISED +CASUARINAS +TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA +MACARANGA TANARIUS +UMBRELLA TREE SHADOWS +SUN-SALUTED TREE FERNS +"THE LOWING HERD" +PERFECT HAPPINESS +GIGANTIC OYSTER (OSTREA CRISTA GALLI) +SANDSPIT SWIRL +GLOOM AND GLEAM +COWRIES +"SOOSIE'S" TYPE +TAPES +LEAF VARIATIONS (FICUS OPPOSITA) TYPICAL FORM RIGHT HAND TOP CORNER +TELLINA +A SHELL COLLECTION +TRITON +DOMESTIC DUTIES +PEARL-ENTOMBED FISH AND RACEMOSE PEARL +CATTIERS +PEARL-IMPRISONED CHITON +TWO STRANGE PEARLS +TWO BUBBLE SHELLS +PEARL JOSSES +WHITE APPLE (EUGENIA CORMIFLORA) +CYCADS +DESERTED +CYCAD AND PALMS +WIND-TORMENTED FIG-TREE +THE IDLE OCEAN + + + + + + + +PART I--SUN DAYS + + + + +IN IDLE MOMENT + + + +"'Are you not frequently idle?' 'Never, brother. When we are not engaged +in our traffic we are engaged in our relaxations.'"--BORROW. + +On the smooth beaches and in the silent bush, where time is not +regulated by formalities or shackled by conventions, there delicious +lapses--fag-ends of the day to be utilised in a dreamy mood which +observes and accepts the happenings of Nature without disturbing the +shyest of her manifestations or permitting 'the-mind to dwell on any but +the vaguest speculations. + +Such idle moments are mine. Let these pages tell of their occupation. + +As the years pass it is proved that the administration of the affairs of +an island, the settled population of which is limited to three, involves +pleasant though exacting duties. It is a gainful government--not +gainful in the accepted sense, but in all that vitally matters--personal +freedom, absence of irksome regulations remindful of the street, liberty +to enjoy the mood of the moment and to commune with Nature in her most +fascinating aspects. Those who are out of touch with great and dusty +events may, by way of compensation, be the more sensitive to the +processes of the universe, which, though incessantly repeated, are +blessed with recurrent freshness. + +The sun rises, travels across a cloudless sky, gleams on a sailless sea, +disappears behind purple mountains gilding their outline, and the day is +done. Not a single dust-speck has soiled sky or earth; not the faintest +echo of noisy labours disturbed the silences; not an alien sight has +intruded. What can there be in such a scene to exhilarate? Must not +the inhabitants vegetate dully after the style of their own bananas? +Actually the day has been all too brief for the accomplishment of +inevitable duties and to the complete enjoyment of all too alluring +relaxations. + +Here is opportunity to patronise the sun, to revel in the companionship +of the sea, to confirm the usage of beaches, to admonish winds to +seemliness and secrecy, to approve good-tempered trees, to exchange +confidences with flowering plants, to claim the perfumed air, to rejoice +in the silence-- + + "Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which pries not to th' interior." + +How oft is the confession that the fullest moments of life are achieved +when I roam the beaches with little more in the way of raiment than +sunburn and naught in hand save the leaves of some strange, sand-loving +plant? Then is it that the individual is magnified. The sun salutes. The +wind fans. The sea sighs a love melody. The caressing sand takes print +of my foot alone. All the world might be mine, for none is present to +dispute possession. The sailless sea smiles in ripples, and strews its +verge with treasures for my acceptance. The sky's purity enriches my +soul. Shall I not joy therein? + +Though he may be unable to attain those moments of irresistible +intuition which came to Amiel, when a man feels himself great like the +universe and calm like a god, one may thrill with love and admiration +for Nature without resigning sense of superiority over all other of her +works or abating one jot of justifiable pride. + +Even in tropical Queensland there is a sense of revivification during +the last half of August and first of September, and the soul of man +responds thereto, as do plants and birds, in lawful manner. Perhaps it +is that the alien dweller in lands of the sun, when he frisks mentally +and physically at this sprightly season, is merely obeying an imperative +characteristic bred into him during untold generations when the winter +was cruelly real and spring a joyful release from cold and distress. The +cause may be slight, but there is none to doubt the actual awakening, +for it is persuasive and irresistible. + +The lemon-trees are discarding the burden of superfluous fruit with +almost immoderate haste, for the gentle flowers must have their day. +Pomeloes have put forth new growth a yard long in less than a fortnight, +and are preparing a bridal array of blooms such as will make birds +and butterflies frantic with admiration and perfume the scene for the +compass of a mile. The buff-and-yellow sprays of the mango attract +millions of humming insects, great and small. Most of the orchids are +in full flower, the coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of +bud, loose bunches of white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and +the sunflower-tree is blotched with gold in masses. The birds make +declaration of attachment for the season. + +Great trees, amorous birds, frail insects, perceive the subtle influence +of the season, and shall not coarse-fibred man rejoice, though there +be little or nothing to which he may point as special evidence of +inspiration? He may feel the indefinable without comprehending any +material reason why. He may confess, although there is but a trifle more +sunshine than a month ago--and what influence a trifle where there is +so much--and scarcely any difference of temperature, that Nature is +insisting on obedience to one of her mighty laws--the law of heredity. +Why, therefore, refrain from justifying the allusion? Why persist in +declining the invitations of the hour? Far be it from me to do so. Is +sufferance the cognizance of this Free Isle? + +All my days are Days of the Sun. All my days are holy. Duty may suggest +the propriety of contentment within four walls. Inclination and the +thrill of the season lure me to gloat over the more manifest of its +magic. Be sure that, unabashed and impenitent, shall I riot over +sordid industry during the most gracious time of year to hearken to the +eloquence and accept the teachings of unpeopled spaces. + +Such is the silence of the bush that the silken rustle of the +butterflies becomes audible and the distinctive flight of birds is +recognised--not alone such exaggerated differences as the whirr of +quail, the bustle of scrub fowl, and the whistle and clacking of nutmeg +pigeons, but the delicate and tender characteristics of the wing +notes of the meeker kinds of doves and the honey-eaters, and also the +calculated flutterings of the fly-catchers. In the whistling swoop of +the grey goshawk there is a note of ominous blood-thirstiness, silent +though the destroyer has sat awaiting the moment for swift and decisive +action. + +Seldom, even on the stillest evening, may the presence of the night-jar +be detected, except by its coarse call, while the sprightly little +sun-bird flits hither and thither, prodigal of its vivid colours +and joying with machine-like whirring. The sun-bird exemplifies the +brightness of the day. All its activities are bold and conspicuous. +Aptly named, it has nothing to hide, no deeds which will not withstand +the scrutiny of the vividest rays. + +To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on secret doings and on +flight soft as a falling leaf. It is a bird of the twilight and night. +Startled from brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is +ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad daylight it +moves from its resting-place as a leaf blown by an erratic and sudden +puff, and vanishes as it touches the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. +Mark the spot of its vanishment and approach never so cautiously, and +you see naught. Peer about and from your very feet that which had been +deemed to be a shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a phantom +zephyr. + +The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains a puzzle. It moves +not, it may not blink. Its crafty parent has so nibbled and frayed the +edges of the decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that it has +become absorbed in the scene. There is nothing to distinguish between +the leaf-like feathers and the feather-like leaves. The instinct of +the bird has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, and to +be discovered only by the critical inspection of every inch of its +environment. You have found it; but not for minutes after its instinct +has warned it to possess its soul calmly and not to be afraid. So firm +is its purpose that if inadvertently you put your foot on its tender +body it would not move or utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated +on impassiveness, and thus does Nature guard its weakest and most +helpless offspring. + +While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the tiny creature which +suffers handling without resistance, the shred of bark, driven by the +imperceptible zephyr, falls a few yards away, and in an agony of anxiety +utters an imploring purr, or was it an imprecation? That half purr, half +hiss has been the only sound of the episode. It is a warning to be gone +and leave Nature to her secrets and silences. + +A month's abstinence may not be a very severe penance for an island on +which the rainfall averages 124 inches per year; but when vegetation +suffers from the cruelty of four almost rainless months, promises and +slights amount to something more than mere discourtesy. How genuine +the thanksgiving to the soft skies after an incense-stimulating shower. +Insects whirl in the sunshine. Among the pomelo-trees is a cyclone of +scarcely visible things. Motes and specks of light dance in disorderly +figures, to be detected as animated objects only by gauzy wings catching +the light and reflecting it. Each insect, wakened but an hour ago by +the warmth of the moist soil, in an abandonment of the moment, is a +helioscope transmitting signals of pure pleasure. Drops still linger +on myriads of leaves, and glitter on the glorious gold of the Chinese +laburnum; the air is saturated with rich scents, and the frolicking +crowd, invisible but for the oblique light, does not dream of disaster. +Their crowded hour has attracted other eyes, appreciative in another +sense. Masked wood-swallows, swiftlets, spangled drongos, leaden +fly-eaters, barred-shouldered fly-eaters, hurry to the circus to +desolate it with hungry swoops. The assemblage is noisy, for two or +three drongos cannot meet without making a clatter on the subject of the +moment. They cannot sing, but clink and jangle with as much intensity +and individual satisfaction as if gifted with peerless note. It is the +height of the season, and a newly matched pair, satisfied with an +ample meal, sit side by side on a branch to tell of their love, and +in language which, though it may lack tunefulness, has the outstanding +quality of enthusiasm. But why waste clamorous love-notes on a world +busy with breakfast? The sportful, tail-flicking dandy flits and alights +so that he may address himself solely to his delighted and accepting +spouse, peering into her reddish eyes the while, and in ecstasy +proclaiming, in tones as loud and unmusical as her own, that life +overflows with joy when mutual admiration surcharges the breast. + +The noise stays a company of metallic starlings in headlong flight from +the nest-laden tree in the forest to the many-fruited jungle. Though +they most conscientiously search the fronds of coco-nut palms for +insignificant grubs and caterpillars, starlings do not hawk for insects. +Held up by the excitement--for by this time other birds have darted +to the feast--the starlings alight among the plumes of the laburnum, +interrogating in acidulous tones, their black, burnished, iridescent +feathers and flame-hued eyes making a picture of rare vividness and +beauty. + +How thin becomes the throng! Last night's shower, the morning warmth of +the soil, have brought forth a gush of life that wheels and sparkles in +the sun and becomes bait for birds. Are droughts designed by Nature to +test endurance on the part of animal and vegetable life? Leaves fall +from evergreen trees almost as completely as from the deciduous, and +even the jungle is thickly strewn, while every slight hollow is filled +with brittle debris where usually leaves are limp with dampness and +mould. The jungle has lost, too, its rich, moist odours. Whiffs of the +pleasant earthy smell, telling of the decay of clean vegetable refuse, +do issue in the early morning and after sundown; but while the sun is +searching out all the privacies of the once dim area, the wholesome +fragrance does not exist. + +Drought proves that certain species of exotic plants are hardier than +natives. Wattles suffer more than mangoes, and citrus fruits have powers +of endurance equal to eucalyptus. Whence does the banana obtain the +liquid which flows from severed stem and drips from the cut bunch? Dig +into the soil and no trace of even dampness is there; but rather parched +soil and unnatural warmth, almost heat. Heat and moisture are the +elements which enable one of the most succulent of plants to bear a +bunch of fruit luscious and refreshing, and when heat alone prevails, +the wonder is that the whole patch of luxuriant greenness does not +collapse and wither. But the broad leaves woo the cool night airs, and +while the thin, harsh, tough foliage of the wattles becomes languid and +droops and falls, the banana grove retains its verdancy, each plant a +reservoir of sap. + +A noteworthy feature of the botany of the coast of tropical Queensland +is its alliance with the Malayan Archipelago and India. Most of the +related plants do not occur in those parts closest to other equatorial +regions in the geographical sense, but in localities in which climate +and physical conditions are similar. Probably there are more affinities +in the coastal strip of which this isle is typical than in all the +rest of the continent of Australia. One prominent example may be +mentioned-viz., "the marking-nut tree." When the distinctiveness of +the botany of the southern portions of Australia from that of the old +country began to impress itself on the earliest settlers, the miscalled +native cherry was the very first on the list of reversals. The good +folks at home were told that the seeds of the Australian cherry "grow +on the outside." The fruit of the cashew or marking-nut tree betrays +a similar feature in more pronounced fashion. The fruit is really the +thickened, succulent stalk of the kidney-shaped nut. The tint of the +fruit being attractive, unsophisticated children eat of it and earn +scalded lips and swollen tongues, while their clothing is stained +indelibly by the juice. Botanists know the handsome tree as SEMECARPUS +AUSTRALIENSIS, but by the indignant parent of the child with tearful +and distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the +"tar-tree," and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk +beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but +the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so +that unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree, +which belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and +there are those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in +other parts of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a +valuable means to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. +A tree that is ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty +and strange fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, +is not to be condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character. + +An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when +roasted is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail +or promotion nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially +indigestible unless eaten in immoderate quantity. + +One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family +exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer +fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion +arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of +varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable +inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to +credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while +individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral +lobes, with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal +forms tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. +There seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches +exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are, +according to local observation, invariably barren. The leaves, which, +when young, are densely hairy on the underside, on maturity become so +rough and coarse that they are used by the blacks as a substitute for +sandpaper in the smoothing of weapons. The fruit is small, dark purple +when ripe, sweet, but rough to the palate. + +During the fulness of the wet season, a diminutive orchid, the roots, +tuber, leaf, and flower of which may be easily covered by the glass of a +lady's watch, springs upon exposed shoulders of the hills. So far it +has not been recorded for any other part of Australia, or, indeed, the +world. Science has bestowed upon it the title of CORYSANTHES FIMBRIATA, +for it is all too retiring of disposition to demand of man a familiar +name. Probably it may be quite common in similar localities, but its +size, its brief periodicity, and inconspicuousness, contribute to make +it, at present, one of the rarities of botany. Beneath a kidney-shaped +leaf a tiny, solitary, hooded, purple flower shelters with becoming +modesty, the art of concealment being so delicately employed that it +seems to preserve its virginal purity. There is proof, however, that the +flower does possess some "secret virtue," for if the plant be immersed +in glycerine the preservative takes the hue of the flower. Nature having +ordained that the plants should be elusive, they appear in remote spots +and unlikely situations with foothold among loose and gritty fragments +of rock, and with cessation of the sustaining rains disappear, each +having borne but a single leaf and produced but a solitary flower. +The leaf does not seem to be attractive to insects, nor is the flower +despoiled or the tuber interfered with. The first dry day sears the +plants, and succeeding days shrivel them to dust and they vanish. What +part in the great scheme of Nature does the humble flower fulfil? Or is +it merely a lowly decoration, not designed to court the ardent gaze of +the sun, but to brighten an otherwise bare space of Mother Earth with a +spot of fugitive purple? + +Widely different are the ant-house plants, of which North Queensland has +two genera. One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree +like many of the orchids. In both genera the gouty stems are hollow, a +feature of which ants take advantage; they are merely occupiers, not the +makers of their homes. Few, if any, of the plants are uninhabited by +a resentful swarm, ready to attack whomsoever may presume to interfere +with it. It is discomposing to the uninitiated to find the curious +"orchid," laboriously wrenched from a tree, overflowing with stinging +and pungent ants, nor is he likely to reflect that the association +between the plant and the insect may be more than accidental. + +Some of the commonest wattles exhibit singularity of foliage well +worth notice. Upon the germination of the seeds the primary leaves are +pinnate. After a brief period this pretty foliage is succeeded by a +boomerang-shaped growth, which prevails during life. Botanists do not +speak of such trees as possessing leaves, but "leaf-stalks dilated into +the form of a blade and usually with vertical edges, as in Australian +acacias." If one of these wattles is burnt to the ground, but yet +retains sufficient life to enable it to shoot from the charred stem, the +new growth will be of pinnate leaves, shortly to be abandoned for the +substitutes, which are of a form which checks transpiration and fits +the plant to survive in specially dry localities. Several of the species +thus equipped to withstand drought are extremely robust in districts +where the rainfall is prolific. There are no data available to support +the theory that such species in a wet district are more vigorous and +attain larger dimensions than representatives in drier and hotter +localities. In her distribution of the Australian national flower, +Nature seems to be "careless of the type," or rather regardless in +respect of conditions of climate. + +Human beings, and occasionally animals lower in the scale, deviate +distressingly in their conduct from the general. Plants, too, though +lacking the organ of brain, are subject to aberrations of foliage almost +as fantastical as the mental bent which in man is displayed by the +sticking of straws in the hair. "Phyllomania" is the recognised term for +this waywardness. One of the trees of this locality, the raroo (CAREYA +AUSTRALIS), seems singularly prone to the infirmity, for without +apparent cause it abandons habitual ways and clothes its trunk and +branches with huge rosettes of small, slight, and ineffective leaves, +evidence, probably, of vital degeneration. + +Among the beautiful trees of this Island there is one, PITHECOLOBIUM +PRUINOSUM, possessing features of attraction during successive phases of +growth. The young branches, foliage, and inflorescence, are coated with +minute silky hair, as if dusted with bronze of golden tint. The dense, +light, semi-drooping foliage produces a cloud-like effect, to which the +great masses of buff flowers add a delightful fleeciness, while the ripe +pods, much twisted and involved (to carry similitude as far as it +may), might be likened to dull lightning in thunderous vapour. The tree +flourishes in almost pure sand within a few yards of salt water, and, +being hardy and of clean habit, might well be used decoratively. + +Standing with its feet awash at high tide, the huge fig-tree began life +as a parasite, the seed planted by a beak-cleaning bird in a crevice of +the bark of its forerunner. In time the host disappeared, embraced and +absorbed. Now the tree is a sturdy host. Another fig envelops some +of its branches, two umbrella-trees cling stubbornly to its sides, a +pandanus palm grows comfortably at the base of a limb, tons of staghorn, +bird's-nest, polypodium, and other epiphytal ferns, have licence +to flourish, orchids hang decoratively, and several shrubs spring +aspiringly among its roots. But the big tree still asserts its +individuality. It is the host, the others merely dependents or tenants. +Most of the functions of the tree are associated with the sea. Twice a +year it studs its branches with pink fruit, food for many weeks for a +carnival of birds, the relics of the feast dully carpeting the sand. +Before the first fruiting the old leaves fall, and for a brief interval +the shadows of branches and twigs, intricate, involved, erratic, might +be likened to unschooled scribblings, with here a flourish and there +a blot and many a boisterous smudge. Soon--it is merely a question of +days--the swelling buds displace millions of leaf-sheaves, pale green +and fragile, which fall and, curling in on themselves, redden, and again +the yellow sand is littered, while overhead fresh foliage, changing +rapidly from golden, glistening brown to rich dark green, makes one +compact blotch. And when the wind torments sea and forest, and branches +bend and sway, and creepers drift before it, the white blooms of the +orchids, so light and delicate that a sigh agitates them, might be "foam +flakes torn from the fringe of spray" and tossed aloft. + +The technical description of a fairly common tree--IXORA TIMORENSIS--is +silent on a quality that appeals to the unversed admirer almost as +strongly as the handsome flowers, which occur in large, loose panicles +at the terminals of the branches. Boldly exposed, the white flowers as +they lose primal freshness change to cream, but last for several weeks. +The omitted compliment from formal records is the singular fragrance +of the flowers--strong, sweet, and enticing, though with a drug-like +savour, as if rather an artificial addition than a provision of Nature. +During December the perfume hangs heavily about the trees, being +specially virile in the cool of evening and morning. Being confined to +the tropical coast, away from the centres of population, and flowering +at a season when visitors avoid the north, the scented Ixora has so far +remained uncommended. Those who are familiar with it in its native scene +dwell on its unique excellence, and are proud to reflect that when +a comprehensive catalogue of the flowering and perfumed plants of +Australia comes to be compiled it will stand high in order of merit, +being unique and characteristic of the richness of that part of the +continent in which it exists naturally. + +Twice during lengthy intervals have I been perturbed by the conduct of +the sea-swallows (terns) which breed in this neighbourhood. They select +for their nurseries coral banks, depositing large numbers of eggs beyond +the limit of high tides. In obedience to some law, the joyful white +birds began to lay in September, five or six weeks earlier than usual. +It seemed to be a half-hearted effort to maintain the strength of the +colony, the unanimous and general purpose being postponed for three +months, when numerous clutches and marvellously variegated eggs +embellished the coral. But that which was a perfectly safe and wise +undertaking in September was a foolish and dangerous experiment in +December. The tides then approach their maximum, flooding areas denied +three months previously. Wholesale tragedy was inevitable. The full +moon brought bereavement to many parents, for the sea overwhelmed the +nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise birds had laid their eggs +above the limit of the highest tide. Others screamed in protest against +the cruelty of the sea, for eggs and fluffy chicks do not surely +represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several fledglings were found +half buried in sand and coral chips, some with merely the head with +bright and apprehensive eyes obtruding. Why were not the whole of +the parents of the colony prudent when in default the penalty was +inevitable? Five score were wise, five hundred were foolish, and +the natural increase from the second brood must have been seriously +diminished. Several of the parent birds had brooded over their eggs +until overwhelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide limit +squatted buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. Of one the tip of a +wing only protruded. It was alive, fostering unbroken eggs. + +The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite tree--not massive +and tough, but a slim though tall Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets of +which are not notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, +beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise highly intelligent birds +so overstrain branches with groups of nests that "regrettable incidents" +cannot be averted? First there came to the ground a group of four, and +then twenty nests, all containing eggs or helpless young. By these and +similar mishaps during the season the colony suffered loss to the extent +of at least a hundred. + + "But, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather on the outward wall + Even in the force and road of casualty." + +How often, too, do we find nests in places absurdly wrong? Wonderfully +and skilfully constructed nests are attached to supports obviously +weak, and eggs are laid on the ground right in the track of man and less +considerate animals. Some birds seem to lay eggs and rear young solely +that snakes may not lack and suffer hunger, while how large a proportion +of beautiful and innocent creatures are destined to become prey to +hawks? + +Years ago scientific visitors to a coral islet found almost innumerable +sea birds and eggs. The multitude of birds and their prodigious +fecundity inspired the thought that the "rookery" for the whole breadth +of the Indian Ocean had been discovered. Investigations showed that the +islet was also the abiding-place of a certain species of lizard which +subsisted entirely on eggs. It was calculated that not one egg in +several hundred was hatched out; yet in spite of such an extraordinary +natural check the islet was enormously overpopulated. Thousands of birds +every year laid eggs for the maintenance of fat and pompous reptiles, +without reflecting that there were other and lizardless isles on which +the vital function of incubation might be performed without loss. +Years after other men of science sought the isle. Birds seemed to be as +numerous as ever, but the lizards had disappeared. Had the birds been +wise enough to perceive that the plague of lizards had been sent as +reproof for overcrowding, or did the lizards become victims to physical +deterioration incident upon gluttony and sloth? + +"Into every instinctive act there is an intrusion of reasoned act." +No doubt; but in the case of the terns--sea-frequenting and +sea-loving--which had not the wit to lay their eggs beyond the reach of +spring tides, the reasoning is the merest intrusion. Yet an instance of +what seems to be the reasoned act of a wasp may be cited. The insect had +selected a dead log of soft wood as a site for its egg-shaft. It was at +a spot to which the occupations of the season took me daily, so that the +boring operations were watched from beginning to end. The work was done +rapidly and neatly, and when all was ready for the deposit of the eggs +the insect constructed from papier-mache-like material a disc-shaped lid +exactly fitting the mouth of the excavation, to which it was attached on +its upper edge by a hinge. Then round and about the disc similar stuff +was plastered, so as to form an irregular splash, imitative of a bird's +droppings to the-degree of perfect deception. In the centre was the lid +with the hinge, and whensoever the insect visited its nursery the lid +swung up, closing behind it. On departure it fell into position. Unless +the insect by its presence betrayed its secret, the shrewdest observer +at close quarters would have been misled. + +There are reasons for the belief that green tree-ants understand and +respect the laws of neutrality. There are several communities in the +mango-trees, and since some of the trees overhang the fence, the top +wire is used as a highway. When a gate is opened traffic is suspended. +In a minute or two of a busy day there will be considerable gatherings +on the latch-style, and if the intervening space is narrowed by the +swing of the gate the impatient insects begin to make a living bridge +across the perilous gap. At one particular gate, which is opened and +shut many times a day, it has been noticed that the ants never seem to +resent interruptions or to be vexed by them. If they happen to get on +the hands or fingers, they submit to be restored to the gate; but go +to the formicary on the mango-tree half a dozen yards away and offer +a friendly finger, and you will find dozens of pugnacious individuals +ready to defend their home. Do they recognise that they are but pilgrims +of the fence, enjoying certain rights on sufferance, that it is a path +of peace on which belligerents must not intrude, a neutral tract under +the custody of the law of nations, which ants, as well as men, must +respect? Whatsoever the reason, the deportment of the truculent ant on +the highway is that of an upholder of peace at any price. It is to be +doubted if the animal world holds more illustrious examples of heroism +than a green tree-ants' nest. Two or three individuals may be despised +as long as their assaults are confined to the less sensitive parts of +the body; but let a huge colony up among the branches of an orange-tree +be disturbed, and the first army corps instantly mobilised, and it +will not be cowardly hastily to retreat. So eager for the fray are +the warriors, so well organised, so completely devoted to the +self-sacrificing duty of protecting the community, that two distinct +methods of advance and attack are exercised forthwith in the midst of +what appears to be calamitous confusion. Swarming on the extremity of +the branches among which the formicary is constructed, the defenders, +projecting their terminal segments as far into space as possible, eject +formic acid in the direction of the enemy. Like shrapnel from machine +guns, the liquid missile sweeps a considerable area. Against the +sunlight it appears as a continuous spray, and should one infinitesimal +drop descend into the eye the stoutest mortal will blink. Attacks are +made singly and in detachments. Heroes actually hurl themselves from +the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run along the ground and, +scaling his legs, inflict punishment on the first convenient patch of +unprotected skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in a mass to +the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes happens to be +successful, the observant man will retire with little of his dignity +remaining. + +It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire tastes for the sweet +fruits which man cultivates. One of the honey-eaters, the diet of which +ranges from nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, as +bitter as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate for the thorough +ripening of bananas. While on the plant the fruit is not appreciated, +but after the bunch has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits +are changing colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly bunches were +ripened in a thatched building for the the most part open, and the bird +got the very best of the bunch. Now the process takes place where the +bird has to venture through wire-netting. It has no fear, entering +without ceremony, loudly complaining when inadvertently disturbed, and +flying to other parts of the house to express remonstrance when the +supply is exhausted. + +Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of observation of some +birds and increases the trustfulness of certain species towards human +beings in a region wherein they are held to have rights on equality with +those of their superiors in the animal world. For years, during the few +weeks which generally intervene between the disappearance of +accustomed water reserves and the beginning of the wet season, with +its super-abundance, the metallic starlings have been wont to obtain +refreshment from a hollow far up a huge tea-tree, the supply in which +seemed to be inexhaustible. The tyrant's plea, necessity, ordained the +destruction of the never-failing tree, and now the starlings descend by +the hundred into the deep and shady ravine whence water is pumped, +and drink also from the cattle-trough and bathe therein with noise and +excitement of happy children on the beach. It is quite within the mark +to compute the starlings by the hundred. The trough is edged nearly all +day long by thirsty or dirty birds, while scores sit round among the +shrubs waiting turn and commenting on the frolics and splashings of +others in excitable tones. When, perhaps, there are but a poor dozen or +so round the trough, you may chance to see the birds in attitudes more +varied than those of Pliny's doves, and catch the shadows of burnished +necks darkening the water, as in that famous mosaic, and even the +glistening reflection of the red, jewel-like eyes. Other birds, with far +less assurance and shrill clamour than the lovely starlings, visit +the trough regularly and by the score. Two species of honey-eaters are +seldom unrepresented. The barred-shouldered dove, the spangled drongo, +the noisy pitta, the red-crowned fruit pigeon, the pheasant-tailed +pigeon, are less frequent visitors; and though the purple-breasted +fruit pigeon--the most magnificent of all--talks to his mate in coarse +gutturals from the trees above, he has not been seen actually drinking. +So shy and furtive a bird would choose his time for refreshment when +there is little likelihood of interruption. In the ravine there are +often metallic starlings by the dozen, and little green pigeons--for +those domiciled come and go at all hours of the day. Occasionally a +sulphur-crested cockatoo comes sailing down to the diminishing pool +through interwoven leafage noiselessly as a butterfly; but scrub +fowls, scared by the apparition in white, scamper off with a clatter, +scattering the dead leaves. In such narrow quarters, birds are under +restraint, and show anxiety and apprehension. There is no sport or +play. They drink quickly and with faculties strained, and flutter off +excitedly on the least alarm. Well may they be suspicious, for is +not the cool spot attractive to the sly enemy, the green snake, which +conceals its presence by faithful resemblance to the creepers among +which it glides? Here, too, come millions of industrious bees, and in +the dusk the big pencil-tailed water-rat, which the masterful dog kills +with as little ceremony as he does the bird-scaring snakes. + +It was late for cockatoos to start on their daily flight to the mainland +from the big tree close to the twin palms half-way up the hill, and +as they flew hastily and in close company they scolded each other in +unmannerly terms. The language must have been vexing, for as they sped +along far above the passionless sea one jostled the other. It was just +the sort of action to provoke hungry, peevish birds to vindictiveness. +That which had been jostled turned on the offender with angry +shrieking, and instantly a clamorous fight was in progress. Claws became +interlocked, and they fell each with distended crest, like a gilt-edged +cloudlet following the setting sun. Shadow and substance met with a +splash. The sea momentarily swallowed the combatants. Then a yellow note +of exclamation appeared, and with laboured flutterings, using his +enemy as a base, one rose and struggled to the beach oaks. Frantic +wing-beating showed that the other bird was in serious difficulties. +It was a hundred yards out, but the enjoyment of a sunbath after a sea +frolic enabled one to proceed to the rescue without preliminaries. Half +drowned and completely cowed, the bird was now confronted by a more +awful peril than that of the sea. A bedraggled crest indicated horror +at the steady approach of the enemy man, whose presence stimulated the +sodden bird to such extraordinary efforts that it succeeded in rising +and in making slow, low flight to the beach. + +At dawn a bat flew into a spider's web spun during the night, the +extremities of the wings being so entangled that struggling was almost +impossible. A big spider pounced on it. Not a minute elapsed from the +entanglement until the bat was released, but the venom of the spider had +done its work. There was not a sign of life. The spider is dark grey +in colour, bloated of body, slothful, and of most retiring disposition. +Huddled up into almost spherical form, it lurks in dark places, which it +soon makes insanitary. In the open it crouches among dead leaves which +have gathered in the fork of a tree, and will construct a web which +spans the coconut avenue with its stays. From one aspect its rotund body +invites a good-humoured smile, for the marking exactly simulates the +features of a tabby cat, well fed, sleepy, and in placid mood. Venom +of virulence to kill a bat almost instantly would be severe enough to a +human being. This dirty, obese spider deserves little consideration at +the hand of man. + +A moonless, cloudless night. The little praam takes the ground in the +bay a few yards from the beach, and in the midst of a constellation of +"jelly-fishes" spherical in form and varying in size. The larger are so +many pale blue orbs floating lazily in a luminous mist, the only visible +manifestation of life being a delicate but rhythmical deepening of the +central hue. The wash of my wading seems not to affect them. I become +conscious of the sudden appearance and swift disappearance of lesser +spheres of startling brilliance. They emerge from nothingness, pause +for a moment, and shoot towards me with extraordinary impulse. Each is +a mere globule, resplendently blue. The tint intensifies as with +accelerated velocity the atom flies until of its own excessive energy +it explodes with a shell-like flash, leaving a sinuous trail of +golden light. To burst into sight, gather force, to flash and slowly +vanish--such is the sum of life of a speck of sea-jelly. To be the +centre towards which scores of the watery meteors gravitate, to +witness their apparently spontaneous beginning, their swift, brief, but +ineffectual career and lingering end, delights this night of darkness. +How many of the race of man are there whose post-mortem glory outshines +life tenfold? + +Beneath a slab of dead coral on the reef there was revealed one of those +primitive and curious marine animals which has no common name, but +which science recognises as SYNAPTA BESELLI. It is a relation of the +bche-de-mer, of snake-like form, with a group of gills differentiating +the head. Playing about it were three or four little fish which +immediately took advantage of the only remaining cover, the body of the +Synapta, snoodling beside it so artfully that they were quite concealed. +The protector did not appear to resent the close company of the fish, +which remained perfectly motionless. In a few seconds the Synapta +began to extrude its feathery gills, which had been partly retracted on +disturbance. I counted the gills, and while my forefinger indicated the +sixth, a little fish, not previously noticed, appeared at the focus +and edged off to the margin of the pool, now and again making decided +efforts to regain its sanctuary. It was about an inch long and a third +deep, ruby red, with pink undersides and pink, transparent fins. Three +narrow bands of silver edged with lavender extended across the shoulder. +Life gave it jewel-like lustre. The companionship between the slow +and feeble Synapta, one of the most primitive of sea things, and the +brilliant, agile fish may be another instance of commensalism. + +No one who parades a coral reef can fail to be impressed by the various +means adopted by its weaker denizens to evade the consequences of +conspicuousness. Among the vast multitude of creatures, mostly hostile +to each other, few are more remarkable than the crabs, not only on +account of form and habit, but for care of themselves during the +periodic casting of their shells. They therefore represent an +entertaining study and a never-ending source of pleasure to the +observer, who, as he happens on some fantastic member of the family, +wonders, remembering his Shakespeare, what impossible matter will Nature +make easy next. Dreamy little ripples were laying on the strands sprays +of seaweed, torn from the reef which was not quite out of the influence +of the easterly swell. The conditions were ordinary, but one fragment +made itself noticeable by slight, almost undiscernible, but still +distinctive efforts to regain the water, whence it was separated by a +few inches. Seaweed alone was visible as it rested on the palm of the +hand. Presently it moved hesitatingly and with infinite slowness, +and, being reversed, revealed itself as a "watery" crab under living +disguise. The specimen was sent to the Australian Museum, Sydney, where +it came under the hands of my friend Mr. Allan R. McCulloch, who devotes +himself to the phenomena of the sea; and since his references to it +are explicit and authoritative, they will be more acceptable than +generalities from an uninformed pen: "The crab you sent is the second +specimen known of ZEWA BANFIELDI, which I described from a dried +specimen received from you some years ago. Not only the species, but the +genus also, was unknown until you gave me the opportunity of describing +this interesting beast. It is one of the spider crabs, or Oxyrhynchus, +most of which have long horns projecting from the rostrum, and are more +or less thickly covered with stiff curled setae, to which seaweeds, +sponges, and other marine growths--selected according to the taste of +the bearer--are attached. When these crabs shed their shells, which they +must do periodically to allow of growth, they retire to a dark corner +and draw themselves out of a slit between the back and the abdomen, +legs and all, which must, I imagine, be a delicate and somewhat painful +proceeding. After emerging, they are, of course, quite soft, and the +setae on the carapace and legs are flexible. The crab then selects +choice bits of weed from its old shell and fastens them to itself by the +setae, which soon curl at the tips like the tendrils of a vine, and so +hold them firmly. The weeds and sponges, requiring no roots, but merely +a secure base, readily grow in their new position, and so cover their +host with a sheltering disguise, enabling it to sally forth in quest +of fresh loves and other adventures. I am sending the reprint with the +original description and figure, also a sketch of the crab with its +weedy garments. Much of the weed had become detached on its arrival +here, which is, perhaps, fortunate, since the sketch would otherwise +have shown merely a cluster of weeds." It could be well wished that the +specimen had retained the whole of its floral cloak, for then the sketch +would have shown its deceptive qualities in perfection. Masquerading as +a spray of seaweed, the crab eludes its enemies, the mask being of such +high order that even man, with his perceptions, does not penetrate it +unless he exercises his reasoning faculties. Because he knows that a +spray of seaweed is not endowed with independent movement, when it does +walk about he, at first, is as incredulous as was Macbeth when told of +that "moving grove" of Birman. + + + + +ETERNAL SUNSHINE + + + +"North Queensland is my country. I love it. I live in it. I would die +for it."--DODD S. CLARKE. + +To those who earnestly believe that a country exercises dominance over +its inhabitants, mental as well as physical, the present state of North +Queensland offers interesting problems. Save for a fast-disappearing +remnant, gone are the original occupiers of the land. The most +listless, the least thrifty of the old peoples, have given place to +representatives of the most adventurous, the most successful--men and +women of British blood, of progressive ideas, vaunting and independent +spirit, but with slight respect for the traditions of their race. Apt +to regard their own land as all-sufficient, to resent the incoming of +strangers (especially those of dark complexion), determined to exclude +coloured labour from tropical fields, while demanding higher and yet +higher recompense for work which in other equatorial regions is deemed +to be servile, on what grounds do they base the hope of adapting +themselves to their environment, of becoming children of the soil? + +The genius of the race forbids degeneracy. Marked and sudden improvement +may be expected if examples drawn from the lower animals and certain +plants are applicable. Huxley laid it down that "the animals and plants +of the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in +the Southern Hemisphere as its own autochones, but are in many cases +absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. +Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabits a country is +not necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions." +Australian aboriginals having given way before a race better fitted +to flourish, what will the future of the new race be? What ideal is at +present pursued? + +To one who firmly upholds the theory of the evolution of Australian +types, and who thinks he perceives convincing evidence in support of his +belief, it seems likely that on the tropical coast, where the influence +of the sun is all-powerful, rainfall abundant, and vegetation prolific, +the type will not only be more rapidly developed, but that it will be +pronounced in bodily form, in tongue, and in temperament. One of the +reasons compelling towards such conclusion is the decided desire--nay, +the ambition--on the part of native-born Australians to do glad and +seemly homage to the sun. + +If a traveller from distant and friendly lands were to accept as germs +of a type those who sport in the surf at fashionable watering-places, he +might infer from the display of brown backs and shoulders that Australia +had not escaped a smudge of aboriginal blood. But this ardently +cultivated tint is notoriously impermanent. Contradictory as it may be, +the most earnest advocates of the "White Australia" principle use more +than the average quantity of oil, which makes the skin to shine +and embrown under the influence of the much-loved sun. Do not their +shoulders bear testimony to the sun's wholesome salutations, and does +not the too fair and thin-skinned individual smart under his peeling +and display envy against the favoured ones who burn to the tint of +old copper? Naturally, those who have the most intense longing for a +coloured skin, who persistently seek to acquire it by exposure to +the sun seconded by anointings, will prevail. In the course of a few +generations--it would be idle to say how many--the type will be fixed +and the unguent superfluous; in the meantime the use of coco-nut oil +has become one of the confirmed customs of the country, as in Fiji and +elsewhere in the Pacific. + +If "beauty born of murmuring sound" may enhance the charms of +maidenhood, is it too much to expect that sunburn, fervently desired, +may not only permanently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of +the race? And thus in years to come the white Australian may be of +the past--transformed physically by the supremacy of soil and sun, +and improved in disposition and character by economic observances as +irrefutable as the laws of Nature. The horses of out dry, stony uplands +have already developed hoofs in shape and texture well adapted to the +country over which they roam, and have become surer-footed and more +active and durable. Conditions and circumstances which in a few +generations effect desirable changes in horses will assuredly be +influential in respect of the physique and stamina and moralities of +man. North Queensland will establish a type, just as Tierra del Fuego +did many centuries since, and the type will be that which is best fitted +to maintain itself. It will be brown of complexion, hardy and alert. +North Queensland is expansive and varied. It comprises a marvellous +range of geological phenomena, from which may be expected remarkable +variants. The sheep-grower of the treeless downs will differ from the +denizen of the steamy coast who supplies him with sugar and bananas. The +man from among the limestone bluffs may be in temperament strange to the +dweller on the black soil plains and to the individual who lives among +barren hills seamed with copper. Readers of English books and magazines +are familiar with the little prominence given to matters which stand for +good and worthiness and the stress laid on the seeming disadvantages of +life in tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may contain a series +of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying information concerning +country life in Canada. It is impossible not to visualise the miles +of wheat-fields, the imposing elevators, the railways cutting across +endless prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, snowcapped as a +stage effect merely. The pictures of chubby children and buxom girls and +sturdy boys tell of the healthfulness and invigorating qualities of the +climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada? Would not the man +who whispered of snow and ice be a renegade, a dastard, a rebel? North +Queenslanders do not attempt to belittle the reputation of Canada as a +field for the activities of the surplus population of the old country. +We are of the same blood and breed, and merely ask for a proper +understanding of our own good land. The comfort given to Canada is all +in the family, and an Empire which extends from pole to pole must needs +embrace differences of climate and productions. + +Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of Empire? Here we bear +our share stripped to the buff, while Canada bustles under an equally +honourable but heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic +son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of North Queensland noon; +while the sweatful North Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous +ice of his far-away cousin. + +The denizens of the different parts of the Empire quite understand +one another, and realise that to be great the Empire must disregard +temperatures as it does prickly heat and chilblains. Only the casual +visitor fails in this. + +Sun Days are essential to the production of sugar and bananas and +mangoes, to say nothing of pineapples and other fruits of the tropics. +When we are called upon to endure extraordinary heat, we tell one +another of the penance and find excuse for extra drinks. But neither +the heat nor the comparison of personal experiences is of the injurious +nature of some of the refreshments. The weather is not compounded of +excesses, but of means. Is it not true that few countries in the wide +world would be considered fit for habitation by human beings if the +character of the climate was estimated by its extremes? + +No North Queenslander will resent records of high temperatures. He will +be quite content to be shown enjoying and flourishing in the heat in +which sugar-cane thrives, for thereby is to be proved a fact theorists +seem unable to grasp--viz., that such is the soundness and virtue of the +British race that it adapts itself with equal success to the long, dark, +cold winter of Canada and the perpetual summer of North Queensland. +Who is to say that the Canadian in his thick woollens and furs is +a healthier subject, a worthier type, than the North Queenslander, +stripped to the waist in the full blaze of the sun, glorying in his own +vigour, proud of his magnificent heritage, and scornful of the +opinions of those who have never experienced that supreme zest of life +unpurchasable outside the tropic zone? + +With intent to picturesquely demonstrate that soil will tell, some are +ready to assert that we owe Christianity to the horizontal limestone +formation of Palestine. Accepting the theory with whole-hearted +enthusiasm, and admitting that North Queensland comprehends tracts of +country not dissimilar from the Holy Land, mark what the future may have +in store for the race. Do you want old age?--Methuselah, Noah, Isaac. +Strong men?--Gosselin, Samson, Saul. Beautiful women?--Ruth, Rebecca, +Esther. Does not David, the man after God's own heart, appeal? Was not +Solomon, the wise, the glorious, the prolific, a superior type? And, +with all reverence be it said, was not the Founder of the Christian +religion a solar product? + +Hotter lands beyond the bounds of Palestine gave to the world men and +women whose deeds and influence still astound and stimulate millions +of mankind--the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Pharaoh the Great, Moses the +leader, whom the Lord knew face to face, Joseph the organiser, Mahomet, +the benign Buddha, and all the sages, the poets, the historians, the +architects of the gorgeous East. May not those who elect to live in +lands of high temperature and who are strong in their faith cite apt +and illustrious precedents, and make bold to say that none has exercised +more influence on the minds and destinies of mankind than those born in +the lands of the Sun? + + + + +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT + + + +"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant +to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise."--Holy Writ. + +While the remnant of the crop of citrus fruits still hangs on the trees, +after providing refreshing food for six months and more, the blooms +which promise next year's supplies decorate the branches. Is it not +pleasing to have such graceful promises before the burden of the passing +season has disposed of all its sweetness? Possibly these early flowers +are destined to produce fruit for the admiration of living things +upon which the gardener bestows anything but a welcome. It may come +to maturity just after the wet season, when flies and moths feast and +corrupt in riot which provokes to wrath. Inconsequent feeders, they +probe the fruit and flit away after a sip which does not absorb a +thousandth part of its keen juices, or they use a comely specimen in +which to deposit eggs, which in the course of Nature become grubs. All +such infected fruit the trees abandon until the ground is strewn with +waste. Such disaster happens when the air is favourable to the breeding +of quivering gauze wings; but there comes a time when the fruit suffers +little or no ill, and then the heart of the orchardist rejoices as does +that of the fisher when the wind comes up from the sea. Then does he +accept fine promises in good faith, for it has come to be the fashion +for certain varieties of citrus fruits to provide two crops, and the +second, which ripens about the beginning of August, the superior in +size, appearances generally, and distinctly in flavour. The fruit is +just as juicy as that which ripens when the air is saturated with the +moisture of the wet season, while its fragrance almost equals that +of the snowy flowers whence it sprang. These facts hasten to this +conclusion--that the orange-grower has something beyond mere money in +compensation for his toil. Can it be called toil? Does he not for the +most part, after the first and essential preliminaries are of the past, +permit Nature to have her own wayward will with his dutiful trees? Does +he always and invariably cut out the dead wood which tells of much too +strenuous efforts on their part to justify their existence and his care? +Does he attempt to exterminate the pretty flies which send to the ground +a certain percentage, while yet the fruit is immature and bitter? Does +he let the light of the caressing sun into the hearts of his pet trees +by removing superfluous twigs? Well does he know that if he tended them +as he should their bounty to him would be much magnified. Yet does +he dream on, accepting that which comes, admiring leafage, bloom, and +fragrant fruit, and always postponing the day when substantial aid and +credit should be given. There is something to be said in favour of this +happy attitude towards good-natured trees. Should it not suffice to +have given them monopoly and choice? Many others, and some of far +nobler proportions, have been exterminated for their special benefit and +advantage. They have been grown from seed of most highly complimented +fruit; their infancy and youth have been nurtured and protected; each +has been assigned its proper place with due regard to the welfare of +neighbours; less promising vegetation has been summarily checked; the +first flowers have been sniffed with high delight, the first fruits +sampled with extravagant praise. Having bestowed upon trees care and +attention, while they were yet mere sprouts of tender green, and admired +their sturdy development, and approved their best efforts, is it not +yours to accept whatsoever they offer as reward and recompense for past +labour and present appreciation? + +From the artistic standpoint the most admirable of all the citrus-trees +is the pomelo, which, however, lacks merit from the commercial side. +The tree grows more sedately than the orange or the mandarin, but on +a grander scale. The leaves are bigger, tougher, and the appendages +on either side of the stalk (which botanists call the stipules) more +developed. The blooms are greater, and endowed with a much richer +perfume than the orange; the fruit is huge and fragrant, though somewhat +disappointing to the individual who expects the sweetness of the +mandarin; while, if the views of the learned in such attributes are +trustworthy it possesses medicinal qualities which are foreign to its +dainty, diminutive relative. It would be mere affectation to refrain +from these compliments to the pomelo when the atmosphere is saturated +with the perfume from lusty trees. Certainly one has to wait patiently +for many a long year ere his trees greet him with white flowers which +pour out perfume of rare density and enrich him with golden fruit +almost as big as footballs. From nine to twelve years must elapse, but +expectancy is not wholly measurable by the arbitrariness of time. The +true standard is the desire, tempered by the patience of the custodian +of the trees. + +In August the pomeloes put on their most attractive appearances. The +young leaves of lively tint contrast with the almost sombre green of the +older foliage, and flowers in clusters give a most becoming adornment. +Big and beautiful as they are, scent is their most conspicuous feature. +Even in the open air it is rich almost to cloyness. It hangs about the +tree while the wind is still, and the slightest movement of the air +wafts it hither and thither. It stings sensitive folk with its intensity +at close quarters, but when diffused is fragrance of ethereal delight. +All day long birds frolic in the trees, some to cull the nectar, some +to search for insects attracted for like purpose, some to nibble and +discard white petals. All the moist soil beneath is strewn with snowy +flakes, for at night flying foxes blunder among the branches, destroying +more blooms than they eat. But why grumble? Birds which nip off petals +and musty foxes which brush down whole posies in their clumsiness are +but positive checks to overproduction. Do they not avert the unthankful +task of carting away dozens of barrow loads of superfluous fruit? Last +night at dusk there was a sensation of the coming of rain, though the +air was still and the sky clear. I paused under the trees to expand my +lungs with their scented breathings. A semi-intoxicated bird twittered +drowsily among the branches, + + "His happy good-night air, + Some blessed hope, whereof he knew, + And I was unaware." + +Dozens of sphinx moths--big torpedo-shaped bodies carried by wings of +soft brown and dull red--floated about, sipping where and when and as +long as they liked. Sometimes the sphinx has almost an aggressive tone +In his flight--hasty, important, brooking no interference. Last night's +note was of supreme content. A rich and overflowing feast was spread +and the insects hovered over the posies and sipped and fluted like +merry roysterers, without a care or thought of the morrow. It was a +love-feast, for the still night seemed to invite the trees to give of +their richest and best; the psalm of the insects was audible, not to the +distance whence the perfume was dissipated, but for many a scented yard. +The trees seemed sanctified, and I stood bare-headed among them and gave +my silent praise for a delightsome experience. Expectancy and patience +had been overpaid. + + + + +THE SCENE-SHIFTER + + + +"We are all going to the play or coming from it."--DICKENS. + + +In a few hours came "the season's difference." The scene-shifter worked +with almost magical haste, with silence, and with supreme effect. The +gloomy days and nights of misty hill-tops and damp hollows, where the +grass was sodden and the air dull and irresponsive to sound, gave way +to bright sunshine, cloudless skies, calm seas, echoing hills, and the +tinge of that which for lack of the ideal word we call "spring." Spring +does not visit the tropical coast, where vegetation does not tolerate +any period of rest. When plants are not actually romping with excess of +vital force, as during the height of the wet season, they grow with the +haste of summer. And yet immediately on the dispersal of the mists of +July the least observance could not fail to recognise that a certain and +elaborate change had taken place. The mango-trees had been flowering for +several weeks in a trivial, half-hearted way, but when the sun sent +its thrills down into the moist soil the lemons and pomeloes began to +sweeten the air; the sunflower-tree displayed its golden crowns among +huge soft leaves, and the last blooms of belated wattles fell, showing +that it is possible for tributes representative of May and September to +be paid on one and the same date. + +The scene-shifter came softly "as the small rain upon the tender herb," +but with an orchestra of his own. Years of observation have shown that +the weather does control the habits of some birds--birds of distinct and +regular methods of life. Two such are common--the nutmeg pigeon and the +metallic starling. Both species leave this part of the North during the +third week of March, flying in flocks to regions nearer the equator. +For several weeks the starlings train themselves for the long Northern +flight and its perils, dashing with impetuous speed through the forest +and wheeling up into the sky until they disappear, to become visible +again as black dots hurtling through space when the sunlight plays on +their glossy feathers as the course of the flock is changed. With the +rush of a wind of small measure but immense velocity, the flock descends +earthwards, among and over the trees, perfecting itself by trials of +endurance and intricate alertness. The birds return during the first +week in August, in small and silent companies, to reoccupy favourite +resorts in common. The nutmeg pigeons are also of exact habit, the time +for their return generally coinciding with that of the starlings. This +year (1916) both birds were noticed just after the scene-shifter had +swept the hills of mists, and now other birds seem to have awakened to +the conditions which the starlings and the nutmegs brought with them +from hotter lands. The swamp pheasants are whooping and gurgling, and +that semi-migratory fellow, the spangled drongo--a flattering name, for +he jangles but does not spangle--sits on the slim branch of the Moreton +Bay ash which held last year's nest and chatters discordances in the +very ears of his responsive mate. They will start building a loose nest +on the brittlest branch forthwith, and while the lady sits on her three +eggs he will screech defiances to the high heavens and perform aerial +gymnastics with delirious delight. + +The sun-birds are searching the lemon blooms. The breast of the gay, +assertive little bird is far richer in tint than the brightest of the +lemons. A minute ago one perched on a ripe fruit as if to shame it by +contrast, and the fruit has since seemed a trifle dull of tint, and with +light-hearted inconsequence the pair are now probing narrow throats of +papaw flowers. The ground has been too much overgrown with grass and +weeds for the comfort of the little green pigeons which come strutting +down the paths for seeds and crumbs. Dry soil, which may be easily +scanned and scratched, is more to their liking, so they keep to the +forest, where in some places the undergrowth of wattles is so dense that +the sun may not visit the ground, and the bare places glitter with seed. + +When rain was seriously deficient, proof was given that some proportion +of the wattle seeds eaten by pigeons are not digested. In the crevices +of logs supporting the water-trough, which proved to be a popular +refreshment spot of many species of birds, clamorous with thirst, seeds +were deposited, and when the rains came the trough was fringed and +decorated with pinnate leaves of sprouting wattles, some of which grew +so strongly, notwithstanding the absence of soil, save that which occurs +from the slow decay of seasoned bloodwood, that if summary measures had +not been taken the trough might have been embowered. The season seems to +have been too damp for the night-jars, though quite to the taste of +all species of pigeons. In the course of a few minutes the voice of +the timid, tremulous, barred-shouldered dove came from among the +yellow-flowered hibiscus of the beach, while the pheasant-tailed pigeon +sounded its rich, dual note, the red-crowned fruit pigeon tolled its +mournful chime, and the guttural of the magnificent fruit pigeon--often +heard, but seldom seen--came from the jungle close at hand. Not one of +these birds was visible, nor was the fluty-voiced shrike thrush, which +answers every strange call and mimics crude attempts to reproduce its +varied notes. The blue kingfisher is investigating the tumour made by +white ants in the bloodwood wherein the nest is annually excavated, +and soon the chattering notes of the pair will be heard. A week ago +few signs of the approach of the scene-shifter were discernible. He +has come, and plants and birds respond to his genial and becoming +presence--plants with richer growth and more abundant flowers, birds +with the unreflecting gaiety of nuptial days. + + + + +BEACH PLANTS + + + +"Remove the vegetable kingdom, or interrupt the flow of its unconscious +benefactions, and the whole higher life of the world ends."--HENRY +DRUMMOND. + + +Strolling on the curving footway of broken shells and coral chips +marking the limit of the morning's tide, a vague attempt was made to +catalogue the plants which crowd each other on the verge of salt water, +and so to make comparison with that part of Australia the features +of which provoked Adam Lindsay Gordon to frame an adhesive phrase +concerning bright scentless blossoms and songless, bright birds. +Excluding the acacias and eucalypts, said to have given sameness to +the scenes among which the exotic poet ranged, a long list might be +compiled; nor will the pleasant sounds of the afternoon be set down in +formal order to the vexing of his memory, for possibly he never heard +the whoop and gurgle of the swamp pheasant or the blended voices of +hundreds of nutmeg pigeons mellowed by half a mile of still, warm air. + +Nor may such unassuming vegetation as the grasses--at least a dozen +varieties--find place in an enumeration which appeals primarily on the +grounds of prominence, though it would not do to despise the soft and +pleasant carpet beneath the orderly row of Casuarinas which the tide +planted during the last big cyclone with gardener's art. The common +name for the trees--"she" (or "shea" oaks, as the late F. Manson Bailey +preferred)--mimics the sound of the wind among the branches, which the +slightest zephyr stirs and, the storm lashes into sea-like roar. The +bright green of the grasses sets off the dull green and bronze of the +steadfast harps of the beach. At certain seasons and in some lights, +when the sun is in the west, the minute scales at the joints of +the slender, pendulous branchlets shine like old gold, producing a +theatrical effect which, if not experienced before, startles and almost +persuades to the belief that the complaining trees have been decorated +by one who "has sought out many inventions." But the slant of the sun +alters, the light fades, leaving them sombre in hue and whispering +more and more discreetly as the night calm settles over the scene. Such +communicable trees should stand together, commenting on passing events, +booming in unison with the cyclone, and mimicking the tenderest tones of +the idlest wind. During a storm, when the big waves crash on the beach +and the Casuarinas are tormented, the tumult is bewildering; but however +loud their plaint, very few suffer, though growing in loose sand; for +the roots are widespread and, like the trunk and main branches, tough, +while the branchlets stream before the wind. + +Close behind the screen of Casuarinas is a magnificent specimen of a +wide-spreading shrub, in form a squat dome, which commemorates the name +of a French naturalist--TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA. The leaves, crowded at +the ends of thick branchlets, are covered with soft, silky hairs of +a silvery cast, which reflect the sun's rays. It would be gross +exaggeration to say that the finely shaped shrub shines like silver, for +the general hue of the foliage is sage green, but that it has a silvery +cast, which in certain lights contrasts with the dull gold of its +neighbours, is an alluring fact which must not be strained. Moreover, +the shrub covers an almost perfect circle, about thirty feet in +diameter, and since it is not more than ten feet high, its form is as if +Nature had designed the creation of a circus of shadow, dense and cool, +for the comfort of mankind. + +At high-water mark stands one of the Terminalias with big terminal light +green leaves, musty flowers, and purple fruit--gold, silver, and purple +in close array--while over the sand the goat-footed convolvulus sends +long, succulent shoots bearing huge pink flowers complementary to the +purple of the beach-pea (CANVALIA OBTUSIFOLIA). + +Under the she-oaks young coral trees have sprung up, but the red flowers +are of the past, and so also have the gold and white of the Calophyllums +disappeared. But in the evening the breeze brings whiffs of a singular +savour, pleasant yet not sweet, which comes from the acre or two of +native hops a few yards back. The bruised leaves thereof give off +anything but an attractive odour, yet the faint natural exhalations +from the plant are sniffed eagerly and to the revivification of pleasant +recollections. + +Among a crowd of massive shrubs sprawls a plant of loose habit known as +CAESALPINA BONDUCELLA, the long clinging branches and the pods of which +are armed with hooked prickles. It is a plant of wide range, for the +bluish-grey seeds are said to be used in Arabia for necklets. In the +idle days of the past the blacks were wont to enclose a single seed in +a miniature basket woven of strips of cane for the amusement of +infants--probably the first of rattles. It has seized for support some +of the branches of a rare tree (CERBERA ODOLLAM) which bears long, +glossy, lanceolate leaves, large, pink-centred, white flowers, +delicately fragrant, and compressed oval fruit, brilliantly scarlet. The +tempting appearance of the fruit is all that may be said in its favour, +for it is hard and bitter, and said to be vicious in its effects on +the human system; hence the generic title, after the three-headed dog, +guardian of the portals of the infernal regions. + +Grouped here and there are pale green, big-leaved shrubs (PREMNA +OBTUSIFOLIA,) bearing flowers and fruit calling to mind the elder of +the old country. The wood is deep yellow in colour, but apparently of no +practical use. + +Another small tree, suggesting in its regular and well-balanced shape +the use of the pruning-knife, is GUETTARDIA SPECIOSA, the flowers of +which are white with a tinge of pink in the centre and highly fragrant. +The fruit is a hard, woody drupe, containing small seeds. TIMONIUS +RUMPHII, belonging to the same Family, but of more frequent occurrence, +bears small white flowers and globular fruit. The white, finely grained +wood is said to resemble English sycamore. Though harsh and flaky, the +surface of the bark seems to retain moisture, making it attractive to +several species of fungi and epiphytal ferns, the most conspicuous of +the latter being the stag's-horn. Few of the trees near the beach are +free from such encumbrances. + +To unaccustomed eyes the Pandanus palm is chief among the noticeable +features of the flora of the coast of tropical Queensland. Two species +are represented on these accommodating sands, each suffering no ill, +from imbibing salt water, each exhibiting the peculiarity whence the +genus derives its common name--the screw palm, the arrangement of the +long, narrow, prickle-edged leaves displaying in the most regular +and demonstrative style the perfect spiral. The single stem of youth +frequently deteriorates and occasionally disappears altogether, +adventitious roots, descending from various heights, forming an +elaborate and sure and ever-developing support. The huge, bright +orange-tinted fruit of the species known as Odoratissimus is highly +attractive in appearance, and to the uninitiated offers pleasing hopes +and delicious expectations. It is, however, delusive, being constituted +of woody drupes in close clusters collected into a globular head, +with meagre yellow pulp at the base of each group, the pulp having an +aromatic and unsatisfactory flavour. Each drupe contains an oblong oval +kernel, pleasant to the taste, but so trivial in size as to be hardly +worth the trouble of extraction unless there is little else to occupy +attention save the pangs of hunger. These defects do not detract from +the parade of the tree--picturesque, singular, and replete with interest +to the observer of the infinite variety of the vegetation of the +tropics. + +The cockatoo apple (CAREYA AUSTRALIS), which has several useful +qualities, flourishes exceedingly. The ripe fruit, green and insipid, +was wont to be eaten by the blacks, bark from the branches was twisted +into fishing-lines, that of the roots used for poisoning fish, while +the leaves, heated over the fire until the oil exuded, were applied to +bruised and aching parts of the body. Extraordinary tenacity of life +distinguished the tree, the axe, fire, and poison failing under some +circumstances to vanquish it. + +Another and closely related member of the same Family (Myrtaceae) +is BARRINGTONIA SPECIOSA, which, so far as local experience is to be +trusted, is restricted to the beaches, growing lustily in pure sand +at the very verge of high-water mark. The glossy leaves of this +many-branched tree often exceed a foot in length; the flowers, too, +are large and singular in style, the petals being comparatively +insignificant, while the numerous stamens attain a length of four inches +and are of a lovely shade of red. Like its relative, the cockatoo apple, +the flowers of the Barringtonia have a meaty smell, which seems to +attract many species of insects. In keeping with other characteristics, +the fruit is large, consisting of a thick, woody covering, as if Nature +designed that the single seeds should be adequately protected during a +protracted oceanic drift. It is often cast up on the sand, but the seed +does not germinate as consistently as that of the cannon-ball-tree; but +when it does it rarely fails to become established. + +Two species of Ficus deserve to be mentioned, though this catalogue does +not claim to be exhaustive. FICUS FASCICULATA, as the title implies, +bears its inedible fruit in bundles, branches, trunk, and exposed roots, +being alike fertile, and is almost as retentive of life as the cockatoo +apple. Opposita is remarkable for varied form of foliage, referred to +particularly elsewhere, and for the sweetness of its fruit. + +One of the loveliest and most remarkable plants of the beach is the +seacoast laburnum (SOPHORA TOMENTOSA), with its pinnate leaves of sage +green, hoary with silvery fur as soft as seal-skin, and bearing terminal +spikes of golden flowers with scent invoking slight comparison with +mignonette. The thick, silky leaves, the yellow flowers, and the strange +pods, are distinctive qualities, which atone for the absence of the +special sweetness of the garden favourite. The pods begin as slender, +silvery, dangling threads, which speedily lengthen and become +constricted. When the breeze flusters the shrubs, revealing the +undersides of the leaves at a reflective angle and shaking the tasselled +pods, and the splashes of gold sway hither and thither, the character +of the shrub as one of the most attractive ornaments of the beach is +so truly displayed that it might be likened to the tree of the sun +described by Marco Polo--green on one side, but white when perceived on +the other. + +This quality, however, is not special or peculiar. The brown kurrajong +(COMMERSONIA ECHINATA) exhibits it even more conspicuously, and, when +the dusty white flowers--displayed in almost horizontal planes--are +buffeted by the winds and the white undersides of the leaves are +revealed, the whole style of the tree is transformed as a demure damsel +is by tempestuous petticoats. + +With the grey-green of the Sophora is often intertwined the leafless +creeper CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS, which in the days of the past the blacks +were wont to use with other beach plants in the composition of a crude +seine net. The long-reaching, white-flowered CLERODENDRON INERME and the +tough, sprawling BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA, with its small, harsh flowers, +yellow as buttercups but resembling a daisy in form, were also embodied +in the net. + +The Poonga oil-tree, the new and old leaves the colour of new copper, +and the mature the darkest of green, bears spikes of pale lavender +flowers, and makes a decided blotch among the light green succulent +leaves of the native cabbage (SCAEVOLA KOENIGII), with its strange white +flowers and milk-white fruit. All parts of the plant are said to be +emetic. + +Two varieties of VITEX TRIFOLIA, each bearing pretty lavender flowers, +but in other respects sharply contrasted, are among the commonest of +denizens of the beach. The one is a prostrate plant with sage-coloured +and sage-scented leaves; the other a shrub or small tree with light +green foliage, the underside of which is mealy-white, and flowers paler +than those of its lowly kin. Each is pretty, and the creeping variety +(known in Egypt as the "Hand of Mary") decidedly one of the most eager +lovers of the sand, to which it keeps strictly. + +Almost within reach from high water are representatives of a tall, +shining-leaved shrub known as MORINDA CITRIFOLIA, the flower-heads of +which merge into a berry which has a most disagreeable odour and a still +more objectionable flavour. It is related that when La Perouse was cast +away on one of the islands of the South Pacific, a native undertook +to ward off the pangs of hunger by converting the fruit into an +edible dish. But his manipulation seemed but to intensify original +nauseousness, and the brave Frenchman and his companions found +semi-starvation more endurable than the repugnant mess. + +Magnificent representatives of the umbrella-tree (BRASSAIA +ACTINOPHYLLA), unique among the many novelties of the tropical coast, +are massed in groups or stand in solitary grace close to the sea. +Queensland has a monopoly over this handsome and remarkable tree, the +genus to which it belongs being limited to a single species occurring +nowhere else in a native state. Discovered by Banks and Solander at +Cooktown in 1770, the second record of its existence, it is believed, +was made from specimens obtained on this island by Macgillivray and +Huxley in 1848. Possibly the very trees which attracted their attention +still crown their rayed and glossy leaflets with long, radiating rods +thickly set with red, stud-like flowers. Such foliage and such flowers +would appeal gloriously to an enthusiastic botanist, and to so devoted, +indefatigable, and successful a searcher after the wonders and the +higher truths of the world as Huxley. + +Few of the ornaments of the beach are more noticeable than that known +commonly as the sunflower-tree and by the natives as Gingee (DIPLANTHERA +TETRAPHYLLA), with its big leaves, soft of surface when young, but harsh +and coarse at maturity. The golden flowers, grouped in huge heads, are +rich in nectar, attracting birds and butterflies by day and flying foxes +at night. The fruit, enclosed in a crisp capsule, is tough and leathery, +in shape a flattened oval, and is entirely covered with silken seeds +lying close and dense as the feathers of the grebe. When numbers of the +capsules open simultaneously, the seeds float earthwards like a silvery +mantle or stream before the wind like a veil. Rarely the capsule falls +to the ground complete, and then the parting of the valves reveals the +fruit, in form not unlike a small fish covered with glistening scales. +The soft white wood is generally condemned, but duly seasoned it becomes +tough, and is durable when not exposed to the weather. Like other +quick-growing trees, the Gin-gee takes no long time in arriving at +maturity, and its life is comparatively brief. Often big trees die from +no apparent cause, and the wood becoming dry and tindery, the limbs +crash to the ground suddenly, and in a few months the whole substance +disappears in dust and mould. + +Though the flowering season of the Calophyllum is of the past, the tree +which bestows on the beaches the deepest shade and is handsome in all +its parts must not be disregarded, for does it not, ever and anon, +strive after a higher purpose than the production of goodly leaves, +white flowers, and nuts "harsh and crude"? On rare occasions the +external covering of the nut turns yellow on the tree, and is then found +to enclose a thin envelope of pulp of aromatic and rather gratifying +flavour. Such a phenomenon seems to manifest inherent excellencies, a +laudable effort towards self-improvement, a plea for assistance on the +part of some approving and patient man, an indication of the lines on +which he might co-operate. The tree does not need gloss for its perfect +leaves or fragrance for its flowers, nor need the qualities of its pink +wood of wavering figure be extolled. With the exception of the stamens, +all parts of the inflorescence, inclusive of the long pedicles, are +milk-white, and the perfume is as sweet and refreshing as an English +spring posy. Chemists tell us that the oil from the kernels contains a +green pigment which changes to yellow on saponification, and that the +resin is emetic and purgative, and healing when applied as plaster. +If botanical science can develop the meritorious tendencies the fruit +occasionally exhibits, the Calophyllum would certainly rank as one of +the most wonderful of all tropical fruits. And may it not be wise to +indulge the highest hopes when it is borne in mind that at the head +of the Family to which the Calophyllum belongs stands that queen of +fruits--the mangosteen? Faith in the probable idealisation of the +Calophyllum is justified by reference to the "Prefatory and Other Notes" +to the late F. M. Bailey's great work, the "Comprehensive Catalogue of +Queensland Plants," where is to be found these encouraging words: "When +any particular plant is said to furnish a useful fruit, it must not be +imagined that the fruit equals the apple, pear, or peach of the present +day, but all so marked are superior to the fruits known to our far-back +forefathers." + +Two eucalypts--bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash (CORYMBOSA and TESSELLARIS +respectively)--and two acacias are represented, the former developing +into great trees of economic value, the latter being comparatively +short-lived and ornamental. The young shoots of Acacia flavescens are +covered as with golden fleece, and its globular flowers are pale yellow. +The wood resembles in tint and texture its ally, the raspberry-jam wood +of Western Australia, though lacking its significant and remarkable +aroma. ACACIA AULACOCARPA displays in pendant masses golden tassels rich +in fragrance. + +The yellow-flowered hibiscus (cotton-tree) overhangs the tide, and the +small-leaved shrub the blacks name Tee-bee (WIKSTRAEMIA INDICA), the +pink, semi-transparent fruit of which is eaten in times of stress, +springs from pure sand. + +A tall, almost branchless shrub (MACARANGA TANARIUS), the Toogantoogan +of the natives, grows in close clumps conducive to the production of +light, straight, slim stems used as fish-spears. The bark peels readily +in long strands, easily convertible into lines, and the sap from incised +stems, which crystallises with a reddish tint, is a fast cement. Huge +platter-shaped leaves are supported on long stalks from nearly the +centre, whence radiate prominent nerves of pale green. Some plants +exhibit leaf-stalks of ruby red, with central leaf-spot and nerves like +in hue, producing the most beautiful effect. If the growth of the plant +could be kept within bounds it would be gladly admitted as a garden +shrub. The stems and the base of the leaf-stalk are coated with, +glaucous bloom, like that of a ripe plum. The bloom, easily to be rubbed +off, is said to derive its title from that Glaucus who took part in the +Trojan War and had the simplicity, or the wisdom, to exchange his suit +of golden armour for one of iron. + +The length of the beach thus casually examined is not more than a +quarter of a mile long, and no plant mentioned is more than a few yards +from high-water mark, the soil being almost pure sand. Imagine some +three square miles of country varied by hills and flats of rich soil, +with creeks and ravines, precipices and bluffs, dense jungle and thick +forest, hollows wherein water lodges in the wet season, and granite +ridges, and then endeavour to comprehend the botany of one small island +of the tropical coast! + +To obtain demonstration of the vitalising and nourishing principles in +maritime sands under the effects of heat, light, and moisture, it +is necessary to retrace our steps and walk round the sandspit to the +transfigured and degenerate mouth of that once mangrove-creek known to +the blacks by a name signifying that a boy once tethered in it a sucking +fish (Remora). Obstructed by a bank, the creek is dead and dry save when +the floods of the wet season co-operate with high tides and effect a +breach, to be repaired on the cessation of the rains. No more than four +years have passed since the formation of the bank began. It is now a +shrubbery made by the incessant and tireless sea from materials hostile, +insipid, and loose-sand, shells, and coral debris, with pumice from some +far-away volcano. On this newly made, restricted strip one may peep and +botanise without restraint, discovering that though it does not offer +conditions at all favourable to the retention of moisture, plants of +varied character crowd each other for space and flourish as if drawing +nutriment from rich loam. + +Several botanical Families are represented, the genera and species +being: + + Casuarina equisetifolia (she-oak) + Avicennia officinalis (white mangrove). + Clerodendron inerme. + Premna obtusifolia. + Vitex trifolia. + Vitex trifolia, var. obovata. + Carapa moluccensis (cannon-ball-tree). + Erylhrina indica (coral-tree). + Sophora tomentosa (sea-coast laburnum). + Pongamia glabra (poonga oil-tree). + Vigna luteola (yellow-flowered pea). + Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel). + Terminalia melanocarpa. + Ximenia americana (yellow plum). + Scoevola koenigii (native cabbage). + Hibiscus tiliaceus (cotton-tree). + Wikstroemia indica. Macaranga tanarius. + Euphorbia eremophilla (caustic bush). + Dodonaea viscosa (hop-bush). + Passiflora foetida (stinking passion fruit). + Ipomea pes caprae (goat-footed convolvulus). + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form A. + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form B (spade-flower). + Blainvillea latifolia. + Gnaphalium luteo-album (flannel-leaf or cud-weed). + Vernonia cinerea (erect, fluffy-seeded weed). + Remirea maritima (spiky sand-binder). + Cyperus decompositus (giant sedge). + Erigeron linifolius (cobbler's pegs or rag-weed). + Tribulus terrestris (caltrops). + Triumfetta procumbens (burr). + Salsola kali (prickly salt-wort). + Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale (pig's face). + Anthistria ciliata (kangaroo-grass). + Paspalum distichum (water couch-grass). + Zoysia pungens (coast couch-grass). + Lepturus repens (creeping wire-grass). + Panicum leucophaeum (pasture-grass). + Andropogon refractus (barbed wire-grass). + Tragus racemosus (burr-grass). + Eragrostis brownii, var. pubescens (love-grass). + +With the exception of some of the grasses and two noxious weeds, this +assemblage is representative of plants which grow just beyond the +sweep of the waves, and are prosperously at home nowhere else. One, +the cannonball-tree, is so highly specialised that its presence is but +temporary, for it endures but a single set of conditions--saline mud +and the shade of mangroves. The thick, leathery capsule contains several +irregularly shaped seeds, somewhat similar to Brazil nuts, but larger in +size and not to be reassembled readily after separation. When stranded, +germination is prompt, but the young plants, lacking essential +conditions, invariably perish. One of the trailers--the caltrops--has +trilobed, saw-edged leaves (harsh on both sides), yellow flowers of +unpleasant odour, and fruit which, perhaps, formed the model of the war +weapon of the time of the Crusaders. In whatever position it rests on +the ground it presents an array of spikes to the bare foot. Though +all its superficial qualities are graceless, it performs the admirable +office of binding sand, and thus prepares the way for benign and +faultless vegetation. + +That his garden might not only be instructive but profitable to mankind, +Neptune heaved on to its verge three coco-nuts, the goose-barnacles on +two of which bore testimony to a long drift. That which retained the +germ of life fell into the hands of a visiting black boy, who split it +open to feast on the pithy and insipid "apple" within its shell at +the base of the sprout. This mischance ruined for the time being the +prospect of a fine effect; but the perseverance and prodigality of +Neptune none may estimate. He will certainly bring from distant +domain another nut which may escape the observation of the +never-to-be-satisfied black boys until the young plant itself has +assimilated its concentrated food, and begins to spread its glossy +fronds in the face of the sun. In the meantime the garden displays four +weeds, two of the nature of pests, two of discomfort merely; ornamental, +scented, and flowering shrubs, and trees promising to be conspicuous and +picturesque, so that credit is to be divided--the sea made the site, the +adjacent land provided all the becoming plants. + +What are the elements in this primitive spot which afford nutriment +to vegetation of such varied character? Probably there are few of the +beaches of islands within the Great Barrier Reef on which the majority +of the plants do not exist. It is typical, therefore, not of isolated +experiments on the part of Nature, but of conditions and processes +repeated in similitude wheresoever in the region raw sand heals the +wounds inflicted by the sea or the grumbling sea retreats before the +sibilant, incessant sand. + + + + +SHADOWS + + + +"The wish--that ages have not yet subdued--In man to have no master save +his mood." + + BYRON. + + +Before the coming of the obscuring grey of these wet-season days, when +the tranquil sea absorbed the lustrous blue of the sky, I discovered +myself day-dreaming for a blissful moment or two ere the crude anchor of +the flattie slipped slowly to the mud twelve feet below. The rough iron +and rusty chain cast curious crinkled shadows, and presently, as the +iron sank into the slate-coloured mud and the chain tightened, the +shadow was single but infirm. Light and the magic of the sea, which, +though it takes its ease, is forbidden absolute rest, transformed +it until imagination created similitude to a serpent in its natural +element. Its half-concealed, formless head was verified by a flake of +rust just where a watchful eye might have been, and the sun played upon +it. + +So here at last was the sea-serpent with alert eye and without end. It +was all so realistic and endowed with such benignity and such gentleness +of motion that I gazed at it with the gladness of a discoverer. In +response to a slight motion of the hand, the sea-serpent wriggled as +though in haste; but wriggle as it might the end never came. + +The boat drifted back. The serpent became seriously elongated, but +though the beginning was now a grey blotch in the mud, the end was not. +I might beat up a little foam with the chain, and see below a giddy +dance or at least lively flourishes and swaying. Yet there was something +lacking--the end. But for that very commonplace default did there not +here exist a very good beginning for another romance of the sea? + +The phantom, born of light and limpid salt water and iron into which +rust had deeply gnawed, gave zest to the pursuit of shadows. What is +commoner under the tropic sun? The boat was now over the sand of the +steeply shelving beach, where the water takes the tint of the chrysolite +and creatures of fairy lightness come into view. Often on still days +small sea-spiders sport under the lea of the boat, each of the eight +legs supported by a bubble. With astonishing nimbleness, the spider +slips and glides over the surface as a man in laborious snow-shoes over +the snow. Having basked in the sun and frolicked with its kind, the +spider abandons its pads, takes to its hairy bosom a bubble of air, +and dives below. The shadows, not the spiders alone, gave pleasing +entertainment. Each vague shadow and the eight bubble-shod feet formed +a brooch-like ornament on the yellow sand--a grey jewel surrounded by +diamonds, for every bubble acted as a lens concentrating the light. When +the frail creatures darted hither and thither--the majestic sun does not +disdain to lend his brilliance to the most prosaic of happenings--the +shadows of the bubbles became jewels or daylight lightnings. The hour +was so restful, the light so searching, that many of the spiders, long +of leg and pearly-grey of body, gathered about the boat, the shade +of which seemed to be grateful. A wave of the hand dispersed the gay +assemblage, but in a few seconds the playful creatures--not too easily +to be deprived of their place in the sun--reappeared from nowhere, +and the beads and flashes on the floor of old Ocean once more began to +glitter. + +Small, slim fish took shelter from the intense light. Some hung +motionless in the water; others nibbled daintily the green and lazy +slime on the batten at the bilge, their gently waving shadows being +barely perceptible, for their delicate, semi-transparent bodies absorbed +but the merest particle of the brightness of noonday. + +The unnoticeable swing of the tide took the responsive boat out from +the beach, and again the serpent swayed sleepily. Down in the mud an +organised conflict was taking place between a tiny soft-bodied crab +and four molluscs which used whip-like tentacles with unceasing energy, +while the crab defended itself with ever-ready claws. Borne down by +numbers, it sank into the mud, the energy of the victors creating a +tiny spiral of slush. A huge stingray passed on its way, the edges of +extended wings rippling never so gently, its shadow half the size of the +boat; and presently, with ghostly glide, a dull-skinned shark came into +view with motion so steady and apparently effortless that it might have +been a spectre. The pectoral fins swayed listlessly. The swirl of the +tail was as tender as a caress. Passing the boat a few yards, it turned +with a gracious sweep and nestled in its shade, and, though motionless, +it was wide awake. The eyes on each end of the projecting extremities of +the head blinked up at the boat. It was comfortable, but suspicious. Was +its conscience quite clear? The hammer-head has not the reputation +of being an active enemy of man. Why should it be distrustful? This +hammer-head would not sleep in the shadow, so let it be made aware of +the serpent. I took hold of the chain cautiously, the shark watching, +and with a quick turn of the wrist the docile serpent lashed +offensively. Then did the shark, frightened of a shadow, flee with +mud-stirring haste, like the wicked when no man pursueth. + +The hour of day-dreaming was past. I slip over the side of the boat to +roll and splash in tepid water limpid almost to invisibility, and to +test the wondrous buoyancy of the substantial part of man. Sit down, the +lips just awash, so that the accurately ballasted portion cushions on +the cleanly sand. Stretch out the legs so that the heels barely rest. +Head thrown back and arms extended, fill the lungs to their utmost +capacity with the placid, revivifying air, and you will find yourself so +uplifted that the heels alone gently touch the sand. At each inspiration +almost sufficient air is imbibed to float the whole bulk and machinery +of the body. And when the radiant air is all one's own, why be +niggardly? Let it be gulped greedily, strongly, wilfully, and let the +smiling sea, responding to the embraces of your widespread arms, salute +your lips with ripples. + + + + +"SMILING MORN" + + + +"The light of the morning, When the sun riseth, even a morning without +clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining +after rain." + + Holy Writ. + + +A cloudless sky, the long grass wet with the night's gentle shower, +a thin veil of mist on the hills, a glassy, steel-blue sea, the air +saturated with the essences from myriads of leaves and scented with +the last whiffs from the tea-trees and the primal blossoms of the +wattles--such are the features of this smiling morn. + +A spangled drongo--ardent lover of light and free air--talkatively +announced the dawn long before its coming; the noisy pitta--bird of the +moist soil and leafy gloom--triumphs in three notes. For an hour the +scrub fowl have been violently noisy, but have retired to the recesses +of the jungle, whence comes an occasional chuckle of satisfaction or +a coarse, triumphant crow. The fasciated honey-eater has loudly called +"with a voice that seemed the very sound of happiness"; the leaden +flycatcher, often silent but seldom still, has twittered and whispered +plaintively; the sun-birds are playing gymnastics among the lemon +blossoms, and the centre of activity for butterflies is the red-flowered +shrub bordering the wavering path. + +Since--sometimes wantonly, often thoughtlessly--man interferes with +plants, time out of mind the banqueting-table of the butterflies, is +it not a duty to provide substitutes for devastated natural vegetation? +When it is discovered that a plant, introduced to give satisfaction to +the lust of the eye, provides from year's end to year's end nectar as +unfailing as the widow's cruse of oil, is it not becoming to reproduce +it plentifully so that excited and virtuous insects may be encouraged +to return to former scenes? If not a duty, at least it is a source of +happiness, for the particular insects which revel in the nectar of the +perpetually flowering shrub are the two most gorgeous butterflies of the +land--pleasantly known as Ulysses and Cassandra. + +Science changes its titles so frequently that unless the intellect is +to be increasingly burdened it is well to refuse to be divorced from +the old and often explicit and fulfilling names. Cassandra is the lovely +green and gold fly which dances in the air so delightfully when he +woos his sober, fluttering mate. That of gorgeous royal blue with black +edging to the wings and dandyish swallow-tails, which wanders far and +wide and flies high and swiftly, is Ulysses. + +This glorious morn the ruddy shrub is as lively as a merry-go-round with +the feasting and antics of flitting gems, and there are others by the +dozen attentive to less seductive fare. For half an hour the courtship +of a perfect Ulysses has interfered with the staid ways of those not +in holiday humour. Unlike Cassandra, there is little in appearance to +distinguish the sexes, nor in the wooing does the dame exhibit staid +demeanour. The object of Ulysses' love is almost, if not quite, +as brilliantly decorated as himself. She is not, therefore, to be +fascinated by the display of blue no more lustrous than that of her +own proud wings. He may flit and toss about her, but she seems to take +scanty notice of his affected aerial limpings. Her raiment is just as +brave, and she has swallow-tails too. The wider black margin on her +wings is no badge of subserviency, but rather an additional charm +inciting tremulous fascination. She may soar over the mango-trees with +ease as careless as his, and slide down straight to the red flowers +with like certainty. She is not to be bewildered by his gyrations, nor +thrilled by mock hostile swoops. However sprightly his activities, +she has a mood to correspond and power to mimic. Indeed, is she not +indifferent?--so much on an equality with him that she might say: + +"If thou thinkest I am too easily won, I'll frown and be perverse, and +say thee nay." + +Might she not say more at the moment, since her airs are those of +independence? Possibly she imagines hers to be the superior sex. Is she +to be distinguished from her wooer as she flits from him disdainfully? +Can she not imitate his most audacious feats? Ah! but for how long may +she restrain primal emotions? The blue-mantled dandy understands his +art. His wings beat with the passion of the dominant lover. He tosses +himself before her, impeding her flight until she imitates his antics. +Tossing is not the privilege of his sex. She exercises her right to +toss, and the pair toss in delightful but bewildering confusion, like +jewels sent skyward by a conjurer. And thus having established her +rights if not her equality, she consents to play the part Nature +decrees, and the pair tumble and toss over the mango-trees, while half a +dozen others sip contentedly the red flowers. + +Many other winged creatures flit and glisten in the garden and down +along the grass-invaded path between the coco-nuts. Dragon-flies hover +over the moist spots, transparent wings carrying coral-red bodies, +and two sand-wasps pilot my steps, following the narrow ribbon of bare +ground as a fish the course of a shallow stream, buzzing ominously as if +in warning of some possible mischance. They are friends, and will in a +moment swerve, and boom back to the shafts they have excavated in sand +as depositaries for their eggs, and into which they will pack living +caterpillars as fresh food for their young. They dig with such deftness +and vigour that the sand is expelled in a continuous jet. When the mouth +of the shaft, round to exactness, is lumbered with soil, the insect +emerges backward and shovels away dog-like with its forelegs. Then it +disappears again, until the sand-jet has made another encumbering heap. + +These alert and furiously resentful insects are endowed with +resourcefulness and "intelligence" in keeping with their physical +activities. One had foraged a caterpillar in bulk and weight beyond +its flight strength, and was, therefore, compelled to haul it along the +toilful earth. On the wing the wasp finds its home unhesitatingly. On +the unfamiliar ground it lost its bearings, and, moreover, the lumbering +caterpillar had to be tugged through a bewildering forest of grass +stems, among which it went astray. During a pause the wasp surveyed the +scene, and, locating the shaft, after stupendous exertions deposited +its prey conveniently thereto, to find itself confronted with a problem, +since the diameter of the caterpillar exceeded that of the shaft. +It seemed to reflect for a few moments, and then with feverish haste +enlarged the shaft. Another difficulty had then to be overcome. Was it +possible to force such a bulky and unwieldy body head first down--the +habitual way? The insect came to a rapid decision in the negative. +Backing into the shaft, it seized the caterpillar by the head and drew +it down, presently emerging, and how it managed to squeeze past so tight +a plug is another of the magics of the morn. Having butted with its +highly competent head the caterpillar well home, the wasp selected +a neatly fitting stone as a wad, and, filling the shaft with earth, +strewed the surface with grass fragments, to the artistic concealment of +the site. + +On the beach is another industrious winged miner which has not learned +the art of the rapid evacuation of the spoil, but follows the slower +ways of the crab, carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, +and as it backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is made. But +it is a fussy worker, so charged with nervous energy that its glittering +wings quiver even while down in the depths of its shaft, as you may +assure yourself if you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air +makes competitive noises. + + + + +ANCESTRAL SHADE + + + +"Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the +root--and time has been When tempests could not." + + COWPER. + + +If it were possible to recall the spirits of the departed of this Isle +to solemn session and to exact from them expression of opinion as to +the central point of it, the popular, most comfortable and convenient +camping-place, there can be no question that the voice of the majority +would favour the curve of the bay rendered conspicuous by a bin-gum +or coral tree. Within a few yards of permanent fresh water, on sand +blackened by the mould of centuries of vegetation, close to an almost +inextricable forest merging into jungle, whence a great portion of the +necessaries of life were obtained, and but ten paces from the sea, +the tree stood as a landmark, not of soaring height, but of bulk and +comeliness withal. + +Generation after generation of careless coloured folk must have been +born and bred under its branches. When the soil became rank because of +continuous residence and insects of diabolical activity pestered its +occupants, the camp would shift to another site; but there existed +proofs that the bin-gum-tree localised the thoughts of those aimless, +unstable wanderers to whom a few bushes stuck in the sand as a screen +from prevailing winds represent the home of the hour and all that the +word signifies and embodies. Many a one was laid to rest beneath its +spreading branches, for it was the custom of the pre-white folk's days +to swathe the dead in frail strips of bark, knees to chin, and place the +stiffened corpse in a shallow pit in the humpy which had been in most +recent occupation. If the dead during life had possessed exceptional +qualities, burial rites would be ceremonious and prolonged. With tear +and blood stained faces (for the mourners enforced grief by laceration +of the flesh) incidents in the admirable career of the departed would +be rehearsed in pantomime. The enactment of scenes from the life of the +hunter and fighter might occupy hours. The art of the canoe or sword +maker would be graphically mimicked. The life of the woman found +rehearsal from infancy until she passed from the protection of her +father into the arms of her lover. If she had died childless, a +protesting infant or an effigy in bark would be placed on her shrunken +bosom, so that she might not suffer the reproach of matrons who had +preceded her to the mysterious better country. + +The ancestral shade was a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, +and the soil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree displayed its +ruddy flowers and gave of its best in nectar for birds and butterflies +and gauze-winged, ever-flitting creatures. + +It was not a comfortable tree to climb, for its grey-green branches were +studded with wens each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. It +offered the hospitality of its shade to man, but little else, save +flowers to gladden his eyes, though it stood as a perpetual calendar, or +rather floral harbinger, of some of the most excellent things in life. +At a certain season its big, trilobed, hollow-stalked leaves changed +from bright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before +the last disappeared, flower-buds registered the date with almost +almanac exactitude. Then, as the rich red began to glow here and there, +and impatient small birds to assemble in anticipation of the annual +feast, the old inhabitants of the Isle would comfort one another with +reminiscences of the "Oo-goo-ju," the nutmeg pigeon, which was wont to +congregate in such numbers that adjacent and easily accessible isles +were whitened. There would be plenty of eggs then, and in a few weeks +squabs quiveringly, helplessly fat. + +It was a good tree, for it gave good tidings, and it centralised the +shelter of the Isle. Its blooms were delightfully, dashingly red, and +they lasted long--that is, if the camp--the soil rectified by sun +and rain--happened to be in residence, for then the sulphur-crested +cockatoos would be scared. Otherwise the profligate birds would sever +the heavy racemes of flower in their eagerness for honey until the +ground beneath glowed with a furnace-hued shadow. But there would be +still plenty for the gay sun-birds and the honey eaters, while the grey +goshawk would make the site of regular call, for the bibulous lesser +birds could not always be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent +tea-trees. The hawk would abide its time, and have occasion, after its +kind, to be grateful because of the tree and its seductive nectar which +translated artless little songsters into shrill-tongued roysterers, +careless of the ills of life, or at least less watchful for the presence +of crafty enemies. Flying foxes would swoop into the tree at sundown to +squeak and gibber among its repellent branches till dawn, when some, too +full for flight, would hang among the lower limbs all day, sleeping with +eyes veiled by leathery wings. + +For many a long day the bin-gum tolerated no undergrowth. Despotic over +its territory, the shade was clean but for a carpet of ferns, and its +branches free from the embraces of orchids, save that which bears the +ghostly white flowers which set off its own of bold red. But as it +passed its maturity shrubs and saplings began to encroach, until it was +the centre of a circus of upstart vegetation, though still stretching +big, knotty limbs over the slim youths of yesterday. Anterior to this +era a neglected fire had scorched a portion of its trunk. Decay set in. +A huge cavity gradually appeared, betokening vital injuries. The soft +though tough wood does not patiently endure the annihilating fret of +time. Far up in a recess of this cavity a toy boomerang was found, +placed there by some provident but forgetful piccaninny. At the date of +the discovery of the missile the age of the resident blacks had passed +away; but still the tree stood, stout of limb, while the encompassing +saplings shot up until sun-seeking shoots caressed the branches and +familiarised with the blooms, as if taking credit for the seasonal +gaiety of the patriarch. + +In the prime of life the wood of the bin-gum is of pale straw colour +with a faint pinkish tinge, and tough though light. Sapless age makes +it tindery, and the decaying fibre descends in dust--glissades of dust +which form moraines within the hollow of the base. Then the end is not +far off. + +The old tree might have been credited with premonition of its fate. +However fanciful to ascribe to it power of utterance, some phenomena, +perhaps associated with the dusty flux draining its vitals, gave +it distinct voice. On silent days it was often heard--a whispering, +whimpering sing-song, pitifully weak for so great a tree, but not +without appeal. Did it not suggest the sanctuary of some wood-nymph +chanting never so faint a death psalm--a monotone which the idlest +zephyr might still? + +Disdaining to die while consenting to disappear, the great tree, proudly +green of head, did not fall headlong, like a giant, in its pride, but +subsided silently behind its leafy screen while all the winds were +still, and as one who passes away full of years and with untarnished +conscience. + +Though the saplings and shrubs which fought for its place decently +conceal its shattered relics, addressing glossy leaves to the face of +the sun, is it quite vain to expect that its graceful proportions--a +true and stately dome--will be transmitted to the most worthy of its +descendants? Or that they will escape for so long a term the many +mischances that befall soft-wooded trees? No; the bin-gum of the bay was +unique. Afar off its flowers assumed a bricky shade, which contrasted +with the sage-green background of huge and overtopping melaleucas, while +but a strip of creamy sand intervened between its low and spreading +branches and the shallow sea, with its varying tints of pale green and +blue. So lovely and conspicuous a feature is not to be reconstituted +under a century. + +If it be permitted to assume that trees are sentient, that each--since +it differs from all others in some material quality and condition--has +its individuality, and that one may stand out from the rest as a +figure and representative of its age, then was this old monarch which +maintained its red robes to the last an examplar of the race whose +births, nuptials, pastimes, deaths and burials it witnessed from the +date when the good ship ENDEAVOUR slowly plodded along the alien coast. +The dust of the witness is blending in common decay. A few months and +not a trace will be discoverable, and what is left of those who rested +in its shade? In the pages of history they will be unchronicled, for +were not their lives less beautiful than the life of a tree, and their +renown no more durable? + + + + +QUIET WATERS + + + +"Like playhouse scenes the shore slid past." + + KIPLING. + + +Lovable as is the open sea when the spray drenches the scanty clothing +of the steersman and rains upon his lips salty salutation, yet is there +rare delightsomeness in reverse of the wet frolic. + +A few minutes past the deck glistened in the sun as each rollicking +billow sent its herald over the bows, and here the surface of the river +is almost rippleless. Shallows and uncertainties perplex its union with +the ocean. Sombre green mangroves screen its muddy banks at full tide +and trail leathery leaves and the tips of spindly fruit on its placid +surface. Pendant roots and immersed branches create on each hand a +continuous scroll of wavering ridges and eddies bordered with the +living tints of the steadfast wall of leafage. The sun so burnishes the +midstream ribbon that the boat seems to float on an invisible element. +Though the topmost leaves of the mangroves fail to disclose any movement +in the air, an unceasing and inharmonious hum tells of the sea idly +shouldering the orange-hued sands outside. + +The original inhabitants of the country knew the stream as Marang. +None call it so; but half stranded on the bank at the mouth lies a raft +typical of the past, and of the ease and resource with which those of +the day are wont to avail themselves of Nature's suggestions in the art +of crossing flooded waters. The name of the river has gone, but not that +of the three buoyant logs lashed together with strips of cane which with +sullen lurch, take the wash of the boat. The boys jerk their heads in +the direction and murmur "wur-gun," and speculate on the last user. +The day is young. For the time being the best the ancient river has to +show--the quintessence of the season, superb October--shall be ours. The +cloudless sky is richly blue, lighter in shade than the shapely mountain +which seems to block the way miles ahead. The sun gives a taste of its +quality, not to fret or discomfort, but merely to add a slightly richer +tint to skin glowing with previous marks of his fervour and favour. + +All the sounds of the little engine are maliciously exaggerated as the +boat forges ahead. The silent green river has become vociferous with +echoes, which snap and grunt, groan and hiss, in mockery of inevitable +and earnest doings. Out at sea the merry moods of the boat and hasty +and determined throbs of the engine are manifestations of something +accomplished in the overcoming of distance. Here it is all mere idle +fancy, while the echoes jeer. Surely the uncouth imps of the dimly-lit +jungles need not proclaim their spite with such exaggerated fuss. + +With but little effort of imagination the boat becomes stationary on +a shining ribbon with strips of dark green on each side, and the banks +glide past with never so gentle undulations. The tide screens most of +the mud on which the many-rooted trees stand. Some are in full bloom, +the hawthorn-like flowers breathing perfume as from an orangery +soliciting the raids of millions of bees. Scents cling to the placid +surface. It is as a stream of scent, bounded and confined by changeful +tints as the sun toys with the shadows, and curve after curve, reach +after reach, slip by. Sometimes the chattering boat heads due east. +South she knows too, and then she bows her duty to the west, along +reaches which run straight and clean as a canal; and round hairpin bends +she sweeps with disdainful air, as if conscious of besoiling banks. + +Gradually the monopolistic mangroves become more tolerant of the rights +of other vegetation. Tea-trees with white papery bark and pale yellow +flowers dripping with spirity nectar, the sunflower-tree with its masses +of gold, an occasional wattle, and slim palms mirror themselves, and +here and there compact jungle, with its entanglement of ponderous vines +and smothering creepers, shoulders away the salt-loving plants. +Scents may vary as the river's fringe; but only a delicate blend is +recognised--the breathings of honey-secreting flowers and of sapful +plants free from all uncleanliness. Many trees endure sadly the +decoration of orchids in full flower, some lovely to look on and +deliciously scented. The snowy plumes of one species sway gently, as +if offering friendly greeting. A worthy similitude to the lily of the +valley clings to a decaying limb, and a passing smudge of lustrous brown +is but the reflection from a mass of the commonest of the Dendrobiums +which encumbers a long-suffering host. Where forest trees and wattles +guard the bank the water is of a different hue, as if the face of the +river had absorbed less of the actualities of the sun. The screen +of vegetation is not only higher, but it is varied and impresses its +individuality. Only during the pelting rains of the wet season may +this delightful stream be monotonous, for at intervals brief and +narrow vistas open out on patches of yellowing grass, and beyond lie +forest-clad hills. + +All save the boat is wonderfully still. The birds are silent, for this +is the first hot day of the season, and they have retired to the patches +of jungle where shade and dimness afford relief from the sunlight +spaces. For many a mile a cormorant, lacking valour to double on its +tracks, has fled before the boat, settling out of sight ever and anon, +only to be scared further from its nest. A mangrove bittern sitting +humpbacked on a root and roused from its night thoughts has flown ahead, +following the bends of the stream until it crossed a familiar loop and +so evaded incessant harrying. + +No murmur of the sea is audible, though the water is as briny as at the +mouth. Mangroves still reinforce the muddy banks at intervals, and big +barramundi swirl aside to give the boat precedence in the narrow way. +If in no impetuous haste, one might drift with the tide up and down with +but little exertion except during periods of flood, which quickly rise +and quickly subside. Drifters become familiar with characteristics of +the stream unknown to those who hurry up and down in an echo-rousing +motor-boat. They see crocodiles basking on their sides, as many as +seven on a sunny morning in the cool season, and many curse them in +De Quincey's phrase as "miscreated gigantic vermin" because the rifle +happens to be unavailable. Crocodiles have their moods. Sometimes they +are lazy and indifferent and will not be disturbed though the boat may +clink and chatter as it passes, and the then easygoing man disposes +of them. More often the faculties of the crocodile are disappointingly +acute. He is visible for such a fragment of time that the authoritative +man who has promised sport looks foolish and tries to relieve the strain +by the relation of anecdotes in which circumstances have not been all +in favour of the illusive creature. He tells of the slumbering one which +lay on a mud-bank with its jaws distended, weary of the monotony of +the mangroves, and took but sleepy notice when upbraided for being a +sluggard. And of that other monstrous beast which, with eyelids like +saucers and a bulk which filled a narrow tributary of the river, +floundered, splashed, and flurried into deep water, while the awestruck +individual with the rifle was too astounded to fire a shot. He may tell, +too, of another instance of good luck on the part of the crocodile. +How, drifting down silently with the ebb, the black boy indicated the +presence of game on a slide overhung by a deep verandah of mud; how a +shot was fired and a big log splashed into the water and the little +one remained bearing the bullet-wound, the real having been too big and +impressive for sight. + +The day is well spent among strange plants. Here is a tall hibiscus with +coarse leaves, diversely lobed, and great pink, fragile flowers, each +with a blotch of maroon at the base and each containing a fat and +lumbering bee spangled with maroon-tinted pollen. A trailing eugenia +bears dark red flowers shaped like a mop, and a tiny white lily with +petals and strangely protuberant anthers scents the air as with honey +and almonds. + +The tide ebbs fast. All the country teems with entertainment, and the +river, cool in the dusk, and black, reflects the dead mangroves, white +and spectral, on its brink. + +This breathless night the sea is as tetchy as petrol. Trailing fingers +are terminals which ignite living flames, and the propeller of the +little boat creates an avengeful commotion of light which trails far +astern. Blobs of light are cast off from her bows as she rounds the +familiar sandspit and glides to her moorings. + + + + +"THE LOWING HERD" + + + +"Your cattle, too--Allah made them; serviceable, dumb creatures; +they change the grass into milk; they come ranking home at evening +time."--CARLYLE. + + +Remote from the manners and the sights of the street, here are we secure +against most of the pains which come of the contemplation, casual +or intimate, of other folk's sufferings. No hooded ambulance moves +joltlessly, tended by enwrapt bearers, on pathless way; no formal +procession paces from the house of death to the long last home. Immune +from the associations which oft subdue the crowd, as well as from +its too exciting pleasures, and participating only indirectly in its +inevitable sorrows, yet we are occasionally forced to remember that +troubles do come to all that is flesh, and that keen is the grief +attendant upon enforced separations even among animals which cannot call +reason to their solace. Man cannot claim to be the sole proprietor +of the luxury of woe, and may he not draw edifying lessons from +contemplating the transient sorrows of his pets and domestic animals? +Is he to confine his schooling on the wholesome theme of the frailty +of flesh solely to his own species? It is not to be denied that animals +lower in the scale than mankind have acute sense of bereavement, though +it is equally certain that in their case the healing influences of time +are more prompt and potent. + +An illustration may be cited. Two favourite Irish terriers, in violation +of an all-precautionary training, molested a death adder, the emulation +of each inciting the other to recklessness. When the fray was over and +the wicked little serpent lay squirming in death, both dogs took joyful +credit on account of the feat. An hour after one began to froth at the +lips, and in another hour he lay dead. His son and companion, as well as +rival in all rat and lizard hunts, softly approached the body, lifting +each foot with almost solemn deliberation. He sniffed, and catching a +whiff of the scent of death, sat on his haunches, threw back his head, +and in loud and piercing tones lamented the tragedy until from very +hoarseness he could howl no longer. He stood the solitary spectator of +the burial, and as the soil was patted down tenderly, sniffed the spot, +whimpered plaintively, and followed with downcast mien. Unable to fathom +the mystery of death, yet fearful, if not resentful, he wandered about +for days rebuking the moon, or its dire influence, and hailing passing +steamers with weak whines. Time soon soothed the mental hurt. + +Since I became a milker and tender of pet cows many instances have been +revealed of the patience and amiability of these inestimable beasts. The +man who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who employs stockmen by the +dozen, who sends off hundreds of fat, contented, happy, liberty-loving +oxen in droves to end their days in an unknown locality amid the clatter +and swish of machinery and with the fearful scents of blood and decaying +offal defiling the air, has few opportunities of studying the nicer +qualities of his possessions. He may be full of bullock lore and able to +recite sensational and entertaining stories illustrative of the ways of +the big mobs which tramp from native hills and downs to the city of the +thousand deaths. He knows, perhaps, something of the individualities of +his herds, and will tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how +they pine when separated. Then will he register his personal regrets, +counting in the measure for fat, for, refusing food, the animals fall +away in condition, so that the sorrows of two fat bullocks due to +parting, enforced by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and +using violent and threatening language, come home to the owner in terms +of pounds, shillings, and pence. + +Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the full-fed and +contented herd supply generously milk and cream with no apprehensions +of the butcher? Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek cows +are more tender. At least it has been noticed that when the time comes +for the flash young bulls to be banished, and they are transported, the +mother's grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of departure +and all the novel excitement of a first experience of the motion of the +sea, the fat calf, which has rollicked in all that makes for good temper +and ease and comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, affrighted +eyes, and the head is turned wistfully when terms of comfort are +uttered. He is of the make of man and will not whimper. But the mother, +on the discovery of her bereavement, arouses the echoes of the hills +with her calls. + +Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your herd, your ears are +also attuned to the significant tones of each--the low warning hum of +the mother to her safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to +obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering offspring is out of +sight, the anxious call when it is absent from her side unaccountably, +the angry bellow when she thinks injury is being done. + +The other day a lusty young bull which had been wont to treat me as a +chum, and perhaps as a slightly inferior animal, was reluctantly +parted from. His face displayed his emotions-astonishment, grief, +resignation--and once, and only once, did he permit himself to protest +vocally. But for a week his mother's sorrow has been insistent. Early on +the morning following, the banishment, she led off the rest of the +herd in Indian file, to search accustomed scenes. At times she +hastened--perhaps she heard in fancy the loved one's voice--but more +often and with rare persistency she shrewdly scrutinised every possible +hiding-place, lowing plaintively and with a coaxing, wistful tone. +Frequently, attended by silent, sympathising companions, she made +frantic appeals to me, and then there seemed to be a note as of +upbraiding, if not accusation, in her voice. Knowing her feelings, it +was easy to interpret them, and her doleful mood and loud yet melodious +protests against the arbitrary usage of man affected the wonted serenity +of the Isle. + +How many lusty, fat, sleek, good-humoured, straight-backed, frolicsome +calves had she reared, and when they had come to the age when a +mother's pride must be in the full, each in its turn had mysteriously +disappeared. Was this not a subject of moan? Why should she not tell +her grief to the responsive hills, and send it as far as her voice might +carry over the irresponsive sea? + +Time soothes all such pangs. She calls now when she spies me in the +forest, still suspecting where responsibility rests, and mumbles as she +crops the succulent herbage. A few more days and her sturdy offspring +will be forgotten; but the recollection of her material woes excites the +thought that human beings, in guiding the destinies of domestic animals, +may not always be conscious of certain moral aspects of such incidents. +Are we justified in lacerating the feelings of those creatures, which +have become accustomed to our ways, which submit to our arbitrary +authority with wondrous patience, which depend on us in many ways, and +which trust us with unquestioning fidelity? + +Against all precedent, the dairy herd was started with a bull. Though +such a beginning is not to be recommended as a general precept, it must +be confessed that in this particular instance developments proved its +wisdom. Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by +society of his kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank +and friendly manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite +excursions in the bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable +of the frogs and the boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his +sportful moods, for what would have proved pure frolic to him might have +been fraught with disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, +he spent most of his leisure moments in the paddock where poultry +congregates, and where many of the domestic rites are performed. He +was at home, and he was a gentleman, and did no one premeditated ill. +Longing for something to play with, he would make hostile demonstration +against the wheelbarrow, but that dull-hearted vehicle never responded +except by ignominious collapse at tenderest touch of horn. One evening, +when all the good little chicks had been put to bed for the night, the +bull, impatient for play, overturned two coops so suddenly that two of +the inmates were crushed flat. There was no sheltering mother to protest +against such violation, and so the adjoining coop was visited. But for +once he went wrong in strategy. The coop contained an exceptionally +numerous family, the mother of which richly deserved the name of +"Scotty." The coop was overturned none too politely; the squeaking +chicks vanished in the grass and remained discreetly silent; the irate +hen, with the valour of ignorance and all feathers on end, flew in the +face of the startled bull. Though a white leghorn, she has fighting +blood in her veins, and as she hurled herself--stuttering with +frantic exclamations--at the violator of her home, he backed with a +mirth-provoking look of surprise and dismay. He seemed to wish to say +that he regretted the intrusion, and would apologise and ask permission +to retire. The hen was not in the mood to accept apologies, however +seemly the cringing attitude of the bull. Making herself ever so much +bigger than Nature intended, she followed up her advantages, slapping +her enemy's face with widespread wings until he winced again, and +clawing with truly feminine extravagance and uncertainty of aim. The +first round was all to the credit of the hen, and the startled poultry +cackled derisively as the bull retreated. Sure of victory, the hen +followed him up, skipping, flapping, clawing, and scolding as only an +irate hen in transports of rage can. Still the bull backed. He was a +gentleman, and genuinely afraid of female tantrums. With half-shut eyes, +he submitted to the buffets of the wings, while encouraging remarks +from friends and companions further excited the delirious pugnacity +of "Scotty." Then it seemed to dawn on him that honour was at stake. +Gallantry forbade him to do violence to a lady; honour forbade him to +run away. What other recourse was open? He must treat the whole episode +as a joke. So, rubbing his muzzle on the ground, he invited the hen to +come on. She did so. There was a splash of outspread feathers against +his front and more clatter than ever. He pawed the ground, jerking +little clods over his shoulders, and, lowering his head, menaced the +hen with horns that could have tossed her over the highest of the +mango-trees. But there was a smile on his face the while, and the +spectators knew, though "Scotty" did not, that it was all a joke. Again +and again she flew in his face. Just as often he refused to take her +seriously, though all the pantomime of battle was displayed. She cackled +in impotent anger. He bellowed with gratification. Not a fowl in the +yard saw the joke, and all the little chicks in adjacent coops strained +their necks to watch the battle and their voices in shrill comments. +Having made not the slightest impression on the jovial little bull, +"Scotty" retired, feinting and scolding, while he, still blue mouldy +for a game, coaxed her by unmistakable gesticulation to one round +more. Twice during the night "Scotty" dispelled the silences with loud +exclamations of wrath and defiance. She was fighting her battle again in +her dreams, and though I was not there to see, I am very sure that the +gentle bull beguiled his wakeful moments with smiles. There are several +white hens in the yard, and whensoever one crosses his path the +bull, who does not pretend to discriminate, tosses his head with an +interrogative gesture. "Do you want to fight?" he says, and the hens +flee--all except "Scotty." + +The herd comprises a dainty little cow of most placid disposition. +Nothing disturbs her placidity, incites her to hurry, or bewilders her. +Cure the dove of its timidity and shrinking and you will have a good +prototype of Parilla, who, taking life easily and affably, is fat and +amiable. When she brought home her firstborn, mooing plaintively, he, +big and fat for his age, walked into the byre as a matter of course. +Here was the first evidence of heredity. It was patent that Fillo +Billaroo was born with a mind like that of his sweet-tempered mother. +He earned his name because of acute dissimilarity to the swiftlet which +swoops about the cleared spaces, never resting save in a dark and dirty +cave. + +Though, apparently, entirely unselfconscious, Fillo Billaroo at once +established himself as a superior sort of creature. He did not exact any +rights. They were conceded with all possible grace. He enjoys privileges +none other dares to imagine. When he has exhausted for the time being +the maternal source of refreshment, he visits other mothers, and with +such a pompous, patronising, good-humoured, thoroughly appreciative and +yet gentle way, that the absurd creatures are flattered. They realise he +is something quite out of the common, and give agreeably of their best. +Thus he has become a favourite, and he drinks so much and has become so +fat that he could not for a couple of weeks accompany his lazy-pacing +mother on her daily rounds, but would be planted in shade and coolness +with cautions against straying until called for late in the afternoon. +Often would Parilla forget the hiding-place, or rather pretend to, +and beseech in wistful tones for help in the search, and when it was +successful the greetings she bestowed displayed the bigness of her +heart. + +Once the little mother left Fillo Billaroo in charge of Lady Clare, +a much more experienced matron, who cannot bear to permit her frisky +heifer out of her sight for a moment unless safely planted, and then the +treasure must not be wandered from more than a hundred yards. Parilla +went off for the day. Late in the afternoon, Lady Clare with her heifer +and Fillo Billaroo were found far away from the mob and driven home. It +had been hot, and the big calf has an enormous appetite and apparently +Lady Clare had been coy. When he saw his mother and his mother saw him, +he stooped with uplifting nose, sniffing; she stopped feeding and begin +to sniff. He seemed to say to himself, "I do believe I know that little +creature. Yes; I am certain I must have met her before. She rather +resembles my own mother; but I have so many fond, kind, and obliging +aunts that it is not so very easy to make sure. She has a special look. +Can I be mistaken? I really hope not, for I am painfully hungry." + +In the meantime Parilla was saying to herself--you could see it all +plainly written in her big, round, bulging eyes, so full of inquiry, +hope and longing--! "The sight of that really fine fellow reminds me +that I, too, am a mother. He is a pretty fellow; I fancy that Fillo +Billaroo is not unlike him. I now recollect with dismay that I have not +seen him since morning, when Lady Clare condescended to look after him. +And there's Lady Clare! Oh! if she's mislaid Fillo Billaroo! But can +that fine, beautiful fellow be mine? I must inquire. Come!" And she +moo'd, and Fillo Billaroo murmured "Mum," and they rushed to one +another, and the look in Parilla's face was that of perfect happiness. + + + + +BABBLING BEACHES + + + +"By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more pleasure may be +taken in small things than in great."--Ruskin. + + +On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and the wind +continuously sweeps off the dry surface, and your ears detect the +musical sound accompanying the process--vague as the visible part of it +is blurred and misty--then it is that you are made aware of the agencies +by which time creates geographical differences. Precipitated at the apex +of the spit, the sand as it sinks tints the verge of the sea, while +the lighter spoil, leaves and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent +voyage. The current from the south pares the spit, preserving its +shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the fluent inner curve. +The dry wind, the current with its northerly set, and the ebb in +conjunction, push the spit to the north, and as the sand advances, +vegetation consolidates the work. Then comes the season of northerly +winds, when the apex of the spit is forced backwards and outwards into +a brief but graceful flourish, in the bight of which small boats may +nestle, though the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards away. +Since the winds of the north are less in duration and persistency than +those from the south and east, the tendency of the spit--in defiance +of the yearly setback--is to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees +with bare, branchless limbs become stranded, to dry and whiten in the +sun and reinforce the sand, and in their decay, with ever contributed +seaweed, to make mould for vegetation. The work of encroachment and +consolidation is incessant and strangely rapid, for vegetation never +lacks pioneers of special character to prepare the way for the less +venturesome and less hardy. Often before vegetation appears, coral +chips, shells, small stones, and sharp gravel, are concreted into +platter-shaped masses which seem to become the base of blocks of rough +conglomerate, capable of resisting the attacks of the sea; and a few +yards back, where a mangrove-bordered creek once existed, the mud and +decayed fragments of wood have been transformed into a black, cheesy +substance which might be mistaken for soft coal. So do these beaches lay +bare their secrets. + +When the mainland streams pour out their floods and the commingled +volume hurries north in a mud-tinted, sharply delimited current, and +whole trees are cast up on the beaches of far-away isles, vivid examples +of the dispersion of animate and inanimate things by purely natural +means are afforded. Weighty stones are found locked among roots which, +as the wood decays, are deposited on alien sands, thereafter to invite +speculation as to origin and means of transport. On one such raft +voyaged a living specimen of the white and black banded snake, one of +the most singular of the family, for Nature has bestowed on it a placid +disposition, and provided it with an unmischievous mouth and fangs +so minute that, although classed as venomous, it is not considered +injurious to man. Though strange and interesting, on the plea that the +family is quite sufficiently represented, the derelict was unwelcome, +save as a living proof of the practicability of natural transports. +By what grace, indeed, could the creature which earned the Almighty's +bitter curse be accepted as "wilsam"--goods of God's mercy driven +ashore, no wreck or ship being visible? + +This small bay never ceases the laying of tribute at one's feet. There +are seasons when the amount is less than at others; but how seldom +are its sands trodden without a display of the infinite variety of +productions of the ocean? When the mood of the sea is savage and the +spoil from the reef is flung in ridges among the vegetation of the +shore--coral in blocks and shattered masses, shells, seaweed, sponges, +and other dead marine animals and driftwood, heap on heap--days of +enthusiastic toil might be spent in sorting out the oversurplus of the +secrets of the sea. But for months together the beach maintains its +cleanly orderliness, and during these dreamy days the sea will tell of +many a pretty treasure which the sands will reveal in the face of the +sun. + +The most famous of botanists compiled a floral almanac; the months, +and in some cases the weeks, being associated with the development and +flowering of significant plants. So might it be possible to ascribe to +particular months the tokens with which the obliging sea bestrews the +beaches. It is not proposed herein to attempt any such design, which +would involve special knowledge of the science of conchology and the +compilation of the records of years of patient observation. A few +examples of the material on which the delightful work might be +undertaken are given, so that the wealth of one brief strip of beach may +be taken as typical of a vast stretch of calm waters within the Great +Barrier Reef. + +The ridges and furrows of the cyclone season, when the clean sand is +covered and stained with weed, dead and living molluscs, coral, leaves +carried from the hills by flooded streams, all fermenting in the heat, +tell that Christmas is past and March not yet over. Many a year passes +without such a storm as compels the groaning ocean to ravage its reefs. +Then the beaches, during the first three months are not particularly +fertile, nor are the shells to be found special or peculiar. In April +many specimens of the mollusc known as Tapes, of which there are several +species, are cast ashore, empty but fresh. In life the animal buries +itself in the mud at the edge of the sand, and some disturbance of +natural conditions, possibly due to the fresh water from flooded rivers, +causes seasonal mortality. The most conspicuous of the species is that +known as "literati," because of the erratic scribblings decorating its +valves. With others of the genera, it is to be found cast away at other +times of the year, but the end of the wet season seems exceptionally +direful. + +April is confirmed, too, but transiently, by the presence of a frail +mollusc (HAMINAEA CYMBALUM) which is washed ashore attached to seaweed, +soon to disappear desiccated by the sun and ground to powder. The shell +is semi-transparent with a sandy tint, and in form not unlike that of +a common snail. As the weather becomes cooler, a thin, delicate bivalve +decorates high-water mark. It is one of the tellinas--semi-transparent, +lustrous, and fragile--which occurs in muddy sand, but why the species +should be more susceptible to the ills of life during a particular +season is not apparent. When the fates do conspire against its welfare +dozen of bright specimens may be picked up during a casual stroll, the +animal having disappeared. The epidemic the beach thus announced +with pink and glittering shells coincides with low night tides, which +possibly leave the inefficiently protected animals exposed to the +attacks of uncustomary enemies which thrive only when the muddy banks +are exposed. The cause of the exhibition of the relics is not of so much +concern to the unlearned observer as the relics themselves and the part +they play in signifying the progress of the season. If strong winds +occur during the cool months, among the wreaths of broken seaweed thrown +on the beach may be found unbroken and fresh specimens of a singularly +beautiful and fragile univalve known commonly and most appropriately as +the "bubble shell" (HYDATINA PHYSIS), which when alive is a most lovely +object, its fine spiral lines being black and faint yellow with faint +purple edges, while the mantle is fringed with light blue intermingled +with pale yellow. In some specimens the base colouring is fawn, the +lines, of varying width, being brown and "comely crinkled," like the +face of the pleasant old woman of whom a poet wrote. Such a frail shell +is subject to many mischances before it reaches the beach, and a few +hours of exposure to the sun tarnishes its lustre. To obtain it in +perfection the beach must be patrolled every day during due season, +and very rarely is the collector rewarded by the discovery of unsullied +specimens. + +When the chill is out of the surface the spring-time of the sea begins. +Vegetable life is strenuous, so that one may chance to see a lazy turtle +bearing on its back a weedy garden. The water is alive. Miles of space +are belted with that plant to which Captain Cook applied a significant +name, likening it in its myriads to "sea sawdust." Some dare call it +"whale spawn," forgetful that the whale is not a fish. Others assert it +to be none other than the "coral insect," which does not exist save in +the minds of those who write odes to such creatures: + + "Ye build, ye build, but ye enter not in, + Like the tribes whom the desert devoured in their sin." + +It consists of minute vegetation in bundles, to be individualised under +a strong microscope, though when countless billions drift on to the +beaches and die and become green and grey with corruption, the fumes are +by no means in proportion to the marvellous littleness of the individual +plants. Then we know by the organs of scent and sight that August has +come. The beaches are foul. The breakers roll in unbroken or with a +muddy, froth, for the scum acts as oil, calming even troubled water. + +The Red Sea is said by some authorities to derive its title from the +scum formed by this plant (TRICHODESMIUM ERYTHRAEUM), which is strongly +impregnated with iodine. It emits a most disagreeable odour and exhales +a gas which affects the mucous membrane, causing in some individuals +sneezing and inflammation of the eyes. One amateur fisherman of +considerable experience and by no means susceptible to intangible +irritations, and not to be diverted from his sport by trifles, has +frequently been compelled to move from a favourite ground by a stream of +the scum drifting to his anchored boat. The fumes gave intense smartness +to the eyes, which were relieved by a gush of tears, but keen discomfort +recurred when the tears were wiped away. + +Following the least desirable of marine phenomena is that which is known +as the "blanket weed," which floats ashore in loathsome blobs, a hand's +breadth and more, the centre a grey, solidified slime, with a periphery +of long, dull green, slimy, shapeless fringes Individual plants coalesce +on the sand and, mingling with other weeds, cover respectable beaches +with a woolly, compact mass not unlike a rough, thick blanket, but +teeming with unpleasantnesses. Isolated plants cling to ropes, which +become garlanded with thickened slime, from which evil-smelling mud +oozes. Offensive to man afloat and ashore, the "blanket weed" is a +luxury to mullet and garfish, for during its period both may be seen +in shoals skimming the surface of the sea in abandonment of habitual +shyness, and the stomachs of both are found to be full of the +greenish-grey slime. With the compliance of the sun the impurity +disappears, giving place to the graceful weed of vivid green that +attaches itself to dead and whitened shells and fingers of coral covered +at low water. Every flood-tide deposits a zone of shells splashed +with green, while the shallows glow as a field of rich pasturage. In +favourable situations, such as the upper part of a long immersed log, +coated to the water-line with goose barnacles, the plant grows long and +luxuriantly, falling on each side like a silken mantle. + +One other season, ephemeral but universal, do the babbling but +truth-telling beaches record. No rocky cove, no smooth strand, no +rubbish-accumulating creek, no mangrove-fringed islet, no coral +esplanade white under the tropic sun, no sand-bank with crest of +windshaken bush, is free. It is Christmas. Christian and pagan alike +tell it to the sea, and the sea tells it to the beaches in--corks. + +Though there are grounds for the belief that some molluscs are seasonal +in their appearances and disappearances, the majority are always with +us, though subject to many casualties. A few months since an epidemic +broke out among a certain species of sea urchins (Echinus), spherical +animals with shells thickly set with spines, keen and exceedingly +brittle. The beaches were strewn with thousands of the dead, no apparent +exterior injury having been suffered. The particular species afflicted +gathers to itself, seemingly as a disguise, but perhaps as ballast, the +dead shells of cockles, which are retained by the spines. It was noticed +that the dead were not encumbered. + +A curious and one of the rarest of local shells is that known as the +elephant's tusk (DENTALIUM APTINUM). Pure white and slightly fluted +longitudinally, it typifies the marvellous extent of Nature's +requirements and her fertility in design. It is especially interesting +to note that the existence of the species in Australian waters has not +hitherto been recorded, the nearest known locality being the Moluccas. + +The DRUPA RICINUS (so specifically called because of resemblance to +the prickly seeds of the castor-oil plant) has another feature almost +unique--two ivory-white projections in the mouth, singularly like a +baby's teeth. In the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the +form of an altogether different mollusc which is commonly known as the +"bleeding-tooth shell," the gory stains about the base of the tooth +being highly significant. The local example of the whimsicality of +Nature owes its excellence to absolute purity. No fond mother crooning +to her first-born ever looked on budding teeth more delightful in +modelling and pearliness. + +CHAMA LAXARUS belongs to the same family as the clams, the largest of +living molluscs, its specific title being an allusion to the tattered +raiment of the beggar of the most edifying of parables. Occasionally the +china-white upper valve is decorated with a broad streak of buff. Some +of the genera are attached to coral or rock indifferently by +either valve, and it is exceptional to find on the beach a perfect +specimen--that is, the valves united. Since on the reef the shells are +frequently protectively disguised with seaweed and other growth, it is +only after the violence of a cyclone that the amateur collector expects +to be rewarded. + +Unlike some others of the family, the cockscomb oyster, though not +objecting to the near-by presence of its kind, seems to hate a crowd. +Half a dozen may occupy separate areas on a rock, and solitary specimens +lie embedded and strongly anchored in the sand. A typical example may +weigh over seven pounds. So big and weighty a shell can scarcely +be sensible of its invariable burden of parasites and other +encumbrances--but the variety of such tenants never fails to excite +curiosity. That which is illustrated accommodated another oyster of +delicate texture, a thorny clam (which has the reputation of being +poisonous), a mass of seaweed, a serpentine mollusc, two species of +coral--the red organ-pipe and a mushroom--three burrowing crabs, besides +a number of smaller animals, fixed and mobile, in addition to the +congregation of less obvious life critical examination would undoubtedly +have revealed. + +Most species of univalves are wanderers, many bivalves are free, +and multivalves become fixed at an early stage of existence. The +goose-necked barnacle, with its five valves, comes in its myriads +attached to derelict coco-nuts, floating logs, and pumice-stone. The +species owes its name to the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary +state of the barnacle goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments +representing the plumage and the valves the wings. It has been found on +shells, whales, turtles, and marine snakes. + +In the mud close to the edge of the beach sand one of the most singular +of marine animals exists, and often its empty, horny, flexible, +semi-transparent shell, always tinted green, may be found. It is known +in some works as LINGULA ANATINA, and by the natives of this Isle, by +whom a certain part of it is eaten, as "Mill-ar-ing." A pinhole in the +mud indicates the presence of the animal, and the hungry black boy, +thrusting his hand with outspread fingers below it, closes the fingers +and withdraws anything but an inviting morsel. To the tongue-shaped +shell is attached a pedicle or stalk, attaining a length of ten inches, +opaque and tough, which is broken off, seared over the fire, and eaten +with apparent relish. It is remarkable that in localities in which this +mollusc is found a seaweed occurs similar in shape and size, the chief +difference in appearance being in the length of the stalk, which in the +plant is thin and membranous. + +The Phorous, or carrier, otherwise the mineralogist, is remarkable for +its extraordinary habit of cementing to its exterior stones of irregular +size, and in some cases dead shells of other species, an office +performed by the use of an exceptionally long tongue. Its movements are +said to be very clumsy and erratic, as if its self-imposed burden was +too cumbersome for its strength. Personal observation fails to verify +its staggering gait, for dead specimens only have been found. The +stones are, no doubt, designedly acquired as a disguise and so represent +another form of life insurance. When stationary the mineralogist +successfully baffles observation; but some day, peradventure, in a +moment of preoccupation, it will reveal itself lurching along over the +rough country it favours. How few living things escape the "penalties of +Adam." Some bear sorrows, some stones. + +Among the fixed molluscs are what is known as the winged shells, to +which the "pearl oysters" belong. The name is apt, for the expanded +valves are not unlike the form of a bird in flight. The illustration +shows a rare species, several specimens of which were found attached to +the mooring-chain of a buoy by what is known as the "byssus," a bunch +of tough fibres which passes through an hiatus in the margins of the +valves. Like the king's daughter of the Psalmist, PTERIA PEASEI is "all +glorious within," the nacreous surface, margined with lustrous black, +shining like silver with a tinge of blue. + +Only a very small proportion of the species of shells to be found on the +shore of this bay have been enumerated. In a work of general character a +complete commentary on any particular branch of natural science would +be out of place, nor is it competent for one who has but a trifling +knowledge of a special subject to deal with it in an enlightening +manner. It would be highly interesting to ascertain by study and +observation why the denizens of so many parts of the ocean meet in +community in such a narrow space, though it may not be very difficult to +present a fairly satisfactory theory for the continuous presence of +many species by reference to existing features and prevalent conditions. +Within the area of the bay the water varies in depth from a few feet to +four fathoms, the rise and fall of the tide being about two fathoms. The +fringing coral reef represents all stages of development and decay--live +growth on the outer edge, ever encroaching on the deeper water, and +comprising many varieties; dying masses on the shore-side, and a +considerable extent of dead and denuded relics lying in mud. There are +also weedy patches, bare sand-banks of limited extent, uncovered at low +water, and muddy depressions both in the deep and shallow portions and +clean sand. Strong currents race past the sand-spit and across the bay, +carrying, no doubt, continual supplies of spat from elsewhere to settle +in quiet places. No one who has lived on the margin of the tropic sea +can be astounded at its prolific life, though it may be a matter of +unceasing wonder that along a beach not more than four hundred yards +in extent should be found shells representative of species existing in +nearly all the warm waters of the world. + +And there are other isles with other beaches. One may present a narrow +strip of soft sand, cringing and squeaking under foot, almost entirely +composed of finely ground coral and shells, among which polished +fragments of red coral are to the beach-comber as the "colours" the gold +fossicker may find in his dish--prospective of reward. They reinspire +the like fervour which leads to the discovery of mountains as well as +microbes, for may they not signify the existence within the bounds of +the Great Barrier Reef of the precious coral of the Mediterranean and +the Red Sea? Above such hopeful sands lies a band formed of stag's-horn +coral, bleached snow-white, each time lying at right angles to the sea, +and higher up on the strand are blocks and lumps of weather-stained +coral among which vegetation is springing. A few yards further back +stands a group of Pandanus palms, the van of the dense and intricate +jungle covering rock and ridge. + +The shore of the sister islet may at the moment be but series of steeply +shelving banks of coral debris, to the base of the granite ramparts over +which the luxuriant foliage falls. + +Each islet has its distinguishing features, each beach its budget of +news for ears attuned to "small measures," each its display of seemly +things--the sweepings of the floor of the sea. + + + + +THE LOST ISLE + + + +"Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas." + + BROWNING. + + +In a region of rare serenity it lay--a blue stud on a silver +shield--aloof from other lands--unmapped, untarnished, pure, gleaming in +the dawn of exultant day. + +Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative, partly because of +remoteness from the taint of man-trodden land, mainly because, by right +of discovery, it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable +than such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, verdurous hills, +sheltered valleys, orange-tinted beaches, with the shadows of white +headlands staining the sea purple? + +An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in the shape of a +five-rayed star, each ray irregularly serrated. Here was promise of many +a landlocked cove to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. +Unsalted streams wound among the foothills of the central mountain, +whence a spire of rose-red porphyry shot into the luminous sky from +unbroken jungle, the superficies of which were soft and brilliant as +sodden moss. + +Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, flower-bedecked +glades, with great trees and blossoming shrubs in scattered clumps and +patches, among which sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of +deep hidden streams. Others were merely precipitous depressions in the +unbroken mass of foliage, variegated with aspiring palms so slender of +shaft that their unceasing swaying in the still air seemed an act of +unconscious affectation for the display of huge bunches of gaudy fruit, +seductive and dulcet to the taste. Spider-webbed tree-ferns with +furry, water-bespangled trunks stood in crowded groves on the brink of +spray-creating cascades and along the margins of cool rivulets which +murmured as they hurried to the sea. + +Water-dripping moss padded the lintels of grottos, before which dangled +translucent ferns of delicate form, yet so rich and intense with +life that crozier-tipped fronds took the hue of flowers--coral-red, +golden-bronze, and yellow; while golden dust clung to hairy undersides +like pollen to the thighs of hive-returning bees. Deep in perpetual +shadow lived a shy plant with heart-shaped leaves, so succulent and +distended as to resemble green capsules, and in association with each +leaf was a single semi-transparent fruit, pink with a central glow +like the fire of opal, but so frail that upon touch it resolved into a +dewdrop which glistened, trembled, and was gone in a moment. + +In the full blaze, feather-foliaged trees crowned with gigantic red +blossoms offered as a sacrifice fruit which blushed before the insistent +gaze of the sun; while beneath this gay canopy vine and creeper and +pliant shrub wove an undergarment which screened the moist earth and +created a realm of subdued light in which all the flowers were pale of +tint and tremulously fragile, though of almost forbidding magnitude of +form. + +Birds of painted plumage and loud and sonorous note sang and fluttered +among the flowers and fruit with no ill thing to disturb them, no +dissonance to compel them to silence and fear. + +Whithersoever I gazed, the lone and lovely Isle denoted a paradise of +unkempt vegetation, unfeared birds. No stump was there to betray +the passing of the devastating axe. No footprint except that of +birds--erratic, rectangular, scribbling--dented the sand. No human being +had ever visited those groves perfumed by orchids, gauzy as the wings of +the butterflies which poised over them and sipped the nectar stored in +their slender throats. + +Each bay and inlet and cove differed in delightsomeness. Unsoiled, +weedless sand littered with shells floored this deep and sheltered nook, +where shadow and substance blended to the complete deceit of the closest +scrutiny. The next was as a garden of shrubs with living blossoms and +fruit in strange shapes and gaudy colours. Many of the subaqueous plants +expanded and retracted their blossoms harmoniously, as if to the strains +of music audible only to the mute denizens of the sea--a measured, +waving dance, fantastic and wondrously beautiful. Crystalline clearness +magnified the detail of the next, the portals of which were coral, dyed +extravagantly and variously according to the secret of the sea, with its +inexhaustible chemicals. Fish in unimaginable shapes, fantastic hues, +and sea-things harmless and educative to the sight, roamed the coral +gardens, retiring at will into sapphire-blue caverns or flashing in +the clearness with lightning speed and scarce visible effort. Cream +and yellow, old gold, blue, pink and lavender, the corals flourished in +myriad shapes. Anemones, large as plates, royal blue and greyish-green, +and each bristling with thousands of independent activities, embossed +snow-white blocks. + +Opening out into an oval basin, the inlet was again constricted, the +bottle-neck entrance to a perfect haven being guarded by huge masses of +limestone, weathered grotesquely, from the crevices of which sprays +of peach-coloured orchids quivered, while the flora of land and sea +commingled on the lustrous surface. Beyond again, the inlet wound round +the base of it cliff vocal with the fugue of birds which flew from +flowery parapet to flowery parapet. + + +Gradually the cliffs retreated, leaving fair banks with shrubs and great +trees with branches pendulous over unbroken placidity, and there, on +a knoll, stood a palm, rigid and straight as a column, crowned with +shimmering fronds which shielded masses of nuts, brown and green, +and great sprays of straw-coloured infloresence. More palms beyond, +thick-set; and beyond again an avenue in perfect alignment, each tree +perfect in stately form, with one blotch of glorious purple--as high and +compact as a church--to block the diminished distance. + +The boat drifted to the landing never touched by foot of man. Lost in +admiration of the imposing and manifold perfections of the Isle, eager +to wander at will among those enticing glades, and to make festival with +their genial gods, I stepped out--and into nothingness! + +Can it be that never again shall be discovered in the Land of Dreams the +Lost Isle? + + + + + +PART II.--THE PASSING FACE + + + +THE CORROBOREE + + +"No ceremony that to great ones 'longs." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summoned, invited, children, men, women, and piccaninnies assembled to +participate in the duties and recreations of the moment. + +Message-sticks had been carried into unfamiliar country by nervous boys. +One of the organisers at ease with his pen sent to his kin formal and +official invitations mingled with social and affectionate greetings. All +responded. + +The beach sent its silent-footed contingents trailing along the yellow +sands, carrying in well-worn dilly-bags oysters and scraps of half-baked +fish smeared with smoke, and gritty. All their lives had they trudged +along the convenient margin of the sea, where the receding tide leaves +a firm, level, springy track. They were familiar with all its moods, and +took little heed of any. + +The fame of a previous Parliament had spread far and wide, even to that +aspect of the Dividing Range which sends its waters to the great shallow +gulf to the west. Natives who, though living among the mountains but two +days' journey from the coast, had never seen the sea, hastened thither +in bee-line, passing through unknown but not unfriendly country. Though +the age of tribal feuds was past, special weapons of defence were +carried, for did not strange jungles teem with spectral denizens whom +imagination endowed with appalling shape, with cunning, and with rending +ferocity? Unmolested, the party arrived one evening, to gaze with +mute astonishment on the sea. It was almost as incomprehensible, and +therefore almost as fearsome, as the phantoms of the bush. Mysterious, +vast beyond the range of vision, here grumbling on the sand, there +mingling with the sky, the strangers peered at it through the screen +of whimpering casuarinas and trembled. The rustle of the subsiding +north-easter made for fear. They told one another that the big salt +water was alive. It talked in austere tones, while their own sleepy +lagoons were silent and tame. Wonderingly, they retreated to the jungle +for the night, there to take counsel of the long-shoremen. + +"That b-i-g fella salt water, him talk all asame?" + +"Yowi! Him sing out plenty. Mak'm b-i-g fella row!" + +"That fella him walk about lika that?" + +"Yowi! Him walk about. Quiet little bit. Sometime run about splash'm +water; mak'm boat capsize. Plenty men drown finis!" + +The strangers shivered and longed to return to their cool hills; but the +long-shoremen beguiled them with descriptions of the fish and the crabs +and oysters the generous sea gave, and told that in the morning it would +be "quiet fella" and that they need not be afraid. + +With taut-strung nerves, the highlanders approached the sea, which shone +in matutinal placidity. When the ripples wavered on the smooth sand and +ran in caressing ripples towards their feet, they started and shrunk. +The incomprehensible ocean was alive and much to be feared, for was it +not so big that no one could see where it ended? They sat and watched +its enticing gestures, and, gathering courage, stood tremulously while +the tide splashed their feet and retreated. The boldest walked in +ankle-deep and danced in daredevilry, and soon young and old were +gambolling uncouthly, tasting the sea's quality, shouting and splashing. +None ventured more than knee-deep; some crawled and wallowed in the wet +sand, too fearful to trust their lives to so big a thing which showed +itself to be alive by breathing and moving. The morning was spent in +moist frolics, and when the north-easter began to work up a little sea, +which spoke in menacing tones, the terrified strangers withdrew. + +Late in the afternoon the corroboree began, many of the participators +having spent hours in the assumption of the festive costume of the down +of sulphur-crested cockatoos plastered to the skin with grease and +the blood. It is not to be supposed that white down in the hands +of experienced dressers is incapable of variation in style. Several +original designs excited the approbation of spectators. The down was +arranged in tufts following the perpendiculars of the body from shoulder +to shin, or in a series of circles accurately spaced, or in intersecting +spirals, while the heads of all performers and combatants were converted +into white mops. + +And with the clapping of hollowed hands and the clicking of boomerangs +the function began. And having danced to their own satisfaction and the +delight of the crowd, the warriors with ostentation and bluster recited +private grievances and challenged those against whom they had real or +fancied wrongs to combat. Most of the noisy declamation was ill-founded. +The many had no grievances and no intentions of fighting, but out of the +shouting crowd stepped two big men who sought compensation for "another +Helen." Though not lovely or winsome or an heiress, she sufficed as the +motive for an honourable and public strife, quite as sincere as many +of the scuffles without the walls of Troy. Spears and boomerangs were +thrown viciously and dodged and evaded skilfully until one of the men +found a boomerang sticking fast in his leg. The wound was decisive, and +with much hullabaloo the defeated warrior limped away, while the lady, +whom niggardly Nature had denied the grace of blushing, passively went +to the victor. + +Among the strangers to the coast was an old man but a yard and a +quarter high, with unkempt, grisly beard, a head which needed not the +glorification of cockatoo's down, long, thin arms, huge hands, thick, +stump legs, and sprawling feet. No far-reaching crab of the reef just +showing its worn brown tusks off-shore was more grotesque of mien and +gait. To emphasise his malignant mood, he carried a huge boomerang, +which seemed to obey and embody his whims. It sprang from his powerful +hands in resolute and impetuous flight, whirred threateningly overhead, +and returned to foot, fluttering and purring, as if endowed with +affection for its unlovable master. None so mastered the missile; but +for all his weird influence over it, he was subject to the restraints of +another weapon which seldom left his hands. Is there not a spiritual +law which imposes checks on the bombastic tricks of crude and cultured +alike, or was it by force of gravity that the point of the dwarf's +long and slender spear dipped into the ground, punctuating mock martial +struts with perverse irregularity? Prodigious in his own estimation, his +jibes and taunts were almost as terrifying as the erratic flights of his +boomerang; for the dwarf was a privileged individual, the Thersites +of the campaign, and with one advantage over his prototype--he really +wanted to fight. So he swaggered, heeding not the reproving spear; he +fumed; he mocked; for no warrior affected to notice his vainglorious +absurdities. He was as much in earnest as those who fought on account +of elemental love, and far more so than any of the blusterers who talked +big and looked small. He longed to fight, and for money. + +Each warrior was challenged individually, and when none responded he +railed against all for cowards and sent the boomerang hissing defiance +against the blue sky, to fall with mutter and thud at his feet. In his +rage the little man became hysterical, and the more he scolded the less +important, while the swaying spear emphasised increasing agitation, +but brought him neither humility nor jibe, for the race does not +intentionally relieve its drama with comedy. + +No more influential personage was present than "Mooty," the crafty, +determined, plausible philosopher--the sagest of the counsellors, the +most flowery of orators, the most weird of the wizards. Long before +he had established his reputation as a medicine-man. A settler had +purchased some cast-off goats in a distant town, and had employed a +black boy of the district as assistant drover, and the name of the boy +was Tom. Since there are many "Toms," a distinguishing surname had to +be bestowed, so "Goat" was affixed, and as "Tom Goat" the stranger was +known. Having no sweetheart, he made love to several dusky dames, all +of whom rejected him because his absurd name made him a figure for +fun. Rosey, wife of Jack, was persistently courted, and scornfully she +despised her wooer. That individual, however, was not without malignant +resource. Rosey complained of a sore throat, and as she got worse her +boy became similarly afflicted. The faces and throats of both swelled +alarmingly, so that Mooty, who had the cases in hand, gave up hope. Both +were resigned, when Mooty, to his own horror and the dismay of everyone, +caught the dread disease. + +No such illness had ever been known in the district, and since it had +not only baffled Mooty's skill, but had irreverently seized him--the +only physician of credit and renown--its cause must be supernatural. +Thus did he reason, as he began occult investigations. Jack and Rosey +lay in their camp passively dying. Mooty prowled about, the sleeves of +a discarded shirt tied under his distended jaws. No physical origin +for the mysterious disease was found during the two days he devoted to +methodic search and secret rite. Then an anticipated discovery rewarded +him and made his name thrill among his race. To a condescending white +man he told of his skill in these terms: + +"Two fella him close up finis. Me bin look out camp belonga two fella. +B'mbi me bin find'm little fella fork stick close up alonga groun'. Me +frait. My word, me bin pick'm up easy fella. Me look out longa little +fella hole. Me bin see hair, too much, belonga Tom Goat. That hair bin +mak'm two fella no good. Him mak'm me fella no good. Me catch'm that +fella hair along two fella stick. Tchuck'm along ribber. My word! That +fella hair no good! Him go phuff! Kill'm fish, too many. B'mbi me fella +go alonga camp. Me tell'm two fella, 'You no more mak'm die. Me bin +find'm that fella hair belonga Tom Goat.' B'mbi two fella him get up; +him no more die; he walk about." + +Exasperated by such impropriety, aghast at the consequences, +Mooty--doctor alike of laws, of science, and of medicine, and a man of +imperative mood--sharpened his tomahawk at the Chinaman's grindstone, +theatrically testing its edge with distorted thumb. Tom Goat disappeared +as silently as last night's dew, for Mooty does not hesitate to +summarily administer his own judgment when his professions are scorned, +his family bewitched, his countenance distorted with mumps. + +With feasting and fighting, with dancing and storytelling, quarrelling +and reconciliations, the assemblage spent a happy week. Then the jungle +reabsorbed the nervous hillmen, and beach-combers straggled along the +yellow sands. + + + + +THE CANOE-MAKER + + + +"Last scene of all, . . . Is second childishness and mere oblivion." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +A tottering old man, frail alike in frame and mind, squats dying in an +alien camp. His teeth have almost disappeared, worn to the gums by +the mastication of food in which sand has been mingled in immoderate +proportion. All his life has been spent on the verge of the sea. He has +never known smooth food. Before he left his mother's breast grit was on +his lips, for in her sleep she snoodled naked in the sand. Hers was the +age of bark rugs or none, and was ever lord of the beach who shared with +his lady so rare a comfort? + +Counterparts of Cassowary's babyhood are extant to this +day--milk-bellied, nose-neglected, fumbling-fingered toddlers, who +smash with stones almost beyond their strength infant oysters and gulp a +mixture of squash and sand. + +As he grew up his food, seared on a fire on the beach, was always more +or less gritty. Possibly it would hardly have been relished if the +accustomed condiment had been absent. + +For many a long year Cassowary was a sort of king in the locality of his +birth, though this rank brought him no isolation. Now he is without rank +and grim in his lonesomeness. True to the sentiments of his race, the +men and women who knew him when he was strong and lusty strive to make +him comfortable in his dotage; but he is repellent. His surliness does +not vex them. They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To strangers +whom Cassowary has never loved and would now assault with spear and +nulla-nulla, they apologise. + +"Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up that fella finis." + +Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similar delusions have +afflicted notable men of the world, and even to this day are there not +apprehensive monarchs whose precautions are similar to those of +the age-worn savage? He imagines that he is regarded as a useless +encumbrance, and that his fellows would gladly hasten his departure to +that country on the bourne of which he painfully lingers. Suspicious of +plots to rob him of the poor vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard +against poison, his special dread. Rather than run risk he submits to +semi-starvation, for the decayed monarch of a narrow strip of shore +has no servitor on whom to impose the office of taster of his dishes. A +stranger may of his goodwill offer a tribute of tobacco. It is cast away +with every manifestation of indignation and haste. He is sure that the +one solace of existence has been drugged, and that if he indulges he +must die. How marvellous the self-denial! How many of us would purchase +half an hour's existence such as his at the cost of declining the one +luxury of life! + +Flour from his master's hands is served like the stranger's tobacco, +though he may not have tasted food for days; nor does he accept a +portion of the damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others +eat. Then he feeds reluctantly and with extreme caution, not to gratify +the palate, but to maintain life. + +Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more vindictive and envious +foes than this helpless old savage who possesses nothing save a grimy +shirt and the fragments of a blanket? + +Cassowary, an old man when I first met him, was of the sort which does +not make friends with white men. Silent, resolute, reserved, a man +apart, he disdained the race-shattering language his fellows hastened +to acquire. His pidgin English, limited to a few words, was almost as +unintelligible as his own rude tongue. Once I landed on the beach which +was his favourite resort, and as the anchor slipped into the sea, smoke +puffed and drifted from the camp and the lonesome man's dogs barked; but +by the time the camp was reached the smell of the fire had gone, and all +tracks had been obliterated as if by the efficient touch of the wind. +The heat of the sand at the entrance of the dome-shaped humpy revealed +the site of the covered embers, and the rest was silence. + +At the back of the humpy, concealed by carelessly disposed bark and +grass, was a bark canoe which Cassowary, fisherman and oyster-eater, +was never without. In those days he deserved the reputation of being an +unrivalled maker of canoes which, during the first few weeks of their +prime, were sound, neat of appearance, quite seaworthy, though of small +dimensions and exceedingly light. Others might be expert fishermen and +skilful in more exacting sport of turtle and dugong catching, but all +acknowledged his special superiority. Though custom had made him a king, +Nature had designed him for a canoe-maker, while with that invincible +irony with which she rebukes the self-esteem and baffles the ambitions +of mortals, she discounted her gift by the bestowal of frank distrust +of the sea. He was so impelled to the exercise of the one talent that +during youth and manhood his chief occupation and never-ending delight +lay therein. That which his right hand had found to do he did with +all his might, his frail craft being the admiration of all, while the +confidence with which others managed them proved their quality. They +toyed with the sea in its placid moods, and were deferential in its +ill-humour. But Cassowary never ventured beyond easy hail from the +shore, however urgent the occasion or propitious the day. + +Fear also restricted his wanderings in the bush, which kept him within +sound of the dreaded waves. He was an unaffected beach-comber. Neither +the food-bestowing sea nor the safe dry land was for him. + +By instinct he seemed to be guided to the best trees for bark, generally +selecting "gulgong," though others were equally pliant in his hands. Raw +from the tree, he would soak the single sheet in water, and while sodden +steam it over a smoky fire, and, as it softened, mould it with hand +and knee. Bringing the edges of the end designed for the stem into +apposition, using a device on the principle of the harness-maker's +clamp, he sewed them together with strips of freshly cut cane. +Two stretchers gave to the craft beam, and the necessary sheer and +thwart-ship stays of twisted cane stiffness. Gunwales of cane were +sewn on, the stitches being cemented with gum made plastic by frequent +renderings over the fire on a flat stone, and then the canoe was +complete save for the hand-paddles, spoon-bowl-shaped pieces of bark. + +Each canoe sat well down by the stern when the fisherman knelt in it, +crouching forward like a jockey on the withers of his mount, and sending +it along by the alternate strokes. + +Cassowary was wont to scan each new work with the tilted head of an +artist. All the stitches were regularly spaced, and since they were +burnished with smoke, the canoe became a study in brown, braided with +gold, representative of something more than a means towards earning +a diet of fish, and inevitable grit. It was neat and of harmonious +colouring; innocent of the least touch of finery; not a scratch expended +on ornament. All its lines, save those of the stretchers and stays +which stood for rigidity, were fluent. It was not made to model or +measurement, but developed under the maker's hard hands and tough +fingers--a tribute to his artistry and skill. On the water it was as +blithe as a bubble. + +Often had the wish to possess one of Cassowary's masterpieces arisen. +He scorned barter by abandoning his property whenever the interferer +appeared. When the camp was deserted while the boat was being brought +to anchor there was a strong temptation to take the canoe, leaving some +adequate reward. The self-denial is almost regretted, for the old +man with the thin white tuft on his chin, his shyness, his hatred of +strangers, and delusions of his decrepitude, are characteristic of an +age soon to be of the irrecoverable past. A canoe from such accomplished +hands would have represented a complimentary record of a race deficient +in the elements of history. + +Several years have elapsed since Cassowary made his last canoe. He +acknowledged that his fingers had lost their cunning, but the fates +ordained that his ideas should blossom as his manipulatory skill +withered Gradually he became feeble in mind and body, and was wont to +spend his time crouched in a rough shelter dreaming prodigious dreams. +He would wake not only his fellows, but a pitying neighbour of other +complexion, with enthusiastic shouts announcing that a "big fella +steamer" was whistling out at sea; that it was his steamer; that it +carried two bags of flour, and tea and sugar and tobacco, and one +"good fella trousis"; and he would demand help in the landing of his +merchandise. Worn with age, sleep would soon again claim him, but never +and anon his great cry, hailing the phantom steamer with her beneficent +cargo, would wake the poor and squalid camp. + +The time came when Cassowary could no longer obtain for himself the +coarse and trivial food essential to life, and he and another outcast, +blind and maimed, quartered themselves on the camp on the beach; arid +in spite of fretfulnesses and suspicions, their fellows administered +to their wants. Being brought face to face with facts, the State gave +orders which meant an old-age pension for the outcasts. The dole was +liberal enough. The mistake was that it came too late. + +There was no reaction, as is oft the case with those who retire after +the bustling phase to live on the bounty of the State, for Cassowary and +his blind companion had never been strenuous workers or brain-compelling +men. The pension represented unexampled abundance. It was real, and yet +it came from a source almost as intangible as Cassowary's ship. Food +and tobacco! What more could the heart of a casual relic of such a race +want? Actually he wanted nothing more, save, peradventure, a blanket; +but he dreamt he did, and no earthly agent could diminish the festal +extravagance of the scenes among which he revelled, conducted by the +enchanted sleep. + +Cassowary had at last come to his kingdom. His time had always been his +own. The ready-to-hand food gave him leisure. His days were all dreams. +Weary of crouching over the fire before the opening of his humpy, he +began to wander in the flesh as he was wont to wander in mind. He was +seen a mile away from the cheerless camp, where his companions, with +smoke-dried eyes, lamented his absence. + +Was he searching for a tree which might provide bark for yet another +canoe--his last work, a paragon? A few days passed and it became known +that Cassowary was missing. His shrunken body disordered a patch of buff +sand just above high water. + +Had the desolate old man, in his fancy, made the best of all canoes, and +for once ventured out to sea? + + + + +TWO LADIES + + + +"To one, resolution; to another, a disposition to dance." + + +NELLY, THE SHREW. + + +As the steamer from the South enters the bay, the traveller sees ahead +the fringe of houses on the low lands fronting the inlet where shipping +finds safe and convenient harbourage. To the left he may be introduced +to a strip of open beach between two low points of grey granite, back +from which are scattered groups of modest buildings and huts which form +the aboriginal settlement. The choice of the site for the settlement +was influenced by the character of the country. Although but a short +distance by sea from the port, it is isolated by its background of hard +and inhospitable hills patched with almost impenetrable jungle. Few +consigned there ever leave of their own motive, however earnest the +longing may be. The home-sick realise that escape is difficult and, if +successful, futile, for are not the police everywhere, and strong and +compelling? Why undertake the unknown perils of unknown hills--spiritual +perils more to be dreaded than physical--when capture and again +banishment are certain? + +Nellie Oongle-bi, among whose matrimonial experiences was Tom, of this +Isle, and who since his death has gone from bad to worse, had been +found under the protection of a coloured alien, sadly degenerated and +saturated with opium. For her own salvation she was transported to +the settlement afar off, with its frontier of sea and background of +repulsive hills. She went, being in the clutches of a superior force, +tractably enough, but with none of her unconquerable love of country +subdued. Nelly has nothing of an attractive nature. She has a vixenish +temper at times; is always on the alert for fancied slights; is by no +means cleanly, unless under duress; and does not hesitate to foment +subjects of quarrel. Few among her relations and friends would mourn her +exile. Even her own son, Jim, was scoffingly indifferent. She was far +from being so, but played her part well, being obedient, quite tame, and +ever observant. + +She "sat down" at the settlement, and made friends with two or three of +the women there with whom she had previously been acquainted; but while +she talked with apparent resignation, she scanned the hills, especially +fixing in her mind a particular gully which leads up to a ridge +promising an outlook to the south, upon which her hopes were fixed. +Soon after dark on the second night she took to the bush, carrying +a dilly-bag and a blanket. She is now one of the population of a +far-distant settlement, the site of which happens to be within her +own country. How she overcame the distance without food, friends, or +resources, has to be told, though not altogether in her own language, +for such would be unintelligible to the ordinary reader. + +She was determined to run away as soon as the steamer landed her, for +that part of the North was not her country, and she could not live +anywhere else. Besides, she was "sorry belonga that boy Jim." During the +first night of her homeward pilgrimage she never ceased walking among +rocks and through the scrub, for she was fearful of being recaptured. +Without pause she clambered on until well into the next day, when she +slept for a little while. Then on again until dark. One big "mung-um" +(mountain) stood in the hopeful direction. Thitherwards she hastened, +losing count of the days and nights. Nelly has no conception of figures +beyond one, two, and a great many. The climbing of the mountain +occupied many days. She was bewildered, for she could not "catch'm +that sal'water" which would lead her home. At last from a spur of the +mountain she saw the sea--"L-o-n-g way. Too far. Me close up sing out." +Though she might cry, the sight of big salt water beside which all her +life had been spent was a joy and a stimulant. Pushing and worming her +way through the jungle, she encountered nothing but birds, wallabies, +and snakes. + +Once she was startled by what seemed to be a worn narrow track. +Advancing cautiously along it, she came across a huge carpet snake +coiled "all a same rope alonga boat." It was asleep where an opening in +the roof of vegetation made a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor, and +she passed by, treading noiselessly. For food she had the fruits of the +jungle, crude, harsh, and bitter. Food, indeed, was almost repugnant, +for her thoughts were concentrated on her country, so she hastened down +towards the now hidden sea. Far inland she heard its welcome noise--a +greeting and a call from home which made her forgetful of all weariness +and fret. + +In course of time--a weak woman carrying a blanket and living on +innutritious foods does not struggle through jungle at any remarkable +speed--the foothills and then the low-lying country at the junction +of two rivers were reached. Here she took off her few and bedraggled +garments, and, making them into a bundle with her blanket and bag, waded +through swamps, eventually emerging on a sandy beach, which she intended +to follow until she regained her country, many a weary mile to the +south. Providence provided an easy means of crossing the estuary of the +rivers--a kindly white man, owner of a "little fella boat, little fella +ingin." To him she told the story of her escape and her longing for her +own country and her own people, and was ferried across. Then she picked +up a camp of her race, the members of which, sympathising with her, +accompanied her on her way for a couple of days. One day she woke from +her sleep on the edge of the mangroves with her blanket sopping with +blood which had flowed from her mouth and nose during sleep. "Me bin +sorry belonga that boy Jim. Me bin sorry belonga country. That 'nother +country no good belonga me. Me think me die. Me walk alonga sandy beach. +Some time alonga b-i-g fella rock. Me close up tumble down altogether. +Me tired. B'mbi catch'm Liberfool Crik (Liverpool Creek). Plenty fella +sit down. He bin sing out, 'Hello! You come back from that place?' Me +bin say 'Yes; that country no good belonga me.'" + +A month or so after Nelly was again found in the service of a coloured +alien, tugging away with another weak gin at what she calls a "two-fella +saw." For her task of sleeper-cutting her reward would probably be a +handful of rice and a dose of opium per day. + +Nelly is now at her leisure within a mile or so from the place of +her birth, hardly conscious of the feat represented by her solitary +pilgrimage. Occasionally she has the company of her tall and indifferent +boy. She enjoys the society of her relations, and indulges as oft as +may be in exhilarating misunderstandings with them. Without a vehement +squabble now and again life would be intolerably insipid. Anger, +accompanied by fluent abuse, is to her a kind of spiritual blood-letting +for the casement of her suddenly plethoric temperament. But such is of +her frailty. Proof of her strength of purpose, has it not been given? + + +MARIA DANCES. + + +In her youth Maria gave promise of a rare condition among coastal +blacks--tendency to width and breadth. As she grew in bulk she seemed, +if not to decrease in stature, at least to remain stationary. Thus it +was that her figure became perfect. + +If there be one feature of animal physiology more adorable than aught +else in the eyes of the lords of the soil, it is fat--fat under any +and every circumstance. They admire it in animals of the chase, and +the paltry, greasy relics of a feast may be smeared over the body with +something of the pride and gratification derivable in other and cleaner +walks of life from perfumed powder, pink and white. + +Being fat and shiny as a girl, Maria had keen and ardent lovers. She was +an adorable novelty. + +Blacks do not gaze into the faces of their sweethearts. They have +never found chaste delight in the writing of woeful ballads to their +mistress's eyebrows, or to the glorification of their snubby and +expansive noses. If any of Maria's admirers had been lyrical, her buxom +condition would have been the theme of their idealisations. In time she +became the mother of children, still retaining that charming superiority +of bulk which excited the rage of sisters whose skins did not shine, +whose flesh did not quiver whensoever they walked, talked, or even +smiled. + +No marvel that her matrimonial experiences were the comment of the camp +and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have +been known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, +Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the +flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her +the belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the +stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not an +ounce of irresistible fascination of which to boast. + +For some years the form of Maria had not waddled across accustomed +scenes. Quite unexpectedly it loomed up as large and buoyant as ever. +The light-hearted denizens of the camp had arranged an evening's +entertainment. The fires burned low, the sea babbled, making +white-skirted frolic on the hard level sand, and the piping voices of +the honey-seeking flying foxes among the tea-trees seemed to chide +the parrots of the day for having left so little refreshment in the +blossoms. Behind a screen of faded blankets the warriors of the camp +were adorning themselves with white clay and feathers and long, shaggy +beards of bark, while the leader of the orchestra began to tune his +boomerang and fire-hardened sticks, and his attendants to squat ready to +drum on thighs and lap with hollowed hand in time with his refrain and +clicking music. The fires flared up, and the band emerged with thumping +step and emphatic grunts to illustrate the ceremonious visit of +strangers to a camp at which the nature of the reception was in doubt. +One individual, in chalk for the most part, advanced, half nervously, +half anxiously, to the musician, and modestly retired, and advanced +again and retired, until reassured, and then the crowd came forward +whirling and grunting, and, with high-waving arms in unison and swaying +bodies, gave token of happiness. + +ACT II.--The master of ceremonies carried to the front a big and rough +sapling. The fires glowed again, the orchestra clicked and thumped, and +a single boy in an ancient red handkerchief and chalks danced into the +light, and, keeping time with the music, began in pantomime to fashion +the sapling into a sword, using a fictitious shell, with which he +scraped off imaginary bark. While absorbed in his work, his companions +came from the screen in haste, skipping round him and mimicking all his +actions and grunting in unison with him, while making the sand-ridge to +quiver with intensity of tread. Presently all flopped down on haunches +in close formation round the sword-maker, still maintaining rhythmical +sway of body and limb, and while some held the sapling, others toiled +strenuously towards the completion of a good and true weapon, the master +of ceremonies encouraging and exhorting the workers until nature could +hold out no longer, and they bounded to their feet and, with grunts +and signs and with bodies reeking with perspiration, whirled away into +darkness. + +ACT III.--Each of the noisy players came suddenly into the glare +carrying a rotund, compact bundle, and, squatting down, began with +grunts and sighs the great "coco-nut" act, obviously one of the +masterpieces of the corroboree. In perfect time the sham coco-nuts +were beaten with hands in lieu of sticks or tomahawks, while the +accompaniment became faster and faster. Ever and anon each, still +rocking, would peer closely at his prize to satisfy himself as to its +quality, and forthwith continue the resonant belabouring of the shell, +until the meat therein was available with joyous shout. + +ACT IV.--Most of the accumulated bark and leaves having by this time +passed into flame and smoke, the attendants raided the nearest gunyah +for fresh supplies of material for illumination. The big fires lit up +the arena anew, and, marshalled by the conductor, the band rushed out +of the darkness uttering grunts which rang a change on the monotony of +previous vocal efforts. A masterpiece of composition, it conjured up the +dimness of the jungle and the smell of damp vegetation. All squatted in +a double ring, back to back. This formation was not strictly maintained, +for each individual made half turns to right and left alternately, +simultaneously scratching the sand with distended fingers and kicking +vigorously until the sand ascended in the smoke-tinged glow, heads +bowing and ducking with mechanical regularity, as the entertainers +sought--and with conspicuous success--to portray a community of scrub +turkeys building an incubating mound. + +Then it was that the favourite and belle of the camp, the fascinating +creature whose magnificent condition bestowed privileges undreamt of +by other ladies, became conspicuous. Her costume had evidently been +designed for a lady not divinely tall, but considerably less of flesh +than the wearer. Maria did not actually overflow, though perilously near +that point. Surely buttons were never designed to resist such strain. +Coloured ladies generally sit meekly among the audience and chatter +and maintain the drum-beats, lacking which no corroboree could be +successful. During the intervals they may emboss pictures in the +impressionable sand with cunning forefinger and giggle, for the subjects +are often quaint. Maria, sure of her privileges, waddled out from the +flame-obscuring dusk, turned an ample back upon the double ring of boys, +and played her part as one of the giddy and industrious wild-fowls. Her +fingers scratched the air and her feet the dust with a realism not to +be excelled by the most gifted of the boys, while her half grunt, half +chuckle, exactly imitative of the social garrulity of the turkey, gave +artistic finish to a scene which would have been absolutely delusive +if feathers had been in fashion. Maria, a fleer at mere ponderosity, +skipped and whisked from left to right with fay-like airiness of foot +until a thrill of delight went through the camp. The frolicsome turkeys +scratched and scattered leaves that were not, and gobbled and clucked, +until, panting and perspiring, all rose, and with a simultaneous +shout scampered for the screen, while the master of ceremonies shouted +"Finis!" The music ceased, the flames faded, and substantial Maria +dissolved in the gloom. + + + + +SOOSIE + + + +"No legend! Well, let us invent one."--SCOTT. + + +A crinkled fist, fumbling and twisting, protruded from a rent in a +dilapidated dilly-bag. It had done so with infinite feebleness for many +an hour in unavailing protest against the woes and weight of life, for +faint scratch smeared with blood denoted the friction of tender skin +against the broken edges of the cane-made bag. + +A scarcely audible, inhuman wail--pathetically staccato--told of +unceasing pain. Whomsoever the bag contained was enduring martyrdom. + +"That fella, him no good. Close up finis. B'mbi me plant'm along scrub." + +Thus spoke the pleasant-faced gin who passed with the dilly-bag along a +narrow aisle of the jungle, intent upon ridding herself of a vexatious +encumbrance, and at the same time performing the rite of unrighteous +burial. + +Squirming in dirt was a naked infant-black, foul, and but a few days +old. + +"Mother belonga that fella him dead--finis. That fella, him no good. Him +sing out all a time. More better tchuck'm away." + +Frail outcast--the very scum of a blacks' camp, its repulsiveness was +tragic. Dirt and odour sickened, yet its appeal was irresistible. That +universal language, a human cry, which everywhere and always quickened +the pulse, stirred pity to its depths. I seized the stained bag (it +was a desperate deed) and, breaking down its worn sides, displayed its +contents--a girl in all the infamy of neglect, starvation, and dirt--a +panting mummy reeking with offence. + +Spreading out a handkerchief, I put the awful atom on it gingerly, while +the foster-mother reiterated her counsel to "tchuck'm alonga scrub." + +In the guise of a frail bundle at arm's-length was Soosie conducted to a +civilised home. + +Dismay tempered with pity greeted her. + +"How horrible! How dirty!" + +"Is it really a little girl? It looks like a wild animal." + +"Do let me nurse it." + +Thus was crinkled-faced Soosie welcomed. + +Many successive baths did she endure, faintly wailing, until dirt soaked +off and the wails ceased for the time being as Soosie sucked ravenously +at a tiny sugar-bag. + +What a frail little life it was--feeble beyond expression, and ugly +with the ugliness of savagery. She wriggled and screwed up her skinny +features with inane ferocity. A motherless wallaby would have submitted +to human solace and ministrations with daintier mien; but the whole +household thrilled with excitement. Could the spluttering spark of life +be made to glow? That was the all-absorbing topic for days. Gradually +some sort of a human rotundity became manifest, and on the occasion +of the bath it was more and more apparent that instead of being +impenetrably black the skin-tint was a mingling of pale brown and pink; +and as regular nourishment began to be effective the features changed, +losing their gross animalism. + +Just because of the waif's helplessness was repugnance to her conquered. +She had no other redeeming quality. In a certain sense she was fearsome; +she required unremitting attention and care; her whimpering fits, +in beast-like monotone, shook the nerve of the most patient of her +attendants. She was a charge to keep and foster, and the duty was +performed with devotion, which took little concern for self-sacrifice. +Before many months had passed Soosie had been transformed into a fat +roly-poly with a perpetual smile and gurgles of satisfaction, which even +vocalised sleep. + +All this happened years ago. In infancy Soosie had been informally +adopted. She was now a bright, sensible, slender girl, whose full, +melting eyes pleaded for inevitable facial defects, and whose complexion +was very greatly at fault. She grew up more averse from the manners +and moods of her mother than those of us who better understand the +differences of race. To her a black was more abhorrent than a snake. +She loathed the sight of those who came about the place, and would not +defile herself by touching the cleanest--kind-hearted "Wethera," who had +so nearly interred her, and to whom she was as a princess; "Wethera," +who was wont to say, "That fella Tchoosie, too flash. Close up me bin +tchuck'm away. Boss he bin catch'm." + +Soosie evaded all possible reference to her kin, and when others spoke +in sympathetic terms would say: "How can you bear to think of those +horrible people who live in dirt and only half dressed in the bush? I +love the scrub, and but for them would like to wander in it all day. I +dare not while they are about, for some day one of them might touch me, +and I would never feel clean again." + +We often wondered at the irreconcilable attitude which Soosie (she was +always "Miss Soosie" to all but members of the household) adopted to her +own race, for she well understood where she had been born and the manner +of her salvation from imminent death. + +Though no special training had been hers, none of the domestic arts were +unknown to her. She acquired them with ease and practised them with the +air of a dignified princess and neat-handed facility. While the other +children of the house stewed over lessons and rebelled against essential +tasks, to Soosie everything seemed to make for holiday. She read +voraciously, so that her application of English became so keen that she +was the first to detect verbal dissonances. She, the youngest of two +girls and a boy, would often correct their speech, not as a budding +pedant, but because her ears were delicately attuned to the music of the +tongue and could not, without offence, hearken to discords. She was an +affected prude. Her self-chosen style of dress, her pose, her disdainful +airs, her repugnance to coarse work, her inclination towards occupations +and pastimes which involved isolation, showed that self-consciousness +ruled her life. She lived within herself, and her life was gentle, +contrasting with the boisterous playfulness of her foster sisters and +brother, upon whose romps she smiled indulgently, but in which she +never took part. In her own estimation she was a girl quite out of the +ordinary, and one to whom the most honoured of guests must be polite, if +not deferential. She exacted little niceties of demeanour from all, +her equals and inferiors, for was she not treated as a daughter of the +house? Often, however, in her preoccupied moods would she assume an air +of detachment and jealousy towards the other children, for she could not +but contrast herself with them. They were white; she was pronouncedly of +the despised race. How wistfully would she scan the face of strangers! +How teeming with resentment against fate her inevitable conclusions! +In all save features she was white. Over her inheritance, the cruellest +which fortune could bestow, she was shudderingly horrified. Not all the +longings of an untainted mind could make her skin less tawny. Its stain +was too deep to be blanched by the most fervent of prayers. Her outlook +on life, her intensest wishes, were those of a white girl of more +than decent perceptions--of actual refinement, for they tended to the +avoidance of everything unpleasant and unsightly. In other respects, +too, she was an absolute variant from the type, for her sensitiveness to +the pain of others and of the lower animals amounted almost to a mania; +for though she had a girlish horror of blood, her eagerness to solace +sufferings made her so courageous that she became most apt and prompt +in the administration of first aid. Her big, startled eyes showed +the sincerity of her feelings, while her firm, slender fingers deftly +applied bandages as she spoke in soothing tones. + +The soul of a white damsel was in habitation of the body of one whose +parents had been black and utterly degraded. In the days of old evil +spirits were believed to be capable of taking spiteful possession of the +bodies of the weak to work, in unseemlinesses and indecencies, for the +mischief of the soul. Here was a good and gentle spirit which strove +undemonstratively for the salvation of a being the circumstances of +whose birth bordered on the infernal. It was as if the baths of infancy +had purified the soul, while the permanence and perversity of blood +triumphed in feature and complexion. + +While the other children of the house deserved and obtained love +and affection in full measure, towards Soosie were exhibited similar +sentiments, with, perhaps, more consideration, for was it not plain that +her life was a continual conflict--a conflict between body and soul--a +body self-abhorred, a soul which needed no purification? + +A creek which had its source in a ravine of the huge mountain which +intercepted the rising sun and caused accustomed shadow an hour after +the illumination of the western hills, ran past the lonely little +house, which stood in a clearing the upright walls of which were on the +sky-line scalloped with fan-palms. For many years Soosie never ventured +into the jungle unaccompanied, yet she seemed to possess a sense of +happenings beyond the almost solid screen of vegetation. Primal instinct +contended against her affections and her love for a sheltered, clean +life. Though she had always avoided association with the children of the +camp, and her knowledge by imitation or precept was negative, yet +was the bush an open book to her. She knew when and where to look for +birds'-nests. She knew at a glance a venomous from a non-venomous snake, +an edible from an inedible nut. As a child her favourite head-dress was +a squat, fat mantis, the bright orange and yellow of which contrasted +boldly with her fuzzy, coarse hair; and when the insect palled as an +ornament it would be frizzled and slyly eaten. + +Once as we strolled on the bank of the creek gazing at the lazy, +red-finned fish among the swaying weeds, her wandering eyes detected +a neat circular bore in the trunk of a huge silky oak. Having shrewdly +scrutinised the bark, she judged the tenant to be at home. With a +portion of one of the "feelers" of creeping palm stripped of all the +prickles save two, she probed the tunnel and, screwing the instrument +triumphantly, withdrew a huge white grub, which she ate forthwith; and +then, with a grimace, assumed an air of shame and contrition, for she +had astonished herself as well as others by an exhibition of untaught +bush-craft and ancestral appetite. + +She more than once confessed in shamefaced terms to an almost +uncontrollable impulse to rush away to the mountain, that she might +solace herself with the solitude and food in plenty there; but that when +she conjured up the chance of meeting some "dreadful native" she thanked +God for home and loving companions. How frequent and how intense was +this unconfessed lust for the bush we knew not. + +When Soosie was fourteen there came to the neighbourhood a hardy young +fellow who began to clear a small area of jungle land; for civilisation, +which had been marking time for nigh upon two decades, now marched +slowly, and to no throb of drum, in our direction. Times were changing, +and in some details less desirable conditions arose. The infinite +privacy of the bush suffered. The little clearing was no longer our own. +Soosie's demeanour became more reposeful. She had seemed to think that +it might be her fate, in common with others, to become a ward of the +State at some mission-station; but as settlement advanced, though still +miles away, for we were the furthest out, and no interfering guardian of +the peace came to enforce officialdom and insist upon obedience to the +letter of the law, it was comforting to reflect that this unofficial +daughter might be permitted to live out her life unhampered even by the +goodwill expressed, in the first stages, by the visit of a policeman. + +Her presence was necessary, not only on account of her amiable +disposition and self-sacrificing ways, but for the actual load she bore +of the duties of a quiet home. We had failed, however, to take into +calculation the chances of another means of separation. There was now +no disguising the fact that our new neighbour, Dan, was casting sheep's +eyes in Soosie's direction, and to her evident dismay. It was of little +avail to upbraid him as to the unseemliness of attachment to a girl who, +however civilised, was of inferior race and despised colour. He frankly +confessed that he wanted a wife as a companion and helpmeet; that he +could not hope, in consideration of his own lowly birth and slender +means and uphill task, to induce a white girl to halve his loneliness. +He had studied Soosie, and was sure that she was his superior except +in matter of colour. She was far better schooled and had been used to +softer life. + +"What," he asked, "don't you and the Missis and Miss Clare and Fan, and +Bob, here, love her? You couldn't help it; and you are not ashamed. You +treat her as your own child. It would be no sin for me to take her as my +own wife. If she'll have me I'll marry her before the best parson in +the North. What of her complexion? It's only a little more sunburnt than +mine." + +But Soosie was shy--more than shy. Her sensitiveness amounted to +physical repulsion. She declared that, though she liked Dan, she would +never marry. + +"I do feel in my heart that I am nothing more than a black girl, and +almost a savage. What if some day the horrible part of me got stronger, +and I did go to the mountain by myself? I have heard you say that blood +will tell. Often I am frightened of myself, especially when the nights +are very still and I listen to the scrub hens chuckling and the flying +foxes squealing, and smell the scents of the scrub. It must be very +nice to live away from everybody in the very loneliest part of the big +mountain, and to feel at home with actually wild things." + +There was no affectation between us, so I said in comfort: "But my dear +girl, you are whiter at heart than many a girl born white. It is only +your skin that is dark. Perhaps if in a year or so you did marry Dan it +would be the best, for a good woman, no matter what her complexion, will +always earn respect. Society may not want you, but you would not want +society; and it will be very many years before society hampers life in +this part of the bush." + +Soosie thought for a few minutes, and then replied with delicate +discretion. "I can never marry Dan. Sooner or later he would despise +me. It might be all right while I was young, but--we--we--blacks get +old very soon. Fancy Dan having an old gin in his house; for he won't be +living in a one-roomed hut all his life!" + +"You are spiteful against yourself, and that's not like you, Soosie." + +"I have my feelings. How else may I restrain them?" she petulantly +exclaimed. "He must never think of me. It might drive me to the +mountain--just to save him from me." + +Dan, good fellow, was discreet. He decided to play the laggard in love, +realising that any show of impetuosity might frighten Soosie. It came +to be understood that in time she might see the wisdom of accepting +him, and I, knowing both, and to whom mixed marriages are abhorrent, +was convinced that no girl could have been better qualified to fill the +position of a bushman's wife. Modest, clever, sympathetic, healthful, +none of the stains of the town had ever tarnished her mind. Her +voice was that of a well-schooled white girl, and all her perceptions +coincided. If the wander lust was to be suppressed for ever, it seemed +to me that Soosie must marry, and marry young. + +While Soosie's demeanour was still the cause of earnest solicitude, a +perplexing complication arose. An old man of the camp whence she had +been discarded began to do his best to attract her attention. + +Gifts of birds'-nests, eggs, ferns, orchids in flower, a cassowary +chick, neat dilly-bags, gay with crude Pigments, were brought to the +house with messages such as this: + +"That fella 'Pad-oo-byer' he bin gib'em alonga 'Ky-ee-rah.'" + +"Ky-ee-rah" (the evening star) had been proclaimed to be Soosie's +totemic name, and "Pad-oo-byer" we knew as "Duckbill," because of a +fancied resemblance to a platypus. + +The gifts were tearfully repudiated. They seemed to announce that +Soosie, was regarded by her mother's kin as one of themselves, +notwithstanding her civilised environment. + +Though for the girl's sake, not on account of any personal repugnance or +despiteful attitude, the blacks had been kept at arm's length, I was on +good terms with all in the district, and took interest in their doings +and folk-lore. One of their primary beliefs was that children, black +and white, were actually the produce of the locality, belonging, not to +chance parents, but to the very land on which they were born. The germs +of life, they assumed, came from the soil; the soil assimilated all +flesh after death. Infants were but phases of the life with which the +soil teemed. All the neighbourhood belonged to the camp--the land and +everything which sprang from it, for they were the original possessors. +It was their country. They argued that such things as sweet potatoes, +pumpkins and mangoes, the very roses which adorned a sprawling bush, the +richly tinted crotons, the flaunting alamanda over the gateway, were, +strictly speaking, common property. So, too, over those children born +on the place certain proprietary rights were claimed. They were akin +to them, alien to their parents. Whites and blacks born in the same +district must, according to their ideas, be more closely related +than folks whose birthplaces were separated by distances beyond +comprehension. + +Such being the general opinion, fortified by undeviating oral tradition, +in Soosie's case the theory was ever so much the more arguable. She was +claimed, not alone on the grounds that she was a native of their own +land, but because, having been born in their own camp, she must be +subject to it. + +Duckbill intercepted me on the edge of the clearing one morning +especially to propound the law of the land. + +Soosie, he told in his pidgin English, had been given to him by her +uncle. She was to be his gin now that she was grown up. "More better you +hunt that fella. Him want sit down alonga camp." + +The bald proposition shook me, for I could not but see the logic of it +from Duckbill's standpoint. He was the "big man," a wizard--ugly, old, +and villainously dirty. Here was the camp's husband for the coloured +girl with the white heart. The idea was revolting, and then and there I +resolved at whatever cost to save the girl from such degradation. + +"Clear out!" I shouted, assuming frantic anger. "You fella chuck'm +Soosie away when she little fella piccaninny. That one belonga me now. +Suppose you fella kick'm up row big fella government come clear you +fella out. No more let you sit down longa this country." + +"Country belonga me. You no humbug. You bin catch'm that fella Tchoosie +l-o-n-g time. You bin make'm good fella. Belonga me now." + +The disgusting old fellow went on to explain that he intended to come up +to the house that evening. "You hunt'm that fella Tchoosie, me catch'm. +No good belonga you." + +I was to drive the gently nurtured girl out of the house so that this +foul creature might seize her as he would a struggling wallaby, and take +her to live a degraded life in the camp! Explanations and threats were +of no avail. Duckbill, who was unable to comprehend that he and others +of the camp had by abandonment forfeited all rights to Soosie and that +she was now a "white Mary," made it plain that he would forcibly +abduct her if I would but give him the slight assistance of expulsion. +Otherwise he would catch her himself. + +Threatening the camp with the presence of the "big fella government" if +he or any of them dared to interfere, I went off, while he shouted his +orders to "hunt that fella close up karrie badgin!" (sunset). + +Forthwith the house was put in a state of semi-siege. Soosie, with +tearful eyes and tremulous hands, hysterically implored us to protect +her from a fate worse than death. A message brought Dan, who first +disdained to take Duckbill seriously. Told how Soosie had been wooed +with gifts, and that her maternal uncle had officiously bestowed her +upon the gaunt, ill-favoured king of the camp in accordance with tribal +law, which regarded her as a mere chattel at the disposal of the +whim and fancy of the nearest relative or at the demand of the most +authoritative man, he became concerned and installed himself as Soosie's +special guardian. + +A few minutes after sundown Duckbill appeared, quite unconscious of +offence against civilised customs, carrying a waddy with which to +administer an anodyne should his capture prove the least refractory. +Threats and scoldings were lost. He was incapable of comprehending +why there should be a moment's hesitation about the fulfilment of his +legitimate rights and demands. + +Though protests were vain, the fact that Soosie did not show herself +imparted some glimmering of sense of the situation to him, and he +wandered off in the gloom grumbling "That fella too flash," and frankly +announcing "B'mbi me catch'm." + +For weeks Soosie kept within doors, or if she ventured out was +accompanied by one or other well able and determined to protect her. Her +nerves were at acute tension; her life that of a hunted creature; for +though she thought her fate inevitable, she concentrated her mind on +what seemed to others pitiably weak and inconsequent schemes for the +bafflement of Duckbill. + +Was it that some ineffaceable trait told her that the tribal law as +expounded by Duckbill was so wise that resistance to it was vain, and +that the trivial plans over which she worried were merely invented as a +sort of temporary palliative? She scorned the possibility of existence +in the camp, yet strove to contest it by the use of fantastical devices. +She urged that Dan and I should get some fearsome masks and rush the +camp in the gloom, at the same time setting off fireworks, and so create +such terrifying effects that none would venture near the spot again. +With bated breath, she even suggested that I should make a "death-bone" +to be employed for the secret ill of Duckbill; she thus exposed the +dross of hereditary superstition which rose to the surface during mental +ebullition. + +It was quite in the nature of things that under stress such a nature +should break down. She nestled close to Dan, promising to be his +sweetheart on the condition that, rather than that Duckbill should take +her away, he would shoot her. If it came about that the dreadful black +man was himself driven off or disposed of by some other means and the +country made safe for her, then she would marry the man who had saved +her, and she hoped that she might never disgrace him. + +Dan accepted the guardianship. His hut was two miles away and on the far +side of the river. He saw little of it for the next few weeks. + +Duckbill and his friends, as we were well aware, knew of our plans for +the defeat of his proposed outrage. If Soosie could be ceremoniously +married to the faithful Dan, no black in the neighbourhood would +endeavour to molest her. Indeed, all, even to Duckbill, would be +flattered and demonstrative of pride in the alliance. + +A fortnight later Duckbill again intercepted me. Since the previous +verbal encounter I had gone armed. He carried, somewhat ostentatiously, +a tomahawk and a couple of nulla-nullas. + +"No good you keep'm that fella Tchoosie. Me bin look out plenty. That +fella belonga me. Suppose you no lat'm come, more worse b'mbi. Me want +mak'm that fella all asame black fella. You gib it Clare belonga Dan." + +My fingers twitched on the butt of the revolver. It was an ultimatum. +That which from other lips would have been resented as complacent +insolence had to be endured with apparent calmness. Threatening him +with all the consequences of a visit from the "big fella government," I +hurriedly left, for I was not too sure of self-control. + +A stricter watch than ever was maintained, for the least relaxation of +precautions might have involved results for which a lifetime of regrets +would not have atoned. Though of such a low type of the human race, the +North Queensland aboriginal possesses certain admirable characteristics. +His mind seldom swerves from a set purpose within view of attainment. +He may be rebuffed and disappointed, and may assume indifference to or +forgetfulness of his purpose; but in his heart he does not accept defeat +until an absolutely decisive blow is received. Invisible to us, the old +man persistently waited, and watched. The dogs frequently detected +his presence, if their eloquent alarms and their excursions were to +be credited. Though she continued to pit her wits against the secret +cunningness of the dreaded old man, Soosie was often preoccupied, +seeming to regard herself as one not primarily concerned. Her calmness +was preternatural, contrasting strangely with her previous petulant +agitation and tragic despair. She avoided Dan, while clinging with +profuse demonstrations of affection to her foster-sisters. + +The reason for her change of policy and manner was revealed with +distressing suddenness. At daylight one morning the door of the room in +which she slept under lock and key was wide open, and on her quaintly +embellished table a primly written note: + + +"DEAR MUM, + +"That horrible man who wants to take me away is right, and the Bible is +right. I belong to this country, and must go. I would rather die than go +to the camp; but I must know the big mountain. The dreadful people don't +go there. They are frightened of it; I love it. I shall live there by +myself till I die, and Dan will never be disgraced. You and Dada and +Clare and Fan and Bob have been all the world to me. You did your best +to make me white at heart; but since this trouble began I have thought +and thought, and found that the black in me smudges all the good out. +Don't try to come after me. I shall hide. I would be too much ashamed +ever to look at you again. Forget me, for I am nothing but an ungrateful +little savage. + +"SOOSIE." + + +In all haste Dan and I set out for the camp, a mile or so further in +the jungle. It was situated in a natural, symmetrical clearing, a circus +hemmed in by sullen vegetation, and upon which no plant save blady grass +ever invaded. + +The camp was deserted. Save for a few still warm spots indicative +of artfully smothered fires, there were few signs to indicate recent +occupation. An hour's search revealed definite tracks leading east--to +the mountain. + +No pains had been taken to baffle pursuers. Apparently the blacks had +just wandered off aimlessly in obedience to a whim of the moment. There +was nothing but conjecture to support the opinion that the decampment +had anything to do with the disappearance of Soosie. Probably the blacks +were aware, in advance of ourselves, that she had stolen away. If so, +they would inevitably get her, having, possibly, the advantage of hours +of start and being efficient in the art of tracking. Our plan was to +hasten so that we might, if fortune favoured, be in time to save the +distracted girl from the repulsive and obscene ceremonies to which she +would be subject if she fell into the hands of Duckbill. + +An hour's walk brought us to the foothills of the mountain. The tracks +turned abruptly north, winding indeterminately as if no special object +had been in view. It might be that while the men of the camp had +been intent on following Soosie's tracks, the women and children had +straggled after as if the quest was of no special concern to them. + +In the broken country well in to the base of the mountain all traces of +the exodus was lost, though bush instinct, supplemented by the actions +of the dogs, gave sense of its direction. Blundering down into a ravine +where blanched vegetation betokened complete seclusion from the sun, we +clambered up the opposing steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle +on a high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded view to the +west--a scene of theatrical clarity with a single theatrical smear. From +a hollow far below slothful smoke filtered through the matted, +sombre, dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted abruptly, +dissolving from diaphanous blue to nothingness. The resonant whooping +of a swamp pheasant, antiphonal to a bell-voiced, crimson-crowned fruit +pigeon in a giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur-crested cockatoo +as it tumbled in the air, evading the swoops of a grey goshawk, +materialised the peace and the conflicts of a scene upon which no man +had made mark. + +The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting-place of the fugitives, +though all tracks on the uneasy earth had failed. Odours of the jungle +soothed my mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, and +gave assurance that the men had unravelled Soosie's wanderings until she +had begun to ascend the mountain, and that, being then on strange and +terrifying ground, they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar +level country free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. + +With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, plunging again into the +dimness of the jungle, struck as direct a route as possible for the +smoke-revealed camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently through +the screen of ferns and banana plants, where in a secluded glade were +the wanderers in happy festival. + +Could any scene approach nearer the ideal? Men, women and children, +mostly unclad, talking and laughing in modulated tones, while amusing +themselves with trivial occupations and eating convenient food in the +depths of the jungle, sanctified by distance and scene and sound! Peace +smiled, propriety approved. They ate of the fruits of the earth. The +fern-embowered stream gave them to drink. No sign of the white man, with +his interfering and desolating ways, assailed the sight. It was as if +the mist of centuries had lifted, and for once time-soiled mortals were +permitted to gaze on a Garden of Eden free from danger and innocent of +sin. There was none here to make the quiet folk afraid or discontented. + +As I stepped out, the scene changed with pantomimic celerity. We were in +the midst of a community of excitable and resentful people, who, viewing +us, if not with active hostility, at least with surprise and anger, +seemed embarrassed by guilty knowledge. None of the customary greetings +welcomed us. None offered other than scowls. + +"Where Soosie?" I demanded in authoritative tones of a boy accustomed to +treat my slightest word with respect. + +With averted face he sullenly said: "That fella Tchoosie he run away. He +go l-o-n-g way, alonga mountain!" + +"Look here! You no humbug. Where Soosie sit down? Plenty row along +white man suppose Soosie no come back. That fella Soosie belonga Missis. +Missis very sorry. She bin make'm Soosie all asame white Mary." + +Still the face-averting boy reiterated: "That fella Soosie he bin go +long way--more far. You fella make'm Soosie no good." + +Others gathered round. Several carried weapons--nulla-nullas and wooden +swords--and assumed hostile attitudes. + +Dan became uncontrollably excited, storming for the production of +Soosie, and being met with inconclusive statements and evasions. Being +one who knew no fear, who deemed his questions justifiable, who felt +himself more than a match for the whole camp, and was convinced that the +blacks were in possession of essential information, he urged the policy +of chastising the sullenness out of a couple of incommunicative boys. +His attitude, and mine, hitherto, towards the blacks had been of cheery +good-nature tempered with considerate authority. Present moroseness was +novel, and he was eager to sweep it away with a sturdy stick, and thus +to demonstrate that when a friendly white man visited a camp blacks +should be deferential and alert to assist his mission. + +In the mood of the men tragedy was inevitable unless both of us kept +cool. What would be the ending of a fray between two white men and +many armed blacks, some of whom were aching under a prolonged, however +inconsequent, grievance against a white family? + +"Look here, Dan. Leave those fellows alone," I said firmly but quietly. +"There'll be sorrow for some if you begin a row." + +"I don't care for a hundred blacks! I'd kick myself if I could not floor +half a dozen single-handed! Where that Soosie?" + +To distract attention from Dan, I moved off a few yards. + +"What you ki-ki?" I asked of Wethera, who gnawed with concentrated +satisfaction at a charred bone. "You ki-ki wallaby?" + +"No wallaby! This one 'mandee' (hand) belonga Tchoosie!" + +Scorched flesh and blackened bone had left their smear on the face of +the kindest cannibal of them all. On the fire was a foot with +charred ankle-bones; in a dilly-bag other fragments, but in Wethera's +countenance no consciousness of evil-doing. + +"Come here!" I shouted. + +The excited man strode to the spot. + +"Soosie," I said, in the calmest tones I could command, "has been +murdered. This is a cannibal feast!" + +With a bound he upset the gin, who shrieked as she grovelled in the +embers. + +"You wretches! You kill Soosie! I kill you!" + +As he drew his revolver from his belt I seized his hand, and, +restraining him as best I could for a moment, spoke authoritative and +soothing words, and led him away weak and tremulous. + + + +Not for many months--long after Dan had left the district--did exact +information as to the fate of the hapless girl reach our ears. Wethera +told of the tragedy. Duckbill had followed her tracks from the house +towards the mountain, had overtaken her, and, since she had fought +frenziedly, had "killed her alonga head little bit," not intending to +kill her "dead, finis." Carried to the camp, it had been found out that +she was actually dead. Then all had become stricken and run away. + +By her obstinacy Soosie had offended tribal law. She had suffered. In +the necessitous jungle animal food is never wasted, be it beast, bird, +or reptile. + +It had been an edifying sacrament, too, founded on immemorial truth, +for had it not been devoutly believed that Soosie's most excellent and +potent personality would remain with and glorify every participant? + + + + +BLUE SHIRT + + + +"A strong, untutored intellect, eyesight, heart; a strong, wild +Man."--CARLYLE. + + +Half a century ago, when hardy and adventurous men made laws unto +themselves, and their somewhat hasty and inconsiderate hands began to +sting the aboriginal population, there lived on this Isle a stalwart +native whose force of character constituted him a captain among his +fellows. + +Possibly he was Tom's father. Before he passed away, Tom had often told +that his father was king of this realm and a man of parts. He it was +who harpooned a huge green turtle to the east. The game was so +extraordinarily strong that others hastened to his aid, for the capture +was beyond the capabilities of one man kneeling in a tucked-up sheet of +bark. The whole fleet of canoes barely succeeded in towing the massive +and reluctant creature to the nearest beach, and Tom was wont to +tell that it took eight strong men to turn it on its back. It was +"kummaoried" on the sand, and Tom oft pointed out the very spot as proof +of the most famous feast within the range of tradition. + +Let it be accepted, then, that Blue Shirt was Tom's father, since +history is silent on the point, and none is left to question or +authenticate it. He was a big man, and his son was like him. He was +fond of colours; so, too, was his son. He was a fighter; his son's +meritorious scars proved him worthy of his blood. He was a man in +authority and full of territorial pride; his son's dominance was +undoubted, for did he not chide the "big fella gubbermen" on its +audacity in disposing of his Island--his country--even to a friendly +white man? + +Blue Shirt was the ruler and lawgiver of this Island when a barque +strove with a cyclone which eventually shattered her to pieces and +scattered her cargo of cedar-logs to the four winds. After the wreck a +boat put out from a not distant port on a beach-combing cruise. The boat +was known as the CAPTAIN COOK. About a hundred years before her namesake +had reported that he had seen about thirty natives, all unclad, on an +adjacent islet. With the captain was his mate, two other white men, a +black boy, and a young gin. Many derelict logs were seen and certain +wreckage, which made the boat's company inclined to the belief that some +of the castaways might have landed on Dunk Island. They steered hither, +anchoring in the evening. + +Early the next morning three stalwart black boys put off in canoes to +the CAPTAIN COOK, and, making friendly demonstrations, were invited on +board. Food was given them, and to the leader the captain presented a +blue shirt. No dweller of the Island had ever before possessed such a +sumptuous and glorious garment. Indeed, if the absolute truth must +be told, no dweller had dreamt of anything more desirable than an +inadequate cloak laboriously wrought from the inner bark of a fig-tree, +raiment sanctioned by the first of fashions. + +Having made it known that they belonged to a neighbouring islet at the +moment unfriendly to the overbearing Dunk Island tribe, Blue Shirt and +his attendants mentioned that cedar-logs and other attractive flotsam +bestrewed the beaches, and volunteered to conduct the strangers to the +best places on the understanding that they, being alien and hostile, +should remain under the protection of the rifle-carrying white men. + +The captain, two men, and the black boy, followed Blue Shirt ashore; +but, although he was conspicuously clad, could not find him or any other +man. A few old and casual women represented the hospitable inhabitants, +while Sabbath quietude brooded over the scene as they strolled along the +yellow beach. By chance one of the party glanced towards the spot where +they had landed, and saw half a dozen vigorous gins endeavouring to haul +the boat above tideway. + +How excellent the strategy! + +The designing but faint-hearted women fled when the white men charged +for the boat, which now was seen to be endowed with an incredible, +uncanny rocking movement of its own. Looking beneath, they saw a huge +cripple straining himself, Atlas-like, to heave it over. In spite of +inferior legs, his brawny shoulders had almost accomplished the feat +when he was unceremoniously interrupted. While he sprawled away, a mob +of blacks rushed suddenly from the cover of some rocks, the leader +of the assailants being Blue Shirt, who had painted his unclad parts +martial red and white. The strength of the party was guessed at thirty. +An exact census was not taken, for with spears and nulla-nullas and big +swords, each warrior having the protection of a shield, the treacherous +band swept on the deluded guests of their leader, whose hostile yells +scandalised the meek phrases and friendly signs of a short hour before. + +The captain, poor, outwitted man, had laid his rifle beside the boat. +It was too late now to bring it into decisive action. Keeping close +together, the defenders warded off the first rush with whatever came +to hand. The rifle was recovered; but Blue Shirt, recognising that it +represented victory, struggled for it determinedly. A spear was thrown +at close quarters straight for the captain's neck, but one of the men +deftly twitched it off, a feat that so enraged the warriors that they +made him their special target, until at last one of their spears pierced +his hand. Being rough and thready, the black palm-point made an ugly +wound; but the resolute man drew it out, and, breaking the spear in +twain, threw it into the boat, and as he did so, another grazed his +abdomen. While he was thus defending himself against the spears and +nulla-nullas of outrageous fortune, the captain made wide, sweeping +movements with the butt of his rifle, and the other man and the boy, the +boat being by this time afloat, tugged at the oars. The attacking party +followed, the captain making good misuse of the rifle, the odd man and +the boy occasionally perverting an oar to wrongful but, at the crisis, +effective purpose, while the wounded suffered the hate of him who earns +personal as well as racial animosity. He sustained a cut on the head +from a wooden sword, yet he fought on, retaining his wits, while a +kind Providence, and his own artfulness and agility protected him from +hurtling spears. + +The cost of the little excursion was paid in wounds and bruises and, +eventually, putrefying sores, while the souls of all instantly mortified +under the sight of triumphant Blue Shirt jeering and gesticulating as +only an uncouth black dare, as he waved over his head a tomahawk he had +abstracted from the boat during the morning's pleasant entertainment. + +No one of the poor, depraved representatives of the race has any +knowledge of the event in which Blue Shirt showed himself to be a +successful plotter, a bold strategist, an original tactician, and a +brave fighter. His son is dust. His grandson, though true in complexion, +knows more about engines than he does of wooden swords and how to use +them. The zest of life was with his ancestor, who during a long life had +but one shirt. + + + + +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD + + + +"Of lonely folk cut off unseen." + + HOOD. + + +A few months ago chance bestowed the opportunity of listening to the +conversation of one who for very many yearn has hung upon the skirts of +civilisation. A bushman of rare resourcefulness, wide knowledge of the +dry as well as the moist parts of North Queensland, a reader, and +an acute and accurate observer of natural phenomena, he has often +entertained me with the relation of episodes in his career which, though +quite unsensational, is of the material of which the history of the +bush must be compiled. He is now settled on a tidal creek, his nearest +neighbours miles away. Independent of the regular assistance of +blacks in the cultivation of his land, he is one of those who, while +acknowledging no such thing as comradeship, and who, true to his +sentiments, keeps them at arm's-length, has, albeit, acquired +confidences rather unusual. + +When his reading matter has become exhausted, he has sat night after +night for months together absorbing the lore of the camp. To him has +been disclosed many a well-guarded secret. Not unto every man who asks +do the blacks tell their thoughts or impart their legends. You may study +them; but they, too, are discreet students, who often keep their counsel +while seeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their ways and be +wise as they are wise. + +My friend is one of those undemonstrative, self-contained men in whom +some of the coloured, cautious metaphysicians find a congenial +soul. Therefore is he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covert +knowledge. + +As we talked on the subject of the unexplained disappearances of men in +the bush of Australia, he told the incidents of the forgotten dead to +which these writings have special reference. I use my own words, so do +not bind myself to historic exactness. + +He had been away earning his own living, for his estate, fruitful as it +is, did not then quite provide for his sustenance, markets being +distant and far from consistent. Returning, he found the blacks who had +associated themselves with his humble establishment had in the interval +sought change of scene. The land that he called his had belonged +to their ancestors centuries before Cook tied the ENDEAVOUR to that +disputed and historic tree, and was theirs when he had first intruded. +His hut, his horses, his implements, were much as he had left them. The +camping-place of the blacks appeared to have been unoccupied for some +time. Such was in accordance with usual happenings. Going about his +lonesome work, he reflected that his dusky acquaintances would return +in their own good time, and being a man of mental resource, the solitude +was by no means irksome. + +Within a fortnight they appeared unceremoniously, and, taking casual +part in the ordinary work, the affairs of the isolated estate went on as +smoothly as before. There was a stranger in the camp, a middle-aged man, +timorous, and knowing little of the ways of white men. Of him scarcely +any notice was taken. Yet in a few weeks it was evident that the +stranger was determined to make himself pleasant. Accordingly, the white +man refrained from advances, while for the love of mental exhilaration +he pondered: "That boy wants to tell me something. He shall tell me all +he wants to in his own way, while I will play the part of an indifferent +auditor." + +That the stranger had some secret on his soul was apparent. My friend +resolved to receive that secret in the spirit of gracious condescension. +So played he his part, and line upon line, here a little and there a +little, the story was told. + +Few of the tribe of the stranger had ever seen a white man. None +had ever visited the coast. All were myalls, living naked among the +mountains in gorges gloomy with jungle, and but rarely hunting on the +foothills. One day consternation and curiosity spread through the camp. +Three strange men with yellow faces and short black hair had been seen. +They carried nothing in their hands, and seemed frightened. Thus the +nervous couriers of the camp spoke. + +Next morning the men took up the tracks, and, sneaking close up, +followed, alert and unseen, the unsuspecting visitors to their country. + +Bewildered in the jungle, the queer-looking men wandered aimlessly, +moaning and wailing. They were lost. Suddenly the blacks appeared. +Two of the strangers, glad of the company of any sort of human beings, +smiled and gesticulated pleasantly, making it plain that they were +hungry, tired, and frightened, and, longing to get back to the coast, +would bestow upon their guides unheard-of blessings for safe-conduct +thither. Strangely, the black men accepted the trust. Four each took +a hand of the confiding strangers, and, pointing ahead and chattering, +induced them to walk quickly in a direction in which by signs they +indicated the dwelling of a white man. + +The third wanderer had run away, blundering through the jungle, and the +blacks had refrained from following him. Nodding gaily and jabbering +volubly, but with mutual intelligibility, hosts and guests paced along a +narrow track, each of the latter personally and firmly conducted by +two of his newly found and most attentive friends. Others of the tribe, +"like frightful fiends, did close beside them tread"; and while the +escorts lured the yellow men with comforting pantomime, the frightful +fiends fell on them suddenly with great wooden swords, killing them +off-hand and on the very verge of the camp. + +Willingly hurrying to the place of execution, the murdered men had saved +the calculating blacks the trouble of carrying their carcasses. + +Then four went back for the nervous escapee. He was safe, for the tracks +were as obvious to them as a plough furrow to a European. Crouching +beside a fallen, decaying tree, where bird's-nest ferns grew +outrageously gross, they found him; and they jeered. He screamed and +shouted in unknown tongue, while the brisk, stubby hair of his head +stood on end. (My friend's hair-brush was alluded to in graphic +illustration.) They struck him down, and, smashing in his head and +seizing arms and legs, jogged back to the camp. + +And the festival lasted many days, though plenty made gluttons of them +all. + +The forgotten dead were Javanese--deserters from a sugar-plantation; for +the tragedy happened long ago, when labour was being drawn from Java +and other oversupplied countries. Desertions were not uncommon, for the +sanguine men of the equator endure with less philosophy than others that +sickness of the heart which comes from love of one's native land when +absent from it. + +From Java's seething millions were the nostalgic three ever missed? + + + + +EAGLES-NEST FLOAT + + + +"My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight." + + ROBINSON CRUSOE. + + +Those who study primitive races, applying their wisdom and learning to +the investigation of the origin of domestic and other implements and +contrivances, inform us that the first boat was probably a log, on which +the man sat astride, using a stick as a means of propulsion. In time the +idea of hollowing the log occurred, Nature undoubtedly presenting +the model and inviting the novice to squat inside. But what was the +inhabitant of a certain island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to do since +Nature failed to provide a tree big enough to possess the degree of +buoyancy necessary for his frail frame, when he wished to cross the +narrow channel separating him from a lesser island where turtle are +plentiful and unsuspicious? + +Being in status something above a wallaby--the largest animal other than +himself of his native land which, when hunted, occasionally swam towards +the opposite shore, he constructed one or other of two rafts or floats, +both derivable from Nature's models. One was in the form of an eagle's +nest, and not nearly so large as that in which some eaglets are reared, +made by interlacing branchlets of white mangrove until the mass was +sufficient to support his weight. With a double ended paddle rudely +shaped from the thin buttress roots of the red mangrove, and comic in +the crudeness and disproportion of its parts, he felt himself safe +miles out to sea. When he approached a passing vessel he presented the +illusion, not of walking, but of sitting on the water, for the float +was almost completely submerged. If it became necessary for his wife to +attend him on his marine excursions, she was towed behind, and used her +own pedal power. Possibly this primitive raft is the pathetic expression +of man's first struggle against the restrictions of the sea. + +The other resource of the boatless islander was another description of +float, also retrogressive from the log; the idea not transmitted to +him by any high-minded bird, but forced upon his attention by elemental +strife. He would have seen that the wind and the waves occasionally +tore from his beaches Pandanus palms, and that the matted, fibrous roots +thereof floated. Pondering in his dim way, and being sadly an hungered +and aware that fat and lazy turtle were basking in the sighed-for +shallows, he took a bundle of buoyant roots and light sticks and lashed +it securely at one end with strips of bark. He then spread out the other +end until it took the shape of a fan, and weaved the strands loosely +together with beach trailers. His raft was complete. At least this +description applies to that in use to-day, which represents the highest +stage to which the design has been brought. + +Under the influence of the peril-ignoring hunger, the hunter sat on +the float with legs extended frontally. Across his thighs crouched +his favourite dog, and behind him, her thin shanks outside his and her +skinny arms round his slim waist, sat, uncomfortable, his cowed wife--a +necessary part of his equipment. Can he be imagined half turning to his +deferential spouse, and saying: "My dear, in the words of Shakespeare, + + "On such a full sea are we now afloat + And we must take the current when it serves + Or lose our'--turtle"? + +Is it not edifying, too, to reflect that the timid man, encouraged +by the object-lessons of Nature, given in pity of his simplicity, had +contrived the only rafts the resources of his island made possible? +And does not the fact that he had courage to cross the estranging deep +thereon give graphic proof of the inhospitality of his native soil? + +Flat and generally of sad aspect, the country of the raftsman lies +remote and uncommended. The scented sandalwood is there, dwarfed, +attenuated, worthless. The most fragrant of the Pandanus palms is +plentiful, the fruit forming the chief part of the vegetable diet of the +lean and stunted inhabitants, who find difficulty in fashioning weapons +with which to obtain fish and turtle, the land failing to supply +straight sticks of the length needed for spears. Each has to be spliced. +The islands are expressed in the race they sustain--possibly the lowest +of Australian types. Does it not bespeak much to the credit of men +and women who have been used to the cities where the advantages of +civilisation are at command and its comforts available, that they should +abandon the society of kin and friends and isolate themselves in a drear +and unfriendly tract for the sake of a few coloured folk whose mental +capacities are feeble and whose habits are shockingly disgusting? + + + + +NATURE IN RETALIATION + + + +"Red in tooth and claw." + + TENNYSON. + + +In a mangrove creek a shoal of barramundi had been bombed with dynamite. +Immediately after the explosion the white onlookers as well as the +blacks dived off-hand into the stream to secure the helpless fish. One +of the party seized a weighty and unconscious victim of the outrage, and +to retain it thrust his fist through the gills and found himself unable +to withdraw, and when the fish began to revive he realised that he was +not master. With a supreme effort he did manage to get his head above +water to gulp a mouthful of air, but the gallant fish promptly exerted +itself, and a deadly struggle took place on the muddy bottom. Once more +the fish was tugged to the surface, only to dive just as the man became +conscious of the applause of the interested spectators. When they came +to the surface again ill luck on the part of the fish had brought it +into the shallows caused by a ridge of rocks, and the man hauled his +prize ashore, frankly acknowledging that the happy chance of the rocks +and not his own wits and strength had given the victory into his hands. + +On another occasion heartless dynamite was used in a creek, where had +assembled many blacks, who scrambled riotously in the muddy water for +the spoil, among which were several huge crabs, some dismembered by the +force of the explosion, some stunned, some merely agitated. Dilly Boy, +the biggest and the greediest of the crowd, acquired several fish and +three or four crabs, the largest of the latter of which seemed sound +asleep. The dynamite had ministered an anodyne from which, apparently, +there would be no awakening. It the boy disregarded, while he secured +those which were more or less active. Busily engaged, he was not aware +that a crab when he seems asleep may be merely plotting. This hero was +hatching out a scheme whereby it might be revenged for the outrage. +It watched and deliberated, and as the boy sat down grabbed him with +ponderous and toothed pinchers on that part of the body which is said to +be most susceptible to insult. The boy rose. Not half a plug of +dynamite could have given more hearty impulse, not all the clamour of a +corroboree equal his yell of surprise and anguish. He capered. The crab, +which had not speculated on the caper, and to avert summary divorce, +locked its claws, now guaranteed to hold to death and beyond it--to +destruction. Astounded--indeed, petrified--by the high antics of the +boy, none of the spectators could venture to his aid. They were fully +engaged with unrestrained and joyful hysteria. The more the boy +yelled and cavorted, the more frantic the fun. Blood trickled down the +chocolate-coloured skin, but the valiant crab held on. It was there for +a definite purpose. The hour and the crab had arrived. Vengeance for +centuries of wrongs to the race and heroic self-sacrifice animated brain +and inspired the claw with the dynamics of ten; while the afflicted +victim imagined--he had no mirror to hold up to Nature--that he was the +sport of a lusty crocodile. + +Amidst his shrieks he commanded the ministration of his wife. She ran +to meet him with a waddy. True to the limitations of her sex, though her +intentions were admirable and dutiful, the result was disastrous. The +boy got a paralysing blow on the small of the back, and flopped down. Up +jumped Dilly Boy, and the gin raced after him, murderously inclined +to the crab. Half her blows were misses and the other half seriously +embarrassed her husband, as his tumbles testified. She belaboured him +impartially and with perverted goodwill from shoulder to heel, for she +aimed invariably at the crab, and where is the woman who ever hit where +she designed? The crab was merely tickling; the faithful spouse, with +the tenderest motives, was cruelly beating her lord and master to +disablement, and it can scarcely be credited that the echo of his +remarks has yet subsided. In his fervour the boy made an exceptionally +vicious threat against the gin, and in response she missed him and hit +the crab. Under such forceful compulsion the crab parted with its claw. +It was ponderous and toothed, be it remembered, and well and truly +locked, and retained its grip. The target being smaller, the aims of +the gin went more and more astray. The back of the boy, owing to the +incessant misses of the waddy, changed from brown to purple, and a red +ribbon wavered down his thigh. Still he ran, and the devoted gin coursed +after him with the energy of a half-back, the fury of a disappointed +politician, and the riot of three-dozen cockatoos scared from a +corn-field. Almost worn out, the boy sprang round, and, seizing the +waddy, began to chastise the gin, whose screams blended with his +unwholesome threats. But the claws held on--not like grim death; they +were grim death. Every second blow was directed aft--one blow forward, +which generally severely disagreed with the gin; one blow astern, which +afforded neither mental relief nor physical comfort. The gin fled from +the infuriated boy; the boy from the fearsome relic of the crab, and +called louder as he ran. When in full flight, the gin tripped over a +mangrove root, and, spread-eagled, fell. The boy came tumbling after, +but the remnants of the crab--the bony bud of a tail--stood erect and +firm. Then the pitying spectators seized Dilly Boy, and, holding +him, unlocked the pinchers. He rolled over--it was the only easeful +attitude--as he cursed all gins, crabs, and dynamiters with wondrous +fluency. And may the potency of those coloured curses rest upon the +latter! + + + + +"STAR RUN ABOUT" + + + + "It is the stars, + The stars above us, govern our conditions." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Primitive folk have ever looked up to the heavens for signs of good and +ill. Celestial appearances have fought for them terrestrial battles, or +have weakened their arms by prognostications of impending disaster. + +Appeals have been made to passionless planets for justice against +mundane decrees, and when coincidences have been favourable the devout +student of the skies has loudly proclaimed them as proof of supernatural +interest in trivial, transient occurrences. In accordance with the +degree of poetry in the fibre of the people, so, in a certain degree, +has the belief in stellar influence been manifest. + +The blacks of North Queensland, being, possibly, the least of the races +in a poetic sense, have but slight regard for the interference of the +stars in their poor little affairs, and in this respect are saner than +many a nation which has given abundant proof of wisdom. One of their +beliefs is that meteors are baleful, though under given conditions they +derive from such phenomena longed-for assurance. A meteor is described +as "Star run about." "That fella no good; him kill'em man!" Yet in +circumstances to be mentioned they find in a meteor a sign that life has +been restored to an individual whom they have done to death. It is the +opinion of men who have studied the customs of the blacks that they--and +to their honour be it said--were never among themselves premeditated, +gluttonous cannibals. Human flesh was eaten, if not with solemnity, at +least with ceremony, for the belief exists to this day that the moral +and physical excellencies of the victim are assimilated by those who +partake of his flesh. + +Reincarnation is prompt and practical, and unaccompanied by wasteful +and delusive hope. Herein lies the explanation of many a deliberate and +confessed killing, while to the meteor have the perpetrators looked for +absolution and remission of their sin. That which in the eyes of the +white man is regarded as an atrocious murder has not been, in their +semi-religious code, in any sense criminal, but a rite from which many +if not all the camp must inevitably benefit. + +In one respect the killing of a boy is the highest compliment which may +be paid him, for it is proof that he has personal qualities which are +the envy and admiration of others, and for general welfare should be +shared by all. The boy who so dies is an unconscious patriot. This is +proved sufficiently by the fact that only what are considered to be +the more vitalising portions of the boy's body are eaten, whereas if +gluttony were the impulse of the deed the whole of the body would be +consumed. + +An illustrative incident has been told me by one who has gained the +confidence of the blacks, and to whom other facts connected with it were +personally known. Not many years ago a boy from from a distant locality +visited a certain district in company with his master. He was tall, well +favoured, a good rider, quite an athlete, an accomplished performer with +the mouth-organ and concertina; ready and persuasive of tongue. These +qualities provoked unaffected admiration; for the natives of the place +are undersized, ill-looking, and deficient generally in the arts of +pleasing. Before the master left, Caesar was persuaded by his envious +fellow-countrymen to remain with them to be flattered and courted. + +To evade trouble, the whole camp took to the hills for a while. In the +meantime Caesar's master departed, thinking, no doubt, that the boy +would follow him to his own "more better country." After several weeks +the local blacks returned, but Caesar was not of the party, and it did +not occur to any of the white residents to ask questions concerning +him. In accordance with the love of notoriety which affects humanity +irrespective of complexion, one of the boys began to boast of being as +good as Caesar, and to prove his contentions by aping the manners of his +absent friend. It was not long before he blurted out the secret by which +he had become superfine--he had participated with others in a cannibal +rite after Caesar had been good-naturedly killed. + +Rumours of the tragedy came to the ears of the police. The ringleaders +of the assassins were arrested, and one at least endured a term of +imprisonment as punishment. Caesar had been lured away and killed +because he was a good fellow and strong, and because his murderers +wanted to be good and strong like him. Certain parts of his body were +eaten, without relish, but with fervent hope. A remarkable circumstance +in connection with the sacrifice and ceremonial rite for the general +welfare is that the perpetrators console and comfort themselves with the +belief that should a meteor appear it is a sign that the victim did not +actually die, or if he died under their hands, that he has come to life +again. Those who were concerned in the killing and who had partaken of +the flesh sat together for several evenings gazing with expectation into +the sky. A meteor flashed across it, and it was hailed as a sign that +Caesar was alive and had gone to his own country. The contrary +evidence of relics of the dead was waved away before the imperious and +disinterested testimony of the falling star. "No matter. That fella him +no dead--finish. Him walk about 'nother country. Him good fella. That +fella star run about bin tell 'em." + +They felt themselves to have benefited materially and spiritually by +participation in the rite, and were calm in their belief that the victim +was none the worse for the temporary misfortune from which he suffered. + +In another locality a meteor signifies the death of an individual, +and is referred to as "Tee-go-binah." When a death cannot be directly +attributed to it locally, the phenomenon is referred to with such rustic +logic as this: "Some fella dead alonga 'nother camp. Might be longa +way." The ancients felt "the sweet influences of the Pleiades." One +of the two intimacies of the blacks of North Queensland with +stellar phenomena which has come to my knowledge is associated with +reincarnation after a deed of blood. Their faith is as absolute, +perhaps, as was that of the men of old. + + + + +BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + + + +"For I tell you, scholar, fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to +catch fish."--IZAAK WALTON. + + +Along the coast of North Queensland evidence may still be obtained, +though it ever becomes more difficult to secure practical demonstration, +of several novel methods of killing fish in vogue among the blacks prior +to the advent of civilisation. In many parts, indeed, the presence of +the white man has swept away not only the use of decent, if trivial, +pursuits and handicrafts, but the knowledge also that they ever existed. + +The few facts here presented are, with some slight reservations, drawn +from actual observation. No doubt the well-informed on such subjects +will have plenary reasons--if ever these lines are honoured by perusal +of the class--for the accusation that there is nothing in them having +the virtue of newness or novelty. But I am not a professor with a mind +like a warehouse, rich with the spoils of time, but a mere peddler, +conscious of the janglings of an ill-sorted, ill-packed knapsack of +unconsidered trifles. + +Some pioneers know more about the acts of the past than the best +informed of the younger blacks, who look with wonder and unconstrained +doubt when shown articles similar to those which their grandfathers must +have used almost every day. + +Though the blacks of the past had but casual knowledge of the cruel +little barb that the resourceful white fisherman finds essential to +sport, and had neither neat tackle, nor reels, nor creels; though they +were denied the solace of tobacco, and every other accessory, they were +adepts at fishing. They had at command a stock of accumulated lore so +graphically transmitted that the babe and suckling must have seemed to +acquire it almost intuitively. They knew much of the habits of fish. +Their methods of laying under tribute the harvest of the sea were +so varied and unconventional that when one expedient failed, others, +equally free from the ethics of sport, were available at the shortest +notice. Fishing was not a pastime, but a serious occupation in which +nearly everyone was proficient. + +Times are changing; but still the mouths of smaller creeks are sometimes +dammed, save for certain sluices and by-washes where puzzling pockets +are set. Weirs formed by stakes driven into the sand and interwoven with +twigs guide incoming fish into ingenious traps, whence they are scooped +up in dilly-bags. Occasionally the whole camp, dogs and piccaninnies +included, take part in a raid upon the sea. Men in deeper water, women +and boys and girls forming wings at right angles to the beach, enclose +a prescribed area in the ever shifting, mobile fence. Certain of the men +have huge dilly-bags made of strips of lawyer-cane, and shaped like a +ninepin with a funnel for a head. The tactics of the party combine to +drive the fish towards the silent men having charge of the dilly-bags, +who manipulate what certainly has the appearance of being a very awkward +utensil in the water with great skill and alertness. Hurried to frenzy +by the shouting and splashing of the crowd, and the flurrying of the +surface with bushes, the fish dart hither and thither until most of them +have found their way into the bags, at the only spots where, for the +time being, peace and quietude prevail. At other times a somewhat +similar design of basket is used for trapping eels. + +Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in +shallow water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the +spear form the weapons of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands +of the Gulf of Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is used, the +blacks being so expert that little is left to chance. + +Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the yellamun, is common +in the neighbourhood of Dunk Island, it is not employed as an accessory +in the spearing of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a +combination of boomerang and wommera being the most popular form. This +dual-purpose weapon is merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is +fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of the spear. While +on this subject, it is interesting to note that, though the common form +of the implement for increasing the velocity and range of the spear +is generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its principle is +embodied in a contrivance which was used for a similar purpose in the +New Hebrides in Captain Cook's day. + +Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of Tanna, Cook ("Voyages +of Captain Cook round the World," vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in +the throwing of darts "they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of +stiff plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a +knot in the other. The eye is fixed on the forefinger of the right hand, +and the other end is hitched round the dart where it is nearly on +an equipoise. They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining +finger, which serve only to give direction, the velocity being +communicated by the becket and forefinger. The former flies off from the +dart the instant its velocity becomes greater than that of the hand, but +it remains on the finger ready to be used again." + +It is obvious that the Australian implement is much the more reliable +and effective. Cook mentions that with the dart the Tanna Islanders "are +sure of hitting a mark within the compass of the crown of a hat at a +distance of eight or ten yards; but at double that distance it is chance +if they hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the +weapon sixty or seventy yards." Such a standard of marksmanship would be +regarded with contempt by the average black of North Queensland. The +use of this becket (introduced very many years ago by the Kanaka) is a +fairly common accomplishment among coastal blacks. + +In shallow water, too, fish are chased until they become so exhausted +and nerve-shaken that they partially bury themselves in the sand, or +endeavour to elude observation by concealing themselves beneath stone +or coral, or by remaining passive among seaweed, trusting, no doubt, to +protective tints and assimilation with their surroundings. Few of these +stratagems of the fish are of avail when once a hungry black is on its +track. The science of war, we are bidden to believe, is not designed +for the slaughter of mankind, but so to impress the enemy with a +demonstration of overwhelming power, force, and majesty, that he may +become mentally unable or unwilling to offer resistance, because of its +obvious futility. So it is with the black in pursuit of a fish or turtle +in shallow water. By noise and bluster he works on the senses of the +fish until it becomes semi-paralysed. Then he proceeds callously to the +killing, which, in the case of fish, if his right hand is encumbered, +he generally accomplishes by a crunching bite into the back-bone at the +shoulders. + +At rare intervals the black varies his tactics by a night attack, which +is often highly demoralising. When the moon is on the other side of the +world, with spears and flaring torches of paper-bark, he rushes in a +band to raid the reef, to the dismay of startled and bewildered fish. +Substitute for the gurgling cadences of semi-submerged coral and +muteness and universal dimness instant noise and splashing, and dazzling +lights here and there and everywhere, and it is not to be considered +strange that the fish--tipsy with panic and confusion--fail to exercise +their habitual alertness. + +At a certain season of the year--November and December in the +neighbourhood of Dunk Island--myriads of fish, about the size of a +sardine, appear in shoals, an acre or so in area, or encircle the +islands with a living, bluish-grey frill yards broad. The blacks bestow +on this godsend, popularly known as "sprats"--HARENGULA STEREOLEPIS +(Ogilby)--the name of "Oon-gnahr." + +How skilfully does Nature dovetail her designs! This great multitude +of fish appears when it is most needed. The terns (sea-swallows) +are rearing their families, and ever need fresh food in unstinted +quantities. The small fry come to an excited and enthusiastic market. +Slim, silvery kingfish, grey sharks, and blue bonito, harry the shoals, +ripping through them with steel-like flashes, and as the little fish +ruffle the surface of sea or emerge therefrom in living silvery spray, +in frantic efforts to escape, the terns take all they want, screaming +with satisfaction. Then, too, the blacks join in the work of +destruction. When the frill of fish lies limp on the beach, they +fabricate a seine net, cheap, but admirably suited for the purpose. Long +strands of beach trailers and grass and slender twigs are rolled and +twisted up--apparently without the slightest art--into a huge loose +cable eight inches in diameter. The men run out the cable into the water +at right angles to the beach while still the gins, with nervous haste, +are adding to its length. If it breaks, a few twists and pokes suffice +to repair it. The men at the lead curve in towards the beach, and the +gins and piccaninnies wade out in line to meet them. Gradually the +cable, shocking in its frailty, is worked in, enclosing a patch of +the fish in a perilous coffer dam. Tumult and commotion are almost +as necessary contributories to the success of the stratagem as is the +cable. But before they realise what has happened, they are in such close +company that escape is impossible; dilly-bags are filled in a single +dip, and it may take half an hour to pick out those "meshed" in the +cable. It is all the work of a few minutes, and the haul often amounts +in quantity to a surfeit for the whole camp. + +One of these rude seines which was overhauled was composed largely +of the long, leafless, twine-like branches of the leafless parasite +CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS (which the blacks term "Bungoonno"), IPOMEA +PESCAPRAE ("Koree"), Blady-grass ("Jin-dagi"), and the tough sprawling +branches of BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA ("Gallan-jarrah"), the whole being +reinforced with withes of CLERODENDRON IMERME ("Missim"), all of which +plants grow on the verge of the sea. + +Vast as is the congregation of small fry, it gradually fritters away, +martyred to fish, flesh, and fowl. By the time the little terns are +thrown upon their own resources the violet frill of the sweet islands is +frayed and ragged, and drifts loosely in shabby remnants. + +For large fish--groper, the giant perch, king, bonito, rhoombah, +sweet-lips, parrot-fish, sea-mullet, and the sting-rays (brown and +grey)--a harpoon and long line are used. When iron is not available a +point is made of one of the black palms, the barb being strapped on with +fibre, the binding being made impervious to water by a liberal coating +of a pitch-like substance prepared from the resinous gum of the +arral-tree (EVODIA ACCEDENS). + +The point is eight or ten inches long, the barbless end being swathed in +fibre so that it may fit easily into the socket of the eight or ten feet +shaft. A long line is tied to a point above the swathing, and, being +drawn taut along the shaft, is secured to the end by a series of +clove-hitches. When the fish is struck the point is drawn from the +socket, while the shaft acts as a cheek on, and an indicator of, its +course when just below the surface. Such harpoons and lines are also +used for the capture of dugong and turtle, the line being made of the +inner bark (the bast layer) of one of the fig-trees, and is of two +strands only. Occasionally the HIBISCUS TILLIACEUS is laid under tribute +for ropes and lines, which, however, are not considered as durable as +those from the fig. Nets, set and hand, are also made with twine from +the fig or hibiscus. + +When, at low spring tides, the coral reef is uncovered, small rock-cod, +slim eels, parrot-fish, perch, soles, the lovely blue-spotted sting-ray, +catfish, flathead, etc., are poked out unceremoniously with spears or +sharp-pointed sticks from labyrinthine mazes, or from the concealment +afforded by the flabby folds and fringes of the skeleton-less coral +(ALCYONARIA), or from among the weeds and stones--a kind of additional +sense leading the black to the discovery of fish in places that a white +man would never dream of investigating. At this opportune time, too, +huge, defiantly armed and brilliantly coloured crayfish are exposed to +capture. A statement was published recently that this was the speediest +of all marine animals. The assertion is much to be questioned, but there +can be no doubt that the crayfish is a wonderful sprinter. Familiar with +its lack of staying power, blacks race after it uproariously as it flees +face to foe, all the graduated blades of its turbine apparatus beating +under high pressure. Two or three rushes and the crayfish pauses, and +then the agile black breaks its long, exquisitely sensitive and brittle +antennae, deprived of which it becomes less capable of taking care of +itself; or it may find its gorgeous armour-plates smashed with a stone +or penetrated by a spear. For the most part, however, the crayfish +lurks in coral caves, sweeping a considerable frontal radius with +ever-shifting antennae--not in pride or conceit of their beautiful tints +and wonderful mechanism, but with a pitiful apprehension of danger, for +the admirers of the creature are many and ever so much in earnest--the +earnestness of unceasing voracity. + +Having a decided partiality for eels, the blacks of North Queensland +have devised several means of capture, one of which does not call for +the exercise of the least skill on the part of the individual whose +longing for the dainty becomes imperative. His placid perseverance, +too, is of no avail, unless luck favours. Wading in a shallow, +mangrove-bordered creek, he blindly probes the bottom with a six-feet +length of fencing wire, the modern substitute for the black palm spear. +Frequently he trifles thus with coy Fortune for hours, an inch or so +separating each prod; and again, in a spasm of indignant impatience, +he stabs determinedly into the mud at random. Non-success does not make +shipwreck of his faith in the existence of the much-desired food in +the black mud, for as far back as his own experience and the camp's +traditions go, substantial reason for that faith has been plentifully +revealed. He returns to the monotonous occupation until an unlucky eel +is impaled, and then it is given no chance of escape. + +Pushing his spear a couple of feet through, the boy grips the prize +with both hands, or bends the wire into the form of a hook. Fortune may +continue to smile, and the boy takes several during the afternoon. + +Many boys enhance the charms of solitude by ingeniously tricking +eels, Nature presenting them with an efficient engine of deceit and +destruction, so designed that neither the agitations of art nor the +invention of science could much improve it. About two feet of the thong +or lorum of one of the creeping palms (CALAMUS OBSTRUENS) is all that +is necessary. These lora are armed with definitely spaced whorls of +recurved hooks, keen as needles, true as steel, about one-eighth of +an inch long. Three or four of the whorls are removed to provide an +unfretful but firm grip. The pot-holes and shallow pools and gullies +and trickling creeks are populated by nervous, yet inquisitive, +semi-transparent prawns, upon which eels liberally diet. So silent and +steady of movement is the boy that even the alert prawns are unaware +of, or become accustomed to, his presence; and what is there to warn the +eel, enjoying its comfort among the dead leaves in the gloomiest corner +of the pool, of danger? Could any but a black boy detect the difference +between the brown sodden leaves and the half-inch of body which the eel +has unwittingly exposed? The "pig-gee" (as some term the lorum) is used +with almost surgical delicacy of touch to hook away two or three of the +leaves. Then it is placed parallel to whatever increased length has thus +been made visible, and with a decisive twitch the eel is torn from its +retreat and killed off-hand. + +Even the shy, long-armed little prawns (PALAEMON AUSTRALIS) do not +escape special means for their destruction. A pliant rod about four +feet long is improvised from the midrib of the creeping palm before +mentioned, to the end of which is fastened a slender thread of the same +material, split off by using the nails of the thumb and second finger. +This strand, which is about four inches long, is delicately noosed. +Standing a few feet away from the water-hole, the black so manipulates +the line that the noose encircles the tail of the prawn, which, making +a retrogressive dart upon alarm, finds itself fatally snared. The prawns +are not, as a rule, eaten, being reserved for bait. + +In creeks and lagoons thin, hollow logs are submerged. Eels naturally +seek such refuges, and in due course the boy dives, and, sealing the +ends with his hands, brings log and eel to land. Dr. W. E. Roth mentions +that crayfish and a certain fish resembling the rock-cod are similarly +captured, and remarks that the log is lifted at an angle, with one hand +closing the lower aperture, in which position it is brought to and held +above the surface, when the water trickles out between the fingers of +the sealing hand. + +Yet another method (analogous to "bobbing") is practised for securing +eels. Huge worms, found under decaying logs, are threaded by means of a +needle formed of a thin strip of cane on a line from ten to twelve +feet long until several feet of bait are available. The line is merely +doubled, the ends made fast to a stout pole, and the loop dangled in the +water. The boy fishes patiently, nor does he strike at the first nibble, +but permits the eel to swallow slowly what might be considered an undue +proportion of the bait, when it is landed and compelled to disgorge for +the benefit of the next comer. + +Among coastal blacks--all of whom may be said to be fishermen--some are +ardent devotees to the sea. Others of the same camp restrict themselves +to unsensational creeks and lagoons. The frog in the well knows nothing +of the salt sea, and its aboriginal prototype contents himself with +milder and generally less remunerative kind of sport than that in which +his bolder cousins revel. Such a man, however, may possess aquatic lore +of which the other is admittedly ignorant, and be apt in devices +towards which the attitude of the salt-water man is adverse, if not +contemptuous. The fresh-water man is skilful in the use of a net shaped +something like the secondary wings of a certain species of moth, and +expanding and closing similarly. It is made of fine twine (one-inch +mesh), preferably from the bark of one of the fig-trees or the brown +kurrajong, tightly stretched on two pieces of lawyer-cane each bent +to form the half of an irregular ellipse. This net ("moorgaroo") is +manipulated by two men working in concert, principally for the capture +of eels. They do not wait for the eel to come to them, but by shrewd +scrutiny discover its whereabouts under the bank of the creek or among +the weeds and roots. Then one silent man holds the net widespread, or +adroitly dodges it into intercepting positions, while the other beats +the luckless fish in its direction with more or less fluster. The +persistency with which the creeks are patrolled by men with spears, +netted and poisoned, invites one to marvel that any fish escape, and yet +once again quite a haul is made. + +That great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, once in his life made a joke +and confessed to it, with apologies for its littleness. Lunching at a +tavern in the Isle of Wight, he asked: "Oh, is not this a very large +chop for such a small island?" Similarly, I have been astonished at +the apparent disproportion between the size of the eel and the +insignificance of the creek whence the exultant black has hauled it. + +An instance of the poor part which the slimmest eel plays when pitted +against the Smartness and resourcefulness of the black may be related. +A large eel, in a moment of indiscretion, showed itself in a fairly deep +creek. Bewailing the absence of his wing-net, or "moorgaroo," the boy +hunted the elusive fish hither and thither with cunning determination. +At last it disappeared under a log. In most of his activities the black +boy sniffs at conventions. Hastily stripping, the boy dived and when +he reappeared the eel was vainly squirming in one of the legs of his +trousers which had been knotted below the knee. + +Another boy, a stranger, brought with him traditions which he +successfully materialised in favour of the employment of several light +darts instead of a single heavy spear for fishing. The subject was +frequently debated, but none of the camp adopted George's theories. His +favourite weapons were the dried stems of an all too common weed, which +generally grows straight and true. Into the thick end he would insert a +four-inch length of No. 10 fencing wire, sharpened to a delicate point, +and with a battery of eight or ten of these he would sally forth. His +bag averaged high. Often he treated me to practical demonstrations of +the success of his methods. A big flathead reposed in two feet of +water, half buried in the sand. George had one of his darts fast in a +twinkling, and the fish flashed away, the tip indicating its movement. +In a few minutes the hapless flathead was carrying no less than six +darts, and as such a handicap was absurd it abandoned the race for life. + +On another occasion he struck a big sting-ray so full of his impish +darts that it resembled an animated pincushion of monstrous proportions. +It, too, realised the futility of kicking against so many pricks. On +the other hand, Tom, with his heavy shaft and barbed point, relied on +a single weapon. It seldom failed, for his right arm was strong and +disciplined to a nicety. + +On a shallow tidal creek a settler had made a corduroy crossing of +the fibrous trunks of the Pandanus palms, which the blacks of the +neighbourhood turned to account in the capture of fish. A few frail +sticks, artlessly interwoven with grass, formed a primitive weir at +the down-stream end of the crossing. Fish which went up with the tide +frequently found themselves stranded on the way down, for the water +passed freely between the palm-tree trunks without affording them right +of way, and the rude weir often stopped for ever belated bream, mullet, +and barramundi. This simple trap, though it does not appear to be put +into use on the coast generally, seems almost to indicate an instinctive +knowledge of a studied design described to me by an observant friend who +has travelled into many an odd nook and corner of Queensland. On a deep +but narrow tributary of the Georgina River a permanent trap on a large +scale was wont to be maintained. A tree had been felled across the +stream so that each end of the trunk was supported by the respective +bank. Straight stakes were driven firmly into the bed of the creek as +closely together as possible, the heads resting against the horizontal +tree-trunk. This palisading formed the base of an embankment of packed +grass and rubbish, sufficiently tight to raise the level of the stream +about three feet. In the middle of the embankment, and about one foot +below water-level, a hole about one foot square had been cut. A platform +about ten feet long by three feet wide, having a fall of about one +foot and formed of a number of straight saplings laid parallel with the +stream, and supported by a couple of transverse bearers on four stout +forked sticks, received the escape from the sluice. At the lower end of +the platform was a rough weir of twisted grass, which was continued up +each side for about half its length. Water passed with little hindrance +through the platform, while jew-fish, yellow-tail, and bream, were +retained in considerable numbers. + +Many years have elapsed--peradventure centuries--since the blacks of +Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, built a weir of blocks and boulders +of granite which oysters cemented here and there. On the fulness of +spring tides fish frolicked over and among the boulders. Those which +delayed their exit found themselves in an enclosed pool which at certain +seasons of the year runs dry. To this day the sea continues to pay +tribute, though the blacks of the locality have passed away, and there +is none but the red-backed sea-eagle or the heavy-flighted osprey and a +rare and casual white man, to receive it. Among the few emblems of the +vanishing race, this persistent weir-taking toll of the fish month after +month, year after Year, for the benefit of successive generations of +eagles and ospreys, appeals vividly to the imagination. + + +HOOKS. + + +From what can be ascertained at this late date, pearl shell hooks +were very sure and killing, but seem to have been used principally for +smaller fish--whiting, perch, bream, flathead, etc.--the occurrence +of large hooks being exceedingly rare. Mullet (if tradition is to be +credited) were seldom caught by hook and line, but were speared among +the mangroves at high tide--a practice which prevails to this day. +The Dunk Island examples have a resemblance to one of the forms of +pearl-shell hooks used by the Tahitians in Captain Cook's day. + +Tortoise-shell hooks capable of holding large kingfish and fair sized +sharks are common among the natives of Darnley Island, Torres Straits. +During the process of cutting and paring the hooks to the size and +design required, the shell is frequently immersed in boiling water, +which temporarily overcomes its inherent toughness. Incidentally, it may +be pointed out that the evidence derivable from these fish-hooks does +not afford proof of Papuan influence on the mind of the Australian +aboriginal, except at the extreme north of Cape York Peninsula and a few +miles down the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This default +seems the more remarkable in face of the fact that outrigger canoes, +doubtless of Papuan or Malayan origin, were known as far south as the +Johnstone River. + +To say that the coastal blacks of North Queensland had no knowledge of +the use of barbed hooks is misleading. In sheer desperation, when the +supply of pearl-shell hooks was exhausted, they were wont to attach +bait to their harpoon-points, and they used such unpropitious means +successfully, and occasionally made a miniature hook by tying a sharp +spur to a thin, straight stick. Recent proof has been obtained of the +use of the lorum of one of the creeping palms, from which all the spurs +save three at the thicker end were scraped off. With the knowledge of +the efficacy of the barb under extraordinary circumstances, is it not +the more remarkable that they failed to employ it systematically? Dr. +W. E. Roth describes crescentic hooks of coco-nut shell and wooden hooks +with bone barb, and also barbs improvised from one of the spines of the +catfish. He also mentions as "the most primitive form of hook" the +dried tendril of HUGONIA JENKENSII ("pattel-pattel" of the Dunk Island +blacks). To anyone familiar with the crescent pearl-shell hooks, the use +of the singular tendrils of the Hugonia would immediately be suggested; +but my observation, inquiries, and opinion do not support the theory. +The shape of the tendril is all that can be said in its favour. It is +neither sharp nor tough enough for actual use. + +With these barbless hooks the bait was not impaled, but strapped on with +shreds of bark. + + +NARCOTICS AND POISONS. + + +It is said of the great Mogul Emperor Babur that he boasted of being +able to make fish drunk so that he might haul them in shoals, and when +"Carathis" pronounced her "barbarous incantations" the fish with one +accord thrust forth their heads from the water. Is it generally known +that the North Queensland blacks also are expert in the use of narcotics +and indifferent to the ethics of sport? The most commonly used of the +fish poisons on the coast of North Queensland is likewise employed by +the natives of Zambesi Land for a similar purpose. The plant is known +botanically as "Derris." Two varieties, "scandens" and "uligijiosa," are +known in this State. The aboriginal titles vary in different localities, +but "Paggarra" will suit the present purpose. Some blacks are so +offensively civilised that they know the plant by the name of "Wild +Dynamite." Possibly it owes its popularity among fish poisons to the +fact that it is the handiest of all. It trails over the rocks, just out +of touch of high-water mark, but not beyond the reach of the spray +of surges. With roots investigating inclement crevices, and salt air +damping its leaves, the plant flourishes, and flowers prettily in +graceful racemes. In the semi-obscurity of the crevices the flowers put +on a tinge of pink, literally blushing unseen. The heartless blacks tear +up the plant, branches, leaves, flowers and all, coarsely bundle them +together, and, wading into an enclosed pool where fish are observed, +beat the mass (after dipping it into the water and while held in the +left hand) with a nulla-nulla. The action is repeated until the bark and +leaves are macerated, and then the bundle is thrown into the pool. In +a few minutes the fish rise to the surface, gasping and making +extraordinary efforts to get out of the infected water. Death ensues +rapidly, but the fish are quite wholesome as food. + +Another of the vegetable poisons is known as "Raroo" (CAREYA AUSTRALIS). +The bark at the base of the trunk and of the roots contains an effective +principle, which is released in a somewhat similar fashion to that +employed with "Paggarra." + +The fruit of the handsome, shrubby tree known botanically as DIOSPYROS +HEBECARPA is also a most effective fish poison. It is oval-shaped, red +when ripe, and, as the name implies, covered with soft, fine hair. For +all its lofty title and attractive appearance, the fruit is deceptive, +for it bites and blisters the lips and tongue like caustic, and on +being bruised and thrown into a pool on the reef, all fish are killed +outright. + +A different and, for a black, singularly complicated process is employed +for the extraction of the noxious principle residing in the plant known +as "Koie-yan" (FARADAYA SPLENDIDA). This is one of the most rampant and +ambitious of the many vines of the jungle. + +It combines exceeding vigour with rare gracefulness. The leaves are a +light glossy green, ovate, and often a foot long, while the flowers +are pure white (resembling slightly the azalea, but free from its +fragility), large, and with an elusive scent, sweet and yet indefinite. +The fruit, smooth and of porcelain whiteness, varies in size and shape, +and is said to be edible, though blacks ignore it. A large marble and +an undersized hen's egg may dangle together, or in company with others, +from the topmost branches of some tall tree, which has acted as host to +the clinging vine. The handsome but inconsiderate plant is turned +from its purpose of lending fictitious and fugitive charms to quite +commonplace but passive trees to the office of stupefying uncomplaining +fish. But the element which holds such deadly enmity to the sense of the +fish is not obtainable by the simple primary means successful with other +plants. Indeed, the process is quite elaborate, and goes to prove that +the Australian aboriginal has to his credit as a chemist the results of +successful original research, and that he is also a herbalist from whom +it is no condescension to learn. In this detail, at any rate, he is +distinctly an accomplished person. Portions of the vine are cut into +foot lengths; the outer layer of bark is removed and rejected, the +middle layer alone being preserved. This is carefully scraped off and +made up into shapely little piles on fresh green leaves. One might +imagine that a black boy preparing the deadly "Koie-yan" was really +playing at chemist's shop with neat-handed scrupulousness. When a +sufficiency is obtained it is rubbed on to stones previously heated by +fire. The stones then being thrown into a creek or a little lagoon left +by the receding tide, the poison becomes disseminated, with fatal effect +to all fish and other marine animals. + +It is pointed out, however, by Dr. Hamlyn-Harris that the nature of the +active principle of the "Koie yan" does not permit of elaboration by +such means. The heating of the shredded bark would, therefore, appear +to fall into line with the gibberish of ancient alchemists. It would +bewilder the uninitiated without enhancing results. + +Many other plants supply the means of killing small fish wholesale, or +of reducing them to palsied cripples. The three described are fairly +common, and have, therefore, been selected to point a moral. Poisoning +fish is a poor sort of sport, perhaps, but there are two classes of +fishermen--the hungry and the artistic. The latter use flimsy tackle and +complicated gear, and play the game, giving the victims to their wiles a +sporting chance. Though not the only representative of the hungry class, +the black boy generally fishes on an empty stomach, and his demeanour +coincides. No slobbering sentiment affects him. Yet he is not so cruel +as the mean white who throws a plug of dynamite into the river while +the fish are enjoying their crowded hour, though he will with as little +taint upon his conscience poison a pool full of fish as drag with hooked +stick a reluctant crab piecemeal from its burrow among the mangrove +roots. But then he is responding to the appeals of a clamant and +not over-particular stomach, while your dynamitard is occasionally a +well-fed barbarian with a queasy palate. + + +FLY-FISHING. + + +The neatest and most artistic method by which the blacks kill fish +necessitates the employment of a particular species of spider known to +the learned as NEPHILA MACULATA PISCATORUM. This spider was discovered +on Dunk Island by Macgillivray, the naturalist of the expedition of +H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE in 1848. It has a large ovate abdomen of olive-green +bespangled with golden dust; black thorax, with coral-red mandibles; +and long, slender legs, glossy black, and tricked out at the joints with +golden touches. A fine creature, gentle and stately in demeanour, it +spins a large web, strong enough to hold the biggest of beetles +and other insects, and, to harmonise with the superior air of the +manufacturer, the gossamer is of golden-green. The great spider at the +focus of the resplendent web is a frequent and conspicuous ornament +to the edges of the jungle, and having no fear, and no indocility of +temper, it undergoes the ordeal of admiration with an assumption +of disdainful coquettism. The local name of this comely creature +is "Karan-jamara." Shameless polyandrist, she maintains several +consorts--from three to five seems to be the average number--and +they, semi-transparent, feeble, meek, subdued little fellows, maintain +precarious isolated existences in the outskirts of the web. + +Though my own experience is negative, direct incontrovertible evidence +is extant to the effect that birds often meet their fate by blundering +into the web, to be devoured by the nimble and gaily decorated owner. I +have frequently seen karan-jamara disposing of hard-shelled beetles +as big in bulk as some birds, and the strongest of butterflies, once +entangled, is powerless. The long-legged spider leaps on the struggling +prey and stills its beating wings with one pinch of powerful red +mandibles. March flies form the most frequent diet. One has been +observed to dispose of fourteen of the great stupid flies in a single +evening, and if the flies could reason they might, while whimpering +because of the existence of such voracious spiders, acknowledge that +they design their webs in a very perplexing and masterly manner. + +In pursuance of inquiries--the results of which are herein recorded--a +casual black boy, a stranger to these parts, and therefore unfamiliar +with the local name and the special purpose to which the spider is put, +was cross-examined. At first he failed to recognise the photograph, but +when it was explained by the pointed allusion to a living Maltese-cross +spider close at hand, a gleam of intelligence brightened his bewildered +face, and he delivered a self-satisfied dissertation on the order +Arachnida that is worth quoting: + +"That fella Oo-boo-boo. That fella mammy belonga 'nother fella +altogether. You no savee, come close up--that fella ply way. You no +savee, come close up, that fella no good; that fella vite." + +And the boy looked gravely sagacious and smiled the wide, wise smile +betokening proud superiority of information. Had Macgillivray but known +that the "Oo-boo-boo" was the parent of all the many species, and that +it belongs to the discreetly valorous class that "vites" and flies away, +and lives to "vite" another day, he might have achieved renown of a +more popular kind than is the reward of the unromantic naturalist who +discovers merely a superior spider. + +This spider is used on some of the rivers as a lure, virtues almost +irresistible being ascribed to it. Experiments in salt water, though not +absolutely negative in their results, have not afforded any specially +exciting sport; but possibly the fascination of the lure is more +efficient in fresh than in salt water, and is influential over the +habitual caution throughout a certain species of fish only. The trick is +worked in the following manner: + +The angler takes a light, thin switch and entangles one end in the web, +which, by dexterous waving action, is converted (without being touched +with the fingers) into a strand about two feet long. The spider is +secured and squashed, and the end of the line moistened in the juices of +the body, some of the fragments of which are reserved for bait, and +also to be thrown into the water as a preliminary charm. These buoyant +titbits attract shoals of small fish, among which the line, with its +extract of spider, is delicately trailed; a fish rises to the lure, the +gossamer becomes entangled in its teeth, and it is landed by a brisk yet +easy movement of the wrist. A great angler recently said that throwing +a fly is an act of feeling or instinct rather than reason. So the black +boy with a careless flourish fills his dilly-bag, while he smiles at the +serious attempts of the white man to imitate his skill. + +Owing to the brevity and the frailness of the line, the catch is limited +to fish under the recognised standard as to size. Tests prove that the +breaking strain of the line is nearly three-quarters of a pound, but the +weight of the individual is of no great consideration, since numbers are +caught quickly. The gossamer is singularly sticky. The viscid substance +with which it is coated is not readily dissolvable in water; indeed, +water seems to have the effect of hardening it, so that the line' +wears longer than might be expected. Piquant morsels of the spider are +entangled in the frayed end of the line as its original potency becomes +non-effective. + +A friend for whose edification this novel method was demonstrated thus +writes it: + +"It did not take the boy long to get ready. They simply broke a switch +about three feet long and attached a portion of the web about six inches +long to the end; squeezed out on to a leaf the fluid internals of the +spider, into which they dipped the end of the line, started a rather +melodious chant, and put the line in shallow water. I was only a few +feet away and could see no fish at first, but they came very soon. They +were very small, about one and a half inches long. They fasten their +teeth in the web, and are lifted out quite slowly. Some require to be +pulled off the line after being landed. I watched for about ten minutes, +during which time seventeen were caught." + +Sir William Macgreggor, ex-Governor of Queensland, has described the +Papuan art of fishing by means of kites, the lure being a tassel of the +web of a spider of the Nephila species. No doubt the blacks here made an +independent and original discovery, and in their simplicity applied +it in a different, but none the less effective, style from that of the +advanced Papuan. + +Thus, to use the web and the fragments of a spider for fly-fishing is +certainly meting out poetic justice to the spider on account of the many +ensnared flies; and the black angler never pauses to reflect whether +the comminuted remains of a spider can possibly be construed into a fair +fly. + + + + + +PART II--MISCELLANEA + + + + +PEARLS + + + +WHAT IS A PEARL? + + +What is a pearl? The substance of a sensation--the consolidation of +discomfort on the part of an oyster or other nacre-secreting mollusc. It +is a globular deposit of carbonate of lime, with a very small proportion +of water, generally enclosing a trifle which is its cause and core +and, so to speak, is a waste product of the body's chemistry. In the +restricted, scientific sense, "true pearls are bodies consisting of +calcareous material with an organic basis." Similar bodies having cores +of sand grains or other foreign substance are known as "blisters." + +Science, which peers and probes into the innermost affairs of oysters, +and speaks of them in terms of uneasy familiarity, asserts that pearls +are frequently caused by a parasite to which they are subject. + +It would ill become one who has no scientific pretensions to suggest +other definitions, though he may claim to be among the few who have +been privileged to observe a pearl in the making, or, rather, to watch +Nature's finishing touches. + +In the case of the oyster the radical home cure for the living irritant +or insoluble substance which had gained entrance between its valves +is an encasement of pearl-film. If this encasement is globular or +pear-shaped, or takes the form of a button and is lucid, lustrous, +flawless, and of large size, it may be of almost inestimable worth. + +Does the proud beauty who glories in the possession of a pearl +condescend to imagine that she flaunts on her bosom just so many tombs +containing the dust of the germs of a parasite? Does she not rather love +to think of the gems as emblems of almost celestial purity, and to dwell +on the fable of the Persians rather than the audacious modern fact? + +Addison has set the fable in imperishable gold: A drop of water fell out +of a cloud into the sea, and finding herself lost in such immensity of +fluid matter, broke out into the following reflection: "Alas! What an +inconsiderable creature am I in this prodigious ocean of waters; my +existence is of no concern to the universe; I am reduced to a kind of +nothing, and am less than the least of the works of God." It so happened +that an oyster which lay in the neighbourhood chanced to gape and +swallow it up in the midst of this its humble soliloquy. The drop, says +the fable, lay a great while hardening in the shell, until by degrees it +was ripened into a pearl, which, falling into the hands of a diver after +a long series of adventures, is at present that famous pearl which is +affixed on the top of the Persian diadem. + +Though one may count his pearls by the score, the hoard may be +valueless. Upon such examples entertaining, if not valuable, experiments +may be made without affectation or giving hostages to fortune. In all +the little deformed specimens thus dissected the core has been found to +consist of a foreign substance, generally what seemed under a microscope +of limited power a speck of dirt. The heart of one was a blob of +mud, which gave off a most baleful vapour. This was the result of the +house-cleaning of a common, edible rock oyster, and the pearl, dirty +green and lustreless, merely a thin casket, for the noisome mud had not +solidified. The care with which the impurity had been rendered innocuous +demonstrated the correct ideas of the oyster on sanitation. No doubt the +germ of the special form of tape-worm which troubles oysters, irritates +to pearl-making, and passes through other transformations in other +hosts, and completes its cycle in the body of a shark, would be too +minute for inexpert detection. The fact that molluscs do intern foreign +and obnoxious substances is testimony to their decency and love of +cleanliness, and so may the pearl be still accepted as the embodiment of +purity. Though all its little soul be dirt, the pearl is pure, and but +for the dirt or the germ of a filthy ailment it would not be pearl. + +So many molluscs produce pearls that it would be absurd for the great +oyster family to set up exclusive rights. They do not, for your oyster +is ever humble even when tenanted with a rivalless pearl. On the coast +of North Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef, pinnas of at least +two species are among the producing agents, which, covering a wide +range, seem to meet in two distinct genera, far apart in appearance and +habit. There is the frail, flat, translucent "window-shell" (Placuna), +the valves of which fit so closely that the poor little inhabitant +is squeezed to a wafer, a film, a fragment of muscle. Yet in some +localities nearly every individual has a pearl, pretty in tint, but +too minute to be of value. An allied species is common on the coast of +China, where the pearls are collected for export to India, to be reduced +to lime by calcination for the use of luxurious betel-nut chewers. These +almost microscopic pearls are also burnt in the mouths of the dead who +have been influential and wealthy. + +Coal-black pearls occur in one of the pinnas, the interior of which +is sooty, shot with iridescent purple, and since the pearl, whether +produced by oyster, mussel, pinna, or window-shell, is generally more +brilliant than the containing shell, that of the black pinna, with the +high lights of its environment concentrated, may be a gem of surpassing +novelty and beauty. But the habitual product of this pinna is small, +dull, mud-tinted or brown, and of no value whatever. Another of the +genera grows "seed" of excellent lustre, corresponding with the azure +brightness of the shell. + +The chief source of orient pearls on the coast of North Queensland +is the gold-lip mother-of-pearl PINCTADA MAXIMA, while the black lip +PINCTADA MARGARITIFERA occasionally yields fine and flawless specimens +of a silvery lustre. One which is still lovingly remembered was of pale +blue and wonderfully lighted. The commonest of the giant clams TRIDACNA +GIGAS sometimes betrays evidence of past internal trouble by the +presence of a concretion of porcelain whiteness and of porcellaneous +texture, but such are not to be described as pearls and to be prized as +rarities only. + +That some huge molluscs produced pearls before man, with his faculty for +admiration, came on the scene is proved by their existence as fossils in +chalk. Hemispherical specimens have been found on the inner surface of a +shell which has no living representative--viz., the Inoceramus (some +of which attained a length of two feet)--and spherical ones of the same +prismatical structure occur detached in the chalk. It were curious +to let the imagination run over the fact that the hosts of these +uncommended gems died ages before the advent of man. The best of modern +prizes may be puny in comparison with those which caused distress to +the giant molluscs of the age when the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and +Pterodactylus were the aristocrats of the animal world. Such gems have +gone for ever, and even during this age of insatiable and adventurous +search man does not secure a tithe of the ocean's tribute, for, since a +pearl is a source of discomfort to its host, the unceasing effort of +the animal is towards expulsion. The greatest and possibly the most +magnificent are cast out as rubbish on the ocean floor, or are retained +within the valves when the animal dies of old age. + +So-called pearls have been found in elephants' tusks and semi-adherent +to the bones of fish, and concretions--hard, smooth, and round, and +of the flat hue of skimmed milk--in coconuts and in the cavities of +bamboos; but in the production of the real gem neither oyster nor mussel +nor pinna need fear the rivalry of anything on the earth's surface. The +pearl belongs to the sea. + +Completely spherical pearls can be formed only loose in the mantle or +soft parts of the body of the animal; but intrusions incite a deposit +of nacre in the form of a projection on the interior, which projection, +often a mere bubble, but sometimes semi-detached, may take the shape and +dimensions of the foreign substance. Or an inoffensive mollusc may be +goaded by the piercing of its shell from the exterior to create that +for which men venture into the depths of the sea. If a pearl-secreting +oyster be inherently robust, its defence against assault from without +may consist of the strengthening of the interior at the point of attack +by deposits of nacre. Thus, a slight protuberance arises which becomes +the base of a blister or button or the starting-point of a pear-shaped +gem. Many a lovely gem is, therefore, nothing more than the imperishable +record of aggression on the part of a flabby sponge on a resourceful +oyster. Occasionally valuable pearls are found within huge blisters. +Such pearls originate, no doubt, in the ordinary way, but, becoming +an intolerable nuisance on account of increasing size, are confined in +nacre. + +One of the accompanying illustrations shows the fate which befell +an infant chiton upon intrusion on a small black-lip oyster, and +coincidentally the origin of a blister. The chiton family being +notorious for stolidity, the infant could not have realised the risks of +its trespass until the strait-jacket made its retirement impossible. +The nacre has reproduced the details of the chiton's exterior with the +fidelity of a casting, and further reveals the fact that it was alive +when entombed, for its struggles to escape are solidified. + +This deliberate act of the oyster may not stand comparison with the +stone of Pyrrhus's ring, which had the figure of Apollo and the nine +Muses in the veins of it produced by the spontaneous handiwork of Nature +without any help from art. The marvellous stone belonged to the fabulous +past; the imprisoned chiton to the prosaic present. + +Another illustration is that of an accumulation of nacre which has +assumed accidental resemblance to a miniature shark. It was found in a +gold-lip pearl shell in Torres Straits. The like quantity in globular +shape would represent a pearl of great value. + + +A PEARL IN THE MAKING. + + +On a calm and luminous day I waded, disrobed, in shallow water as limpid +as the fictitious stream which legend says King Solomon improvised +at the foot of his throne when the Queen of Sheba attended his court. +Lifting her robes--for she imagined the crossing of the water to be a +ceremonial device--the gorgeous Queen displayed her shapely calves. The +water resting on the verge of the lovely Isle was as delusively clear, +but was not deceptive. + +It revealed living coral, good to avoid by the barefooted; clams with +patterned mantles of various tints--grey, slate-blue, sea-green, brown, +and buff; anemones in many shapes, some like spikes of lavender, +and irritant and repellent to the touch; some platter-shaped and +cobalt-blue; some as living vases with the opalescent tints of Venetian +glass, which, abhorring the hand of man, retreat into the sand until +only an inconspicuous fringe of neutral tint is visible. Sea-slugs +in almost endless form and variety of hue, and many other strange sea +things, were among the inhabitants of the reef--a closely packed arena +of never-ceasing slaughter. + +In the middle of a clump of brown seaweed, which had fallen apart like +the neatly dressed hair of a woman, was a black streak, signifying the +gape of a wedge-shaped mollusc known as a pinna. The gape was about as +long as the parting of a woman's hair and about thrice as wide. As I +crouched to note the functions of the animal, my shadow intervened and +the caution of the creature was roused, the valves closing so that no +sign of the presence of the shell was distinguishable among the slightly +wavering, minute particles of alga. Changing my position, so that the +pinna might not be deprived of its share of the rays of the sun, the +valves soon furtively opened. A slight movement on my part and they +closed again, without having revealed any hidden charms. + +After a few minutes, a certain confidence being established between us, +the pinna emerged from its retirement, in so far as such creatures are +permitted by Nature. The mantle of this particular species is shown as +a delicate fringe of lace in old gold and black. It ripples along the +upper edges of the confining valves, which are intensely black with a +pearly lustre. The pretty movements of the mantle--like the swinging +of the skirts of a well-apparelled damsel--attracted admiration, and on +peering into the shell a glimpse of something precious was obtained. + +Tossed and twirled about just below the old gold fringe was a black +pearl about the size of a pea. The prize was safe. Without risk of loss +it could be watched in its unceasing revolutions. It seemed as if the +animal, with automatic perseverance, attempted to eject the incubus, the +weight of which kept it about an inch below the aperture of the valves. +Such motion would naturally tend to perfection. Whatsoever its lustre, +it would certainly be a sphere. Besides, it was a pearl in the making. +As long as it remained within the pinna and it could not be voluntarily +rejected, its size would inevitably increase. It was the rolling stone +to which time and the secretions of the animal would add weight and, +peradventure, beauty. + +Was mortal ever before privileged to watch over the growth of a black +pearl? The activities of the mantle, a blending of enticing colour +and poetic motion, were slow, free, and light-attracting. The ancients +believed that some pearls were constituted by flashes of lightning +playing on bubbles within the oyster. A relative of the family here +seemed to be wooing the tropic sun of its beams, if not to vitalise, at +least to burnish its treasure. + +Close scrutiny showed that the pearl was not absolutely free. It was +enclosed in a transparent membrane, the merest film, which confined +it to a particular position in the mantle, while it seemed to possess +independent actions--vertical and revolutionary. Perhaps the rays of +light which fell unequally on it through the water created the illusion +of revolutions, but it is certain that the pearl seemed to be playing a +game of hide-and-seek. + +Was it possible for human nature to deny itself so easily gotten +and pretty a prize? I confess, though the possibility of the pearl +increasing in size and loveliness was obvious, that the fact that pinnas +are subject to ills, chances, and mishaps, was also recognised. Left to +be slowly tossed about, the pearl would become greater; but size, though +an important feature, is not the only desirable quality. And while it +grew might not another barefooted beach-comber discover it? Or might not +one of the many unintelligent admirers of the pinna itself find entrance +by drilling or by the violent crushing of the valves, and, ignoring the +treasure, destroy the organs and the substance by and from which it +was being delicately elaborated? Suppose, I argued, I remove the gaping +shell, I shall no longer be able to enjoy the rare, the unique pleasure +of presiding over the gradual perfection of a pearl, an aesthetic +advantage to which I alone had been made free. Could present possession +of a little sphere of carbonate of lime, polished and sooty black, +compensate for the continuance of the chaste joy of watching one of the +most covert and intimate processes of Nature? Balancing the immediate +material gain against the inevitable moral loss, I was almost persuaded +to self-denial, when, with a sudden impulse, begot of the consciousness +of rightful acquisition, the pinna was forcibly yet carefully drawn out +of the sand in which it was deeply embedded and in which it was anchored +by toughened byssus. Directly the valves were prised apart the pearl +fell into my hand. Never before had I seen one so loosely retained +within its shell. Generally, in the case of the pinna, pearls +are embedded in the muscles or soft parts, and are not primarily +discernible, but have to be sought for by passing the "meat" through +the fingers. On this occasion all previous experience had been set at +naught, so that it might seem that the prize had been presented by the +animal as its perfect and most opulent work. + + +STRANGE PEARLS. + + +The engaging theory of the ancients that pearls were made of glutinous +dewdrops condensed by the sun's heat does not take into account the +fact that some of the rarest, though not the most valuable, have assumed +contrary and fantastic shape. Fish, crabs, and marine insects have +proved a common origin of pearly developments while they have been +regarded by some as almost miraculous conceptions on the part of the +afflicted mollusc. + +Hamed of Jeddah, the stubby Arab who deals in fish and oysters, and who +professes to have groped over in his youth a considerable extent of +the Red Sea for coral and pearls, relates many experiences in which +the popular gem takes pride of place. Oriental that he is, he loves +exaggeration, and while lending a propitious car to the stories in which +he enshrines his prime, when he could dive deep and long, and when the +precious red coral was "thick" and every shell contained a pearl, it is +discreet to disregard obvious breaks and bulges along the prim path of +truth. The very crudeness of his embellishments invests with kind of +comic relief some of his fables, which end invariably with insipid +uniformity. All the pearls which have slipped through Hamed's rough +hands have been valued at five hundred pounds, never more or less. It is +not for me to rub the gilt off the innocent inventions of the emotional +Arab, but merely to relate one of his time-beguiling tales, and one +which, probably, is of clean-cut truth. + +A huge gold-lip, found four fathoms deep, where the sea grass sways +indolently long, contained a tinted pearl like: + +"That fella sitting down along a tree and sing out along night time." + +"Flying fox?" I guessed grimly. + +"No!" snapped Hamed indignantly. "'Nother fella." + +"That bird which says 'chump, chump, chump?'" I meekly asked. + +Again Hamed sneered ironically. "No bird. No bird carn get along oyster. +Little fella-green like leaf. Sing out 'Ko-rog, ko-rog, ko-rog!'" + +"Oh! Frog!" + +"Yes. Like frog. Me call him 'ghouk' along my country. That fella inside +gold-lip. One inch long. Leg, hand, mouth, eyes all asame. I bin get +five hundred pounds for that fella." + +Azure pearls in the similitude of tiny fish can be vouched for by people +far more careful of their facts than Hamed--fish which have intruded +themselves on the oysters and have been encased in nacre. Probably the +rarity which fell into Hamed's hands was the pearly presentment of a +crustacean, for marine frogs are infinitely rarer than pearls. Several +molluscs admit tenants, one particular species a rotund crab; but in +the case in point the wrong mansion was entered and, so to speak, the +obtruder was transformed. + +A common and neat industry in China is the production of fraudulent +pearls, pretty and in accordance with submitted design, in which the +co-operation of the obedient but frail mussel is necessary. If a round +pearl is desired, a naked shot is introduced between the valves so much +to the discomfort of the animal that it proceeds to cover it decently +with layer after layer of pearl-film, the bulk of which depends upon +the length of life granted to the mussel. Sometimes little josses are +stamped out in thin uncorrosive metal, which, being presented to the +mussel, are faithfully modelled, the thrifty Chinese obtaining in course +of time quaint pearly gods--as potent as the best--without money and +without price. + +Not so long as a quarter of a century ago a spirit-bottle full +of pearls--buttons, blisters, and chips of all sorts, sizes, and +shapes--was purchased in North Queensland by one who had but the crudest +ideas as to the value of such gems. The vendor was a whity-brown man, +thin, and thinly clad in cotton. The complexion of the buyer was ruddier +than the cherry, for the tropic sun had beamed ardently on his peachy +Scotch skin, proclaiming him a new-chum, a bright and shining new-chum. +Because he was new he was alert to the value of money. Had he not come, +as all new-chums do, to Tom Tiddler's ground to pick up gold and silver? +Hence, when the hatless, spare, whity-brown man in soiled cotton offered +for sale the odd-shaped beads in a besmeared whisky-bottle for five +pounds, his national trait expressed itself in a scoff. + +The whity-brown man's seriousness, his confidentiality, his keen +desire to sell, his mysticism and misty English, the ruddy young man +interpreted as manifestations of the arts and wiles by means of which +innocent strangers from far away lands are tempted into bankruptcy +bargains. The seller, anxious to dispossess himself of ill-gotten gains +prejudicial to his love of liberty, pursued the Scotch youth almost +tearfully, until the bottle changed hands, but at a considerable +reduction on the price originally demanded. Shortly after a friend +enlightened the youth as to the probable value of the collection, and +gave him some cheap advice, especially on the desirableness of secrecy. +The youth accepted the advice so literally that the story ends. No one +ever knew how, when, where, and for what consideration, he disposed of +his embarrassments. Fresh from the land of his birth, and with the text +of Burns's poetic letter in his mind, he kept that something to himself. + +The days of such sensational deals are past. The primal crop has long +since been harvested. Science is now bidden to stimulate the docile +oyster, for the rage for pearls is as the rage of the heathen. Is it +not the wish of every woman, old and young, to possess pearls? And while +subject man, flushed with hope, ventures to the "utmost port, washed by +the furthest sea," for such merchandise at the caprice of woman, Science +plods sedately after man, beguiling him with the hope of some less risky +and laborious means of acquiring the gems, while at the same time +she soothes the irrepressible passion of every damsel with strings of +artistic counterfeits manufactured from the scales of silvery fish, and +as pleasant to glance at as many an orient. + +The Spaniards say that a paper cigarette, a glass of water, and the kiss +of a pretty girl, will sustain a man for a day without eating. But what +is a man to do who has no tobacco, only stale water, who is separated +from the nearest girl by seventy miles of perilous seas forlorn, and +whose appetite sickens at the sight of the coarse fare of a bche-de-mer +boat? There is but one resource for such a martyr. He must do "a +perisher." That is precisely what the master of a lonely boat in an +odd angle of the Coral Sea was doing when a joyful sail appeared--a +dove-like messenger from civilisation and shops. It was a pitiable +famine. No one had had a smoke for a week. The black boys had broken +up their nicotine-saturated clay pipes and masticated them to pulp, and +still treasured the quids, while the "Boss" pondered cigars during the +day and dreamt them at night. But relief was at hand. The master of the +strange craft, though well stocked, was not disposed to be generous, +until tempted by the sight of a lovely yellow pearl, about the size of a +small marble and of satiny lustre--sweet to look upon, sweeter still +to possess. Aware of the other man's agonising needs, he drove a hard +bargain, and the gem became his at the cost of a box of tobacco. He +hugged himself for joy, and after a decent lapse, during which he acted +the part of the virtuous who had relieved another's necessities out of +sheer goodwill (for the pearl was only a curio, was it not?), he set +sail for the nearest port. + +Certain that fortune had at last beamed upon him, he laid up his lugger, +wound up his affairs, and hurried off to Sydney, secretly, to dispose +of his prize first-hand. An expert weighed the treasure, scrutinised it +shrewdly through a microscope, and handed it back with a casual remark +that it was a pretty curio, but that its market value was about half a +crown. "It has been exposed to great heat, and may crumble to pieces at +a change of temperature. Get me one like that uncooked and I'll give you +twelve hundred pounds." + +Some time after, the grasping man discovered that the pearl had been +found in the "meat" of a "helmet" shell which had been roasted by a +hungry and tobaccoless boy. + +Without appearing to suggest anything beyond a trifling blemish in this +story, replete as it is with edifying illustrations of the frailties of +human nature, it would be well to remember that the helmet shell (CASSIS +FLAMMEA) is not nacreous and could not therefore produce a true pearl, +but merely g porcellaneous concretion, which, however, might possess a +most attractive tint, possibly pale salmon or orange. Such a gem might +be valuable. + +Great pearls are not generally found on shallow reefs. He who would +search for them systematically must dive, and if he does not possess the +proper costume and accessories his trips below are but brief, and not +always profitable. When a diver boasts that he can remain under water +two or three minutes--and the boast is very common--he has gauged his +endurance by his sensations, not by the clock. Once an expert was timed, +a coloured gentleman who had great repute among his companions, all +capable divers. He made a special and supreme effort, and though the +watch recorded barely seventy seconds, he was much distressed. Recovery +was, however, speedy; of ten subsequent minutes he spent more than +half out of sight. It is not argued that human beings cannot remain +voluntarily under water more than seventy seconds, but the feat is so +rare that those who accomplish it are not usually pearl-divers. + +The natives of some parts of Borneo declare that the valves of the +oysters containing the largest pearls are always open, and that by +peering into the water the pearls may be seen. They tell a story of a +gigantic pearl which was thus discovered by the men of old and actually +brought while within the oyster into a canoe, but had slipped from the +fingers of a careless holder into deep water. + +Spencer St. John, author of "Life in the Forests of the Far East," had +among his friends a chief who ventured most of his possessions in a +pearling cruise. Disaster attended the enterprise, but without subduing +his faith in luck; mortgaging everything, even to his wife and child, he +went out to woo fortune again. His slave-boy was preparing to dive one +day when he started back, touched his master's hand, and with signs of +great emotion pointed into the water. The chief looked, and there, seven +fathoms below, lay an oyster with an enormous pearl distinctly visible. +Without a moment's reflection he plunged in, and, diving with skill +and speed, reached the shell before it closed, his fingers being caught +between the valves. He quickly rose to the surface, and was helped into +the boat by his anxious follower. Upon the oyster being forced open, a +pearl, unsurpassed in size and of extraordinary beauty, was revealed. +Returning to his native village, the chief sold all his smaller pearls, +and having redeemed his wife and child, set sail for Manila, where lived +an English friend who advanced him money, to whom he said: "Take this +pearl, clear off my debt, give me what you like in return. I shall be +satisfied." The author adds: "The merchant took the pearl, gave him what +he considered its value--at all events enough to make Sulu ring with +his generosity--and sent the pearl to China; but what became of it +afterwards I could never distinctly trace; but I learned that a pearl in +Bengal called 'The Mermaid' originally came from China, and as the one +found in Sulu was said to be shaped like a woman's bust, it is probably +the same." + + + +Possibly the golden age of the pearl is passing as the golden age of the +reptile has passed, for can it not be imagined that, in those far-back +days when oysters attained a length of two feet and better deserved +the title of Tridacna (three bites) than the present clams, pearls +of corresponding magnificence of size were produced? Or are robust +pearlless oysters to be accepted as the type of the strong era, and +small oysters and pearls merely as signs of degeneracy? The largest of +modern pearls measured two inches long by a circumference of four inches +and weighed eighteen hundred grains. The containing shell may have been +big only in comparison with its contemporaries. A very small man has +been known to be afflicted with a disproportioned goitre, and there are +some who argue that the goitre may be but the prototype of the pearl. + +Is fact or fable to claim the most glorious of pearl stories? Some +verily believe that Cleopatra did quaff the costliest beverage the world +has ever known. The incident is so faithful to the character of "that +rare Egyptian" that all sober record shall not discount delight in its +transcendent sumptuousness. Though the pearl may have been worth eighty +thousand pounds of our money, though Cleopatra was gay, though her +extravagance was impious, she was a glorious woman, and she had at least +one glorious, if nauseating, drink. The pearl decoction was merely an +episode in her policy, which was to fascinate Antony--Antony who had +called her to account for having aided his enemies in their war against +him. And what was an eighty thousand pound bauble in the high affairs +of State? "She was at the age when a woman's beauty is at its prime, and +she was also of the best judgment. So she furnished herself with a world +of gifts, stores of gold and silver, and of riches and other sumptuous +ornaments as is credible she might bring from so great a house and from +so wealthy and rich a realm as Egypt. But yet she carried nothing +with her wherein she trusted more than herself, and in the charms and +enchantment of her surpassing beauty and grace." + +And then the supper following the magnificent pageant! Anything less +than an eighty thousand pound pearl would have been an anti-climax, a +mean and clumsy culmination of a "gaudy night." That soul-delighting gem +which vanished in foam told of a superb Cleopatra's "calm felicity and +power." + +Some say that, the jewel--cast away so majestically was one of a pair +which Cleopatra wore as ear-rings, and that when Antony restrained +his hostess from a repetition of the draught, she presented the now +matchless pearl to him. Another version implies that the ear-ring had +been originally one monster pearl, which Cleopatra had caused to be sawn +in two to gratify her lust for unique and lavish ornament. + +It is said, too, that the pearl was dissolved in wine. By a simple +practical test and at the sacrifice of a small quantity of baroque, +proof was obtained that ordinary culinary vinegar is a solvent of +pearls. The experiment also yielded these notable conclusions--that +either the wine of Cleopatra's age was much more corrosive than the +vinegar of ours, or that the costly beverage was prepared beforehand, +or that the stately banquet was long-drawn-out while the inestimable gem +spluttered and simmered in the goblet. The dissolution of such a large +pearl must have been slow, and the product far from nice, but it was one +of the effects by which a sovereign woman conquered the "most courteous +lord" of his day. + +A curious superstition prevails in some parts of the East Indies, it +being believed that if gold and pearls are placed by themselves in a +packet they will certainly decrease in quantity or number, and in the +end totally disappear; but, if a few grains of rice are added, the +treasure is safe. Rice is thought not only to preserve the original +number of pearls, but to actually cause increase. + +Tarnished pearls are occasionally submitted to the process of +"skinning"--the removal with fine steel files under a magnifying +glass of the outer 'layer, on the chance of the existence of a better +underneath. The ancients treated lustreless gems differently, placing +them before doves, under the belief that they could be polished by being +pecked and played with by the gentle birds. + +In some respects pearls are superior to all other gems. They are +emblematic of serenity, and serenity is often power in the highest +manifestation. None ever said an unkind word of pearls; no dubious +legend clings to them, making the timid afraid. They come to us +perfectly fashioned. No coarse handiwork has touched them, no soulless +machine ground them to conventional pattern. The last diamond may be, +the last pearl never, until the sea gives up more than its dead, its +very being. Pearls may begin and end in foam; but the beginning is now +and always, and the ending rare, for the Cleopatras are gone. Emblems +of purity, refinement, and peace, they are truly the gems for woman. +Queenly or demure, they become her, and she bestows on them a quality +hard to define, but singularly sweet and acceptable. Gold and precious +stones may occupy billions of years in the making, or may be the product +of-- + + + "The war of elements, + The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds." + + +Once we find these hard, cold things and take hold of and seize them, we +know that we have, to use a homely simile, eaten our cake. The supply +of pearls is continuous, and under the control of the cruel ingenuity of +man they grow to an ordinary size in less than a decade. + +Many years ago an opinion was expressed that the increasing knowledge +'of the mollusc and its habits would enable man literally to sow the sea +with pearls as he sows a field with grain, and that the harvest would +be certain. Under natural conditions not one oyster in a hundred is +troubled with a pearl, and not one pearl in the hundred is of any real +value. It is demanded that unsuspecting oysters shall be inflicted with +a kind of plague, so that there shall be not one but several pearls +in every suffering individual, and in the greater number chance +will contrive a larger proportion of orients. Every oyster has +its potentialities; Science seeks to convert potentialities into +certainties. + + +PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY. + + +Such merchandise has ever provoked the spirit of adventure in hardy, +healthy men, and pearls have claimed the lives of the best among them. +The health and figure of the friend who beguiled many an evening were +sacrificed to the lustrous gem so prized of women. A model of stalwart +manhood of the Viking strain, he died early, worn out with the stress +with which he sought the most serene of personal adornments. There may +have been some slight exaggeration in the popular belief that he had +walked along the bottom of the sea from one end of the Great Barrier +Reef to the other, a stretch of over one thousand miles; but that he had +accomplished more than that distance in the aggregate of his submarine +wanderings may be quite credible. Probably there was no human being who +possessed such intimate knowledge of the character of the ocean floor +within the living bounds of the Great Barrier; and since he was silent, +reserved, and self-contained to all save friends of long standing, was +never guilty of boasting, and ever reluctant to tell of his adventures, +the world is little the wiser from his work, though at the best time +of his life most of his days were spent under water in fairyland-like +scenes. It may seem absurd to associate fairyland with the depths of the +sea; but the shy explorer of many a coral grove has been heard to say +that the scenes fulfilled his ideals of what the realms of the fairies +might be like. + +Pearl-divers are more susceptible to the charms of wayward Fortune than +those who have not realised the thrill of expectancy with which a huge +goldlip, encrusted with coral and swathed with seaweed, is seized. It +may contain a gem worth a king's ransom, or but an animal which, though +it may be crossed in love, is not engaging in appearance or in any +feature or quality commendable. There is the chance; and it appeals +to most rational men. Secretive Fortune lures on, promising the bubble +pearl 'and proffering that which satisfieth not, until the stress and +perils of the avocation tell on the enthusiast, who finds himself not +exuberant as wont; that Fortune has been tricking him; that in the +pursuit of pearls Chance is oft repellent; and that the prize which +seemed impossible to avoid has eluded the most devoted seekers. + +It may be that my captain did not seek his pearls with zeal beyond that +which is common to the calling the world over; but that his enthusiasm +beguiled him into remote and odd parts of the Barrier, that he became +familiar with rare scenes (denied to all save submarine adventurers +in tropical waters), that he was oft in peril of his life, and that he +could pause in the midst of strenuous, nerve-racking work to watch +the never-ceasing hostilities of the denizens of the sea, may not be +questioned. + +Not long before he passed away he told of one of his adventures in a +few hurried words, after the manner of one who loves not to dwell on +personal reminiscences, save as a text for the rectification of popular +error in respect of sensational happenings. The story is here repeated, +for it throws light on an incident which sent one ship of warfare on +dubious patrol, and reveals the manner of the men who sought pearls in +the old days. + +"Have you found that pearl?" he asked smilingly; for we had often talked +of the possibility of being rewarded with a fortune-bestowing gem. + +"Yes, indeed, I have; and a real beauty. I very much doubt if you, for +all your experience, ever saw such perfect shape and fine lustre. Here +is an instance of the perversity of Chance. You, tied up in a rubber +bag, rake the floor of the Barrier, fighting sharks and being hustled +by turtle, and never find anything out of the way. I stroll about the +beaches, and see what Fortune bestows!" + +The size of a small marble, it lay swathed in white wadding. Minute +furrows sculptured the surface in radiating lines from pole to pole, +enhancing rare radiance. + +The captain took the little casket in his hand that he might gloat over +the treasure, as, his eyes shining, he said: + +"You lucky fellow! Where did you get it? I never saw a finer pearl, and +I have seen a few in my days. Fair numbers have passed through my hands; +but--you fraud!" + +He lifted it, revealing a counterfeit, which had once ornamented a +hatpin. + +In good-humour he settled down on a lounge and gradually drifted into +reminiscences. + +"About two years before what I am going to tell you happened, I heard +of a patch of shell off an island Sud-Est way; I kept the tip to myself, +determined to work the spot on my own account if ever I got the chance. +I waited till I saved a few pounds, and, taking in a mate, fitted out a +craft, and with a crew of very fair boys sailed away. I found the spot +all right; but--my usual luck--someone had been there before me. Strange +to say, the spot was by no means worked out, though it was fairly good +ground and easy working, and the shell large. We did good business for +a while, until one day I got a proper start. The life-line fouled on +something, and I found that it had taken a turn round the bowsprit of a +wreck. I got on top pretty quick, and, having had a talk with my mate, +went down again. Very soon I knew the boat. It was the ----, and she +had belonged to a man I had known very well. The strange part about the +business was that the boat had been burned. Her deck was gone; she had +burned to the water's edge and had sunk, and there she rested on her +keel. I knew that the owner had left port some months before on a secret +cruise. Someone must have given him the tip, too. He was well known and +liked, and generally did good business. My mate and I talked over the +business. We wanted to clean up that patch, so decided to remain a few +days longer before clearing out to report. I was convinced that murder +had been committed-that the natives of the island had massacred the +party and had sunk the lugger. + +"While I was below next day an urgent message came down. I bobbed up +pretty quickly. A boat was sneaking out from the beach, apparently with +the plan of cutting us off from our lugger, which was anchored some +distance off, with only a couple of boys on board. You bet, we got up +steam pretty quickly. When we got on board we reached for our rifles, +and then felt safe. + +"The boat was then making straight for us, and it appeared to be crowded +with darkies. We had been off the island for four days, and had not seen +the sight of a native. I knew there were plenty, and the fact that they +had kept away had made me a bit suspicious. As the boat came along I +was sure they meant mischief, and was determined, no matter how friendly +they wanted to be, not to let one of the beggars on deck. + +"About half a mile away we saw one of them, who appeared to be a bit +lighter in colour than the rest, stand up in the bow and wave a kind +of message. He kept one arm going like a semaphore. Then we saw that +he carried under the other arm a basket--a peace-offering of yams and +fruit, no doubt. He had only a shirt on, and still he kept his right +arm working. When he got within hailing distance, the man in the bows +shouted my name. He was a brawny chap. I thought to myself that if it +came to a row I would pot him first, for he was ringleader. + +"All the rest were naked. His scanty uniform marked him out. Probably +he got that shirt from the owner of the sunken lugger. I wetted my lips +with my tongue as I thought it might be my duty to wipe him out. Then my +name was shouted out again, and, recognising the voice, I discovered the +man in the shirt to be a well-known character who goes under the name of +----. + +"I've got something nice for you, captain! Don't look so nasty with that +rifle to an old friend!' + +"Still keeping our rifles ready, we let the boat come alongside and the +tinted man passed up the basket, It was native-made, and all the top was +covered with green leaves. Thinking of fresh yams and fruit, I pulled +off the leaves, and there--poof!--the head of a man-an old man who must +have died a violent death about two days before. + +"The man in the shirt laughed loud and long at the disgust in my face, +and, coming on board, soon told of the tragedy of which the awful head +was a symbol of retaliation. + +"The owner of the sunken lugger had fitted her out with unusual care. +His crew consisted of natives of the island off which we were lying. As +a special inducement to one of the boys, whose name was Massai, he had +promised a rifle, but designedly withheld the gift until towards the end +of the term of agreement. Massai had persistently begged for the rifle, +and it having become necessary for the Boss' to take a trip to the port, +he had definitely, promised to bring it with him. Again he designedly +forgot. Massai became morose. Things went on calmly enough until one +day, when the mate was below, the 'Boss' was suddenly thrown overboard. +As he floundered on the surface one of the boys struck at him with a +tomahawk, and then he must have realised that his life was at stake. + +"Diving until well clear of the boat, he swam off to the lugger, about +a quarter of a mile away. As his master came up, Massai leaned over the +side, his master's rifle in his hand. + +"'Don't shoot me, Massai,' he shouted. 'I give you good rifle belonga +yourself.' + +"Massai shouted back, 'Me catch 'em plenty riple! You no good!' and +fired. The bullet splashed over the man's head. The next struck him fair +in the forehead, and he sank. + +"In the meantime Massai's confederates were sporting with the diver, +hauling him up to the surface, pumping sufficient air to keep him alive, +shutting it off until he must have been nearly suffocated, reviving him +with fresh supplies, and with joy prolonging life until the fun of the +thing ceased; then they had cut the pipe so that he might drown. + +"The lugger having been ransacked, she was fired, and she had sunk at +her anchorage. + +"A few days after the man with the shirt arrived at the island, and +since these simple children of Nature cannot keep their doings to +themselves, he very soon was made a confidant, learning the whole +details of the tragedy by pidgin English and expressive pantomime, and +obtaining as proof the coat of the reckless man who had made a promise +to Massai which, possibly, he had never intended to fulfil. The plot of +the revenge and murder had been hatched out ashore at the instigation of +Massai's mother. + +"Fortified with full information, he sailed away to a neighbouring port, +where he exhibited the coat of the murdered 'Boss.' Being impressed, the +official representing the majesty of the law gave some vague commission +to the man, who now wears other clothes than a shirt, and he sailed away +for ports unknown. + +"Interpreting his commission to make further inquiries very broadly, +he appeared off the island, and received a cordial welcome, for he was +'Hail fellow well met' with the inhabitants of many a remote isle. He +made himself very friendly, and the frank natives rather gloried than +otherwise in the recitation of evidence which condemned them. + +"Then he made plans for unauthorised punishment. Having disarmed +suspicion--just as the boat's crew had done in the case of his +friend--he waited, and one dark night surrounded the village with a +well-armed, hostile force. These Papuan villages are fortified in a +certain sense. Some of the exits are set with traps and spring spears, +and none but those in the secret dares venture along a track when the +village has been made secure for the night. + +"The man with the shirt posted his forces so that the exits were +commanded, and waited for dawn, his instructions being that no +demonstration was to be made until he gave the signal. Before the +designed time a shot was fired, and the conscience-stricken community +fled, all save one old man and infant, who met their fate. + +"The village was spoiled and fired, and thus retributive justice done +to those who had wantonly murdered two white men and destroyed their +property. + +"Once again," said the captain, "my luck was out. Goodness knows! There +might have been a big pearl in that patch. We didn't wait to find it!" + + + + +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE + + + +"Surely, then, it interests us to know the lot of other animal +creatures. However far below us, they are still the sole created things +which share with us the capability of pleasure and the susceptibility to +pain."--HUXLEY. + + +It may be edifying to confess a particular interest in man's first +enemy-not such interest as the man of science displays when he seeks to +add to the knowledge of the world, but a kind of social concern. None +of us is likely to forget that on the authority of Holy Writ the serpent +became familiar with mankind very shortly after his appearance on earth, +and whispered injurious secrets into guileless ears. Ever since the +scene in the Garden of Eden, war between man and the serpent has +prevailed, and now, if we are to credit the sayings of the wise, the end +of all reptiles, if not actually in view, cannot be long postponed. +Is it not mete, therefore, to take fair opportunity of studying the +characteristics and qualities of an animal, closely associated with +us by fable and in fact, which is doomed to extinction by the ruthless +strides of civilisation, which is regarded by some as cleanly and +decent, and by others as repulsive and direful? Plain, unromantic, +unsensational statements make for the acquirement of knowledge +illustrative of the habits and faculties of the creature against +which the hand of the average man is raised with a mixture of wrath, +vengeance, and fear. + +By study and observation one may come to understand the higher +principles of Nature, and so learn how to withstand influences inimical +to his interests without upsetting laws which tend to his welfare. + +Occasionally quite casual happenings and bare and slight matters of fact +show that those who study natural history first-hand acquire information +not to be obtained from authoritative works. Let one instance concerning +the varied diet of the death adder be quoted, since it confounds the +experience of one of the most learned men in Australia on the subject. +On the beach just at high-water mark, beneath an overhanging shrub, +several birds sounded an alarm, notifying by peculiar and persistent +screeching the presence of an enemy. After a few minutes' search, for +the strained attitudes of the birds indicated the direction, a death +adder was seen gliding among thickly strewn brown leaves with a limp +bird between its jaws. It was quickly killed, and then the bird, a dusky +honey-cater, was seen to be dead. Dusky honey-eaters generally spend +their days among the topmost sprays of flowering trees and shrubs, while +death adders habitually seek the seclusion of the shadiest places on the +surface of the soil. In this case the adder was small, so small that it +seemed to be a vain if not impossible feat for it to swallow the bird. + +Hitherto the food of the adder had been deemed to be frogs, lizards, +beetles, and such game of the ground. Was it curiosity which brought +the sun-loving bird within reach of the shade-loving snake? Upon the +incident being referred to Mr. Dudley Le Souef, who has quite an uneasy +familiarity with Australian snakes, dating from the days of ardent +youth, when he was wont to carry some species about with him in his +pockets, that authority wrote: "I did not know that death adders ever +killed birds; I did not think they were active enough, their usual +prey being frogs, lizards, etc. The honey-eater must have been taken +unawares." + +Though scientifically regarded as "the most dangerous and probably the +most deadly" of Australian snakes, the death adder has to its credit +many everyday proofs to the contrary: so many, indeed, that some are +inclined to class it as comparatively harmless, the reasons for such +opinion being--(1) the small size of the creature, reducing the risks +of its being interfered with inadvertently; (2) its amiability; (3) the +fact that unless the sensitive membrane at the end of the tail, to which +the curved spine is the culminating-point, is trodden on or otherwise +insulted, the chances are that there will be, no active resentment. +While adopting all precautions, accepting no risks, and being very eager +to reduce the number by all and every possible means, it is well to +avoid overexcitement; for though the reptilian age is passing away, +those who live in the bush are too often reminded that snakes are still +numerous, and some of them decidedly vicious. + +To disappoint the snake and at the same time to discredit its +reputation, calmness on the part of the individual who may happen to be +bitten is counselled. He should behave as a neighbour who one dark night +stepped off his verandah barefooted on to nearly cleared land. As he +strode along the scarcely distinguishable track, he trod on something +other than a half-burnt stick. Almost instantaneously the Scripture was +fulfilled--the serpent had bruised the man's heel. Now, this man has +been in many strange, not to say fear-provoking, situations, and has +listened to more than one close call without spoiling the occasion by +anticipatory and hideous outcry. He does not smoke or drink whisky or +give way to any nerve-affecting habit. He lives within hearing of the +soothing lullaby of the sea. When his heel was gripped he did not +jump or offend the air with unmanly plaint and ineffectual clamour, +or otherwise fluster his heart with pernicious apprehension. With calm +deliberation he put his hand into his pocket and drew forth--no! not a +razor-edged knife, with which to slash the region of the punctures, but +a box of matches, so that the scene might temporarily be surveyed. He +saw, not the expected death adder, not a deadly copper head, not the +venomous black which flattens and distends the neck like a cobra when +its passions are roused, not the great red pugnacious beast which has +been known to kill off-hand a big horse, but a shame-faced carpet snake, +which, though innocent and inoffensive, will, like the worm, turn if +rudely trodden on. The snake was quite ready to apologise for impulsive +and graceless misbehaviour; but it seemed fascinated by the sudden +light--how little of brightness bewilders such lovers of darkness--and +maintained its repentant attitude until the sacred law was finally +vindicated by the fatal bruising of its head. + +Many years ago a locality a few miles away suffered from a raid by bush +rats, which congregated in great numbers. Similar plagues have often +been recorded from the western downs; but the coastal visitation was +singular, for it was associated with death adders, which seemed to be on +good terms with the rats. One of the settlers was growing sweet-potatoes +on a fairly large scale for pig food, the plough being used for the +harvesting of the crop. Seldom was a furrow run for the full length of +the field without turning up both adders and rats. Suddenly the rats +migrated, and then the death adders disappeared, few of either +being seen for a decade, when the association between them was again +sensationally illustrated. The daughter of a settler rose at dawn, and +with others ran off to the vegetable garden for salads for breakfast. +While she was looking for a seemly cucumber, a rat was disturbed, and +almost immediately after she was bitten by a death adder which had lain +inert at the very spot whence the rat had fled. The child recovered, +while the deceptive snake, which will not submit to have its tail +saluted even by the airiest of treads, was killed. Not only have we here +another proof of the non-fatal character of the bite of an adder, but a +singular instance of association between an adder and a rat. Why and for +what purpose does this apparent amicability exist? + +Sometimes mankind is startled by the unexpected appearance of a snake. +Will credit be given to an almost magic disappearance? Those who hearken +to the voices of birds learn to discriminate between the language of +content and happiness and love and that of dismay and terror. A number +of loud and pleasant-noted fasciating honey-eaters suddenly changed +their tune to that indicative of fear. They were, gathered on a +thick-leaved tree on the edge of the jungle in a crude circle, with +heads pointing to a common centre. It was simplicity to conclude that +a snake was present, but not at all easy to see it, for the flustered +birds began to change their manoeuvres directly help was at hand. +Eventually a thin brown snake was seen doubled up and apparently sound +asleep among the branchlets The gun was called for, and two others +hastened to the scene, each of whom distinctly saw the snake. When the +shot was fired, a peephole was made through dense leafage just where the +snake had reposed, but with the report it had 'disappeared. Fragments +of twigs and leaves came to Mother Earth, but even a smart black tracker +failed to find a trace of the snake, though the force of the explosion +must have carried portions out into the open. The point of this artless +narrative is that the black boy formed the firm opinion that that which +he and two others had concluded to be a snake must have been "'Nother +kind. Him no good. Close up 'debil-debil!'" To him a visible snake was +quite commonplace; but one that vanished under the impulse of a charge +of shot represented a mystery which called for caution and hasty +departure, and the boy strode away with the suggestion of hot bricks +below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material only, +returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered off with--was it?--a note +of thankfulness. + +The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it is automatic, regard +for its own comfort and well-being--it cannot be induced to tie itself +into a knot. It is in mind that once in the old country a very long +and very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed and forgot the +primal instinct of the family, and paid for its absent-mindedness +with its life. But the ordinary snake under extraordinary conditions, +whatsoever its length, is most careful to disentangle itself even when +knots are designed for the special purpose of embarrassing it. Though +the head of a snake be battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, +the lithe body will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to disregard the +great law. However tight the corner into which it may squeeze or narrow +the quarters into which it may be driven, and though head and tail may +be close together and in the midst of a complication of coils, and the +twisting and writhing may appear to be without method, yet the snake +emerges a triumph of single purpose. + +A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch specimen, and truth bids +me say that the snake did not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest +of eggs six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited to a +snake, and it being calculated that the meal would suffice for several +days, no particular zeal was displayed in tracing out the thief. +Experience has taught that snakes do not wander very far when good and +nutritious food is to be obtained by intrusion on the cosy quarters of a +pet hen., Three days were permitted to pass, and then in the nest a rat +trap was placed baited with two eggs, the door being secured with +wire. The bait proved to be irresistible and the trap effective. In +the morning the trap was crowded with snake, which had thrust its head +between the wires, swallowed the eggs, and was a prisoner until they +were dissolved by the processes of digestion or the door was unbolted. +The natural process was not complete when the discovery was made, but +the snake had managed to make itself as comfortable as possible in its +temporary habitation. The trap seemed almost suffocatingly full, and +when the occupant thrust its head and more than half its length between +the bars, only to be checked by the hard-hearted eggs, it was thought +that possibly, in its confusion, the snake might entangle itself; but +invariably it retired into the trap without putting itself into any +false position. It was killed, the executioner justly reflecting that a +snake has mental limitations. Nothing could induce it to tie itself into +a knot, and yet, wilfully and with its eyes open, it had entered a trap +from which there was no possibility of escape until in the course of +nature it had digested the bait. + +Is it generally known that a snake does everything with its eyes +open--that it is denied the privilege of closing its eyes? Such is the +indisputable fact. 'But without presuming to trespass on the preserves +of men of science, the belief may be expressed that some species, if +not in possession of a movable eyelid, have some means of suspending the +faculty of sight. Indeed, there is evidence in support of the view that +one species has a membranous eyelid similar to, but slighter than, +that of a bird. It is not to be doubted that another reptile--the green +turtle--is thus endowed, and that the "winking membrane" is found in +many animals at the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye. +This membrane is represented in animals by a rudiment only. In the eyes +of human beings the small reddish patch in the corner corresponds to the +winking membrane--indeed, is the vestige of it. In monkeys, and in most +mammals below them, there is present in this vestige a small piece of +cartilage, and this is found occasionally in man. In white races it is +very rare, occurring, as far as observations have shown, in less than +one per cent. Recent investigations by Dr. Paul Bartels show that in +twenty-five South African natives whom he had examined it occurred +in twelve. Another investigation found it five times in twenty-five +Japanese. It is curious to find that vestige more common in certain +races, as it shows that in this small point they are less advanced than +the white race. + +This quotation from a forgotten source supplies important links in the +chain of evidence in favour of the theory that certain species of snakes +may have the winking muscle, which exists in marine reptiles and +is present in some human beings. Apart from theory, it has been my +good-fortune to see a sleeping snake the eyes of which were obscured +by a greyish film, giving it the appearance of being "wall-eyed." +Being satisfied that it was blind, for it betrayed no uneasiness at a +threatening demonstration, a determination was made to preserve it for +critical examination. As soon as the snake was touched the cloudy veils +were withdrawn, and the eyes flashed with the fire of malignity. It +appeared to be spiteful because it had been caught napping. The specimen +was not preserved, although it was bottled. + +The blacks of this district are more nervous about adders than any +other snake, with the exception of that known to them as the "Wat-tam" +(pronounce the "a" as in cat), and believed to belong to the same genus +as the brown snake. This is a large snake, reddish-brown in colour, +the underside, for about half the length, being bright orange, the +tint gradually subsiding to pale yellow towards the tail. Post-mortem +examination of the first specimen detected on this Island cleared up a +bush tragedy. A nest had been built in a conspicuous spot by a pair +of shrike thrushes, which the blacks, according to locality, know as +"Moorgoody" and "Too-dring." The birds are the sweetest-voiced of all +natives, and become wondrous tame and confiding. After the big spotted +and blotched eggs were hatched, the hen would perch on the side of the +nest within a foot of admirers, accepting compliments with tilted head +and bright and twinkling eyes. One night the brood disappeared, and +desperate things were held in store if ever a snake were found in the +neighbourhood. Two days after, the alert dog gave tongue, his language +demanding urgency and extreme caution. Within twenty yards of the site +of the violated nest he was found "setting" at a big snake, which had +raised the forepart of its body and appeared to be concentrating +its strength and agility on one fatal and perfidious spring. But the +faithful dog was watchful too, and agile, as he crouched fearlessly +across the track of man's first enemy, with its crafty pose and +glittering eyes. The black boys stood afar off, for the "Wat-tam" is +so arrogant and pugnacious that it does not hesitate to attack a man, +invariably with fatal results if great vigilance be not exercised--at +least, such is their belief. Science, however, shows that though the +snake has poison fangs, they are located so far back in the jaws as to +be practically ineffective. Its fierce demeanour is probably, therefore, +assumed for the purposes of intimidation. The gun speedily put the +wicked-looking snake out of action, and a bulge in the body indicated +the site of the last meal--the confiding thrush and her fledgeless +brood. The incident illustrates another favourite theory--viz., that +venomous snakes have a specific, distinctive odour, which warns animals +likely to be attacked of their presence. The dog kills green tree, +ordinary whip snakes, and the black, white-bellied species fond of +reposing in the mounds of scrub hens, without ceremony and with all the +zest and enthusiasm of a good sport; but in the case of venomous species +so far he has not failed to call for help, but if assistance be delayed +he takes the law into his own hands. + + + +Be it far from me to cast doubt on the truth of that which follows. The +record is found in "Memoirs of the Queensland Museum," vol. ii., page +43: "Although the scientific worker is hopelessly handicapped by +the vividly imaginative journalist when snake stories are told, yet +occasionally there are noticed incidents startling enough in their way. +During the cooler months a young and lithe DIEMENIA PSAMMOPHIS, Schleg, +popularly known as a 'whip snake,' usually retired under a piece of bark +placed in its case, and it was only to be tempted out on warm and sunny +days. On one occasion a small skink lizard was introduced, and the snake +commenced a lively chase. The lizard ran under the bark, and on reaching +the other side scampered back over the top, closely pursued by the +snake. Again the lizard entered the bark tunnel, through which the tail +of the snake was rapidly disappearing, making a spurt to keep up with +the main body. The snake darted for the lizard, missed it, and then +seized its own retreating tail about two inches from the tip. With +characteristic pertinacity it held on, and apparently the classic +episode of a snake swallowing itself was to be attempted. It was not +until the snake was taken, out of the case and forcibly handled that +it let go, there being apparently no distinction to the ophidian palate +between its own flesh and that of its favourite lizard." The only +comment that an unversed student of Nature may presume to make on this +incident is that, possibly, the snake retained its tail because it +could not do otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some snakes so +constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied? The interests +alike of science and the speculative world demanded that in the +circumstances Nature should not have been balked. Why deprive the +serpent of having its own blundering way with its own tail? + +There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by the conflicts which +rage continuously between living things lower in the scale of life +than himself; but the common slaughter is at times so cruel and so +inexplicable that it is not given the average intellect to discover good +and sufficient cause, though he may observe the more obvious habits and +appetites of frogs and snakes. The former oft implore aid against the +attacks of green tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of +sleeping in hollow logs, and since one does not understand from the +beseeching tones of the frog whether it is being molested by the +universal enemy or not, he often hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts +down to the scene, to find, instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps +more useful in the harmony of Nature than a frog, and certainly more +endearing, since it possesses the habit of silence. Unless the frog +is past recovery it has become a practice to scare the lizard, and to +suggest to the frog the sanctuary of another hollow. + +But frogs are not always considerate of other and gayer creatures. A +friend who possessed a pet canary noticed that one morning in the cage +of his pet there sat a panting frog, blinking in the sunlight. Thinking +that the intruder had entered the cage to assuage his thirst, he did not +eject it. It was the habit of the canary to hail the smiling morn with +cheerful carol. In a few minutes unaccustomed silence prevailed, and +then it was noticed that the frog was distended to a degree which must +have caused it infinite satisfaction, while the canary had vanished. The +conclusion was obvious and damning. Being accustomed to post mortems, my +friend settled the point forthwith, the warm canary being revealed, with +but slightly disarrayed feathers. + +A further illustration of the capacious and criminal appetite of the +frog may be quoted. The wet season had been generous and prolonged, the +crop of frogs prolific. The verge of a lagoon was crowded with active +and lusty creatures, belonging, if colour was to be accepted as +evidence, to different species, in fairly equal numbers. A casual glance +inspired the thought that the occasion was nothing more than a vast +assembly of greys and greens enjoying the pastime which boys imitate. +All round were leaping frogs engaged in contests--greys against +greens. Suspecting no evil intent, it was interesting thus to note the +derivation of the game we have all played in sportful youth; but closer +inspection proved that, instead of a friendly tournament on the grand +scale, the rival frogs were indulging in shocking cannibalism. A grey +frog would approach a green, when each would appear to become fascinated +by the appearance of the other. Thus would they squat for several +minutes, contemplating each other's proportions and perfections. Then +both would leap high with mouths agape, and that which timed the feat to +the best advantage, or had the widest gape, seized the less fortunate, +and slowly and with much straining and little apparent joy swallowed it. +Often the rivals would not meet in mid air, and the lapse provided the +delusion of innocent play. There were hundreds of examples of absorption +of the least fit by the fittest to survive, and the chronicling of the +cannibal feast would be incomplete if a singular detail were unrelated. +The participators seemed of like size. Complexion alone varied and +foppish discrimination was exercised, for since dog does not in a +general way eat dog, greys did not eat greys or greens greens. With +unswerving decision, greys swallowed greens and greens greys, and +extreme corpulency was the inevitable result. Does this not smack of +the snake story? It certainly does, but it has the virtue of being +unexaggerated, and why shrink from the telling of the plain truth? + +An unwitnessed tragedy may be told in a very few words. About +twenty-five feet above high-water mark was the shaft of a white +sand-crab. The site was not common, for the crabs are in the habit of +burrowing well within the range of the tide. For two or three +days--for the spot was at the back of the boat-shed and under daily +observation--the alert creature was oft disturbed by my coming and +going. One morning it remained motionless on the verge of its retreat. +It seemed to be on guard, and as a companionable feeling had been +aroused, I was careful as I passed not to unduly affright it. The +statuesque position being abnormally retained, I stooped down, to find +the crab dead, with the froth still on the complicated lips, while +beside it was a huge wolf spider, "tremendous still in death," with head +crushed to pulp. One may theorise that the spider invaded the crab's +burrow and was promptly evicted; a fight took place for possession of +the retreat, resulting in untoned tragedy. Venom and ponderous weapon +each had done its work. Each participant had been victorious, each a +victim. + +A still more singular bush conflict was witnessed by a friend. He heard, +and not without concern, the pleading of a frog from the assaults of +an enemy, but having far too many of them about the premises decided on +noninterference, thinking that the hungry snake would soon silence +the clamour. But the cries becoming shriller and more piteous, he +investigated, finding among the leaves of a creeper on the verandah a +large green Mantis--religiosa, too--voraciously making a meal off the +hind-leg of a little green frog, which it grasped firmly. Almost the +whole of the flesh of the limb had been eaten, and the observer was +of opinion from the rapacity of the insect that there would have been +little left of the screaming frog if he had not interfered. + + + + +THE BUSH TRACK + + + +"They trade with Nature and the earth--a trade by which all that breathe +upon the earth live."--RALEIGH. + + +It has no beginning. It ends--who shall say where Every high tide +smooths away the footprints of those who use it now, just as it did the +erratic tramplings of the host of the past. In those free, unregulated +days piccaninnies sprawled and scampered hard, glistening beach; young +men and girls there; men lazed and fought on its convenient spaces; +women wandered on the serious business of food-getting. The camps stood +a pace or two above high-water mark in the meagre shelter of sighing +casuarinas, and were often changed, for there were six miles of gently +curving, ripple-embroidered shore on which to rest. To this day most of +the traffic is regulated by the tide. High water drives the wayfarer +to the loose, impeding sand, over which the great convolvulus sends its +tireless tentacles, to be thrown back twisted and burnt by salt surges. + +The ebb discovers a broad space, firm and wellnigh unimpresslonable. The +barefooted traveller may walk for miles and be trackless, so tough and +elastic the moist sand. It is not an officious thoroughfare, made formal +and precise by coarse hands working to plans correct to a hair, but +subject to economic deviations of some soulless contractor. It was not +laid with the foundation of the earth, and compacted by heat and stress. +It is still in the making, and sand, coral, and shell-grit ground to +pollen-like fineness and certain chemicals from the reef outside +are among its component parts. One other element invokes perpetual +thanksgiving--the flaked mica, which glistens delusively with hues of +silver and gold, and gives to the tide-swept track that singular pliancy +which resists the stamp of passing generations. + +Midway between high and low water is a zone sensible to the airiest +tread, being fitted for such temporary effect by a mechanical operation. +Millions of the smallest of crabs, sand-tinted, delicate, apprehensive +and alert, possess this area, working out their destiny by digging +circular shafts. Obedient agents in the execution of the imperative +ordinances of Nature, they have the quality of compacting the almost +fluid spoil and carrying it to the surface in pellets complementary to +the size of the individual, and such pellets retain their rotundity. +They are scattered about, not without design, as may be seen if the +industrious workers are closely observed, and in such profusion that the +feet of the user of a crab-infested zone must press them flat. Then +it is that the track becomes visible as far as the eyes reach. But +the incoming wavelets, babbling in unison, dissolve the myriads of +laboriously lifted pellets, effacing the record of the passing of man. +As the tides ebb, the crabs begin their work again, preparing for the +next-coming wayfarer. There is something almost incomprehensively great +in the tireless activities of the nervous crabs, for not only do they +carry compacted sand from their burrows, but they seem to spend odd +moments in forming similar globes from material gathered from the +surface. Digging, furrowing the surface in stellate patterns, moulding +pellets which to the tenderest ripple are but the plaything of a moment, +so are the lives of the shy crustaceans spent. What may be the motive +for the perpetual labour, as useless, apparently, as the rolling of +Sisyphus's stone? For part of the year the beach is the resort of the +red-necked sandpiper, which has an enormous appetite for the small, live +things of the sea's margin. To bewilder the birds and so reduce the risk +to life, Nature imposes the task upon the crabs of forming replicas of +themselves not readily distinguishable in size and tint, which +represent labour unconsciously expended as life insurance, and serve the +subsidiary purpose of detecting the passing of man. + +What material has been left by the wayside for the history, not to be +altogether despised because of its rusticity, of the unstable ways of +one of the ancient peoples of the world, now few in numbers, forgetful +of the past, estranged from the customs of their fathers, and dying +without mourners and without records? Search the sites of camps the +track passes, and there is naught to tell of the manner of those who +recently occupied them save a tomahawk or a rare domestic implement of +stone, and such stones do not preach thrilling but distinctive sermons. +Why hurry along this pleasant way? Is not the one domestic appliance of +the long-deserted camps worthy of passing notice? There it rests, half +buried in the sand--a worn stone, with two others complementary to it +to be had for the searching. It is meet that the most primitive of mills +should be examined, and that one of the several and slow processes +by which a poisonous, repugnant, and intractable nut was wont to be +converted into food should be cited to the credit of the economic +forethought of the most thriftless of people. + +On adjacent flats and slopes grow survivals from one of the most ancient +of all plants--a Cycad, that botanical paradox, combining some of the +characteristics of the lie palm and of the pine with the appearance of a +tree-fern, while being of distinctive order, which flourished during +the age when the Iguanodon and the Polacanthus and other monstrous and +ungainly reptiles roamed the land. + +Let us rest awhile reviewing the earlier operations by which its nuts +were rendered innocuous, and while the ghosts of the past make and bake +their bread. + +The fresh nuts of the plant (CYCAS MEDIA) known as Kim-alo, were +roasted, and while hot bruised between two stones, the upper (Ookara) a +sphere flattened at the poles into which the use of ages wore thumb +and finger indentations, the nether (Diban) flat with a saucerlike +depression. Fragments of the husks were carefully eliminated. The coarse +meal was put into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight +fall, from the lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native +ginger, conducted a gentle stream. Two days were sufficient to leach the +poisonous principle; but if the initial process of roasting the nuts +was omitted--as in some districts--the meal was submitted to the +purification of water for as long as two months, when it would be +tasteless. It was then ground on the nether stone by the Moo-ki +(almost a perfect sphere), used with a rotary action, until reduced to +flour-like fineness, when it was made into flat or sausage-shaped cakes, +wrapped in green leaves and baked. The intractability of the Cycad +is such that if cattle eat the leaves they die or become permanently +afflicted with a disease of the nature of rickets. To the human palate +the fresh nuts-are inflammatory, and are said to cause intense pain +ending with death. That the blacks discovered the means of converting +such a substance into desirable food proves that they were often +enterprisingly, daringly hungry. + +Let us push on, there is far to go. Chance rather than principle, it +has been said, turned the paths of old England into roads. Here may +be studied the germ of the primal path worn by the tread of the least +reflective and least mobile of human beings, the causes of its erratic +course, and the transitions by which, with amendments due to the +irrefutable facts of topography, it becomes formal and authoritative--a +highway for the usurping race. + +Leaving the shore, one branch of the track crosses the high-water fold, +follows the bend of a mangrove creek, through which it Makes a muddy +ford, and is firmly impressed through forest country where every tree is +orchid-encumbered, and where the eager soil produces its own varieties. +It wriggles up and along a ridge, with the glaucous spathes of grass +trees standing like spears on each hand, and where wattle and tough +she-oaks grow leanly out of hard soil, thickly strewn with buckshot +gravel, rust-coloured. + +Soon it descends into a low valley and through a belt of fan-palms +and jungle bordering an ever-flowering stream the banks of which are +knee-deep in fat, rich loam. Huge tea-trees stand in the water, where +the fibrous roots are matted like peat. + +Out of the moist coolness the track abruptly ascends to a pleasant +forest, and thence drops almost imperceptibly to tea-tree flats +intersected by Pandanus creeks, which bulge here and there into +sedge-margined lagoons. In this "devil-devil" country it is barely the +width of the foot, and it wanders sinuously like the trail of a lazy +snake. Sometimes it is barely more discernible than such a trail, and +again in the soft places it broadens and deepens, for the man with boots +has taken the place of the original soft-footed traveller, and horses +and cattle are ever fond of the short-cuts which their owners design. + +Here a distinct branch is made towards a river, across which Nature, the +first of bridge-builders, many a generation ago afforded an easy, dry +passage by throwing down a huge tree. It spans from bank to bank, and +the wood is worn to slippery smoothness by the passing of shoeless feet. +Thence it leads through forest and jungle and mangrove belts to another +river, and away south. + +The western branch keeps to forest and jungle, following, generally, +the ridges, for in the wet season the grass lands are flooded, when the +track is but a silvery grey ribbon on a carpet of green. With careless +indecision it trends west, with here an angle and there a curve, dipping +and twisting, crossing gullies and creeping up slopes. The men whose +feet made it in ancient days knew all the landmarks. Mostly it keeps to +sound ground, albeit its wanderings perpetuate wayward impulses. + +Imagination may follow the blacks of bygone days as they swung past, +a fallen tree; where sportful youths wandered a few yards to throw +grass-tree spears at white-ants' nests on bloodwood-trees; where +they turned aside for a drink from the palm creek. Possibly the track +deviated to follow the run of a scrub turkey, or because the boys knew +of a scrub hen's mound, where the rich pink eggs were raked out by the +gins. It was gin's work to overhaul the mounds; the boys did not like +to do the digging with their hands, for often little snakes bedded +themselves in the warm compost--snakes, though they bite not to the +death, make one's hands big and sore. Why incur any risk when there was +a well-disciplined woman to take it? There was a turn off (which was +officially followed) leading to a huge tree where in the hollow bees had +hived; and another straggled up the creek to the pool where eels secrete +themselves in the moist, decaying leaves. + +Six or seven miles from the beach, where the scarcely discernible +crabs, with persistency as eternal as the sea, are strewing the way with +millions of tell-tale pellets, the track, skirting swamps, following +the bends of a river, passing through forest and jungle, is lost in +vagueness and indecision. + +When it was ordained that roads should be defined in the interests +of settlers, it was natural that the original track as it then +existed--broadened and amended and bridged by the good bushmen who had +used it for practical purposes--should be followed. On the plan the +formal road runs a strangely erratic course, for in many places it is +faithful to the footpad. Some of the zigzags of the long past, some of +its elbows and angles, its stringent lines and curves, have been copied +and confirmed, for the bush track is one of the fundamental things, +bearing the stamp of Nature, and no more to be obliterated by the +trivialities of art than is the sand of the shore and the illimitable +crabs. + + + + +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN + + + +"Care, that troubles all the world, was forgotten in his +composition."--CHARLES LAMB. + + +If you chance to visit the Chief Protector of Aborigines on board +his yacht the MELBIDIR, one of the first to greet you, be you an old +acquaintance or a stranger, may be "Jimmy," the cook. + +He is a little brown man who wears blue shoes, which are also socks, and +a perpetual smile. The shoes, which are of some soft material, have +a separate compartment for the great-toe, and hook down the heel. The +Chief Protector has a similar pair of combination shoes--a gift from +"Jimmy"--and is given to smiling; but he does not pretend to compete +with his cook in that quality. "Jimmy's" smile is almost a fixture. It +is set, yet not professional. It is the smile of a happy man, and of one +who is a diplomat as well as a ship's cook. His customary costume is of +holland. When on duty he wears an exaggerated bib, and "Jimmy" without +his bib would be as little conceivable as "Jimmy" without his smile. He +may discard it when he puts on his sky-blue pyjamas for the night, but +that he smiles in his sleep is sure. The honourable wrinkles on his +mahogany-hued face forbid him to relax the appearance of unceasing +good-humour, and who would suggest that his serenity is artificial? + +When he takes a hand with the whole of the ship's company to get up sail +or hoist the dinghy on board, he whistles as well as smiles, and then +the black boys laugh, and life on the trim ship is more buoyant than +ever. He goes down into the doll's-house galley backwards, smiling. Now, +it is no smiling matter to be jambed up against a hot stove on a hot +day when the seas run high and the yacht digs her crescent nose into the +blue and washes her own decks with Neptune's suds. But "Jimmy" will bob +up again in due season with a plate of hot cakes or, perhaps, even cool +cakes--and the smile. He has been smiling to the oven, which is inclined +to gymnastics, only it is restrained by effectual bolts. "Jimmy" is a +gymnast, and his free great-toes enable him to cook under circumstances +and conditions which others not so equipped would profane. + +Smiles are his antidote for all injurious mental ferments, and how many +diseases of the mind are there which are not to be alleviated by such +apt physic? + +It has been said that "Jimmy" is a diplomat. He certainly is. The +MELBIDIR had run within hailing distance of another yacht, the owner and +commander of which is an old friend of the Protector and "Jimmy." When +we did hail, a silvery head and a sunburnt pair of shoulders popped +up from below, and with a comprehensive wave of sunburnt arms--the red +type--vanished. Soon the same head and the same shoulders, decently +but loosely clad in blue and followed by the rest of the hearty body, +emerged, and in a few minutes friends were gripping each other's hands +and talking furiously about a particular island, pilots, pearls, and +Torres Straits "Jimmy" passed, and the florid man in blue said, nudging +his friend, "I seem to know that boy." + +"Of course you do," replied the Protector; "that's 'Jimmy' from T. I." + +When "Jimmy" next appeared he had a jug of water in his hand and a +bigger smile than ever. + +"Well, 'Jimmy,' you haven't forgotten me?" suggested the big man in +blue. + +"No. You capitain! My word, you young fellow now!" + +And we all laughed, for though the years had been tender to the man in +blue, still, they had come and gone by the decade since the previous +meeting. "Jimmy's" smiles became vocal. Professional diplomats use +the great gift of speech, it is said, to delude the enemies of their +country. "Jimmy's" adroit compliment was the more delicate in that it +was not official and he cannot possess an enemy. + +When he puckers his lips to whistle, "Jimmy's" smiles are singularly +infectious. The Protector's yacht is not a missionary, but merely, as +her name signifies, a messenger; but the Protector does not forbid the +hymnal. "Jimmy" has one, and as he studies the pious poems, for he reads +fluently, whistles appropriately. While we lolled on deck, familiar +tunes wooed my wandering thoughts. "Jesu, Lover of my Soul," came line +after line, verse after verse, precisely, though the tone was soft. +Was the black boy thus accompanying his work at the pump? No; for the +strokes were not in time, and the boy occasionally chatted with his +chum. I asked, and was told that "'Jimmy' mak'm good fellow corroboree." +Presently he came up--smiling, and with the last notes of "Abide with +Me" on his lips. Then I questioned him, and for a space we discussed our +favourite hymns and hummed them, or rather I did, for "Jimmy" was too +shy to do more than nod in time before a stranger. He confided, almost +in a whisper, that when he was alone he learned the words of the hymns, +and afterwards picked up the tunes. Is it not pretty to think of the +wrinkled Japanese in bunk beside the hot and clamorous engine conning +hymnal--a trifle blotched with grease here and there--and whistling +softly those endearing tunes on which so many of us were brought up? + +Long may "Jimmy" cook and wear blue shoes a modestly supplicate "For +those in Peril on the Sea"! That he may smile to the last would be a +superfluous prayer. He cannot do else. + + + + +UP AND AWAY + + + +"Man is the merriest species of creation; all above and below him are +serious."--ADDISON. + + +"Let's up and away, Bill," said Breezy Jim, as he started to his feet. +"I'm dog tired of this game. We're just working for tucker for the boys +and nothing--not even a smoke--for ourselves." + +"Don't be in such a flurry. We might drop on a patch yet. I vote we stay +for another week. The anchorage is all right, and the season's +young. The little bit of fish we've got ain't too stinking. It'll pay +expenses." Placid and patient, the half-caste Solomon Islander, Billy +Boolah, kept cheek on his impetuous partner, whose restless disposition +forbade him to continue long in one stay unless circumstances were +essentially favourable. + +Certainly fish were not too plentiful, but the aboriginal crew worked +well, and were lighthearted almost to a fault. They had had no credit +to pledge for the season's stores. They had merely to pick up inert and +unresisting bche-de-mer from among the coral five fathoms down, where +the deceptive sea looked no more than ten feet deep under the squalid +flatties; to smoke and jabber in idle moments; to eat and to sleep, and +to listen to Mammerroo's version of the opening phrases of "The Last +Rose of Summer" on a mouth-organ worn with inveterate usage to the bold +brass. The tune was not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was +ever more in earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, unwritten air +than the black boy who wore little else than his own unwashed complexion +and a strip of red Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with +all the fervour of his simple soul, and though it said him nay, still +did he hope and woo. Out of his scanty earnings he bought mouth-organs +by the dozen, for he believed that owing to some defect on the part +of such instruments the tune was impossible save to one. Would he ever +obtain that prize? The organ which could play that tune as he had +once heard it when his boss took him to a concert at Cairns had to +be discovered, and to earn money to buy it Mammerroo shipped on these +detestable bche-de-mer cruises. In the meantime he would play with all +his energies and with endless repetition the halting, nerve-disturbing +notes he knew to be incorrect. + +"That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten mouth-organs at Cooktown, and +he hasn't got the one that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like 'The +Last Rose of Summer'? Why, you can hear those fish of yours humming! +What with hardly any fish, the stink of the whole boat, and that +maddening mouth-organ, I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and +marry a mermaid. Let's chuck it." + +"It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man when he gets nasty +temper he gets bad breath. That tune it's little bit close up. He can +play right up to the 'left blooming alone' sometimes." + +"He's taken four months to get up to the 'left blooming alone'! At that +rate it will be years before he gets to the finish. I'll be mad if he +stays on this hooker another month. I'll chuck the three of them--organ, +boy, and tune--overboard." + +"If you make yourself a fool like that, no more work from that boy. +Don't be a fool and spoil this game. We're out till November. Let's make +the best of it." + +It was not clean work. The reek of the fish-raw, cooked, smoked, and +drying in the sun-saturated everything, even the damper. The brown, +shrivelled things were scattered in orderly profusion wherever the +sun could catch them to top them off prior to bagging. The bitter, +eye-searing smoke from the red mangrove fire in the hold, where the +meagre catch of yesterday was lying on a couple of trays, stung the +nostrils. The odour was as interminable as the half-accomplished tune, +and Breezy Bill writhed. He was not new to the game, but bad luck had +been the portion of the ship from the start, and small things irritated +him, rasping his far from sensitive soul. + +"I think you are going to catch fever, Jim. That's what's the matter +with you. At the mission I used to read about that bird you call the +brain-fever bird. It just keeps on whistling the same old thing, and +white men go mad. That 'Last Rose of Summer,' it's got hold of you. +Don't be a fool! It's only a good tune half done. It won't kill +anybody--at any rate, a tough old shell-back like you!" + +"Oh, bother! Stinks and rotten 'Last Rose of Summer' are driving me mad. +I could stand lots of both if we were doing well. They might be forty +overproof and played by forty bands, and every darned piccolo of them +out of tune, if only we were making money. Come, let's up stick and +away. We can't do worse and we might do better on that bit of 'reef +Mammerroo talks about. Here, Mammerroo, stop that blasted corroboree! +Come and tell us where that little fella reef sit down." + +Mammerroo shuffled down to the hatchway covering and traced a chart of +the locality with a grimy forefinger. + +"That fella reef sit down 'nother side Red Hill alongside mainlan'. No +deep water. Plenty mangrove--my word full up pigeon. Reef him little +fella. Full up tit fish, calla-calla, mainlan' black. Fill'um up boat. +Take'm alonga Thors'dilan'. Come back. Fill'm up one time more. Too +much. Full up." + +"The same old yarn. I've been all over that ground. There's no reef +there, and if there had been it would have been found and skinned years +ago," said dogmatic Billy, with a sneer. + +"I see," said Jim; "the season's over as far as you are concerned. You +can go where you like. I'm sick of it now." + +TROPIC DAYS + +The next morning saw the NAUTILUS scudding before a strong south-east +breeze, Jim, true to his name, sulky as a toad-fish. The good wind +harped on the rigging as Mammerroo tirelessly lagged after the ever +evasive tune. Jim heard him not. Billy, in a rage, was inclined to +bundle the boy and his battered instrument overboard, for he saw in the +race north nothing but a waste of time. + +Three days later the NAUTILUS anchored to the north of Red Hill under +the lee of a low mangrove island uproarious with nutmeg pigeons. + +All hands turned out to prospect, with Mammerroo as pilot. He was not +long in locating the reef--a forgotten and neglected patch that teemed +with fish. Bche-de-mer lay in shallow water, thick and big, by +the ton.. The reef, with its clear sandy patches, seemed to be the +gathering-ground, the metropolis, the parliament of the curious creature +which makes feeble eddies with its distended gills, moves with infinite +and mysterious deliberation, and which, though it may be two feet long +and three inches thick, can pass through a half-inch space, constricting +its bulging body during the progress. + +The mangroves of the islet provided the best of fuels for the +preservative smoke. The fortnightly steamer passed not so very far out, +so that it would be possible to send away a couple of tons at a time +without leaving the locality or suspending work for more than an hour or +two. + +With cheerfulness and enthusiastic haste all started to work. No +irritating odour, no vexing tune, was perceptible or audible. Boys +brought in such quantities of fish that the mates could hardly cook and +cure them. Money was being coined, and the making of money begat dreams. +Seamen do not invariably build castles in the air. They devise aerial +fleets. They build bigger, better, and faster boats to sail on bluer +seas into more prosperous and happy havens than belong to this too +substantial world. Each sketches out the boat of his desire, and fits +her with wondrous comfort and conveniences. He glances, approving head +thrown back, up her tall, tapering, well-oiled masts, silver-topped +with golden trucks. He paints her in rival colours, rigs her with silken +sails, names her after a sweetheart, and sails away to lands fairer than +any of the isles of the Pacific--those isles of dreams where in coral +groves the gold-lip is embarrassed with pearls of ineffable lustre and +of excessive size. + +As they day-dreamed they gathered in actual riches, for the lazy fish +were big and almost overlying each other in their crowded spaces. + +Never was there a happier bche-de-mer cruise, for the prospects of good +wages soon and a quick return to accustomed camps overladen with the +spoils of the Cooktown stores made each boy as joyful as a cherub and as +industrious as a scrub hen. Mammerroo saw visions of mouth-organs, +one of which was sure to contain the coveted tune. Little deaf Antony +thought of tobacco unlimited, a silver-mounted pipe, and plenty of +unforbidden rum. Indeed, most of the boys contented themselves with +these ingredients to fill the cup of happiness. But big lazy Johnnie's +fancy went to a small jockey's cap of red and yellow, to be worn with a +football jersey of orange and green in stripes, and blue trousers. This +gorgeous costume was to compensate for present pains and humiliation, +for he had nothing but a scanty and dirty loin-cloth, a necklace of +grass beads, and a chip of lustrous black-lip pearl-shell stuck in one +ear. As they worked they let their fancies range, and thus was the +toil eased and the bags of dried fish safely stowed in the hold. +With twenty-eight bags in prime condition, the NAULITUS sailed out to +intercept the steamer--the LAVA KAVA. The honest stuff was sent off to +the agent at the Island post, and back the stout little vessel went to +the reef. + +"As good as a gold-mine," said Breezy Jim, who every day became +breezier, so that he threatened to develop into a gale of good humour. + +"Better than splitting coco-nuts at the Mission Station," said Billy +Boolah. + +"Do you ever feel like chucking Mammerroo overboard now?" + +Another fortnight saw another big load on the way to the agents. +Mammerroo poured out his soul in fervency over the limping phrases of +his besetting tune, and even Boisterous Jim applauded his persistency. + +"That boy will catch 'The Last Rose of Summer' some day if the +mouth-organ market holds out. I'll give him the best to be got in +Cooktown, and I'm bothered if I don't teach him the tune!" + +Late one afternoon a strange sail came into view. Slowly the big cutter +made for the anchorage, for the wind, busy elsewhere, could spare only a +few idle puffs for her business. + +"That's a dago, I bet," said Bill. "And I know who it is! Why, it's that +humbug, Black Charley!" + +"We'll have to be pretty spry, or he'll have some of this patch. We'll +head him off, and ship what we've got to-morrow." + +A flattie slid over the side of the cutter and plopped into the water, +and Black Charley, with a couple of downcast boys, came alongside the +NAUTILUS. + +"Hullo, Bill! Hullo, Jim! How's yous getting on? Yous drop on good +place. I see yous boys picking up fish like a hen picking up corn." + +"Not much," replied Jim. "It was pretty thick, but it was only a small +patch, and we've pretty well cleaned it up. Sent away half a dozen bags, +mostly mainlan' black. Too close in to be much good." + +"Well, I suppose you'se no objection to me anchoring here for a bit and +'seeing what I can do with the leavings?" said Black Charley. + +"We found the patch, and it's too small for two boats. We'd be better +friends if you cleared off and left it to us," replied Jim. "But if +you're up to dirty tricks stay where you are. We don't want sneaks on +board this craft." + +"It's no good being nasty. All the fish on the Barrier don't belong to +yous. I got a ton and more on board now, and I'm going to run out with +it to-morrow." + +"So are we. Come on board and have a drink" + +It was late in the afternoon when the smoke of the LAVA KAVA showed +south-east. Both boats were waiting as she slowed down in her course, +and while they made fast transhipment began. Then she steamed slowly +ahead. + +"Better send you'se boys back with the NAUTILUS," suggested Black +Charley, "and me and my mate will take yous back when we've had a drink +and a bit to eat. It's a long time since I've had a decent feed, and +Captain Andrews, he won't mind." + +Breezy Jim and Bill agreeing, the NAUTILUS cast off, with instructions +to anchor at the old spot and to work until the bosses returned. + +There was more than one drink as the steamer forged ahead, with Black +Charley's cutter romping and curtseying behind. Then tea-time came, and +the captain asked his guests to remain. Black Charley had had so many +refreshments that he was scarcely fit company for the saloon, so he +offered his excuses and they were accepted with politely veiled relief. + +The mates told of their bad luck down at the Barnards and the Palms; +how they had been driven away by the unmusical black boy in desperate +pursuit of "The Last Rose of Summer," and of their great stroke of luck +on the reef of which he had told. + +"There's plenty more fish on it yet. We'll be troubling you to stop for a +couple of months yet." + +"You won't be making a very early start to-morrow if we jerk your boat +much further," remarked Captain Andrews, with a smile. + +"Come," urged Bill. "We'll hunt up Charley and cut away back." + +The well-contented partners strolled on deck, anticipating a very tipsy +Charley, whom neither steward nor bo'sun could discover. + +The sun had just set. A bewildering blank astern excited a wide and +comprehensive survey, and there in the blue-grey of the south-east Black +Charley's big white-winged cutter was fast fading from view. + +When the partners got back to the reef, via Thursday Island and +Cooktown, a fortnight later, the boys were there, looking somewhat +jaded. The NAUTILUS was as trim as ever, for which the owners were +sufficiently thankful; but cute Black Charley, working both crews day +and night like galley slaves, had mopped up the patch as clean as the +floor of a hospital ward. + +"We've bin had proper, Bill, old fellow. Let's up and away for Cooktown. +Mammerroo moans for that mouth-organ!" + +And the Christian in Billy Boolah smiled as he hummed "Left blooming +Alone." + + + + +"PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING" + + + +"Whence has the man the balm that brightens all?" + +BROWNING. + + +Though not popular, perhaps Tsing Hi was the best known of his +contemporaries on the tableland through which the Palmer River wanders +a hundred miles from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Short, slimly made as a +fourteen-year-old boy, nimble, fussy, plausible, he stood out from +among his countrymen as one having authority, while he posed among +the Europeans as a kind of diplomatic agent, explaining away +misunderstandings, conciliating grievances, and generally comporting +himself as the chartered representative of the horde of yellow new-chums +which invaded the most sensational of all Australian goldfields. He +appeared to have cousins among every fresh shipload from China, as well +as among the hundreds who ferreted in the gullies. There was not a white +man, from the Police Magistrate to Frank Deester's off-sider, with whom +he was not on terms of easy familiarity. + +Had he not often confidentially consulted the Warden when a cousin had +blundered into the hands of the police, embarrassing that flustered +official with torrents of half intelligible speech, the purport of which +generally was to flout the proceedings with evidence of indubitable +alibi? All this he translated to his countrymen as proof of personal +influence with court authorities, and, what was more to the point, made +them pay for it. + +No case in which a Chinaman was concerned as the accused, or plaintiff, +or disinterested witness, but Tsing Hi took, if not an official, an +officious part. Every new-comer from the Flowery Land passed through his +hands. He knew what personal property each possessed, and the value of +the gold of the lucky departing ones. That he prospered exceedingly was +evident. The fact was expressed in his costume. Beyond the court fees +as interpreter, the merry, chirping little fellow had really no lawful, +visible means of support. Yet he glistened and gleamed with emblems of +riches. He was a dandy from the soles of his shiny elastic-side boots +to the crown of his jaunty hard-hitter. Across a yellow waistcoat hung +a very aggressive chain, from which dangled a huge masonic jewel +in gold-and-blue enamel, and the frequently consulted watch--a big, +bold-faced lever--ticked with snappy determination. Tsing Hi had much +more to live up to than the huge watch, the chain, and the emblem; +but they seemed to constitute special and peculiar insignia. They were +always to the front. He was one of the men of his day and scene--to +be admired, feared, and to be conciliated by his fellow-countrymen all +along the traffic-torn road. + +The dust from that tortuous road rose in an earth adhering cloud from +out which honest, clean-souled men came like pain-distorted spectres, +wearing grey tear stained masks with pink-rimmed eyeholes and mud edged +mouths. But the dust was less distressing than that which Tsing Hi threw +in the eyes of bewildered mankind by this burst and gusts of speech. + +In the heyday of his fame and prosperity Tsing Hi disappeared. +His absences were customary, for did he not flit here, there, and +everywhere? The police were not troubled to make inquiries. They knew +where he was, and the reason for his sudden retirement from accustomed +scenes. The next day all Byerstown knew also. + +Tsing Hi, within the rough-hewn walls of the lock-up, was sad and +silent. He had been arrested for gold-stealing. + +It was a clear case. Hundreds of complaints had been made. Dozens of +suspects had been shadowed, until a quick-witted detective intuitively +fastened the responsibility on the court interpreter, who, on the +instant of arrest, had become dumb. + +The ransacking of his hut revealed a magazine of riches, the earthen +floor beneath the bunk being honeycombed with pits containing easily +portable but valuable property. In a jam-tin were several nuggets, among +them the very specimen which Bill Haddon had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +landlady of the Carriers' Arms--a plane of crystal from which rose a +wonderfully true pyramid of gold. It had been admired by hundreds, +and could be sworn to by everyone who had seen it. There was the white +sapphire, with a tell-tale flaw running down the middle, which had been +found in the hopperings at Revolver Point (where fighting Cameron made +his pile) by Sam Kickford, and likewise bestowed on Mrs. Sinclair as a +"curio," and because that bounteous lady had mothered the unlucky Sam +and nursed him through the fever which took him to the very gates of +a filthy hell. Dozens could swear to it, but ever so many more were +capable of bearing witness against Tsing Hi on account of the specimen +which Sam's mate, who had died of the fever, had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +having picked it out from the face of his drive. It was a slug of rough +gold in the shape of a tiny canoe, with an upright splinter of white +quartz at each end. Sam's mate had intended it for a girl down at +Ballarat, and she eventually got it--an emblem of what might have been. +Dozens of fancy slugs were brought to light, in addition to two hundred +ounces of fine gold against which no one could make good claim. + +Another tin held six rings, two of decidedly suspicious metal, the +others genuine and with good stones. A fine pearl was wrapped in a +fragment of silk. A pale green jade amulet, with three sets of. Chinese +toilet contrivances--ear-cleaners, tongue-scrapers, back-scratchers--in +ivory, were in a box with two rolls of gold-embroidered silk illustrated +with weirdly indecent scenes. Three gold watches wrapped in silk +handkerchiefs were stuffed into a ginger-jar. The sordid hut was a mine +of wealth, and the buzzing town became furious. It had accepted Tsing +Hi as a character, but not as a bad one. Being deceived, it swerved +from tolerance to righteous indignation and absolute wrath. The quaking +thief, not too comfortable, for the bloodwood slabs seemed too frail +a partition against the virtuous anger of the crowd, was condemned +forthwith. + +All the identifiable gold and other property was handed over to those +who successfully established claims, and Tsing Hi, limp and dejected, +passed into the custody of Tim Mullane for escort to Cooktown. + +Tim was rough and raw, teeming with good-nature and blessed with a +brogue as thick as the soles of the massive boots made for him by +his cousin Terence at misty Ballinrobe. The once perky Tsing Hi slunk +alongside the far-striding Tim, and Tim looked down at him and was half +ashamed of such a "wee scrap of a Chinkee" as his first prisoner. + +"Come away wid ye, me little fella--come away. Doan give me trouble, and +ye'll fin' me gintle wid ye. Thry to maake a fool af me, and be the Holy +Saints ye'll have occasion to be sorrowful." And he picked Tsing Hi +up with one hand and set him down again with as big a jolt as such a +fag-end of humanity could expect to produce. Tsing Hi remained meek. +The crowd was unanimously against him. Big Tim might jolt him again and +again rather than he would take the risk of venturing among his recent +friends, for tales of his thieving, his acceptance of bribes, and +imposition of levies, were coming in so fast and thick that the crowd +would have relished adding something on its own account. + +Before daylight next morning Tim left with his disconsolate captive, who +wore handcuffs and was manacled to the "D's" in the saddle of the horse +which he bestrode manifestly ill at case. In front of him was a huge +swag containing the unidentifiable gold, three watches, three rings, +silk stuffs, three pairs of elastic-side boots., several pairs of +puce-coloured socks, flash neckties, four hats, three suits of clothes, +and other clothing., All this was his own, to be handed over at the +expiration of the sentence. Tim merely held the inventory. There was +some sort of gratification for ill-doing, for the swag contained a +fortune. He savagely reflected that six months would soon pass. He would +then vanish from "Qee'lan," to enjoy himself for the rest of his days. +The sadness which had stagnated during the past week began to dissolve. +He sought to make a friend of his escort. + +"I tink we cam' harp way to-ni', Tim." + +"Shut up, you implicating tadpole! Wasn't I ordhered to hold convarse +wid me prisoner? Spake win Ye're spoke ter and be civil, Or I'll jolt +the teeth troo your hat!" + +Tim jogged on, and the led horse bearing Tsing Hi jogged after. Tsing Hi +bumped until he was fain to lean heavily on his precious swag, trying to +discover by sensation an' unbruised part of his body on which to jolt. + +"Hi! hi!" he shouted. "Horsey, him no goo'! You l'me walk!" + +Tim whistled and jogged. Tsing Hi jolted and whimpered. The hot miles +wriggled slowly past. Dust lay a foot deep on the track. It was a +windless day. Tsing Hi, gripping with fearful intensity his swag, could +not lift a finger to wipe the stains which stood for many tears and +coursed down his cheeks in tiny rivulets, making puddles on his cramped +hands. He, the dandy, smothered in dust, weeping, sore in every +bone, blistered and scalded, pondered over his petty sins, moaned +continuously, and longed for the hard floor of the gaol. + +He, a disciple of Confucius, found no present relief in the tags of the +master's philosophy that he could call to mind. Tears made him a grim +spectacle. The beautiful yellow waistcoat was indistinguishable beneath +dirt and dust. His carefully tended queue shook out in disordered +loops, and finally dangled, dust-soiled, behind. His trousers worked and +wrinkled up to the knees, chafed his unaccustomed skin, and still Tim in +a cloud of dust jogged on singing: + + "Until that day, plase God, I'll shtick + To the wearin' o' the green." + + +It was a poor little prisoner, but his first and his own, and Tim +was elated, and when a true Irishman is happy he becomes poetically +patriotic. But happy though he undoubtedly was, even Tim was not sorry +when the chance came of stretching his legs and incidentally sluicing +down the dust. The halfway house looked cool and clean to him. In fact +it was neither. It must have appeared a celestial scene to moaning Tsing +Hi. The rough upright slabs (once rich yellow, now dingy) promised some +sort of refuge from the dust, and the narrow strip of verandah a thin +slice of shade. The mound of broken bottles at the rear betokened +the drinks of the past, while the mind dwelt lovingly on those of +the present. Three panting goats, all aslant, but tressed themselves +determinedly against the end of the house, and two boys, long since dust +immune, occasionally hunted the goats into the sun and away among the +ant-hills. But when Tsing Hi slid from the horse and into the shade, he +felt like a saint in bliss. They gave him water, and he wailed until +Tim silenced him with threats of jolts and locked the manacles round the +middle post. + +Tim sighed profoundly as he scented beer. "I do belave I'm dhry, Jerry. +Give's a long un. I've swallowed mud by the bucket. Give the wee little +divil outside a pannikin o' tay. Maybe it'll revoive, him!" + +Tim drank long and well. + +"I've heard about the case," Jerry said, as he filled the thick glass a +third time. "Fancy the little beggar, an' him commin' and goin' as flash +as ye make 'ern, and pickin' and thavin' all the time. Maybe he got the +ear-rings the missis is after missin'." + +"Nawthin' o' the sort's in the swag we took with the raskil." + +A bit of dinner in the back room waited, for Jerry believed in keeping +well in with the force. Tim fed heartily, and, in spite of dust, heat, +and the chatter of the children, dozed, to wake with a start. + +"Me sowl to glory! It's aslape I've bin! Let's hav' a look at the little +fella and be off." + +The horses stood limply, as much out of the shade as in, the big swag +leaned against the wall, the handcuffs lay half buried in the dust, but +Tsing Hi had vanished. + +"Me sowl to glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! +In the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' +'em like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of +darbies like the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a +horse-collar, and the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' +hope! I'm the ruined man, I am!" + +"Off after him," advised Jerry. "There's his tracks." + +"Just none o' your blasted interfarances! Lave 'm to me. He's away back +to hell, an' I'll folly him! How much does I owe yer, Jerry!" + +"Nothing at all, sure, Tim. 'Tis little ye've had, and yer welcome as +posies in May, though it's little we see of 'em here. And good luck. +Shall I tell him away, back to look out V' + +"Say nothing and be damned to yer! Keep your mout closed and lave me to +do the bizinis me own road," shouted Tim as he disappeared in the dust, +led horse, swag and all. + +A mile and a half back and a bit off the road lay the narrow, sheltered +flat between two forbiddingly barren ridges which Hu Dra, the gardener, +had converted into an oasis. Thin-leaved tea-trees fringed the little +dam whence the industrious fellow hauled water for his vegetables. +Drought-stricken, broad, blue-leaved, scented ironbarks stood in envious +array on the steep sides of the ridges, and grass-trees, blackened at +the butts, struggled with loose boulders for foothold. The muddy water +which the forethought of Hu Dra had conserved created the green patch +which insulted the aridity of the ridge. He was a proud and happy man, +a follower of the healing Buddha, a new-churn with scarce a word of +English, and a gardener. He had a way with vegetables. They prospered +under his hands, and he also prospered, for next to gold, vegetables +were highly prized in that dry, almost verdureless country. Just now he +swayed along with a pair of heavy baskets slung on a bamboo all the way +from Wu Shu, as the pilgrim under his load of sin, and as he swayed he +sang in a weak falsetto a ditty which sounded like-- + + "Nam mo pen shih shih chia + Man tan lai lei tsun fo; + Hu fa chu t'ien p'u sa, + An fu ssu, Li she tzn." + + +His baskets, each screened with languid gum-leaves, held the week's +output of his garden, representing in money value at least two pounds. +It wag not likely to yield half as much, for, being a new-chum, he was +fair game, and it was considered smart to impose on his good-nature. +He also paid through an agent a weekly levy to Tsing Hi, which he +understood purchased the tolerance, if not goodwill, under all and every +circumstance of the dreaded police and the populace generally. It was a +tax; but Hu Dra was patient under such exactions, as all his ancestors +had been. They were unavoidable, inevitable, a part of the mystery of +life, and consequently to be endured, if not with complacency, at +least without murmur. His profits for the week might total one pound, +a princely sum considering the scene and circumstances of his birth and +upbringing in far Li-Chiang, where his father had reared a large family +in a shed over a sewer, and had never possessed property or estate worth +more than five shillings. Soon, if this money-making business continued +to thrive, he would return thither. He might--for had he not been reared +to the art of living in such places?--resume the sewer habit; but with +three hundred pounds in good English gold what sewer in Li-Chiang could +not be transformed into Paradise? + +One basket contained a huge fruit which he understood his white +customers to term "plonkn"; with it was a broad-bladed knife, with which +he would slice off slabs according to demand. That one item might +bring him in more money than his revered father's fortune. Wrapped in +day-dreams, he hummed again his chant, dwelling on the refrain with +lyrical gladness-- + + + "Li she tzu." + + +Perhaps it was the name of the maiden he proposed to ask to share his +fortune and his portion of the sewer, and so he repeated-- + +---"Li she t----!" + + +A big, strong, authoritative hand had gripped him by the shoulder. + +He screamed. The baskets sat down plump. + +"Come away wid ye! I've cotched yer! I'll tache ye to escape from lawful +custody!" + +"No savee! No savee!" screamed Hu Dra. + +"I'll tache ye, thin V' shouted Tim, and Hu Dra reeled under the +severity of the first lesson--a back-hander across the face. + +"Wha' for?" asked Hu Dra, still staggering. + +"Come on! You know wha' for! I'll stan' none o' yer wha' for's!" + +Hu Dra clung to the basket-stick threateningly. + +"Fwhat! Resisting the pollis in the execution of dooty. Me bhoy, ye're a +new-chum or yer niver wad be so bould. It is sarious bizinis." The stick +flew out of Hu Dra's hands, and, as if by magic, he found his hands +clamped in iron bands, which pinched his wrists excruciatingly. + +He yelled with vexation, fear, and pain. + +"Ye can holler as much as ye have the moind ter. Be jabers, the next +haythen Chinkee that gits out of the darbies I clap on'm 'll be a +slippery, slathery eel, and meself after fergittin' to maake a knot in +his taale! Come quiet, me good haythen, and I'll dale aisy wid yer." + +Hu Dra securely manacled to a scented gum, Tim dealt with the baskets, +capsizing the contents and belabouring them with the bamboo until they +looked as if they had been the playthings of a baboon. Hu Dra watched +the foundation of his fortune vanish. He wailed. + +"Come away, me bhoy! I arrest ye, Tsing Hi, fer escaping from lawful +custody. Ye may be charged also with resisting the pollis in the +execution of dooty. It's a sarious charge. If ye come quiet I'll maake +it aisy fer ye. If ye maake it a haard job for me, be gorra I'll inuake +ye sorryful!" + +Hu Dra gathered that it was a case of mistaken identity. He endeavoured +to explain that he was Hu Dra, and not Tsing Hi. Tim curtly informed +him that he was none other than Tsing Hi, that he had been convicted of +stealing gold, and while on the way to Cooktown had wilfully and with +malice aforethought escaped from legal custody. He would be taken to +Cooktown at once. Hu Dra understood but little of the harangue, but +being a pious Buddhist, having once climbed the Holy Mountain to gain +merit, and being in the hands of a strong man armed, he accepted the +fate of the moment. Meekly he followed Tim to the spot where the horses +had been left, and was hoisted into the saddle and manacled. It was all +a dreadful mystery, but he was sage enough to accept hard facts. + +"Me Hu Dra," he explained over and over again, in vain repetition. + +"Ye're Tsing Hi, I tell yer. Ye're Tsing Hi in the name of Her Majesty. +Haven't I arrested ye as sich?" + +"Me Hu Dra," reiterated the captive as they jogged on. "Me come Coo'tow' +one yar." + +"Shut yer mout! Didn't I tell yer before that ye're Tsing Hi? Didn't yer +wilfully and knowingly escaape from me whin I was having a bite to ate, +and I had yer tied to the post at the shanty back beyant there! Naw, +I'll hear no more of yer Hu Rahin'. Kape a civil tongue betune yer +taath, or, be gorra, worse 'll happen yer." + +Hu Dra was patient. He thought of his pilgrimage long ago to the top of +Mount Omei. Was this the reward he had gained? + +He solaced his soul by murmuring the pious invocation which all pilgrims +to the Sacred Mount have perpetually on their lips--"Om mane padme om!" + +Torn from his secluded garden and happy and profitable toil, bruised and +manacled, bundled on to a fear-provoking horse, hurried off he knew not +whither, through a drought-stricken land under a searing sun, the road +reeking with dust--what a plight for a devout Buddhist, who had sought +to avert calamity and prolong life by the ascent of the chill mount +where, alone in all the world, is revealed the "Glory of Buddha." + +Mystic that he was, he found sure comfort in pious meditations. Present +pains of body and mind vanished as with half-shut eyes he drifted into +the chill realm where he hearkened to chants of priests, the tinkling of +the temple bells, the fervent response of hundreds of pilgrims as meek +as himself--"Om mane padme om!" + +Such was the potency of the mechanical repetition of the all-healing +words that Tim presently found himself echoing them, and brought himself +up with a jerk. + +"It's all haythen rubbish and cussing. The pore fule's daft wid the hate +and the dust and the welt I give him. Shure it's the way I have to be +sorry for the crature." + +Like the refrain of an infectious song, the musical phrase would not be +banished from Tim's mind and lips, and so the tough, rough Irishman +and the gentle exile from the Flowery Land went on their way, scarce +conscious of the grimy miles, both dreamingly hailing the jewel in the +lotus. + +Three days later the travel-stained pair arrived at Cooktown, where Hu +Dra--henceforth to be known officially and authoritatively, and in spite +of all protest, as Tsing Hi--was duly consigned to the custody of the +lock-up keeper, to await escort to the town where his sentence was to be +served. + +"He's that quare in his hid," Tim informed Jock Egan, who now had +charge. "He's bin Tsing Hi-in and Hu Rah-in' and Paddy Om-in' (d'ye know +the maan, Jock?) all along the thrack till it's fair fascinated I am. +And barrin' him bein' the very thafe o' the wurrld, it's a poor honest +body he be. Shure it's little enough truble he give me, and me all alone +be meself. An' the swag of him! Glory be to God, I dunno but it's wort +five hundred pounds if it's wort a sint! Yirra! but it's weery I am. +It's little slape I've had. Shure the whole beesely thrack be lousy wid +shnaakes; and show me the man as cud slape shweet wid maybe four of the +varmint all ascroodging and squaaking nath his blanket!" + +"It's quare in yer head yerself," ye're exclaimed Jock. "Be off to bed +wid ye. If the sargint gets ye a-talkin' like that, he'll be afther +thinkin' ye're in dhrink." + +"Then, me sowl to glory; he'll jist be thinkin' fwhat I'm wishful for. +It's that farefull dhry up there on the Palmer I could dhrain a bucket." + +"Get to bed, yer fool! Ye're talkin' that wild, ye'll have no care for +yerself. It's meself that'll git the good woman beyant there to git ye a +cup o' biling hot tay." + +With that Jock got him out, with papers all in order. + +Hu Dra had disappeared from the tableland as suddenly but not as' +tracklessly as a phantom. Lonely men in their tents and three or four +mothers of families in their slab humpies looked out vainly for him for +three days, anticipating necessary vegetables, and, being disappointed, +slandered him courageously, while they found consolation in the +reflection that if he ever came his round again they would distress and +vex him by withholding payments for the vegetables of the past. Not +a customer but owed him something. His country men gave notice of his +disappearance to the police, and black-trackers off-hand told a graphic +and obvious story. Hu Dra had begun his weekly round when he had been +attacked by myalls. They had capsized his baskets and wantonly battered +them to pieces. For him had been reserved the customary fate. He had +been hustled off to the gorges contiguous to Hell's Gates, to be killed +and eaten in peace and comfort. His hut, his cherished garden +were forthwith occupied and tended by another of the race-claiming +cousinship. The newcomer even demanded payment of debts owing to his +unfortunate relation, but the whole population sniffed with such vigour +that the claim was not persisted in. Once a Chinaman had left the +district unceremoniously, more especially at the forcible persuasion +of flesh-hungry blacks, his dues lapsed by unanimous consent. He became +merely a fragrant remembrance. It is so still, and the virtue is as +virile as the odour of musk. + +To himself Hu Dra was always so. Be his official and authoritative title +for the time being what it might, he was determined not to sacrifice his +identity. + +The gaoler found him a docile and obedient creature with an abiding +affection for plants, which sprang up under his hands like magic. +Within two months corners of the desert yard began to blossom, to bear +cucumbers and radishes, and to be fragrant with shallots. + +The pride of the gentle gardener lay in a few plants of zinnias close +to a dripping tap. In bright red, gold, and white, he accepted them as +substitutes for the sacred lotus, and prison flowers never flaunted more +freely. As innocent as they, he deftly, tirelessly trained each plant, +caressed each opening bud, cherished it as if it were a jewel, and +found surcease of the pangs of exile, easement for the restraints upon +liberty, and blissful consolation. Tendance upon the garden under the +strait shadow of wall was to him, not a duty, not a pastime, but a +ritual. The captive was happy, for here was the end of his pilgrimage. + +Exemplary conduct, combined with the art with which he forced salads +from the boorish soils, found him favour and earned privileges and +concessions. + +Hu Dra kept no count of the passing months. What was time to a +contemplative Buddhist whose being was permeated with the hope of +release from delusions and sorrow and of attaining final sanctification? + +One morning he was summarily marched into the presence of the big +loud-voiced man whose orders were obeyed with instant smartness, who +told him, to his amazement and despair, that he must depart with his +property. The seals of a sack were broken before him, and its contents +displayed and duly accounted for--a sleeping-mat, a small red blanket, +the elastic-side boots, two scrolls of sinfully painted silk, a hard +round hat stuffed with gaudy handkerchiefs, three watches and varied +jewellery in a ginger-jar, the quaintly carved toilet devices, the +jam-tin full of nuggets, and a chamois-leather bag delusively heavy with +fine gold. + +The same authority which had ordered his affairs ever since he had been +torn from the burnt hills now commanded him to begone. + +For nigh upon two years he had dwelt passively in dream-land. This was +but another wonderment entrancingly agreeable. Without endeavouring to +elucidate the incomprehensible, he accepted the gifts of the gods, and +asked for a yellow zinnia. It was a reality, a guarantee, an assurance. + +Good, though gruff, the gaoler was wont to say that his departing guest +gazed on the flower with almost religious fervour and mumbled over it +a prayer; and the gaoler's insight was true, for in comparison with a +flower, the masonic emblem, the pride of Tsing Hi's life was to Hu Dra +but tinsel. + +It passed all understanding., + +Hastening to escape from the land of bewilderment and easily gotten +riches, Hu Dra-the quietest, the happiest, the wealthiest of a great +company of his fellows boarded a steamer for Hong-Kong. + + + +Many a long year after, Tim, who had blossomed into a sub-inspector, +had retired on pension, and had lost most of his brogue in the process, +confided in me the whole story. + +"You see, my friend, it was either the sack or Chinkee for me. I got the +Chinkee. There were plenty of 'em!" + + + + +TIME'S FINGER + + + +"The more cleer and the more shynynge that Fortune is, the more brutil +and the sooner breketh she."--CHAUCER. + + +High up on the auspicious shoulder of the Island mountain stands +the Sentinel, a coarse, truncated pinnacle of granite, roughened +and wrinkled by the toll of the moist breezes, alternating with the +scorching flames of the sun. It overlooks the league-long sweep of +the treacherous bay, with its soft and smothering sands, the string of +islets of the Yacka Eebah group, while Bli and Coobie lie close under +foot, set in a swirling sea. + +One aspect of the Sentinel commands all the map-like detail of Pun-nul +Bay, with its labyrinthian creeks among a flat density of mangroves, +like lustrous, uncertain byways in a sombre field, erratic of shape, +magnificent of proportion. Beyond are many islets--dark blue on a +lighter plain. In the distance, on the other hand, islands and islets +trail away until lost in the vague blending of sea and sky; and for a +background is all Australia. In front alone does the Sentinel peer +over uninterrupted space, and not always, for at times patches of white +filigree mark the outliers of the Great Barrier Reef. + +Looking up from Pun-nul Bay before sunrise, the base of the Sentinel +'was swathed in white--night's rumpled draperies not yet tossed aside. +As the east glowed it stained the mist pink, and so warmed it that it +parted into patches of luminous fluff which floated up and dissolved +into crystalline air, and the great lumbering rock stood naked and bold +in the sunshine. + +Then it was that the apex of a splintered peak beyond the Sentinel +glittered, and that Chutter-murra Wylo, the one survivor of the +truculent natives, told once more of the wonderful stone for which +many had ventured, which had caused the disappearance of several, which +decoyed man and beast, and stored their bones close to the awful hole +whence issued the smoke which made the rain, and the dread lightning, +and the thunder. + +None ever ventured there now; but sometimes in the early morning the +stone twinkled for a moment like a malignant sprite, watchful all night, +but abashed yet impudent to the authoritative sun. + +Chutter-murra Wylo had so often indicated the exact locality of the +stone, and had described its dire influence with such sincerity that, +when it twinkled, a resolution which had been long in the back of my +mind became wilful and imperative. He said that it was "on top, along +oo-nang-mugil"--a gloomy place among rocks--and that the old men of the +country had been wont to say that this particular "oo-nang-mugil" was +the favourite resort of the "debil-debil," the to whose arrogance and +awful deeds the bones of man and beast bore terrifying testimony. + +Between the Sentinel and a spur to the south is a narrow ravine, from +which in the rainy season mist rises like jets of steam, and this +was the very spot whence the lightning and thunder ranged when the +"debil-debil" lifted the mighty stone which blocked the entrance to +the cave of the winds. All about was fantastic ground, peopled by evil +spirits who resented the intrusion of human beings and inflicted upon +trespassers peculiar punishments. Ill befell everyone who invaded that +remote, almost inaccessible, uninviting region, at the very centre of +which the alluring stone glittered. Of those who rashly determined to +gaze at the prodigy at close quarters, some never returned. Those who +did come back were vexed with burning and smarting pains; they suffered +illnesses; their skin broke out into blotches; they became old +and enfeebled prematurely and all, whether they survived for a few +irritating weeks or a few sad years, wore to the end a startled, +awe-struck air. "That fella no more sit down quiet; him frait all time," +Wylo explained. And the stone was good to look at. Sometimes it was +white like water; sometimes blue, like the sea; sometimes red, like +"carrie-wy-in-gin" (sunrise). Sometimes it shook, and then it became so +bright that the eyes were dazzled. The star-like stone had been on +the rock for all time, protected by distance and mystery. Was it not, +indeed, the eye of the "debil-debil" who had custody of the lightning +and thunder imps, and could it not be elevated or depressed like the +eye of a sand-crab? No intruder had ever escaped its vigil or the +consequences of his temerity. + +We were camped under the lee of a low sand-dune, the top of which +commanded Pun-nul Bay. As the wind swayed its scalp-lock of twisted +shrubs, the dune quivered, and rivulets of singing sand, almost as +fluid and as unstable as water, trickled down, for it was one of the +rubbish-heaps of the sea, over the brink of which waste was unceasingly +shot. + +The maze of mangroves whence weird hoots and bubbling cries and sharp +clicks came at night, the stealthy sand marching over the land, the +barren slopes of the mountain, and the misshapen rock, gave one's +thoughts a twist in the direction of the vague and mysterious. Wylo's +continual harping on the wonderful stone renewed the old longing for +adventure. He had seen it from a safe distance, but from the present +aspect only the indecorous glint at sunrise was visible. + +The stone was a crystallised fact, but why had the blacks invested it +with such ill omen? Here was a worthy quest--a beautiful if not precious +crystal betokening the actual presence of a wary demon guardant over +the mouldering skeletons of Wylo's forefathers! What quest could be more +sensational or likely to be so famously rewarded? + +Wylo was prepared to climb the mountain to the base of the Sentinel, +but no higher. Secrets hidden from his intemperate, insistent gaze must +surely be inconsequent. Once and for all, the legend of the crystal +might be disposed of at the cost of two or three hours' climbing. I +would bring it back to prove to Wylo that no irreverent "debil-debil" +would ever again blink at the sun from that particular spot. As for the +skeletons, they were, without doubt, as mythical as the evil spirit, and +in any case a few old bones were not to scare me from venturing to the +boldly obvious summit of the mountain. + +Wylo went wellnigh naked, carrying a day's provisions and the rifle. I, +too, was lightly clad, but wore thick-soled boots, freely studded, and +with a tomahawk felt efficiently armed. + +Beyond the entanglement of the beach scrub the way was open, though +rough, with granite boulders half hidden among rampant blady grass. The +country was decidedly hostile to the climber, though far from actually +forbidding, and with Wylo in the lead--for I held myself in reserve for +the final clamber up the ravine, to which the ascent to the base of the +Sentinel was merely a prelude--the pace was respectable and sure. Closer +acquaintance forced a certain sort of respect for the Sentinel, which +was more massive, more venerable and time-worn than could be imagined +from afar off, while all the scene below seemed softer and smoother and +more fairyland-like than in reality. + +Having indicated what he deemed to be the direct route, and firmly +resolving to take no risks by peering into the domain of the +"debil-debil," Wylo sat in the shadow of a huge boulder whence he could +command a view of the entrance to the rock-bestrewn gorge. Not more than +eight hundred feet separated the spot from the summit of the peak. A +couple of hours at most and I would be down again, and, semi-seriously, +I counselled Wylo to stop where he was until late in the afternoon, and +if I had not then appeared to return to the camp, where he was to remain +for a couple of days, when he would be at liberty to make his way to the +head of the mangrove creek where the boat was anchored, with the design +of bringing help to kill the "debil-debil" that detained me in his +clutches. He was not too cheerful in his parting injunctions. "No +good you fight'm that fella. Suppose he catch'm you, he kill you one +time--finis. No good me come back. Me clear out quick!" + +In all seriousness he undertook to "sit down" for two days, and +finally imparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the +"debil-debil," and either curb him or throw him out from his lair "with +wondrous potency." Up the gorge I would find a prickly bush, from which +I was to cut a leafy branch as a frontal shield. Then, when the +fiend swooped upon me, its long arms and pliant hands, furnished with +needle-like nails, would become embarrassed by the "nails," of the +branch, and while it howled and danced I could "kill'm alonga leg" with +the tomahawk. I was to be careful not to look up, for the eye of the +"debil-debil" was so bright and hot that it burnt up mortal sight, +leaving the intruder a blind and hopeless victim. + +Discreetly valorous, Wylo was quite enthusiastic, anxious, indeed, that +the quest should be accomplished by an audacious white man and at no +risk to himself. Therefore did I accept his counsel gravely, and in +parting promised to bring down one of the hands of the long-standing +terror of the mountain as proof that I had exacted the last penalty for +many demonic deeds. + +Thus, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through a +perplexity of shrubs growing among loosely packed stones, thankful +for strong boots and hands toughened by the sun. Overhanging trees and +shrubs almost converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a +greenish light wrought changeful patterns on the gloomy rocks, and ferns +of sombre green with unfolding fronds of ruddy brown occupied crannies +and crowned rocks favoured by drips. No sound of animal life came to my +cars, but an ever-increasing current of air was perceptible as the walls +closed in and became almost precipitous. + +The narrow footway was swept bare of loose stones and vegetable rubbish, +save where the wet-season torrents had scooped out basins, or where a +ledge of resisting rock made a wet-season water fall. Such places had to +be discreetly scaled, for the rock was worn to polished smoothness and +hand and foot holds were few and far between. Aerial roots, thin as +whipcord, hung from the branches of trees crowding on the brink of the +ravine, and with tasselled terminals sopped up moisture. A melancholy, +humming monotone pervaded the ravine, seeming to increase in +remonstrance and warning the higher I ascended. Wylo had told of the +noise like a steamer's whistle a long way off. His local knowledge was +being authenticated at every step. Such a sound was almost uncouth in +such a locality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, was +the predicted bush with keen prickles thickset on limber branches. +Half amused, I climbed to the spot, and, clinging precariously to the +principal stem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, slipped +several yards down the smooth floor. It was not worth recovering, but +a certain half-humorous sense of obedience to the black boy's cautions +induced me to return for it; and as I trimmed off some of the prickles +that it might be grasped comfortably, a stone clattered down, bouncing +on the rock almost at my feet. + +A substantial mystery! What invisible agency had given this hard fact +its force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a discordant crow dissipated +doubt-the stone had been dislodged by an industrious scrub fowl raking +on the brink of the ravine. A sense of fellowship with the harsh-voiced +bird manifested itself. A transient sensation of relief--I had not been +conscious of the least mental depression--followed the thought that in +and about the ravine there were other living things besides myself and +snakes. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally bruised just +now, had been the only sign of life, and it had been as dull-coloured +and almost as inert as the rock on which it lay--an emblem of death +at home in this almost lifeless seclusion. Dwelling with amusement on +Wylo's suggested precautions, I bore the branch before me as I climbed +a steep face, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and as +cautious and suspicious as a black boy. On the lip of what seemed to be +a hollow a fig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing roots of which made the +final stages of the ascent easy and safe. Briskly hauling myself up, I +stepped over the edge of the depression, and the solid rock lapsed and +slid underfoot. + +In a flash the head of a python arose, and with gaping jaws struck as +the branch fell from my hand.' In a moment I had whipped the tomahawk +from my belt and slashed at the body of the snake squirming at my feet, +as, baffled for a moment by the falling branch, it gathered itself for a +second attack. + +Few of the enemies of man are more easily disabled than a snake. Always +zealous in obedience to the Biblical law, it is honest to confess to a +decided preference for elbow-room when engaged in its actual fulfilment. +This was a fight with man's first enemy in close and awkward quarters--a +precipice behind, walls of rock in front and at either hand. Three times +my length, strong enough to constrict to death a giant, wily enough to +seek the cover of the matted roots of the tree, several points were in +favour of the snake. My first wild haphazard stroke, which had merely +scored its flesh, seemed to have roused its vindictiveness. Once in +those coils, the chances of victory would be remote indeed. + +Part of the python's still gliding length was within reach, while (the +forepart resting on a branch) the head was but slightly higher than +mine, though beyond the radius of the tomahawk. + +The bulging head drew slowly back, as the snake released sufficient of +its length to encompass me. The yellow, blinkless eyes, with knife-edge +pupils, flashed with the hate of agelong feud as I edged against the +wall. My arm was free. The lust of battle tightened every nerve. Neither +flashing eyes nor strangulating length made for fear. The hitherto +all-conquering snake, lord and master of the ravine, bade defiance, +joining issue with the craft of its kind. + +Slowly the pendant portion increased as the subtle beast seemed to +concentrate all its energies on one triumphant, invincible effort. + +Anticipating the fateful instant, I slashed with all my force at the +portion of the body within reach, ducking simultaneously. Shooting over +me, the head of the enemy struck the rock with brain-bemuddling impact. +For once the serpent had been foiled. With jaws awry, the head swung +limply, like a ceasing pendulum. One blow with the back of the tomahawk +established the right of man to wander at will among the rough and +secret places of the mountain. + +Still did the swaying reptile cling with a single coil round the +figtree's branch, while chill blood dripped and splashed among the +intertwined and snake-like roots. A sudden tug brought the body down a +squirming mass. With rough-shod heel, I fulfilled the letter of the law, +bruising the battered head, and then were revealed the bosses by which, +with the tail, the snake had sustained its dead weight. + +Was this the "debil-debil" which had scared so many from the quest--a +python which any man might kill in the open without running any risk, +and which a black boy, with time on his hands, would joy to eat? Yet I +own that I was somewhat flustered, and not a little tired and bruised +and angry, because such an impediment had had to be cleared from the +track. Was there not cause for indignation? Why should a gormandising +serpent, full to repletion, lie slothfully across a highway open to +all, to the checking of a holiday-making mortal in lawful pursuit of +a demon-protected crystal? Let me once more vindictively stamp on its +head. + +But which way? Here was a dead and unscalable wall to right and left and +in front, and all in deep shadow. I estimated that another one hundred +feet would take me to the mountain-top, whence it would be possible to +survey the scene in relation to the bejewelled rock. Descent was the +only practicable preliminary towards further ascent. Utilising the +interlacing roots of the fig-tree, the way down was easy enough, and, +choosing the left wall of the ravine, I began a perilous climb out of +gloom into sunshine, upon a conglomeration of immense granite boulders, +over which the Sentinel cast a shadow. This shadow indicated that the +ascent had occupied at least three hours, and in my self-complacency +I had calculated to beard the "debil-debil" in his den, dislodge the +crystal, and be back at the camp gloating over the escapade to open-eyed +Wylo in less time. + +Though a night was to be spent in the haunt of the evil spirit, yet +would I proceed. I found not one but many "oo-nang-mugils," lowering +caves and clefts in which scores of fearsome "debil-debils" might lurk, +but which, as far as a vigilant mortal could detect, were given over to +innocent bats and those sun-loving swiftlets which rear their young in +nests adherent to rocks in dusky places. + +Over and beneath boulders, squirming through bolt-holes and up flue-like +openings, bruised and with bleeding hands, at last the top was reached, +harsh with granite, and there to the right, on a gigantic splintered +boulder which seemed to block the end of the ravine and to peer down +into the blue bay below, was the crystal glinting in sunshine. It was +not more than fifty yards away, and, easeful of mind, I sat down to +munch a piece of damper. Close by a patch of vivid green moss indicated +the existence of moisture and the further possibility of water. Sure +enough, twenty yards down spongy moss and fern spread over a lip of +rocks, and from dangling tufts and drooping fronds water dripped in +melodious splashes into a shallow depression, and overflowed in a +fan-shaped film. The facets and apex of the crystal reflected harsh +brightness as unsullied as the moss-filtered, unstable drips which +gathered second by second and were gone. How like those drips, how +unlike the scarred, time-chastened rock, that steadfast slip of light +which since the dawn of creation had flashed messages across the +unresponsive sea. + +From a ledge in which ferns and orchids grew in careless +profusion--bird's-nest fern and polypodium and white-flowering +orchid--the crystal might be reached by a little manoeuvring. But why +hurry? Every minor crevice was embossed with spongy moss, from which +sprang modest little flowers, a flower of mountaintops alone, lacking a +familiar name, but which in its dainty form and rich mauve is none the +less precious. While all the rest of the way had been barren or gloomy, +here was brave sunshine and space, a jewel-like crystal, and moss and +ferns and flowers, and calm and cool serenity which' bespoke remoteness +from the "debil-debil" and all his works, and from the noisy cave of +the winds. Magic there was in plenty-the air tingled with it--that +exhilarating, mind-expanding silence of mountain-tops which is the most +thrilling magic of all. + +Leisurely glances at the mass of granite from which the crystal shone +showed that from the ferny ledge it would be beyond reach, and that +unless care was exercised in the dislodgment it might fall among a +confusion of boulders far below and be lost for ever. My plan was of +to build a buttress of loose stone on which to stand to tap it with the +tomahawk. Like a miniature railway cutting, the ledge ran out on the +face of the rock, so that standing upon it one looked down into the +ravine; but it was broad enough to afford safe and even convenient +footing. + +As a final preliminary to the beginning of operations, I clambered up +on to the ledge. Ferns grew among decaying vegetable matter in masses +difficult to push through. Polypodiums with brown, oak-leaf like, +infantile fronds clung tightly to the rocks with furry fingers, and the +birds'-nests were big enough to conceal a man. A broad and comfortable +path it was, leading directly under the crystal, and with haste and +confidence I pushed along, smiling inwardly at "shynynge" fortune, to be +in another moment dismayed by her "brutilness." The earth sank under me. +I shot into an acute fissure with ferns and dust piled overhead! + +Gasping and coughing, I cleared away the smothering rubbish, to find +myself a fixture--jambed fast between walls of granite. Deceptive ferns +had masked the crevice. I had walked along a treacherous track until at +a weak spot it had given way as the gallows' trap beneath the feet of a +murderer. + +Light came from ahead, too. There the lancehead-shaped fissure opened on +the ravine, whence it was flushed with cool air. + +Was ever mortal in such a plight? A drop of eight from the spacious +top of the mountain had lodged me a prisoner in the narrowest of cells. +Dismayed but not despairing, I struggled frantically, working with +shoulder and arms against the walls of granite. The right foot was +firmly fixed, while a sensation of easiness was perceptible with regard +to the left. Gently yet firmly, and fearful lest the slight grain of +comfort might be fraudulent, I felt the weight of my body on the left +foot, while scrutinising in detail the horrible trap into which the +crystal bait had lured me. + +There, a few feet below and further towards the ravine, was the skull +of a human being, and still further down, where space was more confined, +other bones were fixtures. There was a weird fascination about the +skull, for at noon it would receive the benediction of the sun, and the +diurnal glare into the secrets of the crevice had made a patch of white +desert in an oasis of grey mould. The bones below, green and earthly +with age, lay in disorder and confusion--poor fragments of the framework +of man and harmless beasts, sharing a common fate. + +Though fast a prisoner, nothing to live on but hope and fresh air, a +sense of relief, somehow, sometime, established itself in my mind. +Most of the significant features of the adventure had been faithfully +foretold by Wylo--the prickly bush, the snake (archetype of the fiend), +the mocking delusive stone, the stored bones of man and beast-all as he +had described. He must have known more than he had voluntarily told, and +assuredly would he come', when he would coo-ee, and I would shout +for very joy. In the meantime would I possess my soul in patience and +conserve all the strength of my lungs and power of endurance. + +Just beyond the platform of ferns a splash of lovely tints illuminated +the edge of the time-recording shadow--the solar spectrum produced by +the prism which had beckoned from afar. Was there no escape from the +wizardry of the crystal? No hope of evading comparison of its beauty +and permanence with the muddy and fleeting passions of mankind? Yet how +fruitless its functions--to glorify for aeons the intractable rock, +and to leave it ever unstained! For once in all the centuries may not a +human hand be interposed between those ineffectual flames and the surly +rock? Cannot even that small measure of space be overcome? + +A few inches from the tips of my outstretched fingers were the prismatic +tints with which the crystal daily registered the decline of the day; +but not for all my striving and all my wit could I get within reach. +They were as remote as the creating sun! + +The narrowness of the cleft forbade effort to reach down so that I might +unlace my boots. There wan but one chance of deliverance--the coming of +Wylo. And would he, agitated by superstitious awe, dare to venture into +the haunt of the evil spirit when he began to realise that I, too, had +fallen into the clutches he so much dreaded? Yet he must come! Of what +special impiety had I been guilty that so rare and terrible a fate +should have been reserved for me. He must come! + +Yes. Listen! I hear his coo-ee far below! He is making his way up the +ravine! And with, all my vocal power I coo-eed and yelled. But the +muffling rocks stifled all noise at lips. Listen! Yes! The sound +again--merely the mellow cadences of a swamp pheasant whooping among the +blady grass. + +Wylo dared not venture to the very door of the cave of the winds. I was +alone with my fate! Could I master it? + +The clean-cut shadow crept up the rock, and with it the colour splash +receded. As I gazed it glittered and was gone. It would not be visible +again until the next afternoon. Would I be here to watch it illuminate +the rock once more? Could I contain myself until then, and perhaps +after, and for day after day, until the last? And were my bones to +be added to the secret horde mouldering within a few feet of the +mountain-top? A few feet of nothingness--mere empty space--separated me +from lost and lovely liberty, and with frantic hands I strove against +the hard face of the rock, and cried aloud in agonising protest. + +The old rock had disregarded similar protests and supplications, and had +endured like infantile pushings! Call, and who shall listen? Push and +shove and fight, and what availed it? + +In my delirium I cursed and blasphemed, and "full of shriekynge was that +sory place." + +Darkness followed brief twilight, and up the ravine came the murmuring +I had heard below--a sobbing sound which at first affrighted and then +soothed, for it could be nothing but the echo of the sea on the curving +beach below; and in its comfort that lulled all ineffectual clamour, and +eventually to fretful but frightful sleep. Always I awoke panting with +thirst, stiff and strained, and with unmanly cries of fear and pain +on my lips, while the chaste stars danced across the narrow slit as I +strove to stem the turbid stream of despondency. + +About midnight a singular peacefulness possessed me, overcoming me in +spite of myself. Feverish impatience and resistance seemed futile, and +in my resignation I began to realise that to avert cramp and disablement +from cold--for a chill, moist breeze from the ravine played continuously +on me--some sort of exercise must be undertaken. + +My left foot was certainly not so compressed as the right. Though +it could not be raised, it was possible to move it ever so slightly +forwards and backwards. Might it not be possible, by never-ceasing +friction, to so abrade the edges of the sole of the boot that it might +be reduced to such dimension as would permit it to be raised? + +With all the force of my mind concentrated on the one idea, I began to +work in a passion of patience. At first the play of the boot was hardly +to be registered; but hour after hour of ceaseless and calculated effort +not only counterbalanced mental tension and imparted some degree of +warmth to my body, but so amended the shape of the boot that it began +to move with some degree of freedom. The more easy the fit, the more +cautious and calm I became. + +No insipid monotony pervaded the remote, cold crevice. The operation was +lubricated with hope. Once every heart-beat--for I kept strict tally, as +further mental relaxation--my boot rubbed against the rock, and each +rub wore away minute particles of leather. As time passed and the work +became still easier, it became more engrossing, until calmness gave way, +and every nerve thrilled with excitement, and I was convinced that +I would win a joyful passage from this narrow strait by dint of the +resolute continuation of the simplest of processes. + +But the long night was not to end with such placid and entertaining +occupation. Absorbed in it, sternly waving off all sense of weariness or +despair, I was staggered and stunned by the fall, among an avalanche +of fern debris, of a heavy living body on my head and shoulders--a +grunting, struggling thing which kicked and scratched. + +With a despairing shriek, 'all my vibrant nerves collapsed, as in the +darkness and confusion I fought against infernal odds. For one appalling +instant I was convinced of the reality of Wylo's most diresome fact, and +did furiously believe that I was actually entrapped in the stronghold of +a demon at that moment, intent upon tearing me limb from limb. The most +fantastic and horrific of nightmares was actually materialised. + +But at that instant a familiar odour sluiced away all mystery. This +struggling thing, from the shock of which my very soul still trembled, +was but a fellow-victim--a wallaby which, feeding along the ledge, had +happened on the trap made by my fall. + +In a flash of remorseless energy, I seized the panting body, felt for +the throat, and, expelling pity from my heart, gripped until all was +still. How precious and comforting it was! And once again all my powers +of will and muscle were centred on a single design and action as with +machine-like rhythm the boot wore itself against the rock. Disengaged +from every other theme, my mind dwelt on the one steady, inevitable +purpose. Rub! Rub! Rub! And I fancied I saw leathern dust fall like +filings from iron down deeper into the crevice. Before dawn the boot was +working freely, and with one arm on the compressed body of the wallaby +to case my weight, rest was possible. The plan for the disengagement of +the right foot, painfully rigid and cold, was perfect in theory. Would +it hold in practice? When the left was free I would, by friction of the +iron studs In the sole, wear away the laces of the engaged boot so that +the foot might be withdrawn. + +But physical weakness became imperious. The distraction of cramped +and bruised flesh had to be withstood the while the constancy of the +function was maintained. Continual comfort came from the dead body of +the ill-fated wallaby--a sort of fellowship, and a feeling that with its +co-operation the contest between living flesh and blood and the inert +force of the mountain was not altogether one-sided. Light was certainly +cheerful, but the crevice filled with mist which distilled on the rock, +and a chill current of air benumbed my aching limbs. + +Under the pressure of fierce determination the task persisted, until, +quite unexpectedly as it seemed, the boot was free; and then, shoving +and squeezing the wallaby as a cushion for my right arm, the sole of +the left boot began to rasp away at the instep of the right. In such a +constrained position the operation, which could be persevered in by fits +and starts only, was exasperatingly slow. The sun sopped up the morning +mist and boldly explored the crevice, revealing the marvellous precision +of the space between the walls. No work of art could be more regular. +The sheer simplicity of the trap made it the more effectual. The +sunlight showed, too, that the fissure was the skylight of a cave which +opened out on the ravine. Dry boulders were strewn about fifty feet +below, while ahead I could catch a glimpse of a narrow ribbon of blue +sea. This provoking sight of unattainable water aggravated thirst almost +beyond endurance. Throughout the night had my longing increased, but +now the pangs were extreme. The most gratifying of all drinks--cool, +fern-filtered, flower-decorated water, water dripping in iridescent +spangles from green moss soft as velvet--splashed incessantly into a +hollow out there a few yards away in the free space of the mountain. +Here, manacled with "adamant eterne," in an agony of impatience I +quaffed the thirst-stimulating draught of unsatisfied longing as I +strove fitfully to wear away the stubborn strips of leather which held +me in bondage. In a doze or dream the action went on. Startled, I awoke +to find myself pommelling with inane savagery the poor crumpled body of +the wallaby, and to the realisation that the imprisoned foot was loose +in the boot. + +A luxurious stupor took possession of my mind. I was at liberty to work +out of the crevice knees and shoulders; yet an impalpable force detained +me. It was not that I was not master of my fate, but that out there in +the glare of the sun was patient water, dripping for the refreshment +and cleansing of my grimy lips. So enchanting a thought was not to be +abruptly ended. Was it not deliciously dreamy to hold myself in +suspense awhile, to linger over anticipated sweetness and prolong blest +gratifications indefinitely? + +Strange drowsiness and peace bewitched the sunlit chink. Why should I +struggle more? Could I not, in fancy, hearken to the measured splash of +the drops from the sodden moss? Could anything be more consoling than +this cushion to my bruised and aching arms? Ease and sloth were sweet +indeed. I was free, but not at large. The amazing adaptability of the +human mind had reconciled me in a few suffering hours to this confined +space. Verily do I believe that the overcoming of this subtle anodyne +demanded the expenditure of more vital force than the sum of all the +long-sustained automatic exertion by which I had won physical release. + +One supreme mental tug and the baneful torpor was dispelled, and with +stiffened legs and bruised hand@ I began to screw myself up to the free +air cautiously and painfully; and there, in a beam of light from the +crystal, was the slow-dripping flower-bedizened water-celestial nectar +to parched lips. + +Hours after I awoke as from a dream. Far below a column of smoke showed +that Wylo still watched. My first act was to send up a responsive +signal. In a fit of petty passion I flung the toil-worn boot into the +ravine, and began the descent by way of the spur to the west. + +Wylo seemed scared by the sight of the staggering and tattered +scarecrow, barefooted, and stained with blood and dirt, who stumbled +into the camp at dusk, too weary to talk, almost too spent to eat; +and to this day he is convinced that I was actually detained by the +"debil-debil," whom I had overcome by some means of which wonder-working +white men alone have the secret. + +After two days' rest I climbed the mountain again, blocked the fissure +with loose stones, and built a buttress, standing upon which I tapped +the crystal gently with the tomahawk. It quivered. A shaft of rainbow +tints dazzled my sight. I tapped again. As I touched it it third +time, the fragile finger with which the gaunt old rock had scorned the +plodding centuries vanished in a splutter of spangles! + + + + +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +"These ghosts of the living and of the dead assuredly illustrate in +a striking manner the mysterious workings of the human mind, and the +unsuspected influence of soul on soul."--PRODMORE. + + +Not more than a hundred yards from its mud-besmeared mouth the +convenient mangroves disappear and the little creek assumes becoming +airs. Huge tea-trees, with cushiony bark, straddle it, and ferns grow +strongly in all its nooks and bends. When the big trees blossom in +watery yellow, yellow-eared honey-eaters, blue-bibbed sun-birds, and +screeching parrots in accordant colours, assemble joyously, for the +aroma, as of burnt honey, spreads far and wide, bidding all, butterflies +and jewel-backed beetles which buzz and hum, to the feast, until the +aerial anthem is harmonic to the rustle of the sea. + +The sturdy feet of the trees stand in black peat, through which the +water from the wholesome hills oozes and dribbles, and the russet stain +from discarded leaves is on their white bases. Russet, too, is the +surface of the ever moist soil. Some element in the water derived from +pacted roots of palm and fern tinctures whatsoever in it lies, so that +the bottoms of the shallow, erratic pools are thick with russet slime. +All above is bright and pure, and the water which flows over the +slime-smudged roots limpid and refreshing. If you cut into the bark +of the tea-tree you will find water in beads and trickles, water which +sparkles with purity and has a slightly saline taste. The bare roots +alone suffer defilement. + +Many a tall tea-tree stands sentinel on the margin of the creek, and +there are groves of slim palms with narrow truncated leaves--palms which +creep and sprawl over vegetation of independent character, and palm& +which coquette with the sun with huge fans. Orchid& display sprays of +yellowish-green flowers, which contribute a decided savour to the medley +of scents, and palm-like Cycads meander from the low bank out Into the +forest. + +But there is one tree which, if not superior to the rest in broadness +of base, height, fairness of bark, and fullness of bloom, has especial +endowment. It stands at the spot where generation after generation of +the original owners of the soil has crossed the creek, wearing a waving +path upon which ferns ever encroach and which every flood amends. In a +recess in its massive roots reposes "Kidjo-bang," the restless stone--a +boulder, man's-head size, stained with a rim of sober brown. + +This is its accustomed scat. It roves the locality, returning, +swallow-like, to the close-fitting hollow of the root. The embraces of +the root are sometimes so strong that the dingy stone may not be moved. +But the floods of the wet season maintain an unceasing cataract to its +dislodgment, and then, according to the legends of the blacks, it begins +to "walk about." It may rest a month just out of reach of the disturbing +water among the ferns. It has been known to appear mysteriously on the +sandy beach two hundred yards away, to which spot it is said to travel +by way of the grass lands, avoiding the slur of the muddy creek. + +Whether it seeks change of scene beyond the ripple of dead leaves and +spoil of the flood, or whether it ventures out on to the open beach, +where the breezes from the Pacific play upon it, the round white stone +returns, independent of the agency of man, to the sanctuary which time, +ever-flowing water, and the hospitable roots of the tree, have combined +to afford. It is there this day. Should it be taken to one or other of +the blue islands in the broad bay, sooner or later it will be discovered +nestling cosily in the grotto in which the dyed slime smears it as with +pale blood. + +To the ordinary investigator of the whimsicalities of "Kidj-o-bang" the +blacks betray no secret, though they would verify, with what to them is +proof positive, that it does on occasion appear in unexpected places +and unaccountably reoccupies its cell. Discreetly pursue the subject and +peradventure you may be told precisely why the stone may not always rest +in the one spot in the whole world which it fits as a kernel its shell. +It has been, they assert, associated with an evil deed of which it is +now the emblem. Among the many the mysteries of "Kidj-o-bang" dwell +with the past, though it is still associated with the ceremonies of the +bestowal of totemic names on the children of a certain father. + +More than one legend concerning it is extant, and the young fellows of +the present day frankly scoff at them all, while the old men believe +each other's versions and repeat them with bated breath. They cannot +discredit stories which were accepted as established facts when they +were young, which no one then ever dreamed of doubting, and which +provide a comfortably satisfactory account for otherwise perplexing +incidents. + +Musing on the spot, the legend of the roving stone usurped my thoughts. +The trivial and uncertain notions of the black boy who was the first to +tell it, and by theatrical gestures to illustrate its verities, became +more and more indistinct. The soothsayers of the long past had been +forbidden by Nature to doubt that which was the lore of the camp. Was it +that Nature re-asserted her influence--that the essences of the scene, +subtle and pervasive, had recurred, creating a receptive spirit, so +deep a religion of assent that shadow and substance intermingled to my +bewilderment? I was permitted to be a sensitive percipient in the midst +of the ashes of shiftless folk who had passed away, catching but a +casual and deceptive glimpse of the coming of the desolating white man. + +Piln-goi, the black boy, had wandered up the creek. A thrilling silence +prevailed. Stooping down, I laved my hands in the softly flowing water, +idly intent on lifting the stone. The tawny slime defeated irresolute +efforts, and my slipping hands bestowed a baptismal splash. + +Instantly I became conscious of a strange presence, and, glancing +over my shoulder, saw an unfamiliar black boy lurking behind a +glistening-fronded Cycad. + +The whole scene had undergone wishful transformation. The white-barked +trees, purified of smears from the sooty fingers of fire, stood out in +splendid contrast to a richer, thicker, a flowery undergrowth. Tall fern +trees spread green cobwebs to entrap sunbeams. The Cycad under which the +boy crouched was slim-shaped, and its foliage resembled that of one of +the most beautiful of ferns, with languorous, dolorous fronds, while it +was crowned with a huge fruit of golden-brown. All the scene had +been wondrously transfigured. Time's treacheries had been defeated. +A garden-like age had been restored. The sword-leaved orchid dangled +yard-long sprays of brilliant yellow flowers, which saturated the air +with delicate perfume. Fearless birds fluttered among and hovered over +the pendant blooms, whistling and calling. Water-rats sported in the +lily-bespangled stream, and a platypus basked, on the bank. + +From the strained and expectant attitude of the boy, it was apparent +that he was hunting. He stepped cautiously out of cover, and, using a +wommera of dark wood with oval clutches of white shell, threw a spear +into the long grass. A kangaroo, mad with fear and pain, staggered +forward, knowing not whence fate had struck it, and, lurching +helplessly, sank among the ferns on the margin of the water. Ignoring my +presence the boy, having completed the hunter's office with a blow from +a nulla-nulla, called in a thin, shrill voice: + +"Yano-lee!" (We go this way). + +In a few seconds a young girl of his own race stepped through the leafy +screen. She cast casual glances at the dead kangaroo, and without saying +a word to her companion came to the pool, stooped down beside me, and +drank eagerly and noisily, using a scoop improvised from a leaf. Her +back glistened with perspiration, and her coarse, fuzzy, uncleanly hair +ceased in tufts on her neck. It was a slim and shapely little figure. +The plumes of the orchid, golden and syrupy, swayed over her heedless +head and seemed to caress it. Her eyes, round, large, and brimful of the +bewildering eagerness of youth, relieved the unobtrusive expansiveness +of her nose and almost atoned for her savage lips. Though almost +touching me, the most shy, wild creature of the bush seemed unconscious +of my presence. She was in fact and deed: + +"We have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible." I was the +phantom--invisible, intangible. The pair beside, the unembarrassed +realities. + +Do phantoms reflect? That privilege was mine. Let memory treasure every +detail of the scene, every vestige of its incidents. + +"Kidj-o-bang" had vanished. There was its cell. A full and stainless +stream, in a gurgling cataract, sparkled over the big root, while high +among the blossoms birds clambered incessantly for nectar. + +The primitive pair were at home, but not at case, In this Garden of +Eden. They spoke in mumbling tones, of which I could catch but stray +phrases, though I listened eagerly. Presently the girl took up two +dry sticks, and, using one as a drill between the palms of her hands, +essayed to make a fire. + +The boy imperatively intervened. "Poo-nee imba!" (No fire). + +The girl started up, and instantly both slid into the jungle as silently +and as tracklessly as snakes. + +The dead kangaroo, the expectant phantom (gifted for the time being with +a faculty more subtle than any moral sense), remained alone among the +birds and the orchids, while shy pencil-tailed water-rats began to sniff +and peer among the sedges. So enthralling was the scene that time passed +insensibly. The sun was overhead when the pair reappeared noiselessly. +Smears of shell and grit betrayed an intervening meal of oysters. Swarms +of green ants, in a scramble for food, almost obscured the blood-stains +on the fur of the kangaroo, and, brushing them away, the boy made and +enlarged with his fingers an opening in the body, and having torn out +the heart, liver, and kidneys, made a fire, scarce a hand's-breadth wide +and smokeless, on which the meat was singed prior to being munched with +grim deliberation. They ate largely, some of the flesh from the hind +quarters being also eaten, scrap by scrap. + +Were they fugitives? Tall and strong, the boy was as alert and +suspicious as a dingo. Every sense was strained. He seemed intent upon +subduing the very noises in his head as he slowly crushed his food and +gulped. + +A forlorn cry, half appeal, half gurgle, filtered through the leafage as +from the beach, and on the instant the jungle had soundlessly absorbed +the affrighted pair. The handful of fire and the mutilated kangaroo +remained as the only evidences of the handiwork of man. + +What of the intruder? The cry was almost too weird to be human. Again it +thrilled through the leafage, a trifle stronger, and seemed to convey a +threat commingled with a prayer for succour. + +The scene held me. I was powerless, but not indifferent; capable of +sight, incapable of action or utterance. Something in the tone of the +voice told of a member of my own race in sore distress. Yet I could not +respond to his appeal or move to his aid. + +Half an hour of intense silence passed, and then a lusty shout startled +the air. Surely, I thought, the wayfarer who makes such outcry in this +unpeopled wilderness is an uncouth fellow who has lost his way and +thinks to dialogue with echoes for relief of loneliness. Presently the +cracking of branchlets and a rumble of discontented phrases told of +someone blundering along through the mangroves. Accustomed to the +gentle sounds and the delicious silence of the jungle, the clumsy noises +irritated while preparing me for the sight of the intruder--a big, +aggressive, weather-scored man, his only clothing a pair of short pants +of canvas, stained with wear and stiff and whitened with frost like +sea-salt. The ocean had but an hour ago cast him like its scum on the +beach. + +He burst on the scene to plunge his broken lips into the water at my +feet. Like the natives, he drank long and noisily, and when his thirst +was allayed called to an imaginary mate--"Pietro, Pietro!" cursed freely +when no answer came, and whimpered like a babe. + +Huge of body, strong of limb, bully and brute stamped on his coarse +features, yet did his dread of loneliness piteously overcome him. His +bald pate, hung about with scant reddish ringlets, had been roasted by +the tropic sun until it glowed, and eyes and nose strove for supremacy +of inflammation. An unkempt moustache did not hide teeth of disreputable +tint; chin and jowl were covered with a fortnight's growth of streaky +hair. + +Turning from the water, he saw the dismembered kangaroo, and, seizing +one of the legs, tore the flesh from the bones and with ravenous greed +began an uncleanly feast. The impure drank of the pure water and gulped +the strong flesh until his gorged stomach swelled cask-shape, and then +he slept as noisily as he had eaten and drank. + +A leathern belt, cracked and whitened, furrowed his distended girth, +and as he lay stretched with the sun scrutinising his face, flies and +mosquitoes and carnivorous green ants feasted on his blood at will. +Each leaden-tinted, lean fly revelled until it assumed similitude to +a colouring grape, some "reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken +men"; bloated mosquitoes and green ants, commingling, made a living +mosaic on the skin of the unconscious man. What could the assaults and +stings of myriads of insects avail against fatigue so formidable? + +But a decree had gone forth that the sleeper should wake, and who is man +that he should flout imperious commands? The merciless sun insisted. The +strong man fidgeted under the persistent blaze. Perspiration poured from +his skin; he snarled; his eyelids twitched and quivered; the veins +of neck and forehead throbbed ominously. The sun does not tolerate +disobedience. A thin trickle of blood issued from the grimy nose, and +with a snort the man awoke, his flame-red eye% swilled with enforced +tears. Dazedly he plunged his head into the water and drank greedily, +and, sitting up, spat sullenly and with signs of disgust and contempt. +What comfort could cold water afford so repleted a stomach? + +Having disdainfully spurned the remnants of the kangaroo, he sat head +between knees, grumbling against fate. To him the fruitful and pleasant +land was disconsolate. A castaway, he had drifted on to its welcome +shores, and all that it could offer was loneliness, cold water, the raw +flesh of a strange animal, and denial of the solace of sleep. Out of the +depths of his misery and dejection he called imperatively on his God, +and taking from the lining of his belt a thumb-sized purse, of netted +silver, displayed a glorious pearl, which he held aloft, and with an +admixture of supplication and imprecation proffered it to the Most High +as grudging ransom from a God-abandoned country. + +Who is there that delights not in the susceptible purity of pearls? The +gem which symbolises virginal placidity was like to be contaminated by +the coarse handling of the fretful, bargaining castaway. + +Did I lean forward acquisitively to accept it from the noisome fingers, +reluctant that so serene a prize should be retained in so coarse a +setting? + +The man started, for the votive offering had vanished, and blasphemous +lamentations and curses against the Supreme Being, whom he abused for +defrauding him of fortune by trickery, shocked the quietude. Then a +spasm of religious fervour jerked him to his knees as he patronised the +Almighty for having accepted a pledge for safe-conduct from death-like +solitude. After transports of impious piety, as uncouth and boisterous +as his struggles through the labyrinth of mangroves to the purifying +water, he sat bareheaded in the sun. + +Steamy heat distilled strong aromatic odours from the myriad leaves; +languid flowers gave copiously and of the best of their fragrance; ferns +and lotus did obeisance to high noon. The birds had ceased to whistle, +and the droning of bees gave to the upper air slumbering rhythm of its +own. + +Again the intruder slept. Again the sun commanded and he woke raging. +Standing, he cursed both loud and long, eyes protuberant, face purpling +under the strain of vindictive oaths. + +What an unflattering contrast to the unclad natives who had dominated +yet blended with the scene-the girl the prototype of a swaying palm, the +boy that of a tough young bloodwood beside the creek, among the topmost +branches of which a crimson-flowered mistletoe made a splash of colour +in harmony with the single red feather from the wing of a black cockatoo +which the soft-tongued youth had entangled in his hair. + +This gross, profane, sun-smitten, sea-rejected herald of civilisation, +disowned by his fellows, disinherited of the world, defiled the spot, +and his voice created an inaugural discord. + +With arms uplifted, he muttered ineffectual curses against his fellows, +upbraided his saints, and defied his deity. But while his lips frothed +with the passion of a stuttering tongue, the provoked but just genius +of the spot passed sentence, and swiftly and silently the messengers of +Death came. Four slender spear& penetrated his shaggy chest, as with +a &cream which ended lit a gulp he splashed back into the water. His +struggles and splutterings soon ceased. Silence resumed its fascination. + +Blood welled from the mouth and nose and spear wounds, which the eager +water carried off in wavy, independent streams, while the dead face +whitened. + +Many minutes elapsed before a dozen white-eyed natives cautiously oozed +through the Jungle, stimulating each other's nervousness by reassuring +gestures. Certain that the trespasser on their dominion was incapable of +mischief, they began to chatter, showing fidgety interest in the body, +which they touched and poked fearsomely with spears. + +Dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the sun through a curtain of water, +which had already cleaned them of heat and passion, and wisps of red +hair drifted over the forehead. + +The untimely yelp of a dingo some few yards in the jungle inspired a +similar response from one of the men, and without shyness or reserve the +boy and girl joined the throng, and all began to talk excitedly. Some +of the men assumed threatening attitudes towards the girl, who stood +submissively, while the boy talked in a rage of excitement. He had +chosen his mate, and would not, even on pain of summary death, abandon +her. + +So trivial an incident as the love affairs of boy and girl could not +compare with the phenomenon in the water. The crisis was momentary. +Amazement was pictured in every face, and not a man but subjected the +bleeding body to gross contempt and what passed among them for ridicule. +They mimicked the high stomach as they stood, as the dead man had stood, +with arms aloft in rebellion against his lot, and fell back, as he had +fallen, screaming, to kick and wallow on the ground. Here was plot and +matter for ludicrous corroboree, the first rehearsal of which took place +on the scene. + +Soon curiosity took possession of the unstable actors. The belt was +removed, and on the purse being fumbled with, several small pearls fell +out. They were disregarded; but the strong man of the party looped the +belt about his own inadequate waist, the girl hid the purse (which had +been passed from hand to hand) in her hair, while the men tore the bone +buttons from the pants and fitted them into their ears as they strutted +foppishly. + +The dead eyes stared defiantly up into the sky, the face whitened, and +the stains of blood seemed to settle on it. + +A harsh sound came as an electric shock, and I heard as from afar off +Piln-goi shout: + +"You bin sleep long time, boss! Big low water. We fella look out +pearl-shell!" + +The scene had resumed everyday aspects. The sun concentrated its rays on +my head through a rift in the jungle, and the stone, stained dull red, +lay in its cell, while rootlets fringed with tawny slime wavered over +it. + +Had soul communed with soul on that illusive borderland we range in +dreams, the emblem of a deed of blood eloquent to reveal its secret? And +now that the tale is told, will it cease from bewildering the simple old +men of the soil who with one hand grapple the magical past and with the +other the realities of the present? + +Piln-goi's impatience drew me from the spot and out on to the reef laid +bare by the ebb. The beguiling pearl still eludes him, but memory holds +a rarer treasure than all the fecund sea contains. + + + +End + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. 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J. Banfield + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + .side { float: right; font-size: 75%; width: 25%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; margin-left: 0.8em; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. Banfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tropic Days + +Author: E. J. Banfield + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7324] +This file was first posted on April 14, 2003 +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROPIC DAYS *** + + + + +Text file produced by Col Choat + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + TROPIC DAYS (1918) + </h1> + <h2> + By E. J. Banfield + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h5> + Author Of “The Confessions Of A Beachcomber” And “My Tropic Isle” + </h5> + <h5> + <br /> <br /> + </h5> + <h4> + “Peace and silence. . . combined with the large liberties of nature."<br /> + De Quincey + </h4> + <h4> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </h4> + <h3> + TO <br /> <br /> MY BROTHER BEACHCOMBERS; Professing, Practising + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> AUTHOR'S NOTE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>PART I—SUN DAYS</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> IN IDLE MOMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> ETERNAL SUNSHINE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE SCENE-SHIFTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> BEACH PLANTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> SHADOWS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> “SMILING MORN” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> ANCESTRAL SHADE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> QUIET WATERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> “THE LOWING HERD” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> BABBLING BEACHES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> THE LOST ISLE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <b>PART II.—THE PASSING FACE</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> THE CANOE-MAKER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> TWO LADIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> SOOSIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> BLUE SHIRT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> THE FORGOTTEN DEAD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> EAGLES-NEST FLOAT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> NATURE IN RETALIATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> “STAR RUN ABOUT” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> BLACKS AS FISHERMEN </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> <b>PART III—MISCELLANEA</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> PEARLS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> THE BUSH TRACK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> THE LITTLE BROWN MAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> UP AND AWAY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> “PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> TIME'S FINGER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AUTHOR'S NOTE + </h2> + <p> + In my previous books the endeavour was to give exact if prosaic details of + life on an island off the coast of North Queensland on which a few of the + original inhabitants preserved their uncontaminated ways. Here is + presented another instalment of sketches of a quiet scene. Again an + attempt is made to describe—not as ethnological specimens, but as + men and women—types of a crude race in ordinary habit as they live, + though not without a tint of imagination to embolden the better truths. + </p> + <p> + I thankfully acknowledge indebtedness to my friends Mr. Charles Hedley, of + the Australian Museum (Sydney); Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of the + Queensland Museum; and Mr. Dodd S. Clarke, of Townsville, N.Q., for + valuable aid in the preparation of my notes for publication. + </p> + <h3> + DUNK ISLAND. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I—SUN DAYS + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IN IDLE MOMENT + </h2> + <p> + “'Are you not frequently idle?' 'Never, brother. When we are not engaged + in our traffic we are engaged in our relaxations.'”—BORROW. + </p> + <p> + On the smooth beaches and in the silent bush, where time is not regulated + by formalities or shackled by conventions, there delicious lapses—fag-ends + of the day to be utilised in a dreamy mood which observes and accepts the + happenings of Nature without disturbing the shyest of her manifestations + or permitting 'the-mind to dwell on any but the vaguest speculations. + </p> + <p> + Such idle moments are mine. Let these pages tell of their occupation. + </p> + <p> + As the years pass it is proved that the administration of the affairs of + an island, the settled population of which is limited to three, involves + pleasant though exacting duties. It is a gainful government—not + gainful in the accepted sense, but in all that vitally matters—personal + freedom, absence of irksome regulations remindful of the street, liberty + to enjoy the mood of the moment and to commune with Nature in her most + fascinating aspects. Those who are out of touch with great and dusty + events may, by way of compensation, be the more sensitive to the processes + of the universe, which, though incessantly repeated, are blessed with + recurrent freshness. + </p> + <p> + The sun rises, travels across a cloudless sky, gleams on a sailless sea, + disappears behind purple mountains gilding their outline, and the day is + done. Not a single dust-speck has soiled sky or earth; not the faintest + echo of noisy labours disturbed the silences; not an alien sight has + intruded. What can there be in such a scene to exhilarate? Must not the + inhabitants vegetate dully after the style of their own bananas? Actually + the day has been all too brief for the accomplishment of inevitable duties + and to the complete enjoyment of all too alluring relaxations. + </p> + <p> + Here is opportunity to patronise the sun, to revel in the companionship of + the sea, to confirm the usage of beaches, to admonish winds to seemliness + and secrecy, to approve good-tempered trees, to exchange confidences with + flowering plants, to claim the perfumed air, to rejoice in the silence— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which pries not to th' interior.” + </pre> + <p> + How oft is the confession that the fullest moments of life are achieved + when I roam the beaches with little more in the way of raiment than + sunburn and naught in hand save the leaves of some strange, sand-loving + plant? Then is it that the individual is magnified. The sun salutes. The + wind fans. The sea sighs a love melody. The caressing sand takes print of + my foot alone. All the world might be mine, for none is present to dispute + possession. The sailless sea smiles in ripples, and strews its verge with + treasures for my acceptance. The sky's purity enriches my soul. Shall I + not joy therein? + </p> + <p> + Though he may be unable to attain those moments of irresistible intuition + which came to Amiel, when a man feels himself great like the universe and + calm like a god, one may thrill with love and admiration for Nature + without resigning sense of superiority over all other of her works or + abating one jot of justifiable pride. + </p> + <p> + Even in tropical Queensland there is a sense of revivification during the + last half of August and first of September, and the soul of man responds + thereto, as do plants and birds, in lawful manner. Perhaps it is that the + alien dweller in lands of the sun, when he frisks mentally and physically + at this sprightly season, is merely obeying an imperative characteristic + bred into him during untold generations when the winter was cruelly real + and spring a joyful release from cold and distress. The cause may be + slight, but there is none to doubt the actual awakening, for it is + persuasive and irresistible. + </p> + <p> + The lemon-trees are discarding the burden of superfluous fruit with almost + immoderate haste, for the gentle flowers must have their day. Pomeloes + have put forth new growth a yard long in less than a fortnight, and are + preparing a bridal array of blooms such as will make birds and butterflies + frantic with admiration and perfume the scene for the compass of a mile. + The buff-and-yellow sprays of the mango attract millions of humming + insects, great and small. Most of the orchids are in full flower, the + coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of bud, loose bunches of + white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and the sunflower-tree is + blotched with gold in masses. The birds make declaration of attachment for + the season. + </p> + <p> + Great trees, amorous birds, frail insects, perceive the subtle influence + of the season, and shall not coarse-fibred man rejoice, though there be + little or nothing to which he may point as special evidence of + inspiration? He may feel the indefinable without comprehending any + material reason why. He may confess, although there is but a trifle more + sunshine than a month ago—and what influence a trifle where there is + so much—and scarcely any difference of temperature, that Nature is + insisting on obedience to one of her mighty laws—the law of + heredity. Why, therefore, refrain from justifying the allusion? Why + persist in declining the invitations of the hour? Far be it from me to do + so. Is sufferance the cognizance of this Free Isle? + </p> + <p> + All my days are Days of the Sun. All my days are holy. Duty may suggest + the propriety of contentment within four walls. Inclination and the thrill + of the season lure me to gloat over the more manifest of its magic. Be + sure that, unabashed and impenitent, shall I riot over sordid industry + during the most gracious time of year to hearken to the eloquence and + accept the teachings of unpeopled spaces. + </p> + <p> + Such is the silence of the bush that the silken rustle of the butterflies + becomes audible and the distinctive flight of birds is recognised—not + alone such exaggerated differences as the whirr of quail, the bustle of + scrub fowl, and the whistle and clacking of nutmeg pigeons, but the + delicate and tender characteristics of the wing notes of the meeker kinds + of doves and the honey-eaters, and also the calculated flutterings of the + fly-catchers. In the whistling swoop of the grey goshawk there is a note + of ominous blood-thirstiness, silent though the destroyer has sat awaiting + the moment for swift and decisive action. + </p> + <p> + Seldom, even on the stillest evening, may the presence of the night-jar be + detected, except by its coarse call, while the sprightly little sun-bird + flits hither and thither, prodigal of its vivid colours and joying with + machine-like whirring. The sun-bird exemplifies the brightness of the day. + All its activities are bold and conspicuous. Aptly named, it has nothing + to hide, no deeds which will not withstand the scrutiny of the vividest + rays. + </p> + <p> + To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on secret doings and on + flight soft as a falling leaf. It is a bird of the twilight and night. + Startled from brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is + ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad daylight it moves + from its resting-place as a leaf blown by an erratic and sudden puff, and + vanishes as it touches the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. Mark the spot + of its vanishment and approach never so cautiously, and you see naught. + Peer about and from your very feet that which had been deemed to be a + shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a phantom zephyr. + </p> + <p> + The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains a puzzle. It moves not, + it may not blink. Its crafty parent has so nibbled and frayed the edges of + the decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that it has become + absorbed in the scene. There is nothing to distinguish between the + leaf-like feathers and the feather-like leaves. The instinct of the bird + has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, and to be discovered + only by the critical inspection of every inch of its environment. You have + found it; but not for minutes after its instinct has warned it to possess + its soul calmly and not to be afraid. So firm is its purpose that if + inadvertently you put your foot on its tender body it would not move or + utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated on impassiveness, and thus + does Nature guard its weakest and most helpless offspring. + </p> + <p> + While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the tiny creature which suffers + handling without resistance, the shred of bark, driven by the + imperceptible zephyr, falls a few yards away, and in an agony of anxiety + utters an imploring purr, or was it an imprecation? That half purr, half + hiss has been the only sound of the episode. It is a warning to be gone + and leave Nature to her secrets and silences. + </p> + <p> + A month's abstinence may not be a very severe penance for an island on + which the rainfall averages 124 inches per year; but when vegetation + suffers from the cruelty of four almost rainless months, promises and + slights amount to something more than mere discourtesy. How genuine the + thanksgiving to the soft skies after an incense-stimulating shower. + Insects whirl in the sunshine. Among the pomelo-trees is a cyclone of + scarcely visible things. Motes and specks of light dance in disorderly + figures, to be detected as animated objects only by gauzy wings catching + the light and reflecting it. Each insect, wakened but an hour ago by the + warmth of the moist soil, in an abandonment of the moment, is a helioscope + transmitting signals of pure pleasure. Drops still linger on myriads of + leaves, and glitter on the glorious gold of the Chinese laburnum; the air + is saturated with rich scents, and the frolicking crowd, invisible but for + the oblique light, does not dream of disaster. Their crowded hour has + attracted other eyes, appreciative in another sense. Masked wood-swallows, + swiftlets, spangled drongos, leaden fly-eaters, barred-shouldered + fly-eaters, hurry to the circus to desolate it with hungry swoops. The + assemblage is noisy, for two or three drongos cannot meet without making a + clatter on the subject of the moment. They cannot sing, but clink and + jangle with as much intensity and individual satisfaction as if gifted + with peerless note. It is the height of the season, and a newly matched + pair, satisfied with an ample meal, sit side by side on a branch to tell + of their love, and in language which, though it may lack tunefulness, has + the outstanding quality of enthusiasm. But why waste clamorous love-notes + on a world busy with breakfast? The sportful, tail-flicking dandy flits + and alights so that he may address himself solely to his delighted and + accepting spouse, peering into her reddish eyes the while, and in ecstasy + proclaiming, in tones as loud and unmusical as her own, that life + overflows with joy when mutual admiration surcharges the breast. + </p> + <p> + The noise stays a company of metallic starlings in headlong flight from + the nest-laden tree in the forest to the many-fruited jungle. Though they + most conscientiously search the fronds of coco-nut palms for insignificant + grubs and caterpillars, starlings do not hawk for insects. Held up by the + excitement—for by this time other birds have darted to the feast—the + starlings alight among the plumes of the laburnum, interrogating in + acidulous tones, their black, burnished, iridescent feathers and + flame-hued eyes making a picture of rare vividness and beauty. + </p> + <p> + How thin becomes the throng! Last night's shower, the morning warmth of + the soil, have brought forth a gush of life that wheels and sparkles in + the sun and becomes bait for birds. Are droughts designed by Nature to + test endurance on the part of animal and vegetable life? Leaves fall from + evergreen trees almost as completely as from the deciduous, and even the + jungle is thickly strewn, while every slight hollow is filled with brittle + debris where usually leaves are limp with dampness and mould. The jungle + has lost, too, its rich, moist odours. Whiffs of the pleasant earthy + smell, telling of the decay of clean vegetable refuse, do issue in the + early morning and after sundown; but while the sun is searching out all + the privacies of the once dim area, the wholesome fragrance does not + exist. + </p> + <p> + Drought proves that certain species of exotic plants are hardier than + natives. Wattles suffer more than mangoes, and citrus fruits have powers + of endurance equal to eucalyptus. Whence does the banana obtain the liquid + which flows from severed stem and drips from the cut bunch? Dig into the + soil and no trace of even dampness is there; but rather parched soil and + unnatural warmth, almost heat. Heat and moisture are the elements which + enable one of the most succulent of plants to bear a bunch of fruit + luscious and refreshing, and when heat alone prevails, the wonder is that + the whole patch of luxuriant greenness does not collapse and wither. But + the broad leaves woo the cool night airs, and while the thin, harsh, tough + foliage of the wattles becomes languid and droops and falls, the banana + grove retains its verdancy, each plant a reservoir of sap. + </p> + <p> + A noteworthy feature of the botany of the coast of tropical Queensland is + its alliance with the Malayan Archipelago and India. Most of the related + plants do not occur in those parts closest to other equatorial regions in + the geographical sense, but in localities in which climate and physical + conditions are similar. Probably there are more affinities in the coastal + strip of which this isle is typical than in all the rest of the continent + of Australia. One prominent example may be mentioned-viz., “the + marking-nut tree.” When the distinctiveness of the botany of the southern + portions of Australia from that of the old country began to impress itself + on the earliest settlers, the miscalled native cherry was the very first + on the list of reversals. The good folks at home were told that the seeds + of the Australian cherry “grow on the outside.” The fruit of the cashew or + marking-nut tree betrays a similar feature in more pronounced fashion. The + fruit is really the thickened, succulent stalk of the kidney-shaped nut. + The tint of the fruit being attractive, unsophisticated children eat of it + and earn scalded lips and swollen tongues, while their clothing is stained + indelibly by the juice. Botanists know the handsome tree as SEMECARPUS + AUSTRALIENSIS, but by the indignant parent of the child with tearful and + distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the + “tar-tree,” and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk + beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but + the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so that + unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree, which + belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and there are + those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in other parts + of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a valuable means + to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. A tree that is + ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty and strange + fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, is not to be + condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character. + </p> + <p> + An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when roasted + is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail or promotion + nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially indigestible + unless eaten in immoderate quantity. + </p> + <p> + One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family + exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer + fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion + arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of + varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable + inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to + credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while + individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral lobes, + with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal forms + tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. There + seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches + exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are, + according to local observation, invariably barren. The leaves, which, when + young, are densely hairy on the underside, on maturity become so rough and + coarse that they are used by the blacks as a substitute for sandpaper in + the smoothing of weapons. The fruit is small, dark purple when ripe, + sweet, but rough to the palate. + </p> + <p> + During the fulness of the wet season, a diminutive orchid, the roots, + tuber, leaf, and flower of which may be easily covered by the glass of a + lady's watch, springs upon exposed shoulders of the hills. So far it has + not been recorded for any other part of Australia, or, indeed, the world. + Science has bestowed upon it the title of CORYSANTHES FIMBRIATA, for it is + all too retiring of disposition to demand of man a familiar name. Probably + it may be quite common in similar localities, but its size, its brief + periodicity, and inconspicuousness, contribute to make it, at present, one + of the rarities of botany. Beneath a kidney-shaped leaf a tiny, solitary, + hooded, purple flower shelters with becoming modesty, the art of + concealment being so delicately employed that it seems to preserve its + virginal purity. There is proof, however, that the flower does possess + some “secret virtue,” for if the plant be immersed in glycerine the + preservative takes the hue of the flower. Nature having ordained that the + plants should be elusive, they appear in remote spots and unlikely + situations with foothold among loose and gritty fragments of rock, and + with cessation of the sustaining rains disappear, each having borne but a + single leaf and produced but a solitary flower. The leaf does not seem to + be attractive to insects, nor is the flower despoiled or the tuber + interfered with. The first dry day sears the plants, and succeeding days + shrivel them to dust and they vanish. What part in the great scheme of + Nature does the humble flower fulfil? Or is it merely a lowly decoration, + not designed to court the ardent gaze of the sun, but to brighten an + otherwise bare space of Mother Earth with a spot of fugitive purple? + </p> + <p> + Widely different are the ant-house plants, of which North Queensland has + two genera. One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree like + many of the orchids. In both genera the gouty stems are hollow, a feature + of which ants take advantage; they are merely occupiers, not the makers of + their homes. Few, if any, of the plants are uninhabited by a resentful + swarm, ready to attack whomsoever may presume to interfere with it. It is + discomposing to the uninitiated to find the curious “orchid,” laboriously + wrenched from a tree, overflowing with stinging and pungent ants, nor is + he likely to reflect that the association between the plant and the insect + may be more than accidental. + </p> + <p> + Some of the commonest wattles exhibit singularity of foliage well worth + notice. Upon the germination of the seeds the primary leaves are pinnate. + After a brief period this pretty foliage is succeeded by a + boomerang-shaped growth, which prevails during life. Botanists do not + speak of such trees as possessing leaves, but “leaf-stalks dilated into + the form of a blade and usually with vertical edges, as in Australian + acacias.” If one of these wattles is burnt to the ground, but yet retains + sufficient life to enable it to shoot from the charred stem, the new + growth will be of pinnate leaves, shortly to be abandoned for the + substitutes, which are of a form which checks transpiration and fits the + plant to survive in specially dry localities. Several of the species thus + equipped to withstand drought are extremely robust in districts where the + rainfall is prolific. There are no data available to support the theory + that such species in a wet district are more vigorous and attain larger + dimensions than representatives in drier and hotter localities. In her + distribution of the Australian national flower, Nature seems to be + “careless of the type,” or rather regardless in respect of conditions of + climate. + </p> + <p> + Human beings, and occasionally animals lower in the scale, deviate + distressingly in their conduct from the general. Plants, too, though + lacking the organ of brain, are subject to aberrations of foliage almost + as fantastical as the mental bent which in man is displayed by the + sticking of straws in the hair. “Phyllomania” is the recognised term for + this waywardness. One of the trees of this locality, the raroo (CAREYA + AUSTRALIS), seems singularly prone to the infirmity, for without apparent + cause it abandons habitual ways and clothes its trunk and branches with + huge rosettes of small, slight, and ineffective leaves, evidence, + probably, of vital degeneration. + </p> + <p> + Among the beautiful trees of this Island there is one, PITHECOLOBIUM + PRUINOSUM, possessing features of attraction during successive phases of + growth. The young branches, foliage, and inflorescence, are coated with + minute silky hair, as if dusted with bronze of golden tint. The dense, + light, semi-drooping foliage produces a cloud-like effect, to which the + great masses of buff flowers add a delightful fleeciness, while the ripe + pods, much twisted and involved (to carry similitude as far as it may), + might be likened to dull lightning in thunderous vapour. The tree + flourishes in almost pure sand within a few yards of salt water, and, + being hardy and of clean habit, might well be used decoratively. + </p> + <p> + Standing with its feet awash at high tide, the huge fig-tree began life as + a parasite, the seed planted by a beak-cleaning bird in a crevice of the + bark of its forerunner. In time the host disappeared, embraced and + absorbed. Now the tree is a sturdy host. Another fig envelops some of its + branches, two umbrella-trees cling stubbornly to its sides, a pandanus + palm grows comfortably at the base of a limb, tons of staghorn, + bird's-nest, polypodium, and other epiphytal ferns, have licence to + flourish, orchids hang decoratively, and several shrubs spring aspiringly + among its roots. But the big tree still asserts its individuality. It is + the host, the others merely dependents or tenants. Most of the functions + of the tree are associated with the sea. Twice a year it studs its + branches with pink fruit, food for many weeks for a carnival of birds, the + relics of the feast dully carpeting the sand. Before the first fruiting + the old leaves fall, and for a brief interval the shadows of branches and + twigs, intricate, involved, erratic, might be likened to unschooled + scribblings, with here a flourish and there a blot and many a boisterous + smudge. Soon—it is merely a question of days—the swelling buds + displace millions of leaf-sheaves, pale green and fragile, which fall and, + curling in on themselves, redden, and again the yellow sand is littered, + while overhead fresh foliage, changing rapidly from golden, glistening + brown to rich dark green, makes one compact blotch. And when the wind + torments sea and forest, and branches bend and sway, and creepers drift + before it, the white blooms of the orchids, so light and delicate that a + sigh agitates them, might be “foam flakes torn from the fringe of spray” + and tossed aloft. + </p> + <p> + The technical description of a fairly common tree—IXORA TIMORENSIS—is + silent on a quality that appeals to the unversed admirer almost as + strongly as the handsome flowers, which occur in large, loose panicles at + the terminals of the branches. Boldly exposed, the white flowers as they + lose primal freshness change to cream, but last for several weeks. The + omitted compliment from formal records is the singular fragrance of the + flowers—strong, sweet, and enticing, though with a drug-like savour, + as if rather an artificial addition than a provision of Nature. During + December the perfume hangs heavily about the trees, being specially virile + in the cool of evening and morning. Being confined to the tropical coast, + away from the centres of population, and flowering at a season when + visitors avoid the north, the scented Ixora has so far remained + uncommended. Those who are familiar with it in its native scene dwell on + its unique excellence, and are proud to reflect that when a comprehensive + catalogue of the flowering and perfumed plants of Australia comes to be + compiled it will stand high in order of merit, being unique and + characteristic of the richness of that part of the continent in which it + exists naturally. + </p> + <p> + Twice during lengthy intervals have I been perturbed by the conduct of the + sea-swallows (terns) which breed in this neighbourhood. They select for + their nurseries coral banks, depositing large numbers of eggs beyond the + limit of high tides. In obedience to some law, the joyful white birds + began to lay in September, five or six weeks earlier than usual. It seemed + to be a half-hearted effort to maintain the strength of the colony, the + unanimous and general purpose being postponed for three months, when + numerous clutches and marvellously variegated eggs embellished the coral. + But that which was a perfectly safe and wise undertaking in September was + a foolish and dangerous experiment in December. The tides then approach + their maximum, flooding areas denied three months previously. Wholesale + tragedy was inevitable. The full moon brought bereavement to many parents, + for the sea overwhelmed the nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise + birds had laid their eggs above the limit of the highest tide. Others + screamed in protest against the cruelty of the sea, for eggs and fluffy + chicks do not surely represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several + fledglings were found half buried in sand and coral chips, some with + merely the head with bright and apprehensive eyes obtruding. Why were not + the whole of the parents of the colony prudent when in default the penalty + was inevitable? Five score were wise, five hundred were foolish, and the + natural increase from the second brood must have been seriously + diminished. Several of the parent birds had brooded over their eggs until + overwhelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide limit squatted + buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. Of one the tip of a wing only + protruded. It was alive, fostering unbroken eggs. + </p> + <p> + The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite tree—not + massive and tough, but a slim though tall Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets + of which are not notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, + beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise highly intelligent birds so + overstrain branches with groups of nests that “regrettable incidents” + cannot be averted? First there came to the ground a group of four, and + then twenty nests, all containing eggs or helpless young. By these and + similar mishaps during the season the colony suffered loss to the extent + of at least a hundred. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “But, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather on the outward wall + Even in the force and road of casualty.” + </pre> + <p> + How often, too, do we find nests in places absurdly wrong? Wonderfully and + skilfully constructed nests are attached to supports obviously weak, and + eggs are laid on the ground right in the track of man and less considerate + animals. Some birds seem to lay eggs and rear young solely that snakes may + not lack and suffer hunger, while how large a proportion of beautiful and + innocent creatures are destined to become prey to hawks? + </p> + <p> + Years ago scientific visitors to a coral islet found almost innumerable + sea birds and eggs. The multitude of birds and their prodigious fecundity + inspired the thought that the “rookery” for the whole breadth of the + Indian Ocean had been discovered. Investigations showed that the islet was + also the abiding-place of a certain species of lizard which subsisted + entirely on eggs. It was calculated that not one egg in several hundred + was hatched out; yet in spite of such an extraordinary natural check the + islet was enormously overpopulated. Thousands of birds every year laid + eggs for the maintenance of fat and pompous reptiles, without reflecting + that there were other and lizardless isles on which the vital function of + incubation might be performed without loss. Years after other men of + science sought the isle. Birds seemed to be as numerous as ever, but the + lizards had disappeared. Had the birds been wise enough to perceive that + the plague of lizards had been sent as reproof for overcrowding, or did + the lizards become victims to physical deterioration incident upon + gluttony and sloth? + </p> + <p> + “Into every instinctive act there is an intrusion of reasoned act.” No + doubt; but in the case of the terns—sea-frequenting and sea-loving—which + had not the wit to lay their eggs beyond the reach of spring tides, the + reasoning is the merest intrusion. Yet an instance of what seems to be the + reasoned act of a wasp may be cited. The insect had selected a dead log of + soft wood as a site for its egg-shaft. It was at a spot to which the + occupations of the season took me daily, so that the boring operations + were watched from beginning to end. The work was done rapidly and neatly, + and when all was ready for the deposit of the eggs the insect constructed + from papier-mache-like material a disc-shaped lid exactly fitting the + mouth of the excavation, to which it was attached on its upper edge by a + hinge. Then round and about the disc similar stuff was plastered, so as to + form an irregular splash, imitative of a bird's droppings to the-degree of + perfect deception. In the centre was the lid with the hinge, and + whensoever the insect visited its nursery the lid swung up, closing behind + it. On departure it fell into position. Unless the insect by its presence + betrayed its secret, the shrewdest observer at close quarters would have + been misled. + </p> + <p> + There are reasons for the belief that green tree-ants understand and + respect the laws of neutrality. There are several communities in the + mango-trees, and since some of the trees overhang the fence, the top wire + is used as a highway. When a gate is opened traffic is suspended. In a + minute or two of a busy day there will be considerable gatherings on the + latch-style, and if the intervening space is narrowed by the swing of the + gate the impatient insects begin to make a living bridge across the + perilous gap. At one particular gate, which is opened and shut many times + a day, it has been noticed that the ants never seem to resent + interruptions or to be vexed by them. If they happen to get on the hands + or fingers, they submit to be restored to the gate; but go to the + formicary on the mango-tree half a dozen yards away and offer a friendly + finger, and you will find dozens of pugnacious individuals ready to defend + their home. Do they recognise that they are but pilgrims of the fence, + enjoying certain rights on sufferance, that it is a path of peace on which + belligerents must not intrude, a neutral tract under the custody of the + law of nations, which ants, as well as men, must respect? Whatsoever the + reason, the deportment of the truculent ant on the highway is that of an + upholder of peace at any price. It is to be doubted if the animal world + holds more illustrious examples of heroism than a green tree-ants' nest. + Two or three individuals may be despised as long as their assaults are + confined to the less sensitive parts of the body; but let a huge colony up + among the branches of an orange-tree be disturbed, and the first army + corps instantly mobilised, and it will not be cowardly hastily to retreat. + So eager for the fray are the warriors, so well organised, so completely + devoted to the self-sacrificing duty of protecting the community, that two + distinct methods of advance and attack are exercised forthwith in the + midst of what appears to be calamitous confusion. Swarming on the + extremity of the branches among which the formicary is constructed, the + defenders, projecting their terminal segments as far into space as + possible, eject formic acid in the direction of the enemy. Like shrapnel + from machine guns, the liquid missile sweeps a considerable area. Against + the sunlight it appears as a continuous spray, and should one + infinitesimal drop descend into the eye the stoutest mortal will blink. + Attacks are made singly and in detachments. Heroes actually hurl + themselves from the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run along + the ground and, scaling his legs, inflict punishment on the first + convenient patch of unprotected skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in + a mass to the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes happens to + be successful, the observant man will retire with little of his dignity + remaining. + </p> + <p> + It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire tastes for the sweet + fruits which man cultivates. One of the honey-eaters, the diet of which + ranges from nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, as bitter + as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate for the thorough ripening of + bananas. While on the plant the fruit is not appreciated, but after the + bunch has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits are changing + colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly bunches were ripened in a + thatched building for the the most part open, and the bird got the very + best of the bunch. Now the process takes place where the bird has to + venture through wire-netting. It has no fear, entering without ceremony, + loudly complaining when inadvertently disturbed, and flying to other parts + of the house to express remonstrance when the supply is exhausted. + </p> + <p> + Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of observation of some birds + and increases the trustfulness of certain species towards human beings in + a region wherein they are held to have rights on equality with those of + their superiors in the animal world. For years, during the few weeks which + generally intervene between the disappearance of accustomed water reserves + and the beginning of the wet season, with its super-abundance, the + metallic starlings have been wont to obtain refreshment from a hollow far + up a huge tea-tree, the supply in which seemed to be inexhaustible. The + tyrant's plea, necessity, ordained the destruction of the never-failing + tree, and now the starlings descend by the hundred into the deep and shady + ravine whence water is pumped, and drink also from the cattle-trough and + bathe therein with noise and excitement of happy children on the beach. It + is quite within the mark to compute the starlings by the hundred. The + trough is edged nearly all day long by thirsty or dirty birds, while + scores sit round among the shrubs waiting turn and commenting on the + frolics and splashings of others in excitable tones. When, perhaps, there + are but a poor dozen or so round the trough, you may chance to see the + birds in attitudes more varied than those of Pliny's doves, and catch the + shadows of burnished necks darkening the water, as in that famous mosaic, + and even the glistening reflection of the red, jewel-like eyes. Other + birds, with far less assurance and shrill clamour than the lovely + starlings, visit the trough regularly and by the score. Two species of + honey-eaters are seldom unrepresented. The barred-shouldered dove, the + spangled drongo, the noisy pitta, the red-crowned fruit pigeon, the + pheasant-tailed pigeon, are less frequent visitors; and though the + purple-breasted fruit pigeon—the most magnificent of all—talks + to his mate in coarse gutturals from the trees above, he has not been seen + actually drinking. So shy and furtive a bird would choose his time for + refreshment when there is little likelihood of interruption. In the ravine + there are often metallic starlings by the dozen, and little green pigeons—for + those domiciled come and go at all hours of the day. Occasionally a + sulphur-crested cockatoo comes sailing down to the diminishing pool + through interwoven leafage noiselessly as a butterfly; but scrub fowls, + scared by the apparition in white, scamper off with a clatter, scattering + the dead leaves. In such narrow quarters, birds are under restraint, and + show anxiety and apprehension. There is no sport or play. They drink + quickly and with faculties strained, and flutter off excitedly on the + least alarm. Well may they be suspicious, for is not the cool spot + attractive to the sly enemy, the green snake, which conceals its presence + by faithful resemblance to the creepers among which it glides? Here, too, + come millions of industrious bees, and in the dusk the big pencil-tailed + water-rat, which the masterful dog kills with as little ceremony as he + does the bird-scaring snakes. + </p> + <p> + It was late for cockatoos to start on their daily flight to the mainland + from the big tree close to the twin palms half-way up the hill, and as + they flew hastily and in close company they scolded each other in + unmannerly terms. The language must have been vexing, for as they sped + along far above the passionless sea one jostled the other. It was just the + sort of action to provoke hungry, peevish birds to vindictiveness. That + which had been jostled turned on the offender with angry shrieking, and + instantly a clamorous fight was in progress. Claws became interlocked, and + they fell each with distended crest, like a gilt-edged cloudlet following + the setting sun. Shadow and substance met with a splash. The sea + momentarily swallowed the combatants. Then a yellow note of exclamation + appeared, and with laboured flutterings, using his enemy as a base, one + rose and struggled to the beach oaks. Frantic wing-beating showed that the + other bird was in serious difficulties. It was a hundred yards out, but + the enjoyment of a sunbath after a sea frolic enabled one to proceed to + the rescue without preliminaries. Half drowned and completely cowed, the + bird was now confronted by a more awful peril than that of the sea. A + bedraggled crest indicated horror at the steady approach of the enemy man, + whose presence stimulated the sodden bird to such extraordinary efforts + that it succeeded in rising and in making slow, low flight to the beach. + </p> + <p> + At dawn a bat flew into a spider's web spun during the night, the + extremities of the wings being so entangled that struggling was almost + impossible. A big spider pounced on it. Not a minute elapsed from the + entanglement until the bat was released, but the venom of the spider had + done its work. There was not a sign of life. The spider is dark grey in + colour, bloated of body, slothful, and of most retiring disposition. + Huddled up into almost spherical form, it lurks in dark places, which it + soon makes insanitary. In the open it crouches among dead leaves which + have gathered in the fork of a tree, and will construct a web which spans + the coconut avenue with its stays. From one aspect its rotund body invites + a good-humoured smile, for the marking exactly simulates the features of a + tabby cat, well fed, sleepy, and in placid mood. Venom of virulence to + kill a bat almost instantly would be severe enough to a human being. This + dirty, obese spider deserves little consideration at the hand of man. + </p> + <p> + A moonless, cloudless night. The little praam takes the ground in the bay + a few yards from the beach, and in the midst of a constellation of + “jelly-fishes” spherical in form and varying in size. The larger are so + many pale blue orbs floating lazily in a luminous mist, the only visible + manifestation of life being a delicate but rhythmical deepening of the + central hue. The wash of my wading seems not to affect them. I become + conscious of the sudden appearance and swift disappearance of lesser + spheres of startling brilliance. They emerge from nothingness, pause for a + moment, and shoot towards me with extraordinary impulse. Each is a mere + globule, resplendently blue. The tint intensifies as with accelerated + velocity the atom flies until of its own excessive energy it explodes with + a shell-like flash, leaving a sinuous trail of golden light. To burst into + sight, gather force, to flash and slowly vanish—such is the sum of + life of a speck of sea-jelly. To be the centre towards which scores of the + watery meteors gravitate, to witness their apparently spontaneous + beginning, their swift, brief, but ineffectual career and lingering end, + delights this night of darkness. How many of the race of man are there + whose post-mortem glory outshines life tenfold? + </p> + <p> + Beneath a slab of dead coral on the reef there was revealed one of those + primitive and curious marine animals which has no common name, but which + science recognises as SYNAPTA BESELLI. It is a relation of the + béche-de-mer, of snake-like form, with a group of gills differentiating + the head. Playing about it were three or four little fish which + immediately took advantage of the only remaining cover, the body of the + Synapta, snoodling beside it so artfully that they were quite concealed. + The protector did not appear to resent the close company of the fish, + which remained perfectly motionless. In a few seconds the Synapta began to + extrude its feathery gills, which had been partly retracted on + disturbance. I counted the gills, and while my forefinger indicated the + sixth, a little fish, not previously noticed, appeared at the focus and + edged off to the margin of the pool, now and again making decided efforts + to regain its sanctuary. It was about an inch long and a third deep, ruby + red, with pink undersides and pink, transparent fins. Three narrow bands + of silver edged with lavender extended across the shoulder. Life gave it + jewel-like lustre. The companionship between the slow and feeble Synapta, + one of the most primitive of sea things, and the brilliant, agile fish may + be another instance of commensalism. + </p> + <p> + No one who parades a coral reef can fail to be impressed by the various + means adopted by its weaker denizens to evade the consequences of + conspicuousness. Among the vast multitude of creatures, mostly hostile to + each other, few are more remarkable than the crabs, not only on account of + form and habit, but for care of themselves during the periodic casting of + their shells. They therefore represent an entertaining study and a + never-ending source of pleasure to the observer, who, as he happens on + some fantastic member of the family, wonders, remembering his Shakespeare, + what impossible matter will Nature make easy next. Dreamy little ripples + were laying on the strands sprays of seaweed, torn from the reef which was + not quite out of the influence of the easterly swell. The conditions were + ordinary, but one fragment made itself noticeable by slight, almost + undiscernible, but still distinctive efforts to regain the water, whence + it was separated by a few inches. Seaweed alone was visible as it rested + on the palm of the hand. Presently it moved hesitatingly and with infinite + slowness, and, being reversed, revealed itself as a “watery” crab under + living disguise. The specimen was sent to the Australian Museum, Sydney, + where it came under the hands of my friend Mr. Allan R. McCulloch, who + devotes himself to the phenomena of the sea; and since his references to + it are explicit and authoritative, they will be more acceptable than + generalities from an uninformed pen: “The crab you sent is the second + specimen known of ZEWA BANFIELDI, which I described from a dried specimen + received from you some years ago. Not only the species, but the genus + also, was unknown until you gave me the opportunity of describing this + interesting beast. It is one of the spider crabs, or Oxyrhynchus, most of + which have long horns projecting from the rostrum, and are more or less + thickly covered with stiff curled setae, to which seaweeds, sponges, and + other marine growths—selected according to the taste of the bearer—are + attached. When these crabs shed their shells, which they must do + periodically to allow of growth, they retire to a dark corner and draw + themselves out of a slit between the back and the abdomen, legs and all, + which must, I imagine, be a delicate and somewhat painful proceeding. + After emerging, they are, of course, quite soft, and the setae on the + carapace and legs are flexible. The crab then selects choice bits of weed + from its old shell and fastens them to itself by the setae, which soon + curl at the tips like the tendrils of a vine, and so hold them firmly. The + weeds and sponges, requiring no roots, but merely a secure base, readily + grow in their new position, and so cover their host with a sheltering + disguise, enabling it to sally forth in quest of fresh loves and other + adventures. I am sending the reprint with the original description and + figure, also a sketch of the crab with its weedy garments. Much of the + weed had become detached on its arrival here, which is, perhaps, + fortunate, since the sketch would otherwise have shown merely a cluster of + weeds.” It could be well wished that the specimen had retained the whole + of its floral cloak, for then the sketch would have shown its deceptive + qualities in perfection. Masquerading as a spray of seaweed, the crab + eludes its enemies, the mask being of such high order that even man, with + his perceptions, does not penetrate it unless he exercises his reasoning + faculties. Because he knows that a spray of seaweed is not endowed with + independent movement, when it does walk about he, at first, is as + incredulous as was Macbeth when told of that “moving grove” of Birman. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ETERNAL SUNSHINE + </h2> + <p> + “North Queensland is my country. I love it. I live in it. I would die for + it.”—DODD S. CLARKE. + </p> + <p> + To those who earnestly believe that a country exercises dominance over its + inhabitants, mental as well as physical, the present state of North + Queensland offers interesting problems. Save for a fast-disappearing + remnant, gone are the original occupiers of the land. The most listless, + the least thrifty of the old peoples, have given place to representatives + of the most adventurous, the most successful—men and women of + British blood, of progressive ideas, vaunting and independent spirit, but + with slight respect for the traditions of their race. Apt to regard their + own land as all-sufficient, to resent the incoming of strangers + (especially those of dark complexion), determined to exclude coloured + labour from tropical fields, while demanding higher and yet higher + recompense for work which in other equatorial regions is deemed to be + servile, on what grounds do they base the hope of adapting themselves to + their environment, of becoming children of the soil? + </p> + <p> + The genius of the race forbids degeneracy. Marked and sudden improvement + may be expected if examples drawn from the lower animals and certain + plants are applicable. Huxley laid it down that “the animals and plants of + the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in the + Southern Hemisphere as its own autochones, but are in many cases + absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. + Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabits a country is not + necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions.” + Australian aboriginals having given way before a race better fitted to + flourish, what will the future of the new race be? What ideal is at + present pursued? + </p> + <p> + To one who firmly upholds the theory of the evolution of Australian types, + and who thinks he perceives convincing evidence in support of his belief, + it seems likely that on the tropical coast, where the influence of the sun + is all-powerful, rainfall abundant, and vegetation prolific, the type will + not only be more rapidly developed, but that it will be pronounced in + bodily form, in tongue, and in temperament. One of the reasons compelling + towards such conclusion is the decided desire—nay, the ambition—on + the part of native-born Australians to do glad and seemly homage to the + sun. + </p> + <p> + If a traveller from distant and friendly lands were to accept as germs of + a type those who sport in the surf at fashionable watering-places, he + might infer from the display of brown backs and shoulders that Australia + had not escaped a smudge of aboriginal blood. But this ardently cultivated + tint is notoriously impermanent. Contradictory as it may be, the most + earnest advocates of the “White Australia” principle use more than the + average quantity of oil, which makes the skin to shine and embrown under + the influence of the much-loved sun. Do not their shoulders bear testimony + to the sun's wholesome salutations, and does not the too fair and + thin-skinned individual smart under his peeling and display envy against + the favoured ones who burn to the tint of old copper? Naturally, those who + have the most intense longing for a coloured skin, who persistently seek + to acquire it by exposure to the sun seconded by anointings, will prevail. + In the course of a few generations—it would be idle to say how many—the + type will be fixed and the unguent superfluous; in the meantime the use of + coco-nut oil has become one of the confirmed customs of the country, as in + Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific. + </p> + <p> + If “beauty born of murmuring sound” may enhance the charms of maidenhood, + is it too much to expect that sunburn, fervently desired, may not only + permanently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of the race? And + thus in years to come the white Australian may be of the past—transformed + physically by the supremacy of soil and sun, and improved in disposition + and character by economic observances as irrefutable as the laws of + Nature. The horses of out dry, stony uplands have already developed hoofs + in shape and texture well adapted to the country over which they roam, and + have become surer-footed and more active and durable. Conditions and + circumstances which in a few generations effect desirable changes in + horses will assuredly be influential in respect of the physique and + stamina and moralities of man. North Queensland will establish a type, + just as Tierra del Fuego did many centuries since, and the type will be + that which is best fitted to maintain itself. It will be brown of + complexion, hardy and alert. North Queensland is expansive and varied. It + comprises a marvellous range of geological phenomena, from which may be + expected remarkable variants. The sheep-grower of the treeless downs will + differ from the denizen of the steamy coast who supplies him with sugar + and bananas. The man from among the limestone bluffs may be in temperament + strange to the dweller on the black soil plains and to the individual who + lives among barren hills seamed with copper. Readers of English books and + magazines are familiar with the little prominence given to matters which + stand for good and worthiness and the stress laid on the seeming + disadvantages of life in tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may + contain a series of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying + information concerning country life in Canada. It is impossible not to + visualise the miles of wheat-fields, the imposing elevators, the railways + cutting across endless prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, + snowcapped as a stage effect merely. The pictures of chubby children and + buxom girls and sturdy boys tell of the healthfulness and invigorating + qualities of the climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada? + Would not the man who whispered of snow and ice be a renegade, a dastard, + a rebel? North Queenslanders do not attempt to belittle the reputation of + Canada as a field for the activities of the surplus population of the old + country. We are of the same blood and breed, and merely ask for a proper + understanding of our own good land. The comfort given to Canada is all in + the family, and an Empire which extends from pole to pole must needs + embrace differences of climate and productions. + </p> + <p> + Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of Empire? Here we bear + our share stripped to the buff, while Canada bustles under an equally + honourable but heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic + son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of North Queensland noon; + while the sweatful North Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous + ice of his far-away cousin. + </p> + <p> + The denizens of the different parts of the Empire quite understand one + another, and realise that to be great the Empire must disregard + temperatures as it does prickly heat and chilblains. Only the casual + visitor fails in this. + </p> + <p> + Sun Days are essential to the production of sugar and bananas and mangoes, + to say nothing of pineapples and other fruits of the tropics. When we are + called upon to endure extraordinary heat, we tell one another of the + penance and find excuse for extra drinks. But neither the heat nor the + comparison of personal experiences is of the injurious nature of some of + the refreshments. The weather is not compounded of excesses, but of means. + Is it not true that few countries in the wide world would be considered + fit for habitation by human beings if the character of the climate was + estimated by its extremes? + </p> + <p> + No North Queenslander will resent records of high temperatures. He will be + quite content to be shown enjoying and flourishing in the heat in which + sugar-cane thrives, for thereby is to be proved a fact theorists seem + unable to grasp—viz., that such is the soundness and virtue of the + British race that it adapts itself with equal success to the long, dark, + cold winter of Canada and the perpetual summer of North Queensland. Who is + to say that the Canadian in his thick woollens and furs is a healthier + subject, a worthier type, than the North Queenslander, stripped to the + waist in the full blaze of the sun, glorying in his own vigour, proud of + his magnificent heritage, and scornful of the opinions of those who have + never experienced that supreme zest of life unpurchasable outside the + tropic zone? + </p> + <p> + With intent to picturesquely demonstrate that soil will tell, some are + ready to assert that we owe Christianity to the horizontal limestone + formation of Palestine. Accepting the theory with whole-hearted + enthusiasm, and admitting that North Queensland comprehends tracts of + country not dissimilar from the Holy Land, mark what the future may have + in store for the race. Do you want old age?—Methuselah, Noah, Isaac. + Strong men?—Gosselin, Samson, Saul. Beautiful women?—Ruth, + Rebecca, Esther. Does not David, the man after God's own heart, appeal? + Was not Solomon, the wise, the glorious, the prolific, a superior type? + And, with all reverence be it said, was not the Founder of the Christian + religion a solar product? + </p> + <p> + Hotter lands beyond the bounds of Palestine gave to the world men and + women whose deeds and influence still astound and stimulate millions of + mankind—the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Pharaoh the Great, Moses the + leader, whom the Lord knew face to face, Joseph the organiser, Mahomet, + the benign Buddha, and all the sages, the poets, the historians, the + architects of the gorgeous East. May not those who elect to live in lands + of high temperature and who are strong in their faith cite apt and + illustrious precedents, and make bold to say that none has exercised more + influence on the minds and destinies of mankind than those born in the + lands of the Sun? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT + </h2> + <p> + “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant + to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.”—Holy Writ. + </p> + <p> + While the remnant of the crop of citrus fruits still hangs on the trees, + after providing refreshing food for six months and more, the blooms which + promise next year's supplies decorate the branches. Is it not pleasing to + have such graceful promises before the burden of the passing season has + disposed of all its sweetness? Possibly these early flowers are destined + to produce fruit for the admiration of living things upon which the + gardener bestows anything but a welcome. It may come to maturity just + after the wet season, when flies and moths feast and corrupt in riot which + provokes to wrath. Inconsequent feeders, they probe the fruit and flit + away after a sip which does not absorb a thousandth part of its keen + juices, or they use a comely specimen in which to deposit eggs, which in + the course of Nature become grubs. All such infected fruit the trees + abandon until the ground is strewn with waste. Such disaster happens when + the air is favourable to the breeding of quivering gauze wings; but there + comes a time when the fruit suffers little or no ill, and then the heart + of the orchardist rejoices as does that of the fisher when the wind comes + up from the sea. Then does he accept fine promises in good faith, for it + has come to be the fashion for certain varieties of citrus fruits to + provide two crops, and the second, which ripens about the beginning of + August, the superior in size, appearances generally, and distinctly in + flavour. The fruit is just as juicy as that which ripens when the air is + saturated with the moisture of the wet season, while its fragrance almost + equals that of the snowy flowers whence it sprang. These facts hasten to + this conclusion—that the orange-grower has something beyond mere + money in compensation for his toil. Can it be called toil? Does he not for + the most part, after the first and essential preliminaries are of the + past, permit Nature to have her own wayward will with his dutiful trees? + Does he always and invariably cut out the dead wood which tells of much + too strenuous efforts on their part to justify their existence and his + care? Does he attempt to exterminate the pretty flies which send to the + ground a certain percentage, while yet the fruit is immature and bitter? + Does he let the light of the caressing sun into the hearts of his pet + trees by removing superfluous twigs? Well does he know that if he tended + them as he should their bounty to him would be much magnified. Yet does he + dream on, accepting that which comes, admiring leafage, bloom, and + fragrant fruit, and always postponing the day when substantial aid and + credit should be given. There is something to be said in favour of this + happy attitude towards good-natured trees. Should it not suffice to have + given them monopoly and choice? Many others, and some of far nobler + proportions, have been exterminated for their special benefit and + advantage. They have been grown from seed of most highly complimented + fruit; their infancy and youth have been nurtured and protected; each has + been assigned its proper place with due regard to the welfare of + neighbours; less promising vegetation has been summarily checked; the + first flowers have been sniffed with high delight, the first fruits + sampled with extravagant praise. Having bestowed upon trees care and + attention, while they were yet mere sprouts of tender green, and admired + their sturdy development, and approved their best efforts, is it not yours + to accept whatsoever they offer as reward and recompense for past labour + and present appreciation? + </p> + <p> + From the artistic standpoint the most admirable of all the citrus-trees is + the pomelo, which, however, lacks merit from the commercial side. The tree + grows more sedately than the orange or the mandarin, but on a grander + scale. The leaves are bigger, tougher, and the appendages on either side + of the stalk (which botanists call the stipules) more developed. The + blooms are greater, and endowed with a much richer perfume than the + orange; the fruit is huge and fragrant, though somewhat disappointing to + the individual who expects the sweetness of the mandarin; while, if the + views of the learned in such attributes are trustworthy it possesses + medicinal qualities which are foreign to its dainty, diminutive relative. + It would be mere affectation to refrain from these compliments to the + pomelo when the atmosphere is saturated with the perfume from lusty trees. + Certainly one has to wait patiently for many a long year ere his trees + greet him with white flowers which pour out perfume of rare density and + enrich him with golden fruit almost as big as footballs. From nine to + twelve years must elapse, but expectancy is not wholly measurable by the + arbitrariness of time. The true standard is the desire, tempered by the + patience of the custodian of the trees. + </p> + <p> + In August the pomeloes put on their most attractive appearances. The young + leaves of lively tint contrast with the almost sombre green of the older + foliage, and flowers in clusters give a most becoming adornment. Big and + beautiful as they are, scent is their most conspicuous feature. Even in + the open air it is rich almost to cloyness. It hangs about the tree while + the wind is still, and the slightest movement of the air wafts it hither + and thither. It stings sensitive folk with its intensity at close + quarters, but when diffused is fragrance of ethereal delight. All day long + birds frolic in the trees, some to cull the nectar, some to search for + insects attracted for like purpose, some to nibble and discard white + petals. All the moist soil beneath is strewn with snowy flakes, for at + night flying foxes blunder among the branches, destroying more blooms than + they eat. But why grumble? Birds which nip off petals and musty foxes + which brush down whole posies in their clumsiness are but positive checks + to overproduction. Do they not avert the unthankful task of carting away + dozens of barrow loads of superfluous fruit? Last night at dusk there was + a sensation of the coming of rain, though the air was still and the sky + clear. I paused under the trees to expand my lungs with their scented + breathings. A semi-intoxicated bird twittered drowsily among the branches, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “His happy good-night air, + Some blessed hope, whereof he knew, + And I was unaware.” + </pre> + <p> + Dozens of sphinx moths—big torpedo-shaped bodies carried by wings of + soft brown and dull red—floated about, sipping where and when and as + long as they liked. Sometimes the sphinx has almost an aggressive tone In + his flight—hasty, important, brooking no interference. Last night's + note was of supreme content. A rich and overflowing feast was spread and + the insects hovered over the posies and sipped and fluted like merry + roysterers, without a care or thought of the morrow. It was a love-feast, + for the still night seemed to invite the trees to give of their richest + and best; the psalm of the insects was audible, not to the distance whence + the perfume was dissipated, but for many a scented yard. The trees seemed + sanctified, and I stood bare-headed among them and gave my silent praise + for a delightsome experience. Expectancy and patience had been overpaid. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SCENE-SHIFTER + </h2> + <p> + “We are all going to the play or coming from it.”—DICKENS. + </p> + <p> + In a few hours came “the season's difference.” The scene-shifter worked + with almost magical haste, with silence, and with supreme effect. The + gloomy days and nights of misty hill-tops and damp hollows, where the + grass was sodden and the air dull and irresponsive to sound, gave way to + bright sunshine, cloudless skies, calm seas, echoing hills, and the tinge + of that which for lack of the ideal word we call “spring.” Spring does not + visit the tropical coast, where vegetation does not tolerate any period of + rest. When plants are not actually romping with excess of vital force, as + during the height of the wet season, they grow with the haste of summer. + And yet immediately on the dispersal of the mists of July the least + observance could not fail to recognise that a certain and elaborate change + had taken place. The mango-trees had been flowering for several weeks in a + trivial, half-hearted way, but when the sun sent its thrills down into the + moist soil the lemons and pomeloes began to sweeten the air; the + sunflower-tree displayed its golden crowns among huge soft leaves, and the + last blooms of belated wattles fell, showing that it is possible for + tributes representative of May and September to be paid on one and the + same date. + </p> + <p> + The scene-shifter came softly “as the small rain upon the tender herb,” + but with an orchestra of his own. Years of observation have shown that the + weather does control the habits of some birds—birds of distinct and + regular methods of life. Two such are common—the nutmeg pigeon and + the metallic starling. Both species leave this part of the North during + the third week of March, flying in flocks to regions nearer the equator. + For several weeks the starlings train themselves for the long Northern + flight and its perils, dashing with impetuous speed through the forest and + wheeling up into the sky until they disappear, to become visible again as + black dots hurtling through space when the sunlight plays on their glossy + feathers as the course of the flock is changed. With the rush of a wind of + small measure but immense velocity, the flock descends earthwards, among + and over the trees, perfecting itself by trials of endurance and intricate + alertness. The birds return during the first week in August, in small and + silent companies, to reoccupy favourite resorts in common. The nutmeg + pigeons are also of exact habit, the time for their return generally + coinciding with that of the starlings. This year (1916) both birds were + noticed just after the scene-shifter had swept the hills of mists, and now + other birds seem to have awakened to the conditions which the starlings + and the nutmegs brought with them from hotter lands. The swamp pheasants + are whooping and gurgling, and that semi-migratory fellow, the spangled + drongo—a flattering name, for he jangles but does not spangle—sits + on the slim branch of the Moreton Bay ash which held last year's nest and + chatters discordances in the very ears of his responsive mate. They will + start building a loose nest on the brittlest branch forthwith, and while + the lady sits on her three eggs he will screech defiances to the high + heavens and perform aerial gymnastics with delirious delight. + </p> + <p> + The sun-birds are searching the lemon blooms. The breast of the gay, + assertive little bird is far richer in tint than the brightest of the + lemons. A minute ago one perched on a ripe fruit as if to shame it by + contrast, and the fruit has since seemed a trifle dull of tint, and with + light-hearted inconsequence the pair are now probing narrow throats of + papaw flowers. The ground has been too much overgrown with grass and weeds + for the comfort of the little green pigeons which come strutting down the + paths for seeds and crumbs. Dry soil, which may be easily scanned and + scratched, is more to their liking, so they keep to the forest, where in + some places the undergrowth of wattles is so dense that the sun may not + visit the ground, and the bare places glitter with seed. + </p> + <p> + When rain was seriously deficient, proof was given that some proportion of + the wattle seeds eaten by pigeons are not digested. In the crevices of + logs supporting the water-trough, which proved to be a popular refreshment + spot of many species of birds, clamorous with thirst, seeds were + deposited, and when the rains came the trough was fringed and decorated + with pinnate leaves of sprouting wattles, some of which grew so strongly, + notwithstanding the absence of soil, save that which occurs from the slow + decay of seasoned bloodwood, that if summary measures had not been taken + the trough might have been embowered. The season seems to have been too + damp for the night-jars, though quite to the taste of all species of + pigeons. In the course of a few minutes the voice of the timid, tremulous, + barred-shouldered dove came from among the yellow-flowered hibiscus of the + beach, while the pheasant-tailed pigeon sounded its rich, dual note, the + red-crowned fruit pigeon tolled its mournful chime, and the guttural of + the magnificent fruit pigeon—often heard, but seldom seen—came + from the jungle close at hand. Not one of these birds was visible, nor was + the fluty-voiced shrike thrush, which answers every strange call and + mimics crude attempts to reproduce its varied notes. The blue kingfisher + is investigating the tumour made by white ants in the bloodwood wherein + the nest is annually excavated, and soon the chattering notes of the pair + will be heard. A week ago few signs of the approach of the scene-shifter + were discernible. He has come, and plants and birds respond to his genial + and becoming presence—plants with richer growth and more abundant + flowers, birds with the unreflecting gaiety of nuptial days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BEACH PLANTS + </h2> + <p> + “Remove the vegetable kingdom, or interrupt the flow of its unconscious + benefactions, and the whole higher life of the world ends.”—HENRY + DRUMMOND. + </p> + <p> + Strolling on the curving footway of broken shells and coral chips marking + the limit of the morning's tide, a vague attempt was made to catalogue the + plants which crowd each other on the verge of salt water, and so to make + comparison with that part of Australia the features of which provoked Adam + Lindsay Gordon to frame an adhesive phrase concerning bright scentless + blossoms and songless, bright birds. Excluding the acacias and eucalypts, + said to have given sameness to the scenes among which the exotic poet + ranged, a long list might be compiled; nor will the pleasant sounds of the + afternoon be set down in formal order to the vexing of his memory, for + possibly he never heard the whoop and gurgle of the swamp pheasant or the + blended voices of hundreds of nutmeg pigeons mellowed by half a mile of + still, warm air. + </p> + <p> + Nor may such unassuming vegetation as the grasses—at least a dozen + varieties—find place in an enumeration which appeals primarily on + the grounds of prominence, though it would not do to despise the soft and + pleasant carpet beneath the orderly row of Casuarinas which the tide + planted during the last big cyclone with gardener's art. The common name + for the trees—“she” (or “shea” oaks, as the late F. Manson Bailey + preferred)—mimics the sound of the wind among the branches, which + the slightest zephyr stirs and, the storm lashes into sea-like roar. The + bright green of the grasses sets off the dull green and bronze of the + steadfast harps of the beach. At certain seasons and in some lights, when + the sun is in the west, the minute scales at the joints of the slender, + pendulous branchlets shine like old gold, producing a theatrical effect + which, if not experienced before, startles and almost persuades to the + belief that the complaining trees have been decorated by one who “has + sought out many inventions.” But the slant of the sun alters, the light + fades, leaving them sombre in hue and whispering more and more discreetly + as the night calm settles over the scene. Such communicable trees should + stand together, commenting on passing events, booming in unison with the + cyclone, and mimicking the tenderest tones of the idlest wind. During a + storm, when the big waves crash on the beach and the Casuarinas are + tormented, the tumult is bewildering; but however loud their plaint, very + few suffer, though growing in loose sand; for the roots are widespread + and, like the trunk and main branches, tough, while the branchlets stream + before the wind. + </p> + <p> + Close behind the screen of Casuarinas is a magnificent specimen of a + wide-spreading shrub, in form a squat dome, which commemorates the name of + a French naturalist—TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA. The leaves, crowded at the + ends of thick branchlets, are covered with soft, silky hairs of a silvery + cast, which reflect the sun's rays. It would be gross exaggeration to say + that the finely shaped shrub shines like silver, for the general hue of + the foliage is sage green, but that it has a silvery cast, which in + certain lights contrasts with the dull gold of its neighbours, is an + alluring fact which must not be strained. Moreover, the shrub covers an + almost perfect circle, about thirty feet in diameter, and since it is not + more than ten feet high, its form is as if Nature had designed the + creation of a circus of shadow, dense and cool, for the comfort of + mankind. + </p> + <p> + At high-water mark stands one of the Terminalias with big terminal light + green leaves, musty flowers, and purple fruit—gold, silver, and + purple in close array—while over the sand the goat-footed + convolvulus sends long, succulent shoots bearing huge pink flowers + complementary to the purple of the beach-pea (CANVALIA OBTUSIFOLIA). + </p> + <p> + Under the she-oaks young coral trees have sprung up, but the red flowers + are of the past, and so also have the gold and white of the Calophyllums + disappeared. But in the evening the breeze brings whiffs of a singular + savour, pleasant yet not sweet, which comes from the acre or two of native + hops a few yards back. The bruised leaves thereof give off anything but an + attractive odour, yet the faint natural exhalations from the plant are + sniffed eagerly and to the revivification of pleasant recollections. + </p> + <p> + Among a crowd of massive shrubs sprawls a plant of loose habit known as + CAESALPINA BONDUCELLA, the long clinging branches and the pods of which + are armed with hooked prickles. It is a plant of wide range, for the + bluish-grey seeds are said to be used in Arabia for necklets. In the idle + days of the past the blacks were wont to enclose a single seed in a + miniature basket woven of strips of cane for the amusement of infants—probably + the first of rattles. It has seized for support some of the branches of a + rare tree (CERBERA ODOLLAM) which bears long, glossy, lanceolate leaves, + large, pink-centred, white flowers, delicately fragrant, and compressed + oval fruit, brilliantly scarlet. The tempting appearance of the fruit is + all that may be said in its favour, for it is hard and bitter, and said to + be vicious in its effects on the human system; hence the generic title, + after the three-headed dog, guardian of the portals of the infernal + regions. + </p> + <p> + Grouped here and there are pale green, big-leaved shrubs (PREMNA + OBTUSIFOLIA,) bearing flowers and fruit calling to mind the elder of the + old country. The wood is deep yellow in colour, but apparently of no + practical use. + </p> + <p> + Another small tree, suggesting in its regular and well-balanced shape the + use of the pruning-knife, is GUETTARDIA SPECIOSA, the flowers of which are + white with a tinge of pink in the centre and highly fragrant. The fruit is + a hard, woody drupe, containing small seeds. TIMONIUS RUMPHII, belonging + to the same Family, but of more frequent occurrence, bears small white + flowers and globular fruit. The white, finely grained wood is said to + resemble English sycamore. Though harsh and flaky, the surface of the bark + seems to retain moisture, making it attractive to several species of fungi + and epiphytal ferns, the most conspicuous of the latter being the + stag's-horn. Few of the trees near the beach are free from such + encumbrances. + </p> + <p> + To unaccustomed eyes the Pandanus palm is chief among the noticeable + features of the flora of the coast of tropical Queensland. Two species are + represented on these accommodating sands, each suffering no ill, from + imbibing salt water, each exhibiting the peculiarity whence the genus + derives its common name—the screw palm, the arrangement of the long, + narrow, prickle-edged leaves displaying in the most regular and + demonstrative style the perfect spiral. The single stem of youth + frequently deteriorates and occasionally disappears altogether, + adventitious roots, descending from various heights, forming an elaborate + and sure and ever-developing support. The huge, bright orange-tinted fruit + of the species known as Odoratissimus is highly attractive in appearance, + and to the uninitiated offers pleasing hopes and delicious expectations. + It is, however, delusive, being constituted of woody drupes in close + clusters collected into a globular head, with meagre yellow pulp at the + base of each group, the pulp having an aromatic and unsatisfactory + flavour. Each drupe contains an oblong oval kernel, pleasant to the taste, + but so trivial in size as to be hardly worth the trouble of extraction + unless there is little else to occupy attention save the pangs of hunger. + These defects do not detract from the parade of the tree—picturesque, + singular, and replete with interest to the observer of the infinite + variety of the vegetation of the tropics. + </p> + <p> + The cockatoo apple (CAREYA AUSTRALIS), which has several useful qualities, + flourishes exceedingly. The ripe fruit, green and insipid, was wont to be + eaten by the blacks, bark from the branches was twisted into + fishing-lines, that of the roots used for poisoning fish, while the + leaves, heated over the fire until the oil exuded, were applied to bruised + and aching parts of the body. Extraordinary tenacity of life distinguished + the tree, the axe, fire, and poison failing under some circumstances to + vanquish it. + </p> + <p> + Another and closely related member of the same Family (Myrtaceae) is + BARRINGTONIA SPECIOSA, which, so far as local experience is to be trusted, + is restricted to the beaches, growing lustily in pure sand at the very + verge of high-water mark. The glossy leaves of this many-branched tree + often exceed a foot in length; the flowers, too, are large and singular in + style, the petals being comparatively insignificant, while the numerous + stamens attain a length of four inches and are of a lovely shade of red. + Like its relative, the cockatoo apple, the flowers of the Barringtonia + have a meaty smell, which seems to attract many species of insects. In + keeping with other characteristics, the fruit is large, consisting of a + thick, woody covering, as if Nature designed that the single seeds should + be adequately protected during a protracted oceanic drift. It is often + cast up on the sand, but the seed does not germinate as consistently as + that of the cannon-ball-tree; but when it does it rarely fails to become + established. + </p> + <p> + Two species of Ficus deserve to be mentioned, though this catalogue does + not claim to be exhaustive. FICUS FASCICULATA, as the title implies, bears + its inedible fruit in bundles, branches, trunk, and exposed roots, being + alike fertile, and is almost as retentive of life as the cockatoo apple. + Opposita is remarkable for varied form of foliage, referred to + particularly elsewhere, and for the sweetness of its fruit. + </p> + <p> + One of the loveliest and most remarkable plants of the beach is the + seacoast laburnum (SOPHORA TOMENTOSA), with its pinnate leaves of sage + green, hoary with silvery fur as soft as seal-skin, and bearing terminal + spikes of golden flowers with scent invoking slight comparison with + mignonette. The thick, silky leaves, the yellow flowers, and the strange + pods, are distinctive qualities, which atone for the absence of the + special sweetness of the garden favourite. The pods begin as slender, + silvery, dangling threads, which speedily lengthen and become constricted. + When the breeze flusters the shrubs, revealing the undersides of the + leaves at a reflective angle and shaking the tasselled pods, and the + splashes of gold sway hither and thither, the character of the shrub as + one of the most attractive ornaments of the beach is so truly displayed + that it might be likened to the tree of the sun described by Marco Polo—green + on one side, but white when perceived on the other. + </p> + <p> + This quality, however, is not special or peculiar. The brown kurrajong + (COMMERSONIA ECHINATA) exhibits it even more conspicuously, and, when the + dusty white flowers—displayed in almost horizontal planes—are + buffeted by the winds and the white undersides of the leaves are revealed, + the whole style of the tree is transformed as a demure damsel is by + tempestuous petticoats. + </p> + <p> + With the grey-green of the Sophora is often intertwined the leafless + creeper CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS, which in the days of the past the blacks were + wont to use with other beach plants in the composition of a crude seine + net. The long-reaching, white-flowered CLERODENDRON INERME and the tough, + sprawling BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA, with its small, harsh flowers, yellow as + buttercups but resembling a daisy in form, were also embodied in the net. + </p> + <p> + The Poonga oil-tree, the new and old leaves the colour of new copper, and + the mature the darkest of green, bears spikes of pale lavender flowers, + and makes a decided blotch among the light green succulent leaves of the + native cabbage (SCAEVOLA KOENIGII), with its strange white flowers and + milk-white fruit. All parts of the plant are said to be emetic. + </p> + <p> + Two varieties of VITEX TRIFOLIA, each bearing pretty lavender flowers, but + in other respects sharply contrasted, are among the commonest of denizens + of the beach. The one is a prostrate plant with sage-coloured and + sage-scented leaves; the other a shrub or small tree with light green + foliage, the underside of which is mealy-white, and flowers paler than + those of its lowly kin. Each is pretty, and the creeping variety (known in + Egypt as the “Hand of Mary”) decidedly one of the most eager lovers of the + sand, to which it keeps strictly. + </p> + <p> + Almost within reach from high water are representatives of a tall, + shining-leaved shrub known as MORINDA CITRIFOLIA, the flower-heads of + which merge into a berry which has a most disagreeable odour and a still + more objectionable flavour. It is related that when La Perouse was cast + away on one of the islands of the South Pacific, a native undertook to + ward off the pangs of hunger by converting the fruit into an edible dish. + But his manipulation seemed but to intensify original nauseousness, and + the brave Frenchman and his companions found semi-starvation more + endurable than the repugnant mess. + </p> + <p> + Magnificent representatives of the umbrella-tree (BRASSAIA ACTINOPHYLLA), + unique among the many novelties of the tropical coast, are massed in + groups or stand in solitary grace close to the sea. Queensland has a + monopoly over this handsome and remarkable tree, the genus to which it + belongs being limited to a single species occurring nowhere else in a + native state. Discovered by Banks and Solander at Cooktown in 1770, the + second record of its existence, it is believed, was made from specimens + obtained on this island by Macgillivray and Huxley in 1848. Possibly the + very trees which attracted their attention still crown their rayed and + glossy leaflets with long, radiating rods thickly set with red, stud-like + flowers. Such foliage and such flowers would appeal gloriously to an + enthusiastic botanist, and to so devoted, indefatigable, and successful a + searcher after the wonders and the higher truths of the world as Huxley. + </p> + <p> + Few of the ornaments of the beach are more noticeable than that known + commonly as the sunflower-tree and by the natives as Gingee (DIPLANTHERA + TETRAPHYLLA), with its big leaves, soft of surface when young, but harsh + and coarse at maturity. The golden flowers, grouped in huge heads, are + rich in nectar, attracting birds and butterflies by day and flying foxes + at night. The fruit, enclosed in a crisp capsule, is tough and leathery, + in shape a flattened oval, and is entirely covered with silken seeds lying + close and dense as the feathers of the grebe. When numbers of the capsules + open simultaneously, the seeds float earthwards like a silvery mantle or + stream before the wind like a veil. Rarely the capsule falls to the ground + complete, and then the parting of the valves reveals the fruit, in form + not unlike a small fish covered with glistening scales. The soft white + wood is generally condemned, but duly seasoned it becomes tough, and is + durable when not exposed to the weather. Like other quick-growing trees, + the Gin-gee takes no long time in arriving at maturity, and its life is + comparatively brief. Often big trees die from no apparent cause, and the + wood becoming dry and tindery, the limbs crash to the ground suddenly, and + in a few months the whole substance disappears in dust and mould. + </p> + <p> + Though the flowering season of the Calophyllum is of the past, the tree + which bestows on the beaches the deepest shade and is handsome in all its + parts must not be disregarded, for does it not, ever and anon, strive + after a higher purpose than the production of goodly leaves, white + flowers, and nuts “harsh and crude”? On rare occasions the external + covering of the nut turns yellow on the tree, and is then found to enclose + a thin envelope of pulp of aromatic and rather gratifying flavour. Such a + phenomenon seems to manifest inherent excellencies, a laudable effort + towards self-improvement, a plea for assistance on the part of some + approving and patient man, an indication of the lines on which he might + co-operate. The tree does not need gloss for its perfect leaves or + fragrance for its flowers, nor need the qualities of its pink wood of + wavering figure be extolled. With the exception of the stamens, all parts + of the inflorescence, inclusive of the long pedicles, are milk-white, and + the perfume is as sweet and refreshing as an English spring posy. Chemists + tell us that the oil from the kernels contains a green pigment which + changes to yellow on saponification, and that the resin is emetic and + purgative, and healing when applied as plaster. If botanical science can + develop the meritorious tendencies the fruit occasionally exhibits, the + Calophyllum would certainly rank as one of the most wonderful of all + tropical fruits. And may it not be wise to indulge the highest hopes when + it is borne in mind that at the head of the Family to which the + Calophyllum belongs stands that queen of fruits—the mangosteen? + Faith in the probable idealisation of the Calophyllum is justified by + reference to the “Prefatory and Other Notes” to the late F. M. Bailey's + great work, the “Comprehensive Catalogue of Queensland Plants,” where is + to be found these encouraging words: “When any particular plant is said to + furnish a useful fruit, it must not be imagined that the fruit equals the + apple, pear, or peach of the present day, but all so marked are superior + to the fruits known to our far-back forefathers.” + </p> + <p> + Two eucalypts—bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash (CORYMBOSA and + TESSELLARIS respectively)—and two acacias are represented, the + former developing into great trees of economic value, the latter being + comparatively short-lived and ornamental. The young shoots of Acacia + flavescens are covered as with golden fleece, and its globular flowers are + pale yellow. The wood resembles in tint and texture its ally, the + raspberry-jam wood of Western Australia, though lacking its significant + and remarkable aroma. ACACIA AULACOCARPA displays in pendant masses golden + tassels rich in fragrance. + </p> + <p> + The yellow-flowered hibiscus (cotton-tree) overhangs the tide, and the + small-leaved shrub the blacks name Tee-bee (WIKSTRAEMIA INDICA), the pink, + semi-transparent fruit of which is eaten in times of stress, springs from + pure sand. + </p> + <p> + A tall, almost branchless shrub (MACARANGA TANARIUS), the Toogantoogan of + the natives, grows in close clumps conducive to the production of light, + straight, slim stems used as fish-spears. The bark peels readily in long + strands, easily convertible into lines, and the sap from incised stems, + which crystallises with a reddish tint, is a fast cement. Huge + platter-shaped leaves are supported on long stalks from nearly the centre, + whence radiate prominent nerves of pale green. Some plants exhibit + leaf-stalks of ruby red, with central leaf-spot and nerves like in hue, + producing the most beautiful effect. If the growth of the plant could be + kept within bounds it would be gladly admitted as a garden shrub. The + stems and the base of the leaf-stalk are coated with, glaucous bloom, like + that of a ripe plum. The bloom, easily to be rubbed off, is said to derive + its title from that Glaucus who took part in the Trojan War and had the + simplicity, or the wisdom, to exchange his suit of golden armour for one + of iron. + </p> + <p> + The length of the beach thus casually examined is not more than a quarter + of a mile long, and no plant mentioned is more than a few yards from + high-water mark, the soil being almost pure sand. Imagine some three + square miles of country varied by hills and flats of rich soil, with + creeks and ravines, precipices and bluffs, dense jungle and thick forest, + hollows wherein water lodges in the wet season, and granite ridges, and + then endeavour to comprehend the botany of one small island of the + tropical coast! + </p> + <p> + To obtain demonstration of the vitalising and nourishing principles in + maritime sands under the effects of heat, light, and moisture, it is + necessary to retrace our steps and walk round the sandspit to the + transfigured and degenerate mouth of that once mangrove-creek known to the + blacks by a name signifying that a boy once tethered in it a sucking fish + (Remora). Obstructed by a bank, the creek is dead and dry save when the + floods of the wet season co-operate with high tides and effect a breach, + to be repaired on the cessation of the rains. No more than four years have + passed since the formation of the bank began. It is now a shrubbery made + by the incessant and tireless sea from materials hostile, insipid, and + loose-sand, shells, and coral debris, with pumice from some far-away + volcano. On this newly made, restricted strip one may peep and botanise + without restraint, discovering that though it does not offer conditions at + all favourable to the retention of moisture, plants of varied character + crowd each other for space and flourish as if drawing nutriment from rich + loam. + </p> + <p> + Several botanical Families are represented, the genera and species being: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Casuarina equisetifolia (she-oak) + Avicennia officinalis (white mangrove). + Clerodendron inerme. + Premna obtusifolia. + Vitex trifolia. + Vitex trifolia, var. obovata. + Carapa moluccensis (cannon-ball-tree). + Erylhrina indica (coral-tree). + Sophora tomentosa (sea-coast laburnum). + Pongamia glabra (poonga oil-tree). + Vigna luteola (yellow-flowered pea). + Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel). + Terminalia melanocarpa. + Ximenia americana (yellow plum). + Scoevola koenigii (native cabbage). + Hibiscus tiliaceus (cotton-tree). + Wikstroemia indica. Macaranga tanarius. + Euphorbia eremophilla (caustic bush). + Dodonaea viscosa (hop-bush). + Passiflora foetida (stinking passion fruit). + Ipomea pes caprae (goat-footed convolvulus). + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form A. + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form B (spade-flower). + Blainvillea latifolia. + Gnaphalium luteo-album (flannel-leaf or cud-weed). + Vernonia cinerea (erect, fluffy-seeded weed). + Remirea maritima (spiky sand-binder). + Cyperus decompositus (giant sedge). + Erigeron linifolius (cobbler's pegs or rag-weed). + Tribulus terrestris (caltrops). + Triumfetta procumbens (burr). + Salsola kali (prickly salt-wort). + Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale (pig's face). + Anthistria ciliata (kangaroo-grass). + Paspalum distichum (water couch-grass). + Zoysia pungens (coast couch-grass). + Lepturus repens (creeping wire-grass). + Panicum leucophaeum (pasture-grass). + Andropogon refractus (barbed wire-grass). + Tragus racemosus (burr-grass). + Eragrostis brownii, var. pubescens (love-grass). +</pre> + <p> + With the exception of some of the grasses and two noxious weeds, this + assemblage is representative of plants which grow just beyond the sweep of + the waves, and are prosperously at home nowhere else. One, the + cannonball-tree, is so highly specialised that its presence is but + temporary, for it endures but a single set of conditions—saline mud + and the shade of mangroves. The thick, leathery capsule contains several + irregularly shaped seeds, somewhat similar to Brazil nuts, but larger in + size and not to be reassembled readily after separation. When stranded, + germination is prompt, but the young plants, lacking essential conditions, + invariably perish. One of the trailers—the caltrops—has + trilobed, saw-edged leaves (harsh on both sides), yellow flowers of + unpleasant odour, and fruit which, perhaps, formed the model of the war + weapon of the time of the Crusaders. In whatever position it rests on the + ground it presents an array of spikes to the bare foot. Though all its + superficial qualities are graceless, it performs the admirable office of + binding sand, and thus prepares the way for benign and faultless + vegetation. + </p> + <p> + That his garden might not only be instructive but profitable to mankind, + Neptune heaved on to its verge three coco-nuts, the goose-barnacles on two + of which bore testimony to a long drift. That which retained the germ of + life fell into the hands of a visiting black boy, who split it open to + feast on the pithy and insipid “apple” within its shell at the base of the + sprout. This mischance ruined for the time being the prospect of a fine + effect; but the perseverance and prodigality of Neptune none may estimate. + He will certainly bring from distant domain another nut which may escape + the observation of the never-to-be-satisfied black boys until the young + plant itself has assimilated its concentrated food, and begins to spread + its glossy fronds in the face of the sun. In the meantime the garden + displays four weeds, two of the nature of pests, two of discomfort merely; + ornamental, scented, and flowering shrubs, and trees promising to be + conspicuous and picturesque, so that credit is to be divided—the sea + made the site, the adjacent land provided all the becoming plants. + </p> + <p> + What are the elements in this primitive spot which afford nutriment to + vegetation of such varied character? Probably there are few of the beaches + of islands within the Great Barrier Reef on which the majority of the + plants do not exist. It is typical, therefore, not of isolated experiments + on the part of Nature, but of conditions and processes repeated in + similitude wheresoever in the region raw sand heals the wounds inflicted + by the sea or the grumbling sea retreats before the sibilant, incessant + sand. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SHADOWS + </h2> + <p> + “The wish—that ages have not yet subdued—In man to have no + master save his mood.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BYRON. +</pre> + <p> + Before the coming of the obscuring grey of these wet-season days, when the + tranquil sea absorbed the lustrous blue of the sky, I discovered myself + day-dreaming for a blissful moment or two ere the crude anchor of the + flattie slipped slowly to the mud twelve feet below. The rough iron and + rusty chain cast curious crinkled shadows, and presently, as the iron sank + into the slate-coloured mud and the chain tightened, the shadow was single + but infirm. Light and the magic of the sea, which, though it takes its + ease, is forbidden absolute rest, transformed it until imagination created + similitude to a serpent in its natural element. Its half-concealed, + formless head was verified by a flake of rust just where a watchful eye + might have been, and the sun played upon it. + </p> + <p> + So here at last was the sea-serpent with alert eye and without end. It was + all so realistic and endowed with such benignity and such gentleness of + motion that I gazed at it with the gladness of a discoverer. In response + to a slight motion of the hand, the sea-serpent wriggled as though in + haste; but wriggle as it might the end never came. + </p> + <p> + The boat drifted back. The serpent became seriously elongated, but though + the beginning was now a grey blotch in the mud, the end was not. I might + beat up a little foam with the chain, and see below a giddy dance or at + least lively flourishes and swaying. Yet there was something lacking—the + end. But for that very commonplace default did there not here exist a very + good beginning for another romance of the sea? + </p> + <p> + The phantom, born of light and limpid salt water and iron into which rust + had deeply gnawed, gave zest to the pursuit of shadows. What is commoner + under the tropic sun? The boat was now over the sand of the steeply + shelving beach, where the water takes the tint of the chrysolite and + creatures of fairy lightness come into view. Often on still days small + sea-spiders sport under the lea of the boat, each of the eight legs + supported by a bubble. With astonishing nimbleness, the spider slips and + glides over the surface as a man in laborious snow-shoes over the snow. + Having basked in the sun and frolicked with its kind, the spider abandons + its pads, takes to its hairy bosom a bubble of air, and dives below. The + shadows, not the spiders alone, gave pleasing entertainment. Each vague + shadow and the eight bubble-shod feet formed a brooch-like ornament on the + yellow sand—a grey jewel surrounded by diamonds, for every bubble + acted as a lens concentrating the light. When the frail creatures darted + hither and thither—the majestic sun does not disdain to lend his + brilliance to the most prosaic of happenings—the shadows of the + bubbles became jewels or daylight lightnings. The hour was so restful, the + light so searching, that many of the spiders, long of leg and pearly-grey + of body, gathered about the boat, the shade of which seemed to be + grateful. A wave of the hand dispersed the gay assemblage, but in a few + seconds the playful creatures—not too easily to be deprived of their + place in the sun—reappeared from nowhere, and the beads and flashes + on the floor of old Ocean once more began to glitter. + </p> + <p> + Small, slim fish took shelter from the intense light. Some hung motionless + in the water; others nibbled daintily the green and lazy slime on the + batten at the bilge, their gently waving shadows being barely perceptible, + for their delicate, semi-transparent bodies absorbed but the merest + particle of the brightness of noonday. + </p> + <p> + The unnoticeable swing of the tide took the responsive boat out from the + beach, and again the serpent swayed sleepily. Down in the mud an organised + conflict was taking place between a tiny soft-bodied crab and four + molluscs which used whip-like tentacles with unceasing energy, while the + crab defended itself with ever-ready claws. Borne down by numbers, it sank + into the mud, the energy of the victors creating a tiny spiral of slush. A + huge stingray passed on its way, the edges of extended wings rippling + never so gently, its shadow half the size of the boat; and presently, with + ghostly glide, a dull-skinned shark came into view with motion so steady + and apparently effortless that it might have been a spectre. The pectoral + fins swayed listlessly. The swirl of the tail was as tender as a caress. + Passing the boat a few yards, it turned with a gracious sweep and nestled + in its shade, and, though motionless, it was wide awake. The eyes on each + end of the projecting extremities of the head blinked up at the boat. It + was comfortable, but suspicious. Was its conscience quite clear? The + hammer-head has not the reputation of being an active enemy of man. Why + should it be distrustful? This hammer-head would not sleep in the shadow, + so let it be made aware of the serpent. I took hold of the chain + cautiously, the shark watching, and with a quick turn of the wrist the + docile serpent lashed offensively. Then did the shark, frightened of a + shadow, flee with mud-stirring haste, like the wicked when no man + pursueth. + </p> + <p> + The hour of day-dreaming was past. I slip over the side of the boat to + roll and splash in tepid water limpid almost to invisibility, and to test + the wondrous buoyancy of the substantial part of man. Sit down, the lips + just awash, so that the accurately ballasted portion cushions on the + cleanly sand. Stretch out the legs so that the heels barely rest. Head + thrown back and arms extended, fill the lungs to their utmost capacity + with the placid, revivifying air, and you will find yourself so uplifted + that the heels alone gently touch the sand. At each inspiration almost + sufficient air is imbibed to float the whole bulk and machinery of the + body. And when the radiant air is all one's own, why be niggardly? Let it + be gulped greedily, strongly, wilfully, and let the smiling sea, + responding to the embraces of your widespread arms, salute your lips with + ripples. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “SMILING MORN” + </h2> + <p> + “The light of the morning, When the sun riseth, even a morning without + clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining + after rain.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Holy Writ. +</pre> + <p> + A cloudless sky, the long grass wet with the night's gentle shower, a thin + veil of mist on the hills, a glassy, steel-blue sea, the air saturated + with the essences from myriads of leaves and scented with the last whiffs + from the tea-trees and the primal blossoms of the wattles—such are + the features of this smiling morn. + </p> + <p> + A spangled drongo—ardent lover of light and free air—talkatively + announced the dawn long before its coming; the noisy pitta—bird of + the moist soil and leafy gloom—triumphs in three notes. For an hour + the scrub fowl have been violently noisy, but have retired to the recesses + of the jungle, whence comes an occasional chuckle of satisfaction or a + coarse, triumphant crow. The fasciated honey-eater has loudly called “with + a voice that seemed the very sound of happiness”; the leaden flycatcher, + often silent but seldom still, has twittered and whispered plaintively; + the sun-birds are playing gymnastics among the lemon blossoms, and the + centre of activity for butterflies is the red-flowered shrub bordering the + wavering path. + </p> + <p> + Since—sometimes wantonly, often thoughtlessly—man interferes + with plants, time out of mind the banqueting-table of the butterflies, is + it not a duty to provide substitutes for devastated natural vegetation? + When it is discovered that a plant, introduced to give satisfaction to the + lust of the eye, provides from year's end to year's end nectar as + unfailing as the widow's cruse of oil, is it not becoming to reproduce it + plentifully so that excited and virtuous insects may be encouraged to + return to former scenes? If not a duty, at least it is a source of + happiness, for the particular insects which revel in the nectar of the + perpetually flowering shrub are the two most gorgeous butterflies of the + land—pleasantly known as Ulysses and Cassandra. + </p> + <p> + Science changes its titles so frequently that unless the intellect is to + be increasingly burdened it is well to refuse to be divorced from the old + and often explicit and fulfilling names. Cassandra is the lovely green and + gold fly which dances in the air so delightfully when he woos his sober, + fluttering mate. That of gorgeous royal blue with black edging to the + wings and dandyish swallow-tails, which wanders far and wide and flies + high and swiftly, is Ulysses. + </p> + <p> + This glorious morn the ruddy shrub is as lively as a merry-go-round with + the feasting and antics of flitting gems, and there are others by the + dozen attentive to less seductive fare. For half an hour the courtship of + a perfect Ulysses has interfered with the staid ways of those not in + holiday humour. Unlike Cassandra, there is little in appearance to + distinguish the sexes, nor in the wooing does the dame exhibit staid + demeanour. The object of Ulysses' love is almost, if not quite, as + brilliantly decorated as himself. She is not, therefore, to be fascinated + by the display of blue no more lustrous than that of her own proud wings. + He may flit and toss about her, but she seems to take scanty notice of his + affected aerial limpings. Her raiment is just as brave, and she has + swallow-tails too. The wider black margin on her wings is no badge of + subserviency, but rather an additional charm inciting tremulous + fascination. She may soar over the mango-trees with ease as careless as + his, and slide down straight to the red flowers with like certainty. She + is not to be bewildered by his gyrations, nor thrilled by mock hostile + swoops. However sprightly his activities, she has a mood to correspond and + power to mimic. Indeed, is she not indifferent?—so much on an + equality with him that she might say: + </p> + <p> + “If thou thinkest I am too easily won, I'll frown and be perverse, and say + thee nay.” + </p> + <p> + Might she not say more at the moment, since her airs are those of + independence? Possibly she imagines hers to be the superior sex. Is she to + be distinguished from her wooer as she flits from him disdainfully? Can + she not imitate his most audacious feats? Ah! but for how long may she + restrain primal emotions? The blue-mantled dandy understands his art. His + wings beat with the passion of the dominant lover. He tosses himself + before her, impeding her flight until she imitates his antics. Tossing is + not the privilege of his sex. She exercises her right to toss, and the + pair toss in delightful but bewildering confusion, like jewels sent + skyward by a conjurer. And thus having established her rights if not her + equality, she consents to play the part Nature decrees, and the pair + tumble and toss over the mango-trees, while half a dozen others sip + contentedly the red flowers. + </p> + <p> + Many other winged creatures flit and glisten in the garden and down along + the grass-invaded path between the coco-nuts. Dragon-flies hover over the + moist spots, transparent wings carrying coral-red bodies, and two + sand-wasps pilot my steps, following the narrow ribbon of bare ground as a + fish the course of a shallow stream, buzzing ominously as if in warning of + some possible mischance. They are friends, and will in a moment swerve, + and boom back to the shafts they have excavated in sand as depositaries + for their eggs, and into which they will pack living caterpillars as fresh + food for their young. They dig with such deftness and vigour that the sand + is expelled in a continuous jet. When the mouth of the shaft, round to + exactness, is lumbered with soil, the insect emerges backward and shovels + away dog-like with its forelegs. Then it disappears again, until the + sand-jet has made another encumbering heap. + </p> + <p> + These alert and furiously resentful insects are endowed with + resourcefulness and “intelligence” in keeping with their physical + activities. One had foraged a caterpillar in bulk and weight beyond its + flight strength, and was, therefore, compelled to haul it along the + toilful earth. On the wing the wasp finds its home unhesitatingly. On the + unfamiliar ground it lost its bearings, and, moreover, the lumbering + caterpillar had to be tugged through a bewildering forest of grass stems, + among which it went astray. During a pause the wasp surveyed the scene, + and, locating the shaft, after stupendous exertions deposited its prey + conveniently thereto, to find itself confronted with a problem, since the + diameter of the caterpillar exceeded that of the shaft. It seemed to + reflect for a few moments, and then with feverish haste enlarged the + shaft. Another difficulty had then to be overcome. Was it possible to + force such a bulky and unwieldy body head first down—the habitual + way? The insect came to a rapid decision in the negative. Backing into the + shaft, it seized the caterpillar by the head and drew it down, presently + emerging, and how it managed to squeeze past so tight a plug is another of + the magics of the morn. Having butted with its highly competent head the + caterpillar well home, the wasp selected a neatly fitting stone as a wad, + and, filling the shaft with earth, strewed the surface with grass + fragments, to the artistic concealment of the site. + </p> + <p> + On the beach is another industrious winged miner which has not learned the + art of the rapid evacuation of the spoil, but follows the slower ways of + the crab, carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, and as it + backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is made. But it is a fussy + worker, so charged with nervous energy that its glittering wings quiver + even while down in the depths of its shaft, as you may assure yourself if + you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air makes competitive + noises. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ANCESTRAL SHADE + </h2> + <p> + “Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the root—and + time has been When tempests could not.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + COWPER. +</pre> + <p> + If it were possible to recall the spirits of the departed of this Isle to + solemn session and to exact from them expression of opinion as to the + central point of it, the popular, most comfortable and convenient + camping-place, there can be no question that the voice of the majority + would favour the curve of the bay rendered conspicuous by a bin-gum or + coral tree. Within a few yards of permanent fresh water, on sand blackened + by the mould of centuries of vegetation, close to an almost inextricable + forest merging into jungle, whence a great portion of the necessaries of + life were obtained, and but ten paces from the sea, the tree stood as a + landmark, not of soaring height, but of bulk and comeliness withal. + </p> + <p> + Generation after generation of careless coloured folk must have been born + and bred under its branches. When the soil became rank because of + continuous residence and insects of diabolical activity pestered its + occupants, the camp would shift to another site; but there existed proofs + that the bin-gum-tree localised the thoughts of those aimless, unstable + wanderers to whom a few bushes stuck in the sand as a screen from + prevailing winds represent the home of the hour and all that the word + signifies and embodies. Many a one was laid to rest beneath its spreading + branches, for it was the custom of the pre-white folk's days to swathe the + dead in frail strips of bark, knees to chin, and place the stiffened + corpse in a shallow pit in the humpy which had been in most recent + occupation. If the dead during life had possessed exceptional qualities, + burial rites would be ceremonious and prolonged. With tear and blood + stained faces (for the mourners enforced grief by laceration of the flesh) + incidents in the admirable career of the departed would be rehearsed in + pantomime. The enactment of scenes from the life of the hunter and fighter + might occupy hours. The art of the canoe or sword maker would be + graphically mimicked. The life of the woman found rehearsal from infancy + until she passed from the protection of her father into the arms of her + lover. If she had died childless, a protesting infant or an effigy in bark + would be placed on her shrunken bosom, so that she might not suffer the + reproach of matrons who had preceded her to the mysterious better country. + </p> + <p> + The ancestral shade was a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, and + the soil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree displayed its ruddy + flowers and gave of its best in nectar for birds and butterflies and + gauze-winged, ever-flitting creatures. + </p> + <p> + It was not a comfortable tree to climb, for its grey-green branches were + studded with wens each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. It + offered the hospitality of its shade to man, but little else, save flowers + to gladden his eyes, though it stood as a perpetual calendar, or rather + floral harbinger, of some of the most excellent things in life. At a + certain season its big, trilobed, hollow-stalked leaves changed from + bright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before the + last disappeared, flower-buds registered the date with almost almanac + exactitude. Then, as the rich red began to glow here and there, and + impatient small birds to assemble in anticipation of the annual feast, the + old inhabitants of the Isle would comfort one another with reminiscences + of the “Oo-goo-ju,” the nutmeg pigeon, which was wont to congregate in + such numbers that adjacent and easily accessible isles were whitened. + There would be plenty of eggs then, and in a few weeks squabs quiveringly, + helplessly fat. + </p> + <p> + It was a good tree, for it gave good tidings, and it centralised the + shelter of the Isle. Its blooms were delightfully, dashingly red, and they + lasted long—that is, if the camp—the soil rectified by sun and + rain—happened to be in residence, for then the sulphur-crested + cockatoos would be scared. Otherwise the profligate birds would sever the + heavy racemes of flower in their eagerness for honey until the ground + beneath glowed with a furnace-hued shadow. But there would be still plenty + for the gay sun-birds and the honey eaters, while the grey goshawk would + make the site of regular call, for the bibulous lesser birds could not + always be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent tea-trees. The hawk + would abide its time, and have occasion, after its kind, to be grateful + because of the tree and its seductive nectar which translated artless + little songsters into shrill-tongued roysterers, careless of the ills of + life, or at least less watchful for the presence of crafty enemies. Flying + foxes would swoop into the tree at sundown to squeak and gibber among its + repellent branches till dawn, when some, too full for flight, would hang + among the lower limbs all day, sleeping with eyes veiled by leathery + wings. + </p> + <p> + For many a long day the bin-gum tolerated no undergrowth. Despotic over + its territory, the shade was clean but for a carpet of ferns, and its + branches free from the embraces of orchids, save that which bears the + ghostly white flowers which set off its own of bold red. But as it passed + its maturity shrubs and saplings began to encroach, until it was the + centre of a circus of upstart vegetation, though still stretching big, + knotty limbs over the slim youths of yesterday. Anterior to this era a + neglected fire had scorched a portion of its trunk. Decay set in. A huge + cavity gradually appeared, betokening vital injuries. The soft though + tough wood does not patiently endure the annihilating fret of time. Far up + in a recess of this cavity a toy boomerang was found, placed there by some + provident but forgetful piccaninny. At the date of the discovery of the + missile the age of the resident blacks had passed away; but still the tree + stood, stout of limb, while the encompassing saplings shot up until + sun-seeking shoots caressed the branches and familiarised with the blooms, + as if taking credit for the seasonal gaiety of the patriarch. + </p> + <p> + In the prime of life the wood of the bin-gum is of pale straw colour with + a faint pinkish tinge, and tough though light. Sapless age makes it + tindery, and the decaying fibre descends in dust—glissades of dust + which form moraines within the hollow of the base. Then the end is not far + off. + </p> + <p> + The old tree might have been credited with premonition of its fate. + However fanciful to ascribe to it power of utterance, some phenomena, + perhaps associated with the dusty flux draining its vitals, gave it + distinct voice. On silent days it was often heard—a whispering, + whimpering sing-song, pitifully weak for so great a tree, but not without + appeal. Did it not suggest the sanctuary of some wood-nymph chanting never + so faint a death psalm—a monotone which the idlest zephyr might + still? + </p> + <p> + Disdaining to die while consenting to disappear, the great tree, proudly + green of head, did not fall headlong, like a giant, in its pride, but + subsided silently behind its leafy screen while all the winds were still, + and as one who passes away full of years and with untarnished conscience. + </p> + <p> + Though the saplings and shrubs which fought for its place decently conceal + its shattered relics, addressing glossy leaves to the face of the sun, is + it quite vain to expect that its graceful proportions—a true and + stately dome—will be transmitted to the most worthy of its + descendants? Or that they will escape for so long a term the many + mischances that befall soft-wooded trees? No; the bin-gum of the bay was + unique. Afar off its flowers assumed a bricky shade, which contrasted with + the sage-green background of huge and overtopping melaleucas, while but a + strip of creamy sand intervened between its low and spreading branches and + the shallow sea, with its varying tints of pale green and blue. So lovely + and conspicuous a feature is not to be reconstituted under a century. + </p> + <p> + If it be permitted to assume that trees are sentient, that each—since + it differs from all others in some material quality and condition—has + its individuality, and that one may stand out from the rest as a figure + and representative of its age, then was this old monarch which maintained + its red robes to the last an examplar of the race whose births, nuptials, + pastimes, deaths and burials it witnessed from the date when the good ship + ENDEAVOUR slowly plodded along the alien coast. The dust of the witness is + blending in common decay. A few months and not a trace will be + discoverable, and what is left of those who rested in its shade? In the + pages of history they will be unchronicled, for were not their lives less + beautiful than the life of a tree, and their renown no more durable? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + QUIET WATERS + </h2> + <p> + “Like playhouse scenes the shore slid past.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + KIPLING. +</pre> + <p> + Lovable as is the open sea when the spray drenches the scanty clothing of + the steersman and rains upon his lips salty salutation, yet is there rare + delightsomeness in reverse of the wet frolic. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes past the deck glistened in the sun as each rollicking billow + sent its herald over the bows, and here the surface of the river is almost + rippleless. Shallows and uncertainties perplex its union with the ocean. + Sombre green mangroves screen its muddy banks at full tide and trail + leathery leaves and the tips of spindly fruit on its placid surface. + Pendant roots and immersed branches create on each hand a continuous + scroll of wavering ridges and eddies bordered with the living tints of the + steadfast wall of leafage. The sun so burnishes the midstream ribbon that + the boat seems to float on an invisible element. Though the topmost leaves + of the mangroves fail to disclose any movement in the air, an unceasing + and inharmonious hum tells of the sea idly shouldering the orange-hued + sands outside. + </p> + <p> + The original inhabitants of the country knew the stream as Marang. None + call it so; but half stranded on the bank at the mouth lies a raft typical + of the past, and of the ease and resource with which those of the day are + wont to avail themselves of Nature's suggestions in the art of crossing + flooded waters. The name of the river has gone, but not that of the three + buoyant logs lashed together with strips of cane which with sullen lurch, + take the wash of the boat. The boys jerk their heads in the direction and + murmur “wur-gun,” and speculate on the last user. The day is young. For + the time being the best the ancient river has to show—the + quintessence of the season, superb October—shall be ours. The + cloudless sky is richly blue, lighter in shade than the shapely mountain + which seems to block the way miles ahead. The sun gives a taste of its + quality, not to fret or discomfort, but merely to add a slightly richer + tint to skin glowing with previous marks of his fervour and favour. + </p> + <p> + All the sounds of the little engine are maliciously exaggerated as the + boat forges ahead. The silent green river has become vociferous with + echoes, which snap and grunt, groan and hiss, in mockery of inevitable and + earnest doings. Out at sea the merry moods of the boat and hasty and + determined throbs of the engine are manifestations of something + accomplished in the overcoming of distance. Here it is all mere idle + fancy, while the echoes jeer. Surely the uncouth imps of the dimly-lit + jungles need not proclaim their spite with such exaggerated fuss. + </p> + <p> + With but little effort of imagination the boat becomes stationary on a + shining ribbon with strips of dark green on each side, and the banks glide + past with never so gentle undulations. The tide screens most of the mud on + which the many-rooted trees stand. Some are in full bloom, the + hawthorn-like flowers breathing perfume as from an orangery soliciting the + raids of millions of bees. Scents cling to the placid surface. It is as a + stream of scent, bounded and confined by changeful tints as the sun toys + with the shadows, and curve after curve, reach after reach, slip by. + Sometimes the chattering boat heads due east. South she knows too, and + then she bows her duty to the west, along reaches which run straight and + clean as a canal; and round hairpin bends she sweeps with disdainful air, + as if conscious of besoiling banks. + </p> + <p> + Gradually the monopolistic mangroves become more tolerant of the rights of + other vegetation. Tea-trees with white papery bark and pale yellow flowers + dripping with spirity nectar, the sunflower-tree with its masses of gold, + an occasional wattle, and slim palms mirror themselves, and here and there + compact jungle, with its entanglement of ponderous vines and smothering + creepers, shoulders away the salt-loving plants. Scents may vary as the + river's fringe; but only a delicate blend is recognised—the + breathings of honey-secreting flowers and of sapful plants free from all + uncleanliness. Many trees endure sadly the decoration of orchids in full + flower, some lovely to look on and deliciously scented. The snowy plumes + of one species sway gently, as if offering friendly greeting. A worthy + similitude to the lily of the valley clings to a decaying limb, and a + passing smudge of lustrous brown is but the reflection from a mass of the + commonest of the Dendrobiums which encumbers a long-suffering host. Where + forest trees and wattles guard the bank the water is of a different hue, + as if the face of the river had absorbed less of the actualities of the + sun. The screen of vegetation is not only higher, but it is varied and + impresses its individuality. Only during the pelting rains of the wet + season may this delightful stream be monotonous, for at intervals brief + and narrow vistas open out on patches of yellowing grass, and beyond lie + forest-clad hills. + </p> + <p> + All save the boat is wonderfully still. The birds are silent, for this is + the first hot day of the season, and they have retired to the patches of + jungle where shade and dimness afford relief from the sunlight spaces. For + many a mile a cormorant, lacking valour to double on its tracks, has fled + before the boat, settling out of sight ever and anon, only to be scared + further from its nest. A mangrove bittern sitting humpbacked on a root and + roused from its night thoughts has flown ahead, following the bends of the + stream until it crossed a familiar loop and so evaded incessant harrying. + </p> + <p> + No murmur of the sea is audible, though the water is as briny as at the + mouth. Mangroves still reinforce the muddy banks at intervals, and big + barramundi swirl aside to give the boat precedence in the narrow way. If + in no impetuous haste, one might drift with the tide up and down with but + little exertion except during periods of flood, which quickly rise and + quickly subside. Drifters become familiar with characteristics of the + stream unknown to those who hurry up and down in an echo-rousing + motor-boat. They see crocodiles basking on their sides, as many as seven + on a sunny morning in the cool season, and many curse them in De Quincey's + phrase as “miscreated gigantic vermin” because the rifle happens to be + unavailable. Crocodiles have their moods. Sometimes they are lazy and + indifferent and will not be disturbed though the boat may clink and + chatter as it passes, and the then easygoing man disposes of them. More + often the faculties of the crocodile are disappointingly acute. He is + visible for such a fragment of time that the authoritative man who has + promised sport looks foolish and tries to relieve the strain by the + relation of anecdotes in which circumstances have not been all in favour + of the illusive creature. He tells of the slumbering one which lay on a + mud-bank with its jaws distended, weary of the monotony of the mangroves, + and took but sleepy notice when upbraided for being a sluggard. And of + that other monstrous beast which, with eyelids like saucers and a bulk + which filled a narrow tributary of the river, floundered, splashed, and + flurried into deep water, while the awestruck individual with the rifle + was too astounded to fire a shot. He may tell, too, of another instance of + good luck on the part of the crocodile. How, drifting down silently with + the ebb, the black boy indicated the presence of game on a slide overhung + by a deep verandah of mud; how a shot was fired and a big log splashed + into the water and the little one remained bearing the bullet-wound, the + real having been too big and impressive for sight. + </p> + <p> + The day is well spent among strange plants. Here is a tall hibiscus with + coarse leaves, diversely lobed, and great pink, fragile flowers, each with + a blotch of maroon at the base and each containing a fat and lumbering bee + spangled with maroon-tinted pollen. A trailing eugenia bears dark red + flowers shaped like a mop, and a tiny white lily with petals and strangely + protuberant anthers scents the air as with honey and almonds. + </p> + <p> + The tide ebbs fast. All the country teems with entertainment, and the + river, cool in the dusk, and black, reflects the dead mangroves, white and + spectral, on its brink. + </p> + <p> + This breathless night the sea is as tetchy as petrol. Trailing fingers are + terminals which ignite living flames, and the propeller of the little boat + creates an avengeful commotion of light which trails far astern. Blobs of + light are cast off from her bows as she rounds the familiar sandspit and + glides to her moorings. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “THE LOWING HERD” + </h2> + <p> + “Your cattle, too—Allah made them; serviceable, dumb creatures; they + change the grass into milk; they come ranking home at evening time.”—CARLYLE. + </p> + <p> + Remote from the manners and the sights of the street, here are we secure + against most of the pains which come of the contemplation, casual or + intimate, of other folk's sufferings. No hooded ambulance moves + joltlessly, tended by enwrapt bearers, on pathless way; no formal + procession paces from the house of death to the long last home. Immune + from the associations which oft subdue the crowd, as well as from its too + exciting pleasures, and participating only indirectly in its inevitable + sorrows, yet we are occasionally forced to remember that troubles do come + to all that is flesh, and that keen is the grief attendant upon enforced + separations even among animals which cannot call reason to their solace. + Man cannot claim to be the sole proprietor of the luxury of woe, and may + he not draw edifying lessons from contemplating the transient sorrows of + his pets and domestic animals? Is he to confine his schooling on the + wholesome theme of the frailty of flesh solely to his own species? It is + not to be denied that animals lower in the scale than mankind have acute + sense of bereavement, though it is equally certain that in their case the + healing influences of time are more prompt and potent. + </p> + <p> + An illustration may be cited. Two favourite Irish terriers, in violation + of an all-precautionary training, molested a death adder, the emulation of + each inciting the other to recklessness. When the fray was over and the + wicked little serpent lay squirming in death, both dogs took joyful credit + on account of the feat. An hour after one began to froth at the lips, and + in another hour he lay dead. His son and companion, as well as rival in + all rat and lizard hunts, softly approached the body, lifting each foot + with almost solemn deliberation. He sniffed, and catching a whiff of the + scent of death, sat on his haunches, threw back his head, and in loud and + piercing tones lamented the tragedy until from very hoarseness he could + howl no longer. He stood the solitary spectator of the burial, and as the + soil was patted down tenderly, sniffed the spot, whimpered plaintively, + and followed with downcast mien. Unable to fathom the mystery of death, + yet fearful, if not resentful, he wandered about for days rebuking the + moon, or its dire influence, and hailing passing steamers with weak + whines. Time soon soothed the mental hurt. + </p> + <p> + Since I became a milker and tender of pet cows many instances have been + revealed of the patience and amiability of these inestimable beasts. The + man who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who employs stockmen by the + dozen, who sends off hundreds of fat, contented, happy, liberty-loving + oxen in droves to end their days in an unknown locality amid the clatter + and swish of machinery and with the fearful scents of blood and decaying + offal defiling the air, has few opportunities of studying the nicer + qualities of his possessions. He may be full of bullock lore and able to + recite sensational and entertaining stories illustrative of the ways of + the big mobs which tramp from native hills and downs to the city of the + thousand deaths. He knows, perhaps, something of the individualities of + his herds, and will tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how they + pine when separated. Then will he register his personal regrets, counting + in the measure for fat, for, refusing food, the animals fall away in + condition, so that the sorrows of two fat bullocks due to parting, + enforced by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and using violent + and threatening language, come home to the owner in terms of pounds, + shillings, and pence. + </p> + <p> + Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the full-fed and + contented herd supply generously milk and cream with no apprehensions of + the butcher? Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek cows are + more tender. At least it has been noticed that when the time comes for the + flash young bulls to be banished, and they are transported, the mother's + grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of departure and all the + novel excitement of a first experience of the motion of the sea, the fat + calf, which has rollicked in all that makes for good temper and ease and + comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, affrighted eyes, and the + head is turned wistfully when terms of comfort are uttered. He is of the + make of man and will not whimper. But the mother, on the discovery of her + bereavement, arouses the echoes of the hills with her calls. + </p> + <p> + Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your herd, your ears are + also attuned to the significant tones of each—the low warning hum of + the mother to her safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to + obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering offspring is out of + sight, the anxious call when it is absent from her side unaccountably, the + angry bellow when she thinks injury is being done. + </p> + <p> + The other day a lusty young bull which had been wont to treat me as a + chum, and perhaps as a slightly inferior animal, was reluctantly parted + from. His face displayed his emotions-astonishment, grief, resignation—and + once, and only once, did he permit himself to protest vocally. But for a + week his mother's sorrow has been insistent. Early on the morning + following, the banishment, she led off the rest of the herd in Indian + file, to search accustomed scenes. At times she hastened—perhaps she + heard in fancy the loved one's voice—but more often and with rare + persistency she shrewdly scrutinised every possible hiding-place, lowing + plaintively and with a coaxing, wistful tone. Frequently, attended by + silent, sympathising companions, she made frantic appeals to me, and then + there seemed to be a note as of upbraiding, if not accusation, in her + voice. Knowing her feelings, it was easy to interpret them, and her + doleful mood and loud yet melodious protests against the arbitrary usage + of man affected the wonted serenity of the Isle. + </p> + <p> + How many lusty, fat, sleek, good-humoured, straight-backed, frolicsome + calves had she reared, and when they had come to the age when a mother's + pride must be in the full, each in its turn had mysteriously disappeared. + Was this not a subject of moan? Why should she not tell her grief to the + responsive hills, and send it as far as her voice might carry over the + irresponsive sea? + </p> + <p> + Time soothes all such pangs. She calls now when she spies me in the + forest, still suspecting where responsibility rests, and mumbles as she + crops the succulent herbage. A few more days and her sturdy offspring will + be forgotten; but the recollection of her material woes excites the + thought that human beings, in guiding the destinies of domestic animals, + may not always be conscious of certain moral aspects of such incidents. + Are we justified in lacerating the feelings of those creatures, which have + become accustomed to our ways, which submit to our arbitrary authority + with wondrous patience, which depend on us in many ways, and which trust + us with unquestioning fidelity? + </p> + <p> + Against all precedent, the dairy herd was started with a bull. Though such + a beginning is not to be recommended as a general precept, it must be + confessed that in this particular instance developments proved its wisdom. + Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by society of his + kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank and friendly + manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite excursions in the + bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable of the frogs and the + boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his sportful moods, for + what would have proved pure frolic to him might have been fraught with + disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, he spent most of his + leisure moments in the paddock where poultry congregates, and where many + of the domestic rites are performed. He was at home, and he was a + gentleman, and did no one premeditated ill. Longing for something to play + with, he would make hostile demonstration against the wheelbarrow, but + that dull-hearted vehicle never responded except by ignominious collapse + at tenderest touch of horn. One evening, when all the good little chicks + had been put to bed for the night, the bull, impatient for play, + overturned two coops so suddenly that two of the inmates were crushed + flat. There was no sheltering mother to protest against such violation, + and so the adjoining coop was visited. But for once he went wrong in + strategy. The coop contained an exceptionally numerous family, the mother + of which richly deserved the name of “Scotty.” The coop was overturned + none too politely; the squeaking chicks vanished in the grass and remained + discreetly silent; the irate hen, with the valour of ignorance and all + feathers on end, flew in the face of the startled bull. Though a white + leghorn, she has fighting blood in her veins, and as she hurled herself—stuttering + with frantic exclamations—at the violator of her home, he backed + with a mirth-provoking look of surprise and dismay. He seemed to wish to + say that he regretted the intrusion, and would apologise and ask + permission to retire. The hen was not in the mood to accept apologies, + however seemly the cringing attitude of the bull. Making herself ever so + much bigger than Nature intended, she followed up her advantages, slapping + her enemy's face with widespread wings until he winced again, and clawing + with truly feminine extravagance and uncertainty of aim. The first round + was all to the credit of the hen, and the startled poultry cackled + derisively as the bull retreated. Sure of victory, the hen followed him + up, skipping, flapping, clawing, and scolding as only an irate hen in + transports of rage can. Still the bull backed. He was a gentleman, and + genuinely afraid of female tantrums. With half-shut eyes, he submitted to + the buffets of the wings, while encouraging remarks from friends and + companions further excited the delirious pugnacity of “Scotty.” Then it + seemed to dawn on him that honour was at stake. Gallantry forbade him to + do violence to a lady; honour forbade him to run away. What other recourse + was open? He must treat the whole episode as a joke. So, rubbing his + muzzle on the ground, he invited the hen to come on. She did so. There was + a splash of outspread feathers against his front and more clatter than + ever. He pawed the ground, jerking little clods over his shoulders, and, + lowering his head, menaced the hen with horns that could have tossed her + over the highest of the mango-trees. But there was a smile on his face the + while, and the spectators knew, though “Scotty” did not, that it was all a + joke. Again and again she flew in his face. Just as often he refused to + take her seriously, though all the pantomime of battle was displayed. She + cackled in impotent anger. He bellowed with gratification. Not a fowl in + the yard saw the joke, and all the little chicks in adjacent coops + strained their necks to watch the battle and their voices in shrill + comments. Having made not the slightest impression on the jovial little + bull, “Scotty” retired, feinting and scolding, while he, still blue mouldy + for a game, coaxed her by unmistakable gesticulation to one round more. + Twice during the night “Scotty” dispelled the silences with loud + exclamations of wrath and defiance. She was fighting her battle again in + her dreams, and though I was not there to see, I am very sure that the + gentle bull beguiled his wakeful moments with smiles. There are several + white hens in the yard, and whensoever one crosses his path the bull, who + does not pretend to discriminate, tosses his head with an interrogative + gesture. “Do you want to fight?” he says, and the hens flee—all + except “Scotty.” + </p> + <p> + The herd comprises a dainty little cow of most placid disposition. Nothing + disturbs her placidity, incites her to hurry, or bewilders her. Cure the + dove of its timidity and shrinking and you will have a good prototype of + Parilla, who, taking life easily and affably, is fat and amiable. When she + brought home her firstborn, mooing plaintively, he, big and fat for his + age, walked into the byre as a matter of course. Here was the first + evidence of heredity. It was patent that Fillo Billaroo was born with a + mind like that of his sweet-tempered mother. He earned his name because of + acute dissimilarity to the swiftlet which swoops about the cleared spaces, + never resting save in a dark and dirty cave. + </p> + <p> + Though, apparently, entirely unselfconscious, Fillo Billaroo at once + established himself as a superior sort of creature. He did not exact any + rights. They were conceded with all possible grace. He enjoys privileges + none other dares to imagine. When he has exhausted for the time being the + maternal source of refreshment, he visits other mothers, and with such a + pompous, patronising, good-humoured, thoroughly appreciative and yet + gentle way, that the absurd creatures are flattered. They realise he is + something quite out of the common, and give agreeably of their best. Thus + he has become a favourite, and he drinks so much and has become so fat + that he could not for a couple of weeks accompany his lazy-pacing mother + on her daily rounds, but would be planted in shade and coolness with + cautions against straying until called for late in the afternoon. Often + would Parilla forget the hiding-place, or rather pretend to, and beseech + in wistful tones for help in the search, and when it was successful the + greetings she bestowed displayed the bigness of her heart. + </p> + <p> + Once the little mother left Fillo Billaroo in charge of Lady Clare, a much + more experienced matron, who cannot bear to permit her frisky heifer out + of her sight for a moment unless safely planted, and then the treasure + must not be wandered from more than a hundred yards. Parilla went off for + the day. Late in the afternoon, Lady Clare with her heifer and Fillo + Billaroo were found far away from the mob and driven home. It had been + hot, and the big calf has an enormous appetite and apparently Lady Clare + had been coy. When he saw his mother and his mother saw him, he stooped + with uplifting nose, sniffing; she stopped feeding and begin to sniff. He + seemed to say to himself, “I do believe I know that little creature. Yes; + I am certain I must have met her before. She rather resembles my own + mother; but I have so many fond, kind, and obliging aunts that it is not + so very easy to make sure. She has a special look. Can I be mistaken? I + really hope not, for I am painfully hungry.” + </p> + <p> + In the meantime Parilla was saying to herself—you could see it all + plainly written in her big, round, bulging eyes, so full of inquiry, hope + and longing—! “The sight of that really fine fellow reminds me that + I, too, am a mother. He is a pretty fellow; I fancy that Fillo Billaroo is + not unlike him. I now recollect with dismay that I have not seen him since + morning, when Lady Clare condescended to look after him. And there's Lady + Clare! Oh! if she's mislaid Fillo Billaroo! But can that fine, beautiful + fellow be mine? I must inquire. Come!” And she moo'd, and Fillo Billaroo + murmured “Mum,” and they rushed to one another, and the look in Parilla's + face was that of perfect happiness. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BABBLING BEACHES + </h2> + <p> + “By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more pleasure may be + taken in small things than in great.”—Ruskin. + </p> + <p> + On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and the wind continuously + sweeps off the dry surface, and your ears detect the musical sound + accompanying the process—vague as the visible part of it is blurred + and misty—then it is that you are made aware of the agencies by + which time creates geographical differences. Precipitated at the apex of + the spit, the sand as it sinks tints the verge of the sea, while the + lighter spoil, leaves and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent + voyage. The current from the south pares the spit, preserving its + shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the fluent inner curve. The + dry wind, the current with its northerly set, and the ebb in conjunction, + push the spit to the north, and as the sand advances, vegetation + consolidates the work. Then comes the season of northerly winds, when the + apex of the spit is forced backwards and outwards into a brief but + graceful flourish, in the bight of which small boats may nestle, though + the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards away. Since the winds of + the north are less in duration and persistency than those from the south + and east, the tendency of the spit—in defiance of the yearly setback—is + to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees with bare, branchless limbs + become stranded, to dry and whiten in the sun and reinforce the sand, and + in their decay, with ever contributed seaweed, to make mould for + vegetation. The work of encroachment and consolidation is incessant and + strangely rapid, for vegetation never lacks pioneers of special character + to prepare the way for the less venturesome and less hardy. Often before + vegetation appears, coral chips, shells, small stones, and sharp gravel, + are concreted into platter-shaped masses which seem to become the base of + blocks of rough conglomerate, capable of resisting the attacks of the sea; + and a few yards back, where a mangrove-bordered creek once existed, the + mud and decayed fragments of wood have been transformed into a black, + cheesy substance which might be mistaken for soft coal. So do these + beaches lay bare their secrets. + </p> + <p> + When the mainland streams pour out their floods and the commingled volume + hurries north in a mud-tinted, sharply delimited current, and whole trees + are cast up on the beaches of far-away isles, vivid examples of the + dispersion of animate and inanimate things by purely natural means are + afforded. Weighty stones are found locked among roots which, as the wood + decays, are deposited on alien sands, thereafter to invite speculation as + to origin and means of transport. On one such raft voyaged a living + specimen of the white and black banded snake, one of the most singular of + the family, for Nature has bestowed on it a placid disposition, and + provided it with an unmischievous mouth and fangs so minute that, although + classed as venomous, it is not considered injurious to man. Though strange + and interesting, on the plea that the family is quite sufficiently + represented, the derelict was unwelcome, save as a living proof of the + practicability of natural transports. By what grace, indeed, could the + creature which earned the Almighty's bitter curse be accepted as “wilsam”—goods + of God's mercy driven ashore, no wreck or ship being visible? + </p> + <p> + This small bay never ceases the laying of tribute at one's feet. There are + seasons when the amount is less than at others; but how seldom are its + sands trodden without a display of the infinite variety of productions of + the ocean? When the mood of the sea is savage and the spoil from the reef + is flung in ridges among the vegetation of the shore—coral in blocks + and shattered masses, shells, seaweed, sponges, and other dead marine + animals and driftwood, heap on heap—days of enthusiastic toil might + be spent in sorting out the oversurplus of the secrets of the sea. But for + months together the beach maintains its cleanly orderliness, and during + these dreamy days the sea will tell of many a pretty treasure which the + sands will reveal in the face of the sun. + </p> + <p> + The most famous of botanists compiled a floral almanac; the months, and in + some cases the weeks, being associated with the development and flowering + of significant plants. So might it be possible to ascribe to particular + months the tokens with which the obliging sea bestrews the beaches. It is + not proposed herein to attempt any such design, which would involve + special knowledge of the science of conchology and the compilation of the + records of years of patient observation. A few examples of the material on + which the delightful work might be undertaken are given, so that the + wealth of one brief strip of beach may be taken as typical of a vast + stretch of calm waters within the Great Barrier Reef. + </p> + <p> + The ridges and furrows of the cyclone season, when the clean sand is + covered and stained with weed, dead and living molluscs, coral, leaves + carried from the hills by flooded streams, all fermenting in the heat, + tell that Christmas is past and March not yet over. Many a year passes + without such a storm as compels the groaning ocean to ravage its reefs. + Then the beaches, during the first three months are not particularly + fertile, nor are the shells to be found special or peculiar. In April many + specimens of the mollusc known as Tapes, of which there are several + species, are cast ashore, empty but fresh. In life the animal buries + itself in the mud at the edge of the sand, and some disturbance of natural + conditions, possibly due to the fresh water from flooded rivers, causes + seasonal mortality. The most conspicuous of the species is that known as + “literati,” because of the erratic scribblings decorating its valves. With + others of the genera, it is to be found cast away at other times of the + year, but the end of the wet season seems exceptionally direful. + </p> + <p> + April is confirmed, too, but transiently, by the presence of a frail + mollusc (HAMINAEA CYMBALUM) which is washed ashore attached to seaweed, + soon to disappear desiccated by the sun and ground to powder. The shell is + semi-transparent with a sandy tint, and in form not unlike that of a + common snail. As the weather becomes cooler, a thin, delicate bivalve + decorates high-water mark. It is one of the tellinas—semi-transparent, + lustrous, and fragile—which occurs in muddy sand, but why the + species should be more susceptible to the ills of life during a particular + season is not apparent. When the fates do conspire against its welfare + dozen of bright specimens may be picked up during a casual stroll, the + animal having disappeared. The epidemic the beach thus announced with pink + and glittering shells coincides with low night tides, which possibly leave + the inefficiently protected animals exposed to the attacks of uncustomary + enemies which thrive only when the muddy banks are exposed. The cause of + the exhibition of the relics is not of so much concern to the unlearned + observer as the relics themselves and the part they play in signifying the + progress of the season. If strong winds occur during the cool months, + among the wreaths of broken seaweed thrown on the beach may be found + unbroken and fresh specimens of a singularly beautiful and fragile + univalve known commonly and most appropriately as the “bubble shell” + (HYDATINA PHYSIS), which when alive is a most lovely object, its fine + spiral lines being black and faint yellow with faint purple edges, while + the mantle is fringed with light blue intermingled with pale yellow. In + some specimens the base colouring is fawn, the lines, of varying width, + being brown and “comely crinkled,” like the face of the pleasant old woman + of whom a poet wrote. Such a frail shell is subject to many mischances + before it reaches the beach, and a few hours of exposure to the sun + tarnishes its lustre. To obtain it in perfection the beach must be + patrolled every day during due season, and very rarely is the collector + rewarded by the discovery of unsullied specimens. + </p> + <p> + When the chill is out of the surface the spring-time of the sea begins. + Vegetable life is strenuous, so that one may chance to see a lazy turtle + bearing on its back a weedy garden. The water is alive. Miles of space are + belted with that plant to which Captain Cook applied a significant name, + likening it in its myriads to “sea sawdust.” Some dare call it “whale + spawn,” forgetful that the whale is not a fish. Others assert it to be + none other than the “coral insect,” which does not exist save in the minds + of those who write odes to such creatures: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ye build, ye build, but ye enter not in, + Like the tribes whom the desert devoured in their sin.” + </pre> + <p> + It consists of minute vegetation in bundles, to be individualised under a + strong microscope, though when countless billions drift on to the beaches + and die and become green and grey with corruption, the fumes are by no + means in proportion to the marvellous littleness of the individual plants. + Then we know by the organs of scent and sight that August has come. The + beaches are foul. The breakers roll in unbroken or with a muddy, froth, + for the scum acts as oil, calming even troubled water. + </p> + <p> + The Red Sea is said by some authorities to derive its title from the scum + formed by this plant (TRICHODESMIUM ERYTHRAEUM), which is strongly + impregnated with iodine. It emits a most disagreeable odour and exhales a + gas which affects the mucous membrane, causing in some individuals + sneezing and inflammation of the eyes. One amateur fisherman of + considerable experience and by no means susceptible to intangible + irritations, and not to be diverted from his sport by trifles, has + frequently been compelled to move from a favourite ground by a stream of + the scum drifting to his anchored boat. The fumes gave intense smartness + to the eyes, which were relieved by a gush of tears, but keen discomfort + recurred when the tears were wiped away. + </p> + <p> + Following the least desirable of marine phenomena is that which is known + as the “blanket weed,” which floats ashore in loathsome blobs, a hand's + breadth and more, the centre a grey, solidified slime, with a periphery of + long, dull green, slimy, shapeless fringes Individual plants coalesce on + the sand and, mingling with other weeds, cover respectable beaches with a + woolly, compact mass not unlike a rough, thick blanket, but teeming with + unpleasantnesses. Isolated plants cling to ropes, which become garlanded + with thickened slime, from which evil-smelling mud oozes. Offensive to man + afloat and ashore, the “blanket weed” is a luxury to mullet and garfish, + for during its period both may be seen in shoals skimming the surface of + the sea in abandonment of habitual shyness, and the stomachs of both are + found to be full of the greenish-grey slime. With the compliance of the + sun the impurity disappears, giving place to the graceful weed of vivid + green that attaches itself to dead and whitened shells and fingers of + coral covered at low water. Every flood-tide deposits a zone of shells + splashed with green, while the shallows glow as a field of rich pasturage. + In favourable situations, such as the upper part of a long immersed log, + coated to the water-line with goose barnacles, the plant grows long and + luxuriantly, falling on each side like a silken mantle. + </p> + <p> + One other season, ephemeral but universal, do the babbling but + truth-telling beaches record. No rocky cove, no smooth strand, no + rubbish-accumulating creek, no mangrove-fringed islet, no coral esplanade + white under the tropic sun, no sand-bank with crest of windshaken bush, is + free. It is Christmas. Christian and pagan alike tell it to the sea, and + the sea tells it to the beaches in—corks. + </p> + <p> + Though there are grounds for the belief that some molluscs are seasonal in + their appearances and disappearances, the majority are always with us, + though subject to many casualties. A few months since an epidemic broke + out among a certain species of sea urchins (Echinus), spherical animals + with shells thickly set with spines, keen and exceedingly brittle. The + beaches were strewn with thousands of the dead, no apparent exterior + injury having been suffered. The particular species afflicted gathers to + itself, seemingly as a disguise, but perhaps as ballast, the dead shells + of cockles, which are retained by the spines. It was noticed that the dead + were not encumbered. + </p> + <p> + A curious and one of the rarest of local shells is that known as the + elephant's tusk (DENTALIUM APTINUM). Pure white and slightly fluted + longitudinally, it typifies the marvellous extent of Nature's requirements + and her fertility in design. It is especially interesting to note that the + existence of the species in Australian waters has not hitherto been + recorded, the nearest known locality being the Moluccas. + </p> + <p> + The DRUPA RICINUS (so specifically called because of resemblance to the + prickly seeds of the castor-oil plant) has another feature almost unique—two + ivory-white projections in the mouth, singularly like a baby's teeth. In + the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the form of an altogether + different mollusc which is commonly known as the “bleeding-tooth shell,” + the gory stains about the base of the tooth being highly significant. The + local example of the whimsicality of Nature owes its excellence to + absolute purity. No fond mother crooning to her first-born ever looked on + budding teeth more delightful in modelling and pearliness. + </p> + <p> + CHAMA LAXARUS belongs to the same family as the clams, the largest of + living molluscs, its specific title being an allusion to the tattered + raiment of the beggar of the most edifying of parables. Occasionally the + china-white upper valve is decorated with a broad streak of buff. Some of + the genera are attached to coral or rock indifferently by either valve, + and it is exceptional to find on the beach a perfect specimen—that + is, the valves united. Since on the reef the shells are frequently + protectively disguised with seaweed and other growth, it is only after the + violence of a cyclone that the amateur collector expects to be rewarded. + </p> + <p> + Unlike some others of the family, the cockscomb oyster, though not + objecting to the near-by presence of its kind, seems to hate a crowd. Half + a dozen may occupy separate areas on a rock, and solitary specimens lie + embedded and strongly anchored in the sand. A typical example may weigh + over seven pounds. So big and weighty a shell can scarcely be sensible of + its invariable burden of parasites and other encumbrances—but the + variety of such tenants never fails to excite curiosity. That which is + illustrated accommodated another oyster of delicate texture, a thorny clam + (which has the reputation of being poisonous), a mass of seaweed, a + serpentine mollusc, two species of coral—the red organ-pipe and a + mushroom—three burrowing crabs, besides a number of smaller animals, + fixed and mobile, in addition to the congregation of less obvious life + critical examination would undoubtedly have revealed. + </p> + <p> + Most species of univalves are wanderers, many bivalves are free, and + multivalves become fixed at an early stage of existence. The goose-necked + barnacle, with its five valves, comes in its myriads attached to derelict + coco-nuts, floating logs, and pumice-stone. The species owes its name to + the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary state of the barnacle + goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments representing the plumage and + the valves the wings. It has been found on shells, whales, turtles, and + marine snakes. + </p> + <p> + In the mud close to the edge of the beach sand one of the most singular of + marine animals exists, and often its empty, horny, flexible, + semi-transparent shell, always tinted green, may be found. It is known in + some works as LINGULA ANATINA, and by the natives of this Isle, by whom a + certain part of it is eaten, as “Mill-ar-ing.” A pinhole in the mud + indicates the presence of the animal, and the hungry black boy, thrusting + his hand with outspread fingers below it, closes the fingers and withdraws + anything but an inviting morsel. To the tongue-shaped shell is attached a + pedicle or stalk, attaining a length of ten inches, opaque and tough, + which is broken off, seared over the fire, and eaten with apparent relish. + It is remarkable that in localities in which this mollusc is found a + seaweed occurs similar in shape and size, the chief difference in + appearance being in the length of the stalk, which in the plant is thin + and membranous. + </p> + <p> + The Phorous, or carrier, otherwise the mineralogist, is remarkable for its + extraordinary habit of cementing to its exterior stones of irregular size, + and in some cases dead shells of other species, an office performed by the + use of an exceptionally long tongue. Its movements are said to be very + clumsy and erratic, as if its self-imposed burden was too cumbersome for + its strength. Personal observation fails to verify its staggering gait, + for dead specimens only have been found. The stones are, no doubt, + designedly acquired as a disguise and so represent another form of life + insurance. When stationary the mineralogist successfully baffles + observation; but some day, peradventure, in a moment of preoccupation, it + will reveal itself lurching along over the rough country it favours. How + few living things escape the “penalties of Adam.” Some bear sorrows, some + stones. + </p> + <p> + Among the fixed molluscs are what is known as the winged shells, to which + the “pearl oysters” belong. The name is apt, for the expanded valves are + not unlike the form of a bird in flight. The illustration shows a rare + species, several specimens of which were found attached to the + mooring-chain of a buoy by what is known as the “byssus,” a bunch of tough + fibres which passes through an hiatus in the margins of the valves. Like + the king's daughter of the Psalmist, PTERIA PEASEI is “all glorious + within,” the nacreous surface, margined with lustrous black, shining like + silver with a tinge of blue. + </p> + <p> + Only a very small proportion of the species of shells to be found on the + shore of this bay have been enumerated. In a work of general character a + complete commentary on any particular branch of natural science would be + out of place, nor is it competent for one who has but a trifling knowledge + of a special subject to deal with it in an enlightening manner. It would + be highly interesting to ascertain by study and observation why the + denizens of so many parts of the ocean meet in community in such a narrow + space, though it may not be very difficult to present a fairly + satisfactory theory for the continuous presence of many species by + reference to existing features and prevalent conditions. Within the area + of the bay the water varies in depth from a few feet to four fathoms, the + rise and fall of the tide being about two fathoms. The fringing coral reef + represents all stages of development and decay—live growth on the + outer edge, ever encroaching on the deeper water, and comprising many + varieties; dying masses on the shore-side, and a considerable extent of + dead and denuded relics lying in mud. There are also weedy patches, bare + sand-banks of limited extent, uncovered at low water, and muddy + depressions both in the deep and shallow portions and clean sand. Strong + currents race past the sand-spit and across the bay, carrying, no doubt, + continual supplies of spat from elsewhere to settle in quiet places. No + one who has lived on the margin of the tropic sea can be astounded at its + prolific life, though it may be a matter of unceasing wonder that along a + beach not more than four hundred yards in extent should be found shells + representative of species existing in nearly all the warm waters of the + world. + </p> + <p> + And there are other isles with other beaches. One may present a narrow + strip of soft sand, cringing and squeaking under foot, almost entirely + composed of finely ground coral and shells, among which polished fragments + of red coral are to the beach-comber as the “colours” the gold fossicker + may find in his dish—prospective of reward. They reinspire the like + fervour which leads to the discovery of mountains as well as microbes, for + may they not signify the existence within the bounds of the Great Barrier + Reef of the precious coral of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea? Above + such hopeful sands lies a band formed of stag's-horn coral, bleached + snow-white, each time lying at right angles to the sea, and higher up on + the strand are blocks and lumps of weather-stained coral among which + vegetation is springing. A few yards further back stands a group of + Pandanus palms, the van of the dense and intricate jungle covering rock + and ridge. + </p> + <p> + The shore of the sister islet may at the moment be but series of steeply + shelving banks of coral debris, to the base of the granite ramparts over + which the luxuriant foliage falls. + </p> + <p> + Each islet has its distinguishing features, each beach its budget of news + for ears attuned to “small measures,” each its display of seemly things—the + sweepings of the floor of the sea. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LOST ISLE + </h2> + <p> + “Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BROWNING. +</pre> + <p> + In a region of rare serenity it lay—a blue stud on a silver shield—aloof + from other lands—unmapped, untarnished, pure, gleaming in the dawn + of exultant day. + </p> + <p> + Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative, partly because of + remoteness from the taint of man-trodden land, mainly because, by right of + discovery, it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable than + such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, verdurous hills, sheltered + valleys, orange-tinted beaches, with the shadows of white headlands + staining the sea purple? + </p> + <p> + An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in the shape of a five-rayed + star, each ray irregularly serrated. Here was promise of many a landlocked + cove to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. Unsalted streams + wound among the foothills of the central mountain, whence a spire of + rose-red porphyry shot into the luminous sky from unbroken jungle, the + superficies of which were soft and brilliant as sodden moss. + </p> + <p> + Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, flower-bedecked + glades, with great trees and blossoming shrubs in scattered clumps and + patches, among which sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of deep + hidden streams. Others were merely precipitous depressions in the unbroken + mass of foliage, variegated with aspiring palms so slender of shaft that + their unceasing swaying in the still air seemed an act of unconscious + affectation for the display of huge bunches of gaudy fruit, seductive and + dulcet to the taste. Spider-webbed tree-ferns with furry, water-bespangled + trunks stood in crowded groves on the brink of spray-creating cascades and + along the margins of cool rivulets which murmured as they hurried to the + sea. + </p> + <p> + Water-dripping moss padded the lintels of grottos, before which dangled + translucent ferns of delicate form, yet so rich and intense with life that + crozier-tipped fronds took the hue of flowers—coral-red, + golden-bronze, and yellow; while golden dust clung to hairy undersides + like pollen to the thighs of hive-returning bees. Deep in perpetual shadow + lived a shy plant with heart-shaped leaves, so succulent and distended as + to resemble green capsules, and in association with each leaf was a single + semi-transparent fruit, pink with a central glow like the fire of opal, + but so frail that upon touch it resolved into a dewdrop which glistened, + trembled, and was gone in a moment. + </p> + <p> + In the full blaze, feather-foliaged trees crowned with gigantic red + blossoms offered as a sacrifice fruit which blushed before the insistent + gaze of the sun; while beneath this gay canopy vine and creeper and pliant + shrub wove an undergarment which screened the moist earth and created a + realm of subdued light in which all the flowers were pale of tint and + tremulously fragile, though of almost forbidding magnitude of form. + </p> + <p> + Birds of painted plumage and loud and sonorous note sang and fluttered + among the flowers and fruit with no ill thing to disturb them, no + dissonance to compel them to silence and fear. + </p> + <p> + Whithersoever I gazed, the lone and lovely Isle denoted a paradise of + unkempt vegetation, unfeared birds. No stump was there to betray the + passing of the devastating axe. No footprint except that of birds—erratic, + rectangular, scribbling—dented the sand. No human being had ever + visited those groves perfumed by orchids, gauzy as the wings of the + butterflies which poised over them and sipped the nectar stored in their + slender throats. + </p> + <p> + Each bay and inlet and cove differed in delightsomeness. Unsoiled, + weedless sand littered with shells floored this deep and sheltered nook, + where shadow and substance blended to the complete deceit of the closest + scrutiny. The next was as a garden of shrubs with living blossoms and + fruit in strange shapes and gaudy colours. Many of the subaqueous plants + expanded and retracted their blossoms harmoniously, as if to the strains + of music audible only to the mute denizens of the sea—a measured, + waving dance, fantastic and wondrously beautiful. Crystalline clearness + magnified the detail of the next, the portals of which were coral, dyed + extravagantly and variously according to the secret of the sea, with its + inexhaustible chemicals. Fish in unimaginable shapes, fantastic hues, and + sea-things harmless and educative to the sight, roamed the coral gardens, + retiring at will into sapphire-blue caverns or flashing in the clearness + with lightning speed and scarce visible effort. Cream and yellow, old + gold, blue, pink and lavender, the corals flourished in myriad shapes. + Anemones, large as plates, royal blue and greyish-green, and each + bristling with thousands of independent activities, embossed snow-white + blocks. + </p> + <p> + Opening out into an oval basin, the inlet was again constricted, the + bottle-neck entrance to a perfect haven being guarded by huge masses of + limestone, weathered grotesquely, from the crevices of which sprays of + peach-coloured orchids quivered, while the flora of land and sea + commingled on the lustrous surface. Beyond again, the inlet wound round + the base of it cliff vocal with the fugue of birds which flew from flowery + parapet to flowery parapet. + </p> + <p> + Gradually the cliffs retreated, leaving fair banks with shrubs and great + trees with branches pendulous over unbroken placidity, and there, on a + knoll, stood a palm, rigid and straight as a column, crowned with + shimmering fronds which shielded masses of nuts, brown and green, and + great sprays of straw-coloured infloresence. More palms beyond, thick-set; + and beyond again an avenue in perfect alignment, each tree perfect in + stately form, with one blotch of glorious purple—as high and compact + as a church—to block the diminished distance. + </p> + <p> + The boat drifted to the landing never touched by foot of man. Lost in + admiration of the imposing and manifold perfections of the Isle, eager to + wander at will among those enticing glades, and to make festival with + their genial gods, I stepped out—and into nothingness! + </p> + <p> + Can it be that never again shall be discovered in the Land of Dreams the + Lost Isle? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II.—THE PASSING FACE + </h2> + <h3> + THE CORROBOREE + </h3> + <p> + “No ceremony that to great ones 'longs.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Summoned, invited, children, men, women, and piccaninnies assembled to + participate in the duties and recreations of the moment. + </p> + <p> + Message-sticks had been carried into unfamiliar country by nervous boys. + One of the organisers at ease with his pen sent to his kin formal and + official invitations mingled with social and affectionate greetings. All + responded. + </p> + <p> + The beach sent its silent-footed contingents trailing along the yellow + sands, carrying in well-worn dilly-bags oysters and scraps of half-baked + fish smeared with smoke, and gritty. All their lives had they trudged + along the convenient margin of the sea, where the receding tide leaves a + firm, level, springy track. They were familiar with all its moods, and + took little heed of any. + </p> + <p> + The fame of a previous Parliament had spread far and wide, even to that + aspect of the Dividing Range which sends its waters to the great shallow + gulf to the west. Natives who, though living among the mountains but two + days' journey from the coast, had never seen the sea, hastened thither in + bee-line, passing through unknown but not unfriendly country. Though the + age of tribal feuds was past, special weapons of defence were carried, for + did not strange jungles teem with spectral denizens whom imagination + endowed with appalling shape, with cunning, and with rending ferocity? + Unmolested, the party arrived one evening, to gaze with mute astonishment + on the sea. It was almost as incomprehensible, and therefore almost as + fearsome, as the phantoms of the bush. Mysterious, vast beyond the range + of vision, here grumbling on the sand, there mingling with the sky, the + strangers peered at it through the screen of whimpering casuarinas and + trembled. The rustle of the subsiding north-easter made for fear. They + told one another that the big salt water was alive. It talked in austere + tones, while their own sleepy lagoons were silent and tame. Wonderingly, + they retreated to the jungle for the night, there to take counsel of the + long-shoremen. + </p> + <p> + “That b-i-g fella salt water, him talk all asame?” + </p> + <p> + “Yowi! Him sing out plenty. Mak'm b-i-g fella row!” + </p> + <p> + “That fella him walk about lika that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yowi! Him walk about. Quiet little bit. Sometime run about splash'm + water; mak'm boat capsize. Plenty men drown finis!” + </p> + <p> + The strangers shivered and longed to return to their cool hills; but the + long-shoremen beguiled them with descriptions of the fish and the crabs + and oysters the generous sea gave, and told that in the morning it would + be “quiet fella” and that they need not be afraid. + </p> + <p> + With taut-strung nerves, the highlanders approached the sea, which shone + in matutinal placidity. When the ripples wavered on the smooth sand and + ran in caressing ripples towards their feet, they started and shrunk. The + incomprehensible ocean was alive and much to be feared, for was it not so + big that no one could see where it ended? They sat and watched its + enticing gestures, and, gathering courage, stood tremulously while the + tide splashed their feet and retreated. The boldest walked in ankle-deep + and danced in daredevilry, and soon young and old were gambolling + uncouthly, tasting the sea's quality, shouting and splashing. None + ventured more than knee-deep; some crawled and wallowed in the wet sand, + too fearful to trust their lives to so big a thing which showed itself to + be alive by breathing and moving. The morning was spent in moist frolics, + and when the north-easter began to work up a little sea, which spoke in + menacing tones, the terrified strangers withdrew. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon the corroboree began, many of the participators + having spent hours in the assumption of the festive costume of the down of + sulphur-crested cockatoos plastered to the skin with grease and the blood. + It is not to be supposed that white down in the hands of experienced + dressers is incapable of variation in style. Several original designs + excited the approbation of spectators. The down was arranged in tufts + following the perpendiculars of the body from shoulder to shin, or in a + series of circles accurately spaced, or in intersecting spirals, while the + heads of all performers and combatants were converted into white mops. + </p> + <p> + And with the clapping of hollowed hands and the clicking of boomerangs the + function began. And having danced to their own satisfaction and the + delight of the crowd, the warriors with ostentation and bluster recited + private grievances and challenged those against whom they had real or + fancied wrongs to combat. Most of the noisy declamation was ill-founded. + The many had no grievances and no intentions of fighting, but out of the + shouting crowd stepped two big men who sought compensation for “another + Helen.” Though not lovely or winsome or an heiress, she sufficed as the + motive for an honourable and public strife, quite as sincere as many of + the scuffles without the walls of Troy. Spears and boomerangs were thrown + viciously and dodged and evaded skilfully until one of the men found a + boomerang sticking fast in his leg. The wound was decisive, and with much + hullabaloo the defeated warrior limped away, while the lady, whom + niggardly Nature had denied the grace of blushing, passively went to the + victor. + </p> + <p> + Among the strangers to the coast was an old man but a yard and a quarter + high, with unkempt, grisly beard, a head which needed not the + glorification of cockatoo's down, long, thin arms, huge hands, thick, + stump legs, and sprawling feet. No far-reaching crab of the reef just + showing its worn brown tusks off-shore was more grotesque of mien and + gait. To emphasise his malignant mood, he carried a huge boomerang, which + seemed to obey and embody his whims. It sprang from his powerful hands in + resolute and impetuous flight, whirred threateningly overhead, and + returned to foot, fluttering and purring, as if endowed with affection for + its unlovable master. None so mastered the missile; but for all his weird + influence over it, he was subject to the restraints of another weapon + which seldom left his hands. Is there not a spiritual law which imposes + checks on the bombastic tricks of crude and cultured alike, or was it by + force of gravity that the point of the dwarf's long and slender spear + dipped into the ground, punctuating mock martial struts with perverse + irregularity? Prodigious in his own estimation, his jibes and taunts were + almost as terrifying as the erratic flights of his boomerang; for the + dwarf was a privileged individual, the Thersites of the campaign, and with + one advantage over his prototype—he really wanted to fight. So he + swaggered, heeding not the reproving spear; he fumed; he mocked; for no + warrior affected to notice his vainglorious absurdities. He was as much in + earnest as those who fought on account of elemental love, and far more so + than any of the blusterers who talked big and looked small. He longed to + fight, and for money. + </p> + <p> + Each warrior was challenged individually, and when none responded he + railed against all for cowards and sent the boomerang hissing defiance + against the blue sky, to fall with mutter and thud at his feet. In his + rage the little man became hysterical, and the more he scolded the less + important, while the swaying spear emphasised increasing agitation, but + brought him neither humility nor jibe, for the race does not intentionally + relieve its drama with comedy. + </p> + <p> + No more influential personage was present than “Mooty,” the crafty, + determined, plausible philosopher—the sagest of the counsellors, the + most flowery of orators, the most weird of the wizards. Long before he had + established his reputation as a medicine-man. A settler had purchased some + cast-off goats in a distant town, and had employed a black boy of the + district as assistant drover, and the name of the boy was Tom. Since there + are many “Toms,” a distinguishing surname had to be bestowed, so “Goat” + was affixed, and as “Tom Goat” the stranger was known. Having no + sweetheart, he made love to several dusky dames, all of whom rejected him + because his absurd name made him a figure for fun. Rosey, wife of Jack, + was persistently courted, and scornfully she despised her wooer. That + individual, however, was not without malignant resource. Rosey complained + of a sore throat, and as she got worse her boy became similarly afflicted. + The faces and throats of both swelled alarmingly, so that Mooty, who had + the cases in hand, gave up hope. Both were resigned, when Mooty, to his + own horror and the dismay of everyone, caught the dread disease. + </p> + <p> + No such illness had ever been known in the district, and since it had not + only baffled Mooty's skill, but had irreverently seized him—the only + physician of credit and renown—its cause must be supernatural. Thus + did he reason, as he began occult investigations. Jack and Rosey lay in + their camp passively dying. Mooty prowled about, the sleeves of a + discarded shirt tied under his distended jaws. No physical origin for the + mysterious disease was found during the two days he devoted to methodic + search and secret rite. Then an anticipated discovery rewarded him and + made his name thrill among his race. To a condescending white man he told + of his skill in these terms: + </p> + <p> + “Two fella him close up finis. Me bin look out camp belonga two fella. + B'mbi me bin find'm little fella fork stick close up alonga groun'. Me + frait. My word, me bin pick'm up easy fella. Me look out longa little + fella hole. Me bin see hair, too much, belonga Tom Goat. That hair bin + mak'm two fella no good. Him mak'm me fella no good. Me catch'm that fella + hair along two fella stick. Tchuck'm along ribber. My word! That fella + hair no good! Him go phuff! Kill'm fish, too many. B'mbi me fella go + alonga camp. Me tell'm two fella, 'You no more mak'm die. Me bin find'm + that fella hair belonga Tom Goat.' B'mbi two fella him get up; him no more + die; he walk about.” + </p> + <p> + Exasperated by such impropriety, aghast at the consequences, Mooty—doctor + alike of laws, of science, and of medicine, and a man of imperative mood—sharpened + his tomahawk at the Chinaman's grindstone, theatrically testing its edge + with distorted thumb. Tom Goat disappeared as silently as last night's + dew, for Mooty does not hesitate to summarily administer his own judgment + when his professions are scorned, his family bewitched, his countenance + distorted with mumps. + </p> + <p> + With feasting and fighting, with dancing and storytelling, quarrelling and + reconciliations, the assemblage spent a happy week. Then the jungle + reabsorbed the nervous hillmen, and beach-combers straggled along the + yellow sands. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CANOE-MAKER + </h2> + <p> + “Last scene of all, . . . Is second childishness and mere oblivion.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + A tottering old man, frail alike in frame and mind, squats dying in an + alien camp. His teeth have almost disappeared, worn to the gums by the + mastication of food in which sand has been mingled in immoderate + proportion. All his life has been spent on the verge of the sea. He has + never known smooth food. Before he left his mother's breast grit was on + his lips, for in her sleep she snoodled naked in the sand. Hers was the + age of bark rugs or none, and was ever lord of the beach who shared with + his lady so rare a comfort? + </p> + <p> + Counterparts of Cassowary's babyhood are extant to this day—milk-bellied, + nose-neglected, fumbling-fingered toddlers, who smash with stones almost + beyond their strength infant oysters and gulp a mixture of squash and + sand. + </p> + <p> + As he grew up his food, seared on a fire on the beach, was always more or + less gritty. Possibly it would hardly have been relished if the accustomed + condiment had been absent. + </p> + <p> + For many a long year Cassowary was a sort of king in the locality of his + birth, though this rank brought him no isolation. Now he is without rank + and grim in his lonesomeness. True to the sentiments of his race, the men + and women who knew him when he was strong and lusty strive to make him + comfortable in his dotage; but he is repellent. His surliness does not vex + them. They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To strangers whom + Cassowary has never loved and would now assault with spear and + nulla-nulla, they apologise. + </p> + <p> + “Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up that fella finis.” + </p> + <p> + Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similar delusions have afflicted + notable men of the world, and even to this day are there not apprehensive + monarchs whose precautions are similar to those of the age-worn savage? He + imagines that he is regarded as a useless encumbrance, and that his + fellows would gladly hasten his departure to that country on the bourne of + which he painfully lingers. Suspicious of plots to rob him of the poor + vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard against poison, his special + dread. Rather than run risk he submits to semi-starvation, for the decayed + monarch of a narrow strip of shore has no servitor on whom to impose the + office of taster of his dishes. A stranger may of his goodwill offer a + tribute of tobacco. It is cast away with every manifestation of + indignation and haste. He is sure that the one solace of existence has + been drugged, and that if he indulges he must die. How marvellous the + self-denial! How many of us would purchase half an hour's existence such + as his at the cost of declining the one luxury of life! + </p> + <p> + Flour from his master's hands is served like the stranger's tobacco, + though he may not have tasted food for days; nor does he accept a portion + of the damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others eat. Then he + feeds reluctantly and with extreme caution, not to gratify the palate, but + to maintain life. + </p> + <p> + Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more vindictive and envious + foes than this helpless old savage who possesses nothing save a grimy + shirt and the fragments of a blanket? + </p> + <p> + Cassowary, an old man when I first met him, was of the sort which does not + make friends with white men. Silent, resolute, reserved, a man apart, he + disdained the race-shattering language his fellows hastened to acquire. + His pidgin English, limited to a few words, was almost as unintelligible + as his own rude tongue. Once I landed on the beach which was his favourite + resort, and as the anchor slipped into the sea, smoke puffed and drifted + from the camp and the lonesome man's dogs barked; but by the time the camp + was reached the smell of the fire had gone, and all tracks had been + obliterated as if by the efficient touch of the wind. The heat of the sand + at the entrance of the dome-shaped humpy revealed the site of the covered + embers, and the rest was silence. + </p> + <p> + At the back of the humpy, concealed by carelessly disposed bark and grass, + was a bark canoe which Cassowary, fisherman and oyster-eater, was never + without. In those days he deserved the reputation of being an unrivalled + maker of canoes which, during the first few weeks of their prime, were + sound, neat of appearance, quite seaworthy, though of small dimensions and + exceedingly light. Others might be expert fishermen and skilful in more + exacting sport of turtle and dugong catching, but all acknowledged his + special superiority. Though custom had made him a king, Nature had + designed him for a canoe-maker, while with that invincible irony with + which she rebukes the self-esteem and baffles the ambitions of mortals, + she discounted her gift by the bestowal of frank distrust of the sea. He + was so impelled to the exercise of the one talent that during youth and + manhood his chief occupation and never-ending delight lay therein. That + which his right hand had found to do he did with all his might, his frail + craft being the admiration of all, while the confidence with which others + managed them proved their quality. They toyed with the sea in its placid + moods, and were deferential in its ill-humour. But Cassowary never + ventured beyond easy hail from the shore, however urgent the occasion or + propitious the day. + </p> + <p> + Fear also restricted his wanderings in the bush, which kept him within + sound of the dreaded waves. He was an unaffected beach-comber. Neither the + food-bestowing sea nor the safe dry land was for him. + </p> + <p> + By instinct he seemed to be guided to the best trees for bark, generally + selecting “gulgong,” though others were equally pliant in his hands. Raw + from the tree, he would soak the single sheet in water, and while sodden + steam it over a smoky fire, and, as it softened, mould it with hand and + knee. Bringing the edges of the end designed for the stem into apposition, + using a device on the principle of the harness-maker's clamp, he sewed + them together with strips of freshly cut cane. Two stretchers gave to the + craft beam, and the necessary sheer and thwart-ship stays of twisted cane + stiffness. Gunwales of cane were sewn on, the stitches being cemented with + gum made plastic by frequent renderings over the fire on a flat stone, and + then the canoe was complete save for the hand-paddles, spoon-bowl-shaped + pieces of bark. + </p> + <p> + Each canoe sat well down by the stern when the fisherman knelt in it, + crouching forward like a jockey on the withers of his mount, and sending + it along by the alternate strokes. + </p> + <p> + Cassowary was wont to scan each new work with the tilted head of an + artist. All the stitches were regularly spaced, and since they were + burnished with smoke, the canoe became a study in brown, braided with + gold, representative of something more than a means towards earning a diet + of fish, and inevitable grit. It was neat and of harmonious colouring; + innocent of the least touch of finery; not a scratch expended on ornament. + All its lines, save those of the stretchers and stays which stood for + rigidity, were fluent. It was not made to model or measurement, but + developed under the maker's hard hands and tough fingers—a tribute + to his artistry and skill. On the water it was as blithe as a bubble. + </p> + <p> + Often had the wish to possess one of Cassowary's masterpieces arisen. He + scorned barter by abandoning his property whenever the interferer + appeared. When the camp was deserted while the boat was being brought to + anchor there was a strong temptation to take the canoe, leaving some + adequate reward. The self-denial is almost regretted, for the old man with + the thin white tuft on his chin, his shyness, his hatred of strangers, and + delusions of his decrepitude, are characteristic of an age soon to be of + the irrecoverable past. A canoe from such accomplished hands would have + represented a complimentary record of a race deficient in the elements of + history. + </p> + <p> + Several years have elapsed since Cassowary made his last canoe. He + acknowledged that his fingers had lost their cunning, but the fates + ordained that his ideas should blossom as his manipulatory skill withered + Gradually he became feeble in mind and body, and was wont to spend his + time crouched in a rough shelter dreaming prodigious dreams. He would wake + not only his fellows, but a pitying neighbour of other complexion, with + enthusiastic shouts announcing that a “big fella steamer” was whistling + out at sea; that it was his steamer; that it carried two bags of flour, + and tea and sugar and tobacco, and one “good fella trousis”; and he would + demand help in the landing of his merchandise. Worn with age, sleep would + soon again claim him, but never and anon his great cry, hailing the + phantom steamer with her beneficent cargo, would wake the poor and squalid + camp. + </p> + <p> + The time came when Cassowary could no longer obtain for himself the coarse + and trivial food essential to life, and he and another outcast, blind and + maimed, quartered themselves on the camp on the beach; arid in spite of + fretfulnesses and suspicions, their fellows administered to their wants. + Being brought face to face with facts, the State gave orders which meant + an old-age pension for the outcasts. The dole was liberal enough. The + mistake was that it came too late. + </p> + <p> + There was no reaction, as is oft the case with those who retire after the + bustling phase to live on the bounty of the State, for Cassowary and his + blind companion had never been strenuous workers or brain-compelling men. + The pension represented unexampled abundance. It was real, and yet it came + from a source almost as intangible as Cassowary's ship. Food and tobacco! + What more could the heart of a casual relic of such a race want? Actually + he wanted nothing more, save, peradventure, a blanket; but he dreamt he + did, and no earthly agent could diminish the festal extravagance of the + scenes among which he revelled, conducted by the enchanted sleep. + </p> + <p> + Cassowary had at last come to his kingdom. His time had always been his + own. The ready-to-hand food gave him leisure. His days were all dreams. + Weary of crouching over the fire before the opening of his humpy, he began + to wander in the flesh as he was wont to wander in mind. He was seen a + mile away from the cheerless camp, where his companions, with smoke-dried + eyes, lamented his absence. + </p> + <p> + Was he searching for a tree which might provide bark for yet another canoe—his + last work, a paragon? A few days passed and it became known that Cassowary + was missing. His shrunken body disordered a patch of buff sand just above + high water. + </p> + <p> + Had the desolate old man, in his fancy, made the best of all canoes, and + for once ventured out to sea? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TWO LADIES + </h2> + <p> + “To one, resolution; to another, a disposition to dance.” + </p> + <h3> + NELLY, THE SHREW. + </h3> + <p> + As the steamer from the South enters the bay, the traveller sees ahead the + fringe of houses on the low lands fronting the inlet where shipping finds + safe and convenient harbourage. To the left he may be introduced to a + strip of open beach between two low points of grey granite, back from + which are scattered groups of modest buildings and huts which form the + aboriginal settlement. The choice of the site for the settlement was + influenced by the character of the country. Although but a short distance + by sea from the port, it is isolated by its background of hard and + inhospitable hills patched with almost impenetrable jungle. Few consigned + there ever leave of their own motive, however earnest the longing may be. + The home-sick realise that escape is difficult and, if successful, futile, + for are not the police everywhere, and strong and compelling? Why + undertake the unknown perils of unknown hills—spiritual perils more + to be dreaded than physical—when capture and again banishment are + certain? + </p> + <p> + Nellie Oongle-bi, among whose matrimonial experiences was Tom, of this + Isle, and who since his death has gone from bad to worse, had been found + under the protection of a coloured alien, sadly degenerated and saturated + with opium. For her own salvation she was transported to the settlement + afar off, with its frontier of sea and background of repulsive hills. She + went, being in the clutches of a superior force, tractably enough, but + with none of her unconquerable love of country subdued. Nelly has nothing + of an attractive nature. She has a vixenish temper at times; is always on + the alert for fancied slights; is by no means cleanly, unless under + duress; and does not hesitate to foment subjects of quarrel. Few among her + relations and friends would mourn her exile. Even her own son, Jim, was + scoffingly indifferent. She was far from being so, but played her part + well, being obedient, quite tame, and ever observant. + </p> + <p> + She “sat down” at the settlement, and made friends with two or three of + the women there with whom she had previously been acquainted; but while + she talked with apparent resignation, she scanned the hills, especially + fixing in her mind a particular gully which leads up to a ridge promising + an outlook to the south, upon which her hopes were fixed. Soon after dark + on the second night she took to the bush, carrying a dilly-bag and a + blanket. She is now one of the population of a far-distant settlement, the + site of which happens to be within her own country. How she overcame the + distance without food, friends, or resources, has to be told, though not + altogether in her own language, for such would be unintelligible to the + ordinary reader. + </p> + <p> + She was determined to run away as soon as the steamer landed her, for that + part of the North was not her country, and she could not live anywhere + else. Besides, she was “sorry belonga that boy Jim.” During the first + night of her homeward pilgrimage she never ceased walking among rocks and + through the scrub, for she was fearful of being recaptured. Without pause + she clambered on until well into the next day, when she slept for a little + while. Then on again until dark. One big “mung-um” (mountain) stood in the + hopeful direction. Thitherwards she hastened, losing count of the days and + nights. Nelly has no conception of figures beyond one, two, and a great + many. The climbing of the mountain occupied many days. She was bewildered, + for she could not “catch'm that sal'water” which would lead her home. At + last from a spur of the mountain she saw the sea—“L-o-n-g way. Too + far. Me close up sing out.” Though she might cry, the sight of big salt + water beside which all her life had been spent was a joy and a stimulant. + Pushing and worming her way through the jungle, she encountered nothing + but birds, wallabies, and snakes. + </p> + <p> + Once she was startled by what seemed to be a worn narrow track. Advancing + cautiously along it, she came across a huge carpet snake coiled “all a + same rope alonga boat.” It was asleep where an opening in the roof of + vegetation made a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor, and she passed + by, treading noiselessly. For food she had the fruits of the jungle, + crude, harsh, and bitter. Food, indeed, was almost repugnant, for her + thoughts were concentrated on her country, so she hastened down towards + the now hidden sea. Far inland she heard its welcome noise—a + greeting and a call from home which made her forgetful of all weariness + and fret. + </p> + <p> + In course of time—a weak woman carrying a blanket and living on + innutritious foods does not struggle through jungle at any remarkable + speed—the foothills and then the low-lying country at the junction + of two rivers were reached. Here she took off her few and bedraggled + garments, and, making them into a bundle with her blanket and bag, waded + through swamps, eventually emerging on a sandy beach, which she intended + to follow until she regained her country, many a weary mile to the south. + Providence provided an easy means of crossing the estuary of the rivers—a + kindly white man, owner of a “little fella boat, little fella ingin.” To + him she told the story of her escape and her longing for her own country + and her own people, and was ferried across. Then she picked up a camp of + her race, the members of which, sympathising with her, accompanied her on + her way for a couple of days. One day she woke from her sleep on the edge + of the mangroves with her blanket sopping with blood which had flowed from + her mouth and nose during sleep. “Me bin sorry belonga that boy Jim. Me + bin sorry belonga country. That 'nother country no good belonga me. Me + think me die. Me walk alonga sandy beach. Some time alonga b-i-g fella + rock. Me close up tumble down altogether. Me tired. B'mbi catch'm + Liberfool Crik (Liverpool Creek). Plenty fella sit down. He bin sing out, + 'Hello! You come back from that place?' Me bin say 'Yes; that country no + good belonga me.'” + </p> + <p> + A month or so after Nelly was again found in the service of a coloured + alien, tugging away with another weak gin at what she calls a “two-fella + saw.” For her task of sleeper-cutting her reward would probably be a + handful of rice and a dose of opium per day. + </p> + <p> + Nelly is now at her leisure within a mile or so from the place of her + birth, hardly conscious of the feat represented by her solitary + pilgrimage. Occasionally she has the company of her tall and indifferent + boy. She enjoys the society of her relations, and indulges as oft as may + be in exhilarating misunderstandings with them. Without a vehement + squabble now and again life would be intolerably insipid. Anger, + accompanied by fluent abuse, is to her a kind of spiritual blood-letting + for the casement of her suddenly plethoric temperament. But such is of her + frailty. Proof of her strength of purpose, has it not been given? + </p> + <h3> + MARIA DANCES. + </h3> + <p> + In her youth Maria gave promise of a rare condition among coastal blacks—tendency + to width and breadth. As she grew in bulk she seemed, if not to decrease + in stature, at least to remain stationary. Thus it was that her figure + became perfect. + </p> + <p> + If there be one feature of animal physiology more adorable than aught else + in the eyes of the lords of the soil, it is fat—fat under any and + every circumstance. They admire it in animals of the chase, and the + paltry, greasy relics of a feast may be smeared over the body with + something of the pride and gratification derivable in other and cleaner + walks of life from perfumed powder, pink and white. + </p> + <p> + Being fat and shiny as a girl, Maria had keen and ardent lovers. She was + an adorable novelty. + </p> + <p> + Blacks do not gaze into the faces of their sweethearts. They have never + found chaste delight in the writing of woeful ballads to their mistress's + eyebrows, or to the glorification of their snubby and expansive noses. If + any of Maria's admirers had been lyrical, her buxom condition would have + been the theme of their idealisations. In time she became the mother of + children, still retaining that charming superiority of bulk which excited + the rage of sisters whose skins did not shine, whose flesh did not quiver + whensoever they walked, talked, or even smiled. + </p> + <p> + No marvel that her matrimonial experiences were the comment of the camp + and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have been + known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, + Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the + flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her the + belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the + stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not an + ounce of irresistible fascination of which to boast. + </p> + <p> + For some years the form of Maria had not waddled across accustomed scenes. + Quite unexpectedly it loomed up as large and buoyant as ever. The + light-hearted denizens of the camp had arranged an evening's + entertainment. The fires burned low, the sea babbled, making white-skirted + frolic on the hard level sand, and the piping voices of the honey-seeking + flying foxes among the tea-trees seemed to chide the parrots of the day + for having left so little refreshment in the blossoms. Behind a screen of + faded blankets the warriors of the camp were adorning themselves with + white clay and feathers and long, shaggy beards of bark, while the leader + of the orchestra began to tune his boomerang and fire-hardened sticks, and + his attendants to squat ready to drum on thighs and lap with hollowed hand + in time with his refrain and clicking music. The fires flared up, and the + band emerged with thumping step and emphatic grunts to illustrate the + ceremonious visit of strangers to a camp at which the nature of the + reception was in doubt. One individual, in chalk for the most part, + advanced, half nervously, half anxiously, to the musician, and modestly + retired, and advanced again and retired, until reassured, and then the + crowd came forward whirling and grunting, and, with high-waving arms in + unison and swaying bodies, gave token of happiness. + </p> + <p> + ACT II.—The master of ceremonies carried to the front a big and + rough sapling. The fires glowed again, the orchestra clicked and thumped, + and a single boy in an ancient red handkerchief and chalks danced into the + light, and, keeping time with the music, began in pantomime to fashion the + sapling into a sword, using a fictitious shell, with which he scraped off + imaginary bark. While absorbed in his work, his companions came from the + screen in haste, skipping round him and mimicking all his actions and + grunting in unison with him, while making the sand-ridge to quiver with + intensity of tread. Presently all flopped down on haunches in close + formation round the sword-maker, still maintaining rhythmical sway of body + and limb, and while some held the sapling, others toiled strenuously + towards the completion of a good and true weapon, the master of ceremonies + encouraging and exhorting the workers until nature could hold out no + longer, and they bounded to their feet and, with grunts and signs and with + bodies reeking with perspiration, whirled away into darkness. + </p> + <p> + ACT III.—Each of the noisy players came suddenly into the glare + carrying a rotund, compact bundle, and, squatting down, began with grunts + and sighs the great “coco-nut” act, obviously one of the masterpieces of + the corroboree. In perfect time the sham coco-nuts were beaten with hands + in lieu of sticks or tomahawks, while the accompaniment became faster and + faster. Ever and anon each, still rocking, would peer closely at his prize + to satisfy himself as to its quality, and forthwith continue the resonant + belabouring of the shell, until the meat therein was available with joyous + shout. + </p> + <p> + ACT IV.—Most of the accumulated bark and leaves having by this time + passed into flame and smoke, the attendants raided the nearest gunyah for + fresh supplies of material for illumination. The big fires lit up the + arena anew, and, marshalled by the conductor, the band rushed out of the + darkness uttering grunts which rang a change on the monotony of previous + vocal efforts. A masterpiece of composition, it conjured up the dimness of + the jungle and the smell of damp vegetation. All squatted in a double + ring, back to back. This formation was not strictly maintained, for each + individual made half turns to right and left alternately, simultaneously + scratching the sand with distended fingers and kicking vigorously until + the sand ascended in the smoke-tinged glow, heads bowing and ducking with + mechanical regularity, as the entertainers sought—and with + conspicuous success—to portray a community of scrub turkeys building + an incubating mound. + </p> + <p> + Then it was that the favourite and belle of the camp, the fascinating + creature whose magnificent condition bestowed privileges undreamt of by + other ladies, became conspicuous. Her costume had evidently been designed + for a lady not divinely tall, but considerably less of flesh than the + wearer. Maria did not actually overflow, though perilously near that + point. Surely buttons were never designed to resist such strain. Coloured + ladies generally sit meekly among the audience and chatter and maintain + the drum-beats, lacking which no corroboree could be successful. During + the intervals they may emboss pictures in the impressionable sand with + cunning forefinger and giggle, for the subjects are often quaint. Maria, + sure of her privileges, waddled out from the flame-obscuring dusk, turned + an ample back upon the double ring of boys, and played her part as one of + the giddy and industrious wild-fowls. Her fingers scratched the air and + her feet the dust with a realism not to be excelled by the most gifted of + the boys, while her half grunt, half chuckle, exactly imitative of the + social garrulity of the turkey, gave artistic finish to a scene which + would have been absolutely delusive if feathers had been in fashion. + Maria, a fleer at mere ponderosity, skipped and whisked from left to right + with fay-like airiness of foot until a thrill of delight went through the + camp. The frolicsome turkeys scratched and scattered leaves that were not, + and gobbled and clucked, until, panting and perspiring, all rose, and with + a simultaneous shout scampered for the screen, while the master of + ceremonies shouted “Finis!” The music ceased, the flames faded, and + substantial Maria dissolved in the gloom. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SOOSIE + </h2> + <p> + “No legend! Well, let us invent one.”—SCOTT. + </p> + <p> + A crinkled fist, fumbling and twisting, protruded from a rent in a + dilapidated dilly-bag. It had done so with infinite feebleness for many an + hour in unavailing protest against the woes and weight of life, for faint + scratch smeared with blood denoted the friction of tender skin against the + broken edges of the cane-made bag. + </p> + <p> + A scarcely audible, inhuman wail—pathetically staccato—told of + unceasing pain. Whomsoever the bag contained was enduring martyrdom. + </p> + <p> + “That fella, him no good. Close up finis. B'mbi me plant'm along scrub.” + </p> + <p> + Thus spoke the pleasant-faced gin who passed with the dilly-bag along a + narrow aisle of the jungle, intent upon ridding herself of a vexatious + encumbrance, and at the same time performing the rite of unrighteous + burial. + </p> + <p> + Squirming in dirt was a naked infant-black, foul, and but a few days old. + </p> + <p> + “Mother belonga that fella him dead—finis. That fella, him no good. + Him sing out all a time. More better tchuck'm away.” + </p> + <p> + Frail outcast—the very scum of a blacks' camp, its repulsiveness was + tragic. Dirt and odour sickened, yet its appeal was irresistible. That + universal language, a human cry, which everywhere and always quickened the + pulse, stirred pity to its depths. I seized the stained bag (it was a + desperate deed) and, breaking down its worn sides, displayed its contents—a + girl in all the infamy of neglect, starvation, and dirt—a panting + mummy reeking with offence. + </p> + <p> + Spreading out a handkerchief, I put the awful atom on it gingerly, while + the foster-mother reiterated her counsel to “tchuck'm alonga scrub.” + </p> + <p> + In the guise of a frail bundle at arm's-length was Soosie conducted to a + civilised home. + </p> + <p> + Dismay tempered with pity greeted her. + </p> + <p> + “How horrible! How dirty!” + </p> + <p> + “Is it really a little girl? It looks like a wild animal.” + </p> + <p> + “Do let me nurse it.” + </p> + <p> + Thus was crinkled-faced Soosie welcomed. + </p> + <p> + Many successive baths did she endure, faintly wailing, until dirt soaked + off and the wails ceased for the time being as Soosie sucked ravenously at + a tiny sugar-bag. + </p> + <p> + What a frail little life it was—feeble beyond expression, and ugly + with the ugliness of savagery. She wriggled and screwed up her skinny + features with inane ferocity. A motherless wallaby would have submitted to + human solace and ministrations with daintier mien; but the whole household + thrilled with excitement. Could the spluttering spark of life be made to + glow? That was the all-absorbing topic for days. Gradually some sort of a + human rotundity became manifest, and on the occasion of the bath it was + more and more apparent that instead of being impenetrably black the + skin-tint was a mingling of pale brown and pink; and as regular + nourishment began to be effective the features changed, losing their gross + animalism. + </p> + <p> + Just because of the waif's helplessness was repugnance to her conquered. + She had no other redeeming quality. In a certain sense she was fearsome; + she required unremitting attention and care; her whimpering fits, in + beast-like monotone, shook the nerve of the most patient of her + attendants. She was a charge to keep and foster, and the duty was + performed with devotion, which took little concern for self-sacrifice. + Before many months had passed Soosie had been transformed into a fat + roly-poly with a perpetual smile and gurgles of satisfaction, which even + vocalised sleep. + </p> + <p> + All this happened years ago. In infancy Soosie had been informally + adopted. She was now a bright, sensible, slender girl, whose full, melting + eyes pleaded for inevitable facial defects, and whose complexion was very + greatly at fault. She grew up more averse from the manners and moods of + her mother than those of us who better understand the differences of race. + To her a black was more abhorrent than a snake. She loathed the sight of + those who came about the place, and would not defile herself by touching + the cleanest—kind-hearted “Wethera,” who had so nearly interred her, + and to whom she was as a princess; “Wethera,” who was wont to say, “That + fella Tchoosie, too flash. Close up me bin tchuck'm away. Boss he bin + catch'm.” + </p> + <p> + Soosie evaded all possible reference to her kin, and when others spoke in + sympathetic terms would say: “How can you bear to think of those horrible + people who live in dirt and only half dressed in the bush? I love the + scrub, and but for them would like to wander in it all day. I dare not + while they are about, for some day one of them might touch me, and I would + never feel clean again.” + </p> + <p> + We often wondered at the irreconcilable attitude which Soosie (she was + always “Miss Soosie” to all but members of the household) adopted to her + own race, for she well understood where she had been born and the manner + of her salvation from imminent death. + </p> + <p> + Though no special training had been hers, none of the domestic arts were + unknown to her. She acquired them with ease and practised them with the + air of a dignified princess and neat-handed facility. While the other + children of the house stewed over lessons and rebelled against essential + tasks, to Soosie everything seemed to make for holiday. She read + voraciously, so that her application of English became so keen that she + was the first to detect verbal dissonances. She, the youngest of two girls + and a boy, would often correct their speech, not as a budding pedant, but + because her ears were delicately attuned to the music of the tongue and + could not, without offence, hearken to discords. She was an affected + prude. Her self-chosen style of dress, her pose, her disdainful airs, her + repugnance to coarse work, her inclination towards occupations and + pastimes which involved isolation, showed that self-consciousness ruled + her life. She lived within herself, and her life was gentle, contrasting + with the boisterous playfulness of her foster sisters and brother, upon + whose romps she smiled indulgently, but in which she never took part. In + her own estimation she was a girl quite out of the ordinary, and one to + whom the most honoured of guests must be polite, if not deferential. She + exacted little niceties of demeanour from all, her equals and inferiors, + for was she not treated as a daughter of the house? Often, however, in her + preoccupied moods would she assume an air of detachment and jealousy + towards the other children, for she could not but contrast herself with + them. They were white; she was pronouncedly of the despised race. How + wistfully would she scan the face of strangers! How teeming with + resentment against fate her inevitable conclusions! In all save features + she was white. Over her inheritance, the cruellest which fortune could + bestow, she was shudderingly horrified. Not all the longings of an + untainted mind could make her skin less tawny. Its stain was too deep to + be blanched by the most fervent of prayers. Her outlook on life, her + intensest wishes, were those of a white girl of more than decent + perceptions—of actual refinement, for they tended to the avoidance + of everything unpleasant and unsightly. In other respects, too, she was an + absolute variant from the type, for her sensitiveness to the pain of + others and of the lower animals amounted almost to a mania; for though she + had a girlish horror of blood, her eagerness to solace sufferings made her + so courageous that she became most apt and prompt in the administration of + first aid. Her big, startled eyes showed the sincerity of her feelings, + while her firm, slender fingers deftly applied bandages as she spoke in + soothing tones. + </p> + <p> + The soul of a white damsel was in habitation of the body of one whose + parents had been black and utterly degraded. In the days of old evil + spirits were believed to be capable of taking spiteful possession of the + bodies of the weak to work, in unseemlinesses and indecencies, for the + mischief of the soul. Here was a good and gentle spirit which strove + undemonstratively for the salvation of a being the circumstances of whose + birth bordered on the infernal. It was as if the baths of infancy had + purified the soul, while the permanence and perversity of blood triumphed + in feature and complexion. + </p> + <p> + While the other children of the house deserved and obtained love and + affection in full measure, towards Soosie were exhibited similar + sentiments, with, perhaps, more consideration, for was it not plain that + her life was a continual conflict—a conflict between body and soul—a + body self-abhorred, a soul which needed no purification? + </p> + <p> + A creek which had its source in a ravine of the huge mountain which + intercepted the rising sun and caused accustomed shadow an hour after the + illumination of the western hills, ran past the lonely little house, which + stood in a clearing the upright walls of which were on the sky-line + scalloped with fan-palms. For many years Soosie never ventured into the + jungle unaccompanied, yet she seemed to possess a sense of happenings + beyond the almost solid screen of vegetation. Primal instinct contended + against her affections and her love for a sheltered, clean life. Though + she had always avoided association with the children of the camp, and her + knowledge by imitation or precept was negative, yet was the bush an open + book to her. She knew when and where to look for birds'-nests. She knew at + a glance a venomous from a non-venomous snake, an edible from an inedible + nut. As a child her favourite head-dress was a squat, fat mantis, the + bright orange and yellow of which contrasted boldly with her fuzzy, coarse + hair; and when the insect palled as an ornament it would be frizzled and + slyly eaten. + </p> + <p> + Once as we strolled on the bank of the creek gazing at the lazy, + red-finned fish among the swaying weeds, her wandering eyes detected a + neat circular bore in the trunk of a huge silky oak. Having shrewdly + scrutinised the bark, she judged the tenant to be at home. With a portion + of one of the “feelers” of creeping palm stripped of all the prickles save + two, she probed the tunnel and, screwing the instrument triumphantly, + withdrew a huge white grub, which she ate forthwith; and then, with a + grimace, assumed an air of shame and contrition, for she had astonished + herself as well as others by an exhibition of untaught bush-craft and + ancestral appetite. + </p> + <p> + She more than once confessed in shamefaced terms to an almost + uncontrollable impulse to rush away to the mountain, that she might solace + herself with the solitude and food in plenty there; but that when she + conjured up the chance of meeting some “dreadful native” she thanked God + for home and loving companions. How frequent and how intense was this + unconfessed lust for the bush we knew not. + </p> + <p> + When Soosie was fourteen there came to the neighbourhood a hardy young + fellow who began to clear a small area of jungle land; for civilisation, + which had been marking time for nigh upon two decades, now marched slowly, + and to no throb of drum, in our direction. Times were changing, and in + some details less desirable conditions arose. The infinite privacy of the + bush suffered. The little clearing was no longer our own. Soosie's + demeanour became more reposeful. She had seemed to think that it might be + her fate, in common with others, to become a ward of the State at some + mission-station; but as settlement advanced, though still miles away, for + we were the furthest out, and no interfering guardian of the peace came to + enforce officialdom and insist upon obedience to the letter of the law, it + was comforting to reflect that this unofficial daughter might be permitted + to live out her life unhampered even by the goodwill expressed, in the + first stages, by the visit of a policeman. + </p> + <p> + Her presence was necessary, not only on account of her amiable disposition + and self-sacrificing ways, but for the actual load she bore of the duties + of a quiet home. We had failed, however, to take into calculation the + chances of another means of separation. There was now no disguising the + fact that our new neighbour, Dan, was casting sheep's eyes in Soosie's + direction, and to her evident dismay. It was of little avail to upbraid + him as to the unseemliness of attachment to a girl who, however civilised, + was of inferior race and despised colour. He frankly confessed that he + wanted a wife as a companion and helpmeet; that he could not hope, in + consideration of his own lowly birth and slender means and uphill task, to + induce a white girl to halve his loneliness. He had studied Soosie, and + was sure that she was his superior except in matter of colour. She was far + better schooled and had been used to softer life. + </p> + <p> + “What,” he asked, “don't you and the Missis and Miss Clare and Fan, and + Bob, here, love her? You couldn't help it; and you are not ashamed. You + treat her as your own child. It would be no sin for me to take her as my + own wife. If she'll have me I'll marry her before the best parson in the + North. What of her complexion? It's only a little more sunburnt than + mine.” + </p> + <p> + But Soosie was shy—more than shy. Her sensitiveness amounted to + physical repulsion. She declared that, though she liked Dan, she would + never marry. + </p> + <p> + “I do feel in my heart that I am nothing more than a black girl, and + almost a savage. What if some day the horrible part of me got stronger, + and I did go to the mountain by myself? I have heard you say that blood + will tell. Often I am frightened of myself, especially when the nights are + very still and I listen to the scrub hens chuckling and the flying foxes + squealing, and smell the scents of the scrub. It must be very nice to live + away from everybody in the very loneliest part of the big mountain, and to + feel at home with actually wild things.” + </p> + <p> + There was no affectation between us, so I said in comfort: “But my dear + girl, you are whiter at heart than many a girl born white. It is only your + skin that is dark. Perhaps if in a year or so you did marry Dan it would + be the best, for a good woman, no matter what her complexion, will always + earn respect. Society may not want you, but you would not want society; + and it will be very many years before society hampers life in this part of + the bush.” + </p> + <p> + Soosie thought for a few minutes, and then replied with delicate + discretion. “I can never marry Dan. Sooner or later he would despise me. + It might be all right while I was young, but—we—we—blacks + get old very soon. Fancy Dan having an old gin in his house; for he won't + be living in a one-roomed hut all his life!” + </p> + <p> + “You are spiteful against yourself, and that's not like you, Soosie.” + </p> + <p> + “I have my feelings. How else may I restrain them?” she petulantly + exclaimed. “He must never think of me. It might drive me to the mountain—just + to save him from me.” + </p> + <p> + Dan, good fellow, was discreet. He decided to play the laggard in love, + realising that any show of impetuosity might frighten Soosie. It came to + be understood that in time she might see the wisdom of accepting him, and + I, knowing both, and to whom mixed marriages are abhorrent, was convinced + that no girl could have been better qualified to fill the position of a + bushman's wife. Modest, clever, sympathetic, healthful, none of the stains + of the town had ever tarnished her mind. Her voice was that of a + well-schooled white girl, and all her perceptions coincided. If the wander + lust was to be suppressed for ever, it seemed to me that Soosie must + marry, and marry young. + </p> + <p> + While Soosie's demeanour was still the cause of earnest solicitude, a + perplexing complication arose. An old man of the camp whence she had been + discarded began to do his best to attract her attention. + </p> + <p> + Gifts of birds'-nests, eggs, ferns, orchids in flower, a cassowary chick, + neat dilly-bags, gay with crude Pigments, were brought to the house with + messages such as this: + </p> + <p> + “That fella 'Pad-oo-byer' he bin gib'em alonga 'Ky-ee-rah.'” + </p> + <p> + “Ky-ee-rah” (the evening star) had been proclaimed to be Soosie's totemic + name, and “Pad-oo-byer” we knew as “Duckbill,” because of a fancied + resemblance to a platypus. + </p> + <p> + The gifts were tearfully repudiated. They seemed to announce that Soosie, + was regarded by her mother's kin as one of themselves, notwithstanding her + civilised environment. + </p> + <p> + Though for the girl's sake, not on account of any personal repugnance or + despiteful attitude, the blacks had been kept at arm's length, I was on + good terms with all in the district, and took interest in their doings and + folk-lore. One of their primary beliefs was that children, black and + white, were actually the produce of the locality, belonging, not to chance + parents, but to the very land on which they were born. The germs of life, + they assumed, came from the soil; the soil assimilated all flesh after + death. Infants were but phases of the life with which the soil teemed. All + the neighbourhood belonged to the camp—the land and everything which + sprang from it, for they were the original possessors. It was their + country. They argued that such things as sweet potatoes, pumpkins and + mangoes, the very roses which adorned a sprawling bush, the richly tinted + crotons, the flaunting alamanda over the gateway, were, strictly speaking, + common property. So, too, over those children born on the place certain + proprietary rights were claimed. They were akin to them, alien to their + parents. Whites and blacks born in the same district must, according to + their ideas, be more closely related than folks whose birthplaces were + separated by distances beyond comprehension. + </p> + <p> + Such being the general opinion, fortified by undeviating oral tradition, + in Soosie's case the theory was ever so much the more arguable. She was + claimed, not alone on the grounds that she was a native of their own land, + but because, having been born in their own camp, she must be subject to + it. + </p> + <p> + Duckbill intercepted me on the edge of the clearing one morning especially + to propound the law of the land. + </p> + <p> + Soosie, he told in his pidgin English, had been given to him by her uncle. + She was to be his gin now that she was grown up. “More better you hunt + that fella. Him want sit down alonga camp.” + </p> + <p> + The bald proposition shook me, for I could not but see the logic of it + from Duckbill's standpoint. He was the “big man,” a wizard—ugly, + old, and villainously dirty. Here was the camp's husband for the coloured + girl with the white heart. The idea was revolting, and then and there I + resolved at whatever cost to save the girl from such degradation. + </p> + <p> + “Clear out!” I shouted, assuming frantic anger. “You fella chuck'm Soosie + away when she little fella piccaninny. That one belonga me now. Suppose + you fella kick'm up row big fella government come clear you fella out. No + more let you sit down longa this country.” + </p> + <p> + “Country belonga me. You no humbug. You bin catch'm that fella Tchoosie + l-o-n-g time. You bin make'm good fella. Belonga me now.” + </p> + <p> + The disgusting old fellow went on to explain that he intended to come up + to the house that evening. “You hunt'm that fella Tchoosie, me catch'm. No + good belonga you.” + </p> + <p> + I was to drive the gently nurtured girl out of the house so that this foul + creature might seize her as he would a struggling wallaby, and take her to + live a degraded life in the camp! Explanations and threats were of no + avail. Duckbill, who was unable to comprehend that he and others of the + camp had by abandonment forfeited all rights to Soosie and that she was + now a “white Mary,” made it plain that he would forcibly abduct her if I + would but give him the slight assistance of expulsion. Otherwise he would + catch her himself. + </p> + <p> + Threatening the camp with the presence of the “big fella government” if he + or any of them dared to interfere, I went off, while he shouted his orders + to “hunt that fella close up karrie badgin!” (sunset). + </p> + <p> + Forthwith the house was put in a state of semi-siege. Soosie, with tearful + eyes and tremulous hands, hysterically implored us to protect her from a + fate worse than death. A message brought Dan, who first disdained to take + Duckbill seriously. Told how Soosie had been wooed with gifts, and that + her maternal uncle had officiously bestowed her upon the gaunt, + ill-favoured king of the camp in accordance with tribal law, which + regarded her as a mere chattel at the disposal of the whim and fancy of + the nearest relative or at the demand of the most authoritative man, he + became concerned and installed himself as Soosie's special guardian. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes after sundown Duckbill appeared, quite unconscious of + offence against civilised customs, carrying a waddy with which to + administer an anodyne should his capture prove the least refractory. + Threats and scoldings were lost. He was incapable of comprehending why + there should be a moment's hesitation about the fulfilment of his + legitimate rights and demands. + </p> + <p> + Though protests were vain, the fact that Soosie did not show herself + imparted some glimmering of sense of the situation to him, and he wandered + off in the gloom grumbling “That fella too flash,” and frankly announcing + “B'mbi me catch'm.” + </p> + <p> + For weeks Soosie kept within doors, or if she ventured out was accompanied + by one or other well able and determined to protect her. Her nerves were + at acute tension; her life that of a hunted creature; for though she + thought her fate inevitable, she concentrated her mind on what seemed to + others pitiably weak and inconsequent schemes for the bafflement of + Duckbill. + </p> + <p> + Was it that some ineffaceable trait told her that the tribal law as + expounded by Duckbill was so wise that resistance to it was vain, and that + the trivial plans over which she worried were merely invented as a sort of + temporary palliative? She scorned the possibility of existence in the + camp, yet strove to contest it by the use of fantastical devices. She + urged that Dan and I should get some fearsome masks and rush the camp in + the gloom, at the same time setting off fireworks, and so create such + terrifying effects that none would venture near the spot again. With bated + breath, she even suggested that I should make a “death-bone” to be + employed for the secret ill of Duckbill; she thus exposed the dross of + hereditary superstition which rose to the surface during mental + ebullition. + </p> + <p> + It was quite in the nature of things that under stress such a nature + should break down. She nestled close to Dan, promising to be his + sweetheart on the condition that, rather than that Duckbill should take + her away, he would shoot her. If it came about that the dreadful black man + was himself driven off or disposed of by some other means and the country + made safe for her, then she would marry the man who had saved her, and she + hoped that she might never disgrace him. + </p> + <p> + Dan accepted the guardianship. His hut was two miles away and on the far + side of the river. He saw little of it for the next few weeks. + </p> + <p> + Duckbill and his friends, as we were well aware, knew of our plans for the + defeat of his proposed outrage. If Soosie could be ceremoniously married + to the faithful Dan, no black in the neighbourhood would endeavour to + molest her. Indeed, all, even to Duckbill, would be flattered and + demonstrative of pride in the alliance. + </p> + <p> + A fortnight later Duckbill again intercepted me. Since the previous verbal + encounter I had gone armed. He carried, somewhat ostentatiously, a + tomahawk and a couple of nulla-nullas. + </p> + <p> + “No good you keep'm that fella Tchoosie. Me bin look out plenty. That + fella belonga me. Suppose you no lat'm come, more worse b'mbi. Me want + mak'm that fella all asame black fella. You gib it Clare belonga Dan.” + </p> + <p> + My fingers twitched on the butt of the revolver. It was an ultimatum. That + which from other lips would have been resented as complacent insolence had + to be endured with apparent calmness. Threatening him with all the + consequences of a visit from the “big fella government,” I hurriedly left, + for I was not too sure of self-control. + </p> + <p> + A stricter watch than ever was maintained, for the least relaxation of + precautions might have involved results for which a lifetime of regrets + would not have atoned. Though of such a low type of the human race, the + North Queensland aboriginal possesses certain admirable characteristics. + His mind seldom swerves from a set purpose within view of attainment. He + may be rebuffed and disappointed, and may assume indifference to or + forgetfulness of his purpose; but in his heart he does not accept defeat + until an absolutely decisive blow is received. Invisible to us, the old + man persistently waited, and watched. The dogs frequently detected his + presence, if their eloquent alarms and their excursions were to be + credited. Though she continued to pit her wits against the secret + cunningness of the dreaded old man, Soosie was often preoccupied, seeming + to regard herself as one not primarily concerned. Her calmness was + preternatural, contrasting strangely with her previous petulant agitation + and tragic despair. She avoided Dan, while clinging with profuse + demonstrations of affection to her foster-sisters. + </p> + <p> + The reason for her change of policy and manner was revealed with + distressing suddenness. At daylight one morning the door of the room in + which she slept under lock and key was wide open, and on her quaintly + embellished table a primly written note: + </p> + <h3> + “DEAR MUM, + </h3> + <p> + “That horrible man who wants to take me away is right, and the Bible is + right. I belong to this country, and must go. I would rather die than go + to the camp; but I must know the big mountain. The dreadful people don't + go there. They are frightened of it; I love it. I shall live there by + myself till I die, and Dan will never be disgraced. You and Dada and Clare + and Fan and Bob have been all the world to me. You did your best to make + me white at heart; but since this trouble began I have thought and + thought, and found that the black in me smudges all the good out. Don't + try to come after me. I shall hide. I would be too much ashamed ever to + look at you again. Forget me, for I am nothing but an ungrateful little + savage. + </p> + <h3> + “SOOSIE.” + </h3> + <p> + In all haste Dan and I set out for the camp, a mile or so further in the + jungle. It was situated in a natural, symmetrical clearing, a circus + hemmed in by sullen vegetation, and upon which no plant save blady grass + ever invaded. + </p> + <p> + The camp was deserted. Save for a few still warm spots indicative of + artfully smothered fires, there were few signs to indicate recent + occupation. An hour's search revealed definite tracks leading east—to + the mountain. + </p> + <p> + No pains had been taken to baffle pursuers. Apparently the blacks had just + wandered off aimlessly in obedience to a whim of the moment. There was + nothing but conjecture to support the opinion that the decampment had + anything to do with the disappearance of Soosie. Probably the blacks were + aware, in advance of ourselves, that she had stolen away. If so, they + would inevitably get her, having, possibly, the advantage of hours of + start and being efficient in the art of tracking. Our plan was to hasten + so that we might, if fortune favoured, be in time to save the distracted + girl from the repulsive and obscene ceremonies to which she would be + subject if she fell into the hands of Duckbill. + </p> + <p> + An hour's walk brought us to the foothills of the mountain. The tracks + turned abruptly north, winding indeterminately as if no special object had + been in view. It might be that while the men of the camp had been intent + on following Soosie's tracks, the women and children had straggled after + as if the quest was of no special concern to them. + </p> + <p> + In the broken country well in to the base of the mountain all traces of + the exodus was lost, though bush instinct, supplemented by the actions of + the dogs, gave sense of its direction. Blundering down into a ravine where + blanched vegetation betokened complete seclusion from the sun, we + clambered up the opposing steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle on + a high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded view to the west—a + scene of theatrical clarity with a single theatrical smear. From a hollow + far below slothful smoke filtered through the matted, sombre, + dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted abruptly, dissolving + from diaphanous blue to nothingness. The resonant whooping of a swamp + pheasant, antiphonal to a bell-voiced, crimson-crowned fruit pigeon in a + giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur-crested cockatoo as it tumbled + in the air, evading the swoops of a grey goshawk, materialised the peace + and the conflicts of a scene upon which no man had made mark. + </p> + <p> + The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting-place of the fugitives, + though all tracks on the uneasy earth had failed. Odours of the jungle + soothed my mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, and gave + assurance that the men had unravelled Soosie's wanderings until she had + begun to ascend the mountain, and that, being then on strange and + terrifying ground, they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar + level country free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. + </p> + <p> + With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, plunging again into the + dimness of the jungle, struck as direct a route as possible for the + smoke-revealed camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently through + the screen of ferns and banana plants, where in a secluded glade were the + wanderers in happy festival. + </p> + <p> + Could any scene approach nearer the ideal? Men, women and children, mostly + unclad, talking and laughing in modulated tones, while amusing themselves + with trivial occupations and eating convenient food in the depths of the + jungle, sanctified by distance and scene and sound! Peace smiled, + propriety approved. They ate of the fruits of the earth. The + fern-embowered stream gave them to drink. No sign of the white man, with + his interfering and desolating ways, assailed the sight. It was as if the + mist of centuries had lifted, and for once time-soiled mortals were + permitted to gaze on a Garden of Eden free from danger and innocent of + sin. There was none here to make the quiet folk afraid or discontented. + </p> + <p> + As I stepped out, the scene changed with pantomimic celerity. We were in + the midst of a community of excitable and resentful people, who, viewing + us, if not with active hostility, at least with surprise and anger, seemed + embarrassed by guilty knowledge. None of the customary greetings welcomed + us. None offered other than scowls. + </p> + <p> + “Where Soosie?” I demanded in authoritative tones of a boy accustomed to + treat my slightest word with respect. + </p> + <p> + With averted face he sullenly said: “That fella Tchoosie he run away. He + go l-o-n-g way, alonga mountain!” + </p> + <p> + “Look here! You no humbug. Where Soosie sit down? Plenty row along white + man suppose Soosie no come back. That fella Soosie belonga Missis. Missis + very sorry. She bin make'm Soosie all asame white Mary.” + </p> + <p> + Still the face-averting boy reiterated: “That fella Soosie he bin go long + way—more far. You fella make'm Soosie no good.” + </p> + <p> + Others gathered round. Several carried weapons—nulla-nullas and + wooden swords—and assumed hostile attitudes. + </p> + <p> + Dan became uncontrollably excited, storming for the production of Soosie, + and being met with inconclusive statements and evasions. Being one who + knew no fear, who deemed his questions justifiable, who felt himself more + than a match for the whole camp, and was convinced that the blacks were in + possession of essential information, he urged the policy of chastising the + sullenness out of a couple of incommunicative boys. His attitude, and + mine, hitherto, towards the blacks had been of cheery good-nature tempered + with considerate authority. Present moroseness was novel, and he was eager + to sweep it away with a sturdy stick, and thus to demonstrate that when a + friendly white man visited a camp blacks should be deferential and alert + to assist his mission. + </p> + <p> + In the mood of the men tragedy was inevitable unless both of us kept cool. + What would be the ending of a fray between two white men and many armed + blacks, some of whom were aching under a prolonged, however inconsequent, + grievance against a white family? + </p> + <p> + “Look here, Dan. Leave those fellows alone,” I said firmly but quietly. + “There'll be sorrow for some if you begin a row.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care for a hundred blacks! I'd kick myself if I could not floor + half a dozen single-handed! Where that Soosie?” + </p> + <p> + To distract attention from Dan, I moved off a few yards. + </p> + <p> + “What you ki-ki?” I asked of Wethera, who gnawed with concentrated + satisfaction at a charred bone. “You ki-ki wallaby?” + </p> + <p> + “No wallaby! This one 'mandee' (hand) belonga Tchoosie!” + </p> + <p> + Scorched flesh and blackened bone had left their smear on the face of the + kindest cannibal of them all. On the fire was a foot with charred + ankle-bones; in a dilly-bag other fragments, but in Wethera's countenance + no consciousness of evil-doing. + </p> + <p> + “Come here!” I shouted. + </p> + <p> + The excited man strode to the spot. + </p> + <p> + “Soosie,” I said, in the calmest tones I could command, “has been + murdered. This is a cannibal feast!” + </p> + <p> + With a bound he upset the gin, who shrieked as she grovelled in the + embers. + </p> + <p> + “You wretches! You kill Soosie! I kill you!” + </p> + <p> + As he drew his revolver from his belt I seized his hand, and, restraining + him as best I could for a moment, spoke authoritative and soothing words, + and led him away weak and tremulous. + </p> + <p> + Not for many months—long after Dan had left the district—did + exact information as to the fate of the hapless girl reach our ears. + Wethera told of the tragedy. Duckbill had followed her tracks from the + house towards the mountain, had overtaken her, and, since she had fought + frenziedly, had “killed her alonga head little bit,” not intending to kill + her “dead, finis.” Carried to the camp, it had been found out that she was + actually dead. Then all had become stricken and run away. + </p> + <p> + By her obstinacy Soosie had offended tribal law. She had suffered. In the + necessitous jungle animal food is never wasted, be it beast, bird, or + reptile. + </p> + <p> + It had been an edifying sacrament, too, founded on immemorial truth, for + had it not been devoutly believed that Soosie's most excellent and potent + personality would remain with and glorify every participant? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BLUE SHIRT + </h2> + <p> + “A strong, untutored intellect, eyesight, heart; a strong, wild Man.”—CARLYLE. + </p> + <p> + Half a century ago, when hardy and adventurous men made laws unto + themselves, and their somewhat hasty and inconsiderate hands began to + sting the aboriginal population, there lived on this Isle a stalwart + native whose force of character constituted him a captain among his + fellows. + </p> + <p> + Possibly he was Tom's father. Before he passed away, Tom had often told + that his father was king of this realm and a man of parts. He it was who + harpooned a huge green turtle to the east. The game was so extraordinarily + strong that others hastened to his aid, for the capture was beyond the + capabilities of one man kneeling in a tucked-up sheet of bark. The whole + fleet of canoes barely succeeded in towing the massive and reluctant + creature to the nearest beach, and Tom was wont to tell that it took eight + strong men to turn it on its back. It was “kummaoried” on the sand, and + Tom oft pointed out the very spot as proof of the most famous feast within + the range of tradition. + </p> + <p> + Let it be accepted, then, that Blue Shirt was Tom's father, since history + is silent on the point, and none is left to question or authenticate it. + He was a big man, and his son was like him. He was fond of colours; so, + too, was his son. He was a fighter; his son's meritorious scars proved him + worthy of his blood. He was a man in authority and full of territorial + pride; his son's dominance was undoubted, for did he not chide the “big + fella gubbermen” on its audacity in disposing of his Island—his + country—even to a friendly white man? + </p> + <p> + Blue Shirt was the ruler and lawgiver of this Island when a barque strove + with a cyclone which eventually shattered her to pieces and scattered her + cargo of cedar-logs to the four winds. After the wreck a boat put out from + a not distant port on a beach-combing cruise. The boat was known as the + CAPTAIN COOK. About a hundred years before her namesake had reported that + he had seen about thirty natives, all unclad, on an adjacent islet. With + the captain was his mate, two other white men, a black boy, and a young + gin. Many derelict logs were seen and certain wreckage, which made the + boat's company inclined to the belief that some of the castaways might + have landed on Dunk Island. They steered hither, anchoring in the evening. + </p> + <p> + Early the next morning three stalwart black boys put off in canoes to the + CAPTAIN COOK, and, making friendly demonstrations, were invited on board. + Food was given them, and to the leader the captain presented a blue shirt. + No dweller of the Island had ever before possessed such a sumptuous and + glorious garment. Indeed, if the absolute truth must be told, no dweller + had dreamt of anything more desirable than an inadequate cloak laboriously + wrought from the inner bark of a fig-tree, raiment sanctioned by the first + of fashions. + </p> + <p> + Having made it known that they belonged to a neighbouring islet at the + moment unfriendly to the overbearing Dunk Island tribe, Blue Shirt and his + attendants mentioned that cedar-logs and other attractive flotsam + bestrewed the beaches, and volunteered to conduct the strangers to the + best places on the understanding that they, being alien and hostile, + should remain under the protection of the rifle-carrying white men. + </p> + <p> + The captain, two men, and the black boy, followed Blue Shirt ashore; but, + although he was conspicuously clad, could not find him or any other man. A + few old and casual women represented the hospitable inhabitants, while + Sabbath quietude brooded over the scene as they strolled along the yellow + beach. By chance one of the party glanced towards the spot where they had + landed, and saw half a dozen vigorous gins endeavouring to haul the boat + above tideway. + </p> + <p> + How excellent the strategy! + </p> + <p> + The designing but faint-hearted women fled when the white men charged for + the boat, which now was seen to be endowed with an incredible, uncanny + rocking movement of its own. Looking beneath, they saw a huge cripple + straining himself, Atlas-like, to heave it over. In spite of inferior + legs, his brawny shoulders had almost accomplished the feat when he was + unceremoniously interrupted. While he sprawled away, a mob of blacks + rushed suddenly from the cover of some rocks, the leader of the assailants + being Blue Shirt, who had painted his unclad parts martial red and white. + The strength of the party was guessed at thirty. An exact census was not + taken, for with spears and nulla-nullas and big swords, each warrior + having the protection of a shield, the treacherous band swept on the + deluded guests of their leader, whose hostile yells scandalised the meek + phrases and friendly signs of a short hour before. + </p> + <p> + The captain, poor, outwitted man, had laid his rifle beside the boat. It + was too late now to bring it into decisive action. Keeping close together, + the defenders warded off the first rush with whatever came to hand. The + rifle was recovered; but Blue Shirt, recognising that it represented + victory, struggled for it determinedly. A spear was thrown at close + quarters straight for the captain's neck, but one of the men deftly + twitched it off, a feat that so enraged the warriors that they made him + their special target, until at last one of their spears pierced his hand. + Being rough and thready, the black palm-point made an ugly wound; but the + resolute man drew it out, and, breaking the spear in twain, threw it into + the boat, and as he did so, another grazed his abdomen. While he was thus + defending himself against the spears and nulla-nullas of outrageous + fortune, the captain made wide, sweeping movements with the butt of his + rifle, and the other man and the boy, the boat being by this time afloat, + tugged at the oars. The attacking party followed, the captain making good + misuse of the rifle, the odd man and the boy occasionally perverting an + oar to wrongful but, at the crisis, effective purpose, while the wounded + suffered the hate of him who earns personal as well as racial animosity. + He sustained a cut on the head from a wooden sword, yet he fought on, + retaining his wits, while a kind Providence, and his own artfulness and + agility protected him from hurtling spears. + </p> + <p> + The cost of the little excursion was paid in wounds and bruises and, + eventually, putrefying sores, while the souls of all instantly mortified + under the sight of triumphant Blue Shirt jeering and gesticulating as only + an uncouth black dare, as he waved over his head a tomahawk he had + abstracted from the boat during the morning's pleasant entertainment. + </p> + <p> + No one of the poor, depraved representatives of the race has any knowledge + of the event in which Blue Shirt showed himself to be a successful + plotter, a bold strategist, an original tactician, and a brave fighter. + His son is dust. His grandson, though true in complexion, knows more about + engines than he does of wooden swords and how to use them. The zest of + life was with his ancestor, who during a long life had but one shirt. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FORGOTTEN DEAD + </h2> + <p> + “Of lonely folk cut off unseen.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + HOOD. +</pre> + <p> + A few months ago chance bestowed the opportunity of listening to the + conversation of one who for very many yearn has hung upon the skirts of + civilisation. A bushman of rare resourcefulness, wide knowledge of the dry + as well as the moist parts of North Queensland, a reader, and an acute and + accurate observer of natural phenomena, he has often entertained me with + the relation of episodes in his career which, though quite unsensational, + is of the material of which the history of the bush must be compiled. He + is now settled on a tidal creek, his nearest neighbours miles away. + Independent of the regular assistance of blacks in the cultivation of his + land, he is one of those who, while acknowledging no such thing as + comradeship, and who, true to his sentiments, keeps them at arm's-length, + has, albeit, acquired confidences rather unusual. + </p> + <p> + When his reading matter has become exhausted, he has sat night after night + for months together absorbing the lore of the camp. To him has been + disclosed many a well-guarded secret. Not unto every man who asks do the + blacks tell their thoughts or impart their legends. You may study them; + but they, too, are discreet students, who often keep their counsel while + seeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their ways and be wise as + they are wise. + </p> + <p> + My friend is one of those undemonstrative, self-contained men in whom some + of the coloured, cautious metaphysicians find a congenial soul. Therefore + is he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covert knowledge. + </p> + <p> + As we talked on the subject of the unexplained disappearances of men in + the bush of Australia, he told the incidents of the forgotten dead to + which these writings have special reference. I use my own words, so do not + bind myself to historic exactness. + </p> + <p> + He had been away earning his own living, for his estate, fruitful as it + is, did not then quite provide for his sustenance, markets being distant + and far from consistent. Returning, he found the blacks who had associated + themselves with his humble establishment had in the interval sought change + of scene. The land that he called his had belonged to their ancestors + centuries before Cook tied the ENDEAVOUR to that disputed and historic + tree, and was theirs when he had first intruded. His hut, his horses, his + implements, were much as he had left them. The camping-place of the blacks + appeared to have been unoccupied for some time. Such was in accordance + with usual happenings. Going about his lonesome work, he reflected that + his dusky acquaintances would return in their own good time, and being a + man of mental resource, the solitude was by no means irksome. + </p> + <p> + Within a fortnight they appeared unceremoniously, and, taking casual part + in the ordinary work, the affairs of the isolated estate went on as + smoothly as before. There was a stranger in the camp, a middle-aged man, + timorous, and knowing little of the ways of white men. Of him scarcely any + notice was taken. Yet in a few weeks it was evident that the stranger was + determined to make himself pleasant. Accordingly, the white man refrained + from advances, while for the love of mental exhilaration he pondered: + “That boy wants to tell me something. He shall tell me all he wants to in + his own way, while I will play the part of an indifferent auditor.” + </p> + <p> + That the stranger had some secret on his soul was apparent. My friend + resolved to receive that secret in the spirit of gracious condescension. + So played he his part, and line upon line, here a little and there a + little, the story was told. + </p> + <p> + Few of the tribe of the stranger had ever seen a white man. None had ever + visited the coast. All were myalls, living naked among the mountains in + gorges gloomy with jungle, and but rarely hunting on the foothills. One + day consternation and curiosity spread through the camp. Three strange men + with yellow faces and short black hair had been seen. They carried nothing + in their hands, and seemed frightened. Thus the nervous couriers of the + camp spoke. + </p> + <p> + Next morning the men took up the tracks, and, sneaking close up, followed, + alert and unseen, the unsuspecting visitors to their country. + </p> + <p> + Bewildered in the jungle, the queer-looking men wandered aimlessly, + moaning and wailing. They were lost. Suddenly the blacks appeared. Two of + the strangers, glad of the company of any sort of human beings, smiled and + gesticulated pleasantly, making it plain that they were hungry, tired, and + frightened, and, longing to get back to the coast, would bestow upon their + guides unheard-of blessings for safe-conduct thither. Strangely, the black + men accepted the trust. Four each took a hand of the confiding strangers, + and, pointing ahead and chattering, induced them to walk quickly in a + direction in which by signs they indicated the dwelling of a white man. + </p> + <p> + The third wanderer had run away, blundering through the jungle, and the + blacks had refrained from following him. Nodding gaily and jabbering + volubly, but with mutual intelligibility, hosts and guests paced along a + narrow track, each of the latter personally and firmly conducted by two of + his newly found and most attentive friends. Others of the tribe, “like + frightful fiends, did close beside them tread”; and while the escorts + lured the yellow men with comforting pantomime, the frightful fiends fell + on them suddenly with great wooden swords, killing them off-hand and on + the very verge of the camp. + </p> + <p> + Willingly hurrying to the place of execution, the murdered men had saved + the calculating blacks the trouble of carrying their carcasses. + </p> + <p> + Then four went back for the nervous escapee. He was safe, for the tracks + were as obvious to them as a plough furrow to a European. Crouching beside + a fallen, decaying tree, where bird's-nest ferns grew outrageously gross, + they found him; and they jeered. He screamed and shouted in unknown + tongue, while the brisk, stubby hair of his head stood on end. (My + friend's hair-brush was alluded to in graphic illustration.) They struck + him down, and, smashing in his head and seizing arms and legs, jogged back + to the camp. + </p> + <p> + And the festival lasted many days, though plenty made gluttons of them + all. + </p> + <p> + The forgotten dead were Javanese—deserters from a sugar-plantation; + for the tragedy happened long ago, when labour was being drawn from Java + and other oversupplied countries. Desertions were not uncommon, for the + sanguine men of the equator endure with less philosophy than others that + sickness of the heart which comes from love of one's native land when + absent from it. + </p> + <p> + From Java's seething millions were the nostalgic three ever missed? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EAGLES-NEST FLOAT + </h2> + <p> + “My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ROBINSON CRUSOE. +</pre> + <p> + Those who study primitive races, applying their wisdom and learning to the + investigation of the origin of domestic and other implements and + contrivances, inform us that the first boat was probably a log, on which + the man sat astride, using a stick as a means of propulsion. In time the + idea of hollowing the log occurred, Nature undoubtedly presenting the + model and inviting the novice to squat inside. But what was the inhabitant + of a certain island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to do since Nature failed + to provide a tree big enough to possess the degree of buoyancy necessary + for his frail frame, when he wished to cross the narrow channel separating + him from a lesser island where turtle are plentiful and unsuspicious? + </p> + <p> + Being in status something above a wallaby—the largest animal other + than himself of his native land which, when hunted, occasionally swam + towards the opposite shore, he constructed one or other of two rafts or + floats, both derivable from Nature's models. One was in the form of an + eagle's nest, and not nearly so large as that in which some eaglets are + reared, made by interlacing branchlets of white mangrove until the mass + was sufficient to support his weight. With a double ended paddle rudely + shaped from the thin buttress roots of the red mangrove, and comic in the + crudeness and disproportion of its parts, he felt himself safe miles out + to sea. When he approached a passing vessel he presented the illusion, not + of walking, but of sitting on the water, for the float was almost + completely submerged. If it became necessary for his wife to attend him on + his marine excursions, she was towed behind, and used her own pedal power. + Possibly this primitive raft is the pathetic expression of man's first + struggle against the restrictions of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The other resource of the boatless islander was another description of + float, also retrogressive from the log; the idea not transmitted to him by + any high-minded bird, but forced upon his attention by elemental strife. + He would have seen that the wind and the waves occasionally tore from his + beaches Pandanus palms, and that the matted, fibrous roots thereof + floated. Pondering in his dim way, and being sadly an hungered and aware + that fat and lazy turtle were basking in the sighed-for shallows, he took + a bundle of buoyant roots and light sticks and lashed it securely at one + end with strips of bark. He then spread out the other end until it took + the shape of a fan, and weaved the strands loosely together with beach + trailers. His raft was complete. At least this description applies to that + in use to-day, which represents the highest stage to which the design has + been brought. + </p> + <p> + Under the influence of the peril-ignoring hunger, the hunter sat on the + float with legs extended frontally. Across his thighs crouched his + favourite dog, and behind him, her thin shanks outside his and her skinny + arms round his slim waist, sat, uncomfortable, his cowed wife—a + necessary part of his equipment. Can he be imagined half turning to his + deferential spouse, and saying: “My dear, in the words of Shakespeare, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “On such a full sea are we now afloat + And we must take the current when it serves + Or lose our'—turtle”? +</pre> + <p> + Is it not edifying, too, to reflect that the timid man, encouraged by the + object-lessons of Nature, given in pity of his simplicity, had contrived + the only rafts the resources of his island made possible? And does not the + fact that he had courage to cross the estranging deep thereon give graphic + proof of the inhospitality of his native soil? + </p> + <p> + Flat and generally of sad aspect, the country of the raftsman lies remote + and uncommended. The scented sandalwood is there, dwarfed, attenuated, + worthless. The most fragrant of the Pandanus palms is plentiful, the fruit + forming the chief part of the vegetable diet of the lean and stunted + inhabitants, who find difficulty in fashioning weapons with which to + obtain fish and turtle, the land failing to supply straight sticks of the + length needed for spears. Each has to be spliced. The islands are + expressed in the race they sustain—possibly the lowest of Australian + types. Does it not bespeak much to the credit of men and women who have + been used to the cities where the advantages of civilisation are at + command and its comforts available, that they should abandon the society + of kin and friends and isolate themselves in a drear and unfriendly tract + for the sake of a few coloured folk whose mental capacities are feeble and + whose habits are shockingly disgusting? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NATURE IN RETALIATION + </h2> + <p> + “Red in tooth and claw.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + TENNYSON. +</pre> + <p> + In a mangrove creek a shoal of barramundi had been bombed with dynamite. + Immediately after the explosion the white onlookers as well as the blacks + dived off-hand into the stream to secure the helpless fish. One of the + party seized a weighty and unconscious victim of the outrage, and to + retain it thrust his fist through the gills and found himself unable to + withdraw, and when the fish began to revive he realised that he was not + master. With a supreme effort he did manage to get his head above water to + gulp a mouthful of air, but the gallant fish promptly exerted itself, and + a deadly struggle took place on the muddy bottom. Once more the fish was + tugged to the surface, only to dive just as the man became conscious of + the applause of the interested spectators. When they came to the surface + again ill luck on the part of the fish had brought it into the shallows + caused by a ridge of rocks, and the man hauled his prize ashore, frankly + acknowledging that the happy chance of the rocks and not his own wits and + strength had given the victory into his hands. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion heartless dynamite was used in a creek, where had + assembled many blacks, who scrambled riotously in the muddy water for the + spoil, among which were several huge crabs, some dismembered by the force + of the explosion, some stunned, some merely agitated. Dilly Boy, the + biggest and the greediest of the crowd, acquired several fish and three or + four crabs, the largest of the latter of which seemed sound asleep. The + dynamite had ministered an anodyne from which, apparently, there would be + no awakening. It the boy disregarded, while he secured those which were + more or less active. Busily engaged, he was not aware that a crab when he + seems asleep may be merely plotting. This hero was hatching out a scheme + whereby it might be revenged for the outrage. It watched and deliberated, + and as the boy sat down grabbed him with ponderous and toothed pinchers on + that part of the body which is said to be most susceptible to insult. The + boy rose. Not half a plug of dynamite could have given more hearty + impulse, not all the clamour of a corroboree equal his yell of surprise + and anguish. He capered. The crab, which had not speculated on the caper, + and to avert summary divorce, locked its claws, now guaranteed to hold to + death and beyond it—to destruction. Astounded—indeed, + petrified—by the high antics of the boy, none of the spectators + could venture to his aid. They were fully engaged with unrestrained and + joyful hysteria. The more the boy yelled and cavorted, the more frantic + the fun. Blood trickled down the chocolate-coloured skin, but the valiant + crab held on. It was there for a definite purpose. The hour and the crab + had arrived. Vengeance for centuries of wrongs to the race and heroic + self-sacrifice animated brain and inspired the claw with the dynamics of + ten; while the afflicted victim imagined—he had no mirror to hold up + to Nature—that he was the sport of a lusty crocodile. + </p> + <p> + Amidst his shrieks he commanded the ministration of his wife. She ran to + meet him with a waddy. True to the limitations of her sex, though her + intentions were admirable and dutiful, the result was disastrous. The boy + got a paralysing blow on the small of the back, and flopped down. Up + jumped Dilly Boy, and the gin raced after him, murderously inclined to the + crab. Half her blows were misses and the other half seriously embarrassed + her husband, as his tumbles testified. She belaboured him impartially and + with perverted goodwill from shoulder to heel, for she aimed invariably at + the crab, and where is the woman who ever hit where she designed? The crab + was merely tickling; the faithful spouse, with the tenderest motives, was + cruelly beating her lord and master to disablement, and it can scarcely be + credited that the echo of his remarks has yet subsided. In his fervour the + boy made an exceptionally vicious threat against the gin, and in response + she missed him and hit the crab. Under such forceful compulsion the crab + parted with its claw. It was ponderous and toothed, be it remembered, and + well and truly locked, and retained its grip. The target being smaller, + the aims of the gin went more and more astray. The back of the boy, owing + to the incessant misses of the waddy, changed from brown to purple, and a + red ribbon wavered down his thigh. Still he ran, and the devoted gin + coursed after him with the energy of a half-back, the fury of a + disappointed politician, and the riot of three-dozen cockatoos scared from + a corn-field. Almost worn out, the boy sprang round, and, seizing the + waddy, began to chastise the gin, whose screams blended with his + unwholesome threats. But the claws held on—not like grim death; they + were grim death. Every second blow was directed aft—one blow + forward, which generally severely disagreed with the gin; one blow astern, + which afforded neither mental relief nor physical comfort. The gin fled + from the infuriated boy; the boy from the fearsome relic of the crab, and + called louder as he ran. When in full flight, the gin tripped over a + mangrove root, and, spread-eagled, fell. The boy came tumbling after, but + the remnants of the crab—the bony bud of a tail—stood erect + and firm. Then the pitying spectators seized Dilly Boy, and, holding him, + unlocked the pinchers. He rolled over—it was the only easeful + attitude—as he cursed all gins, crabs, and dynamiters with wondrous + fluency. And may the potency of those coloured curses rest upon the + latter! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “STAR RUN ABOUT” + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “It is the stars, + The stars above us, govern our conditions.” + + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Primitive folk have ever looked up to the heavens for signs of good and + ill. Celestial appearances have fought for them terrestrial battles, or + have weakened their arms by prognostications of impending disaster. + </p> + <p> + Appeals have been made to passionless planets for justice against mundane + decrees, and when coincidences have been favourable the devout student of + the skies has loudly proclaimed them as proof of supernatural interest in + trivial, transient occurrences. In accordance with the degree of poetry in + the fibre of the people, so, in a certain degree, has the belief in + stellar influence been manifest. + </p> + <p> + The blacks of North Queensland, being, possibly, the least of the races in + a poetic sense, have but slight regard for the interference of the stars + in their poor little affairs, and in this respect are saner than many a + nation which has given abundant proof of wisdom. One of their beliefs is + that meteors are baleful, though under given conditions they derive from + such phenomena longed-for assurance. A meteor is described as “Star run + about.” “That fella no good; him kill'em man!” Yet in circumstances to be + mentioned they find in a meteor a sign that life has been restored to an + individual whom they have done to death. It is the opinion of men who have + studied the customs of the blacks that they—and to their honour be + it said—were never among themselves premeditated, gluttonous + cannibals. Human flesh was eaten, if not with solemnity, at least with + ceremony, for the belief exists to this day that the moral and physical + excellencies of the victim are assimilated by those who partake of his + flesh. + </p> + <p> + Reincarnation is prompt and practical, and unaccompanied by wasteful and + delusive hope. Herein lies the explanation of many a deliberate and + confessed killing, while to the meteor have the perpetrators looked for + absolution and remission of their sin. That which in the eyes of the white + man is regarded as an atrocious murder has not been, in their + semi-religious code, in any sense criminal, but a rite from which many if + not all the camp must inevitably benefit. + </p> + <p> + In one respect the killing of a boy is the highest compliment which may be + paid him, for it is proof that he has personal qualities which are the + envy and admiration of others, and for general welfare should be shared by + all. The boy who so dies is an unconscious patriot. This is proved + sufficiently by the fact that only what are considered to be the more + vitalising portions of the boy's body are eaten, whereas if gluttony were + the impulse of the deed the whole of the body would be consumed. + </p> + <p> + An illustrative incident has been told me by one who has gained the + confidence of the blacks, and to whom other facts connected with it were + personally known. Not many years ago a boy from from a distant locality + visited a certain district in company with his master. He was tall, well + favoured, a good rider, quite an athlete, an accomplished performer with + the mouth-organ and concertina; ready and persuasive of tongue. These + qualities provoked unaffected admiration; for the natives of the place are + undersized, ill-looking, and deficient generally in the arts of pleasing. + Before the master left, Caesar was persuaded by his envious + fellow-countrymen to remain with them to be flattered and courted. + </p> + <p> + To evade trouble, the whole camp took to the hills for a while. In the + meantime Caesar's master departed, thinking, no doubt, that the boy would + follow him to his own “more better country.” After several weeks the local + blacks returned, but Caesar was not of the party, and it did not occur to + any of the white residents to ask questions concerning him. In accordance + with the love of notoriety which affects humanity irrespective of + complexion, one of the boys began to boast of being as good as Caesar, and + to prove his contentions by aping the manners of his absent friend. It was + not long before he blurted out the secret by which he had become superfine—he + had participated with others in a cannibal rite after Caesar had been + good-naturedly killed. + </p> + <p> + Rumours of the tragedy came to the ears of the police. The ringleaders of + the assassins were arrested, and one at least endured a term of + imprisonment as punishment. Caesar had been lured away and killed because + he was a good fellow and strong, and because his murderers wanted to be + good and strong like him. Certain parts of his body were eaten, without + relish, but with fervent hope. A remarkable circumstance in connection + with the sacrifice and ceremonial rite for the general welfare is that the + perpetrators console and comfort themselves with the belief that should a + meteor appear it is a sign that the victim did not actually die, or if he + died under their hands, that he has come to life again. Those who were + concerned in the killing and who had partaken of the flesh sat together + for several evenings gazing with expectation into the sky. A meteor + flashed across it, and it was hailed as a sign that Caesar was alive and + had gone to his own country. The contrary evidence of relics of the dead + was waved away before the imperious and disinterested testimony of the + falling star. “No matter. That fella him no dead—finish. Him walk + about 'nother country. Him good fella. That fella star run about bin tell + 'em.” + </p> + <p> + They felt themselves to have benefited materially and spiritually by + participation in the rite, and were calm in their belief that the victim + was none the worse for the temporary misfortune from which he suffered. + </p> + <p> + In another locality a meteor signifies the death of an individual, and is + referred to as “Tee-go-binah.” When a death cannot be directly attributed + to it locally, the phenomenon is referred to with such rustic logic as + this: “Some fella dead alonga 'nother camp. Might be longa way.” The + ancients felt “the sweet influences of the Pleiades.” One of the two + intimacies of the blacks of North Queensland with stellar phenomena which + has come to my knowledge is associated with reincarnation after a deed of + blood. Their faith is as absolute, perhaps, as was that of the men of old. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + </h2> + <p> + “For I tell you, scholar, fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to + catch fish.”—IZAAK WALTON. + </p> + <p> + Along the coast of North Queensland evidence may still be obtained, though + it ever becomes more difficult to secure practical demonstration, of + several novel methods of killing fish in vogue among the blacks prior to + the advent of civilisation. In many parts, indeed, the presence of the + white man has swept away not only the use of decent, if trivial, pursuits + and handicrafts, but the knowledge also that they ever existed. + </p> + <p> + The few facts here presented are, with some slight reservations, drawn + from actual observation. No doubt the well-informed on such subjects will + have plenary reasons—if ever these lines are honoured by perusal of + the class—for the accusation that there is nothing in them having + the virtue of newness or novelty. But I am not a professor with a mind + like a warehouse, rich with the spoils of time, but a mere peddler, + conscious of the janglings of an ill-sorted, ill-packed knapsack of + unconsidered trifles. + </p> + <p> + Some pioneers know more about the acts of the past than the best informed + of the younger blacks, who look with wonder and unconstrained doubt when + shown articles similar to those which their grandfathers must have used + almost every day. + </p> + <p> + Though the blacks of the past had but casual knowledge of the cruel little + barb that the resourceful white fisherman finds essential to sport, and + had neither neat tackle, nor reels, nor creels; though they were denied + the solace of tobacco, and every other accessory, they were adepts at + fishing. They had at command a stock of accumulated lore so graphically + transmitted that the babe and suckling must have seemed to acquire it + almost intuitively. They knew much of the habits of fish. Their methods of + laying under tribute the harvest of the sea were so varied and + unconventional that when one expedient failed, others, equally free from + the ethics of sport, were available at the shortest notice. Fishing was + not a pastime, but a serious occupation in which nearly everyone was + proficient. + </p> + <p> + Times are changing; but still the mouths of smaller creeks are sometimes + dammed, save for certain sluices and by-washes where puzzling pockets are + set. Weirs formed by stakes driven into the sand and interwoven with twigs + guide incoming fish into ingenious traps, whence they are scooped up in + dilly-bags. Occasionally the whole camp, dogs and piccaninnies included, + take part in a raid upon the sea. Men in deeper water, women and boys and + girls forming wings at right angles to the beach, enclose a prescribed + area in the ever shifting, mobile fence. Certain of the men have huge + dilly-bags made of strips of lawyer-cane, and shaped like a ninepin with a + funnel for a head. The tactics of the party combine to drive the fish + towards the silent men having charge of the dilly-bags, who manipulate + what certainly has the appearance of being a very awkward utensil in the + water with great skill and alertness. Hurried to frenzy by the shouting + and splashing of the crowd, and the flurrying of the surface with bushes, + the fish dart hither and thither until most of them have found their way + into the bags, at the only spots where, for the time being, peace and + quietude prevail. At other times a somewhat similar design of basket is + used for trapping eels. + </p> + <p> + Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in shallow + water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the spear form the + weapons of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands of the Gulf of + Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is used, the blacks being so + expert that little is left to chance. + </p> + <p> + Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the yellamun, is common in + the neighbourhood of Dunk Island, it is not employed as an accessory in + the spearing of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a + combination of boomerang and wommera being the most popular form. This + dual-purpose weapon is merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is + fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of the spear. While on + this subject, it is interesting to note that, though the common form of + the implement for increasing the velocity and range of the spear is + generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its principle is + embodied in a contrivance which was used for a similar purpose in the New + Hebrides in Captain Cook's day. + </p> + <p> + Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of Tanna, Cook (“Voyages of + Captain Cook round the World,” vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in the + throwing of darts “they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of stiff + plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a knot in + the other. The eye is fixed on the forefinger of the right hand, and the + other end is hitched round the dart where it is nearly on an equipoise. + They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining finger, which serve + only to give direction, the velocity being communicated by the becket and + forefinger. The former flies off from the dart the instant its velocity + becomes greater than that of the hand, but it remains on the finger ready + to be used again.” + </p> + <p> + It is obvious that the Australian implement is much the more reliable and + effective. Cook mentions that with the dart the Tanna Islanders “are sure + of hitting a mark within the compass of the crown of a hat at a distance + of eight or ten yards; but at double that distance it is chance if they + hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the weapon + sixty or seventy yards.” Such a standard of marksmanship would be regarded + with contempt by the average black of North Queensland. The use of this + becket (introduced very many years ago by the Kanaka) is a fairly common + accomplishment among coastal blacks. + </p> + <p> + In shallow water, too, fish are chased until they become so exhausted and + nerve-shaken that they partially bury themselves in the sand, or endeavour + to elude observation by concealing themselves beneath stone or coral, or + by remaining passive among seaweed, trusting, no doubt, to protective + tints and assimilation with their surroundings. Few of these stratagems of + the fish are of avail when once a hungry black is on its track. The + science of war, we are bidden to believe, is not designed for the + slaughter of mankind, but so to impress the enemy with a demonstration of + overwhelming power, force, and majesty, that he may become mentally unable + or unwilling to offer resistance, because of its obvious futility. So it + is with the black in pursuit of a fish or turtle in shallow water. By + noise and bluster he works on the senses of the fish until it becomes + semi-paralysed. Then he proceeds callously to the killing, which, in the + case of fish, if his right hand is encumbered, he generally accomplishes + by a crunching bite into the back-bone at the shoulders. + </p> + <p> + At rare intervals the black varies his tactics by a night attack, which is + often highly demoralising. When the moon is on the other side of the + world, with spears and flaring torches of paper-bark, he rushes in a band + to raid the reef, to the dismay of startled and bewildered fish. + Substitute for the gurgling cadences of semi-submerged coral and muteness + and universal dimness instant noise and splashing, and dazzling lights + here and there and everywhere, and it is not to be considered strange that + the fish—tipsy with panic and confusion—fail to exercise their + habitual alertness. + </p> + <p> + At a certain season of the year—November and December in the + neighbourhood of Dunk Island—myriads of fish, about the size of a + sardine, appear in shoals, an acre or so in area, or encircle the islands + with a living, bluish-grey frill yards broad. The blacks bestow on this + godsend, popularly known as “sprats”—HARENGULA STEREOLEPIS (Ogilby)—the + name of “Oon-gnahr.” + </p> + <p> + How skilfully does Nature dovetail her designs! This great multitude of + fish appears when it is most needed. The terns (sea-swallows) are rearing + their families, and ever need fresh food in unstinted quantities. The + small fry come to an excited and enthusiastic market. Slim, silvery + kingfish, grey sharks, and blue bonito, harry the shoals, ripping through + them with steel-like flashes, and as the little fish ruffle the surface of + sea or emerge therefrom in living silvery spray, in frantic efforts to + escape, the terns take all they want, screaming with satisfaction. Then, + too, the blacks join in the work of destruction. When the frill of fish + lies limp on the beach, they fabricate a seine net, cheap, but admirably + suited for the purpose. Long strands of beach trailers and grass and + slender twigs are rolled and twisted up—apparently without the + slightest art—into a huge loose cable eight inches in diameter. The + men run out the cable into the water at right angles to the beach while + still the gins, with nervous haste, are adding to its length. If it + breaks, a few twists and pokes suffice to repair it. The men at the lead + curve in towards the beach, and the gins and piccaninnies wade out in line + to meet them. Gradually the cable, shocking in its frailty, is worked in, + enclosing a patch of the fish in a perilous coffer dam. Tumult and + commotion are almost as necessary contributories to the success of the + stratagem as is the cable. But before they realise what has happened, they + are in such close company that escape is impossible; dilly-bags are filled + in a single dip, and it may take half an hour to pick out those “meshed” + in the cable. It is all the work of a few minutes, and the haul often + amounts in quantity to a surfeit for the whole camp. + </p> + <p> + One of these rude seines which was overhauled was composed largely of the + long, leafless, twine-like branches of the leafless parasite CASSYTHA + FILIFORMIS (which the blacks term “Bungoonno”), IPOMEA PESCAPRAE + (“Koree”), Blady-grass (“Jin-dagi”), and the tough sprawling branches of + BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA (“Gallan-jarrah”), the whole being reinforced with + withes of CLERODENDRON IMERME (“Missim”), all of which plants grow on the + verge of the sea. + </p> + <p> + Vast as is the congregation of small fry, it gradually fritters away, + martyred to fish, flesh, and fowl. By the time the little terns are thrown + upon their own resources the violet frill of the sweet islands is frayed + and ragged, and drifts loosely in shabby remnants. + </p> + <p> + For large fish—groper, the giant perch, king, bonito, rhoombah, + sweet-lips, parrot-fish, sea-mullet, and the sting-rays (brown and grey)—a + harpoon and long line are used. When iron is not available a point is made + of one of the black palms, the barb being strapped on with fibre, the + binding being made impervious to water by a liberal coating of a + pitch-like substance prepared from the resinous gum of the arral-tree + (EVODIA ACCEDENS). + </p> + <p> + The point is eight or ten inches long, the barbless end being swathed in + fibre so that it may fit easily into the socket of the eight or ten feet + shaft. A long line is tied to a point above the swathing, and, being drawn + taut along the shaft, is secured to the end by a series of clove-hitches. + When the fish is struck the point is drawn from the socket, while the + shaft acts as a cheek on, and an indicator of, its course when just below + the surface. Such harpoons and lines are also used for the capture of + dugong and turtle, the line being made of the inner bark (the bast layer) + of one of the fig-trees, and is of two strands only. Occasionally the + HIBISCUS TILLIACEUS is laid under tribute for ropes and lines, which, + however, are not considered as durable as those from the fig. Nets, set + and hand, are also made with twine from the fig or hibiscus. + </p> + <p> + When, at low spring tides, the coral reef is uncovered, small rock-cod, + slim eels, parrot-fish, perch, soles, the lovely blue-spotted sting-ray, + catfish, flathead, etc., are poked out unceremoniously with spears or + sharp-pointed sticks from labyrinthine mazes, or from the concealment + afforded by the flabby folds and fringes of the skeleton-less coral + (ALCYONARIA), or from among the weeds and stones—a kind of + additional sense leading the black to the discovery of fish in places that + a white man would never dream of investigating. At this opportune time, + too, huge, defiantly armed and brilliantly coloured crayfish are exposed + to capture. A statement was published recently that this was the speediest + of all marine animals. The assertion is much to be questioned, but there + can be no doubt that the crayfish is a wonderful sprinter. Familiar with + its lack of staying power, blacks race after it uproariously as it flees + face to foe, all the graduated blades of its turbine apparatus beating + under high pressure. Two or three rushes and the crayfish pauses, and then + the agile black breaks its long, exquisitely sensitive and brittle + antennae, deprived of which it becomes less capable of taking care of + itself; or it may find its gorgeous armour-plates smashed with a stone or + penetrated by a spear. For the most part, however, the crayfish lurks in + coral caves, sweeping a considerable frontal radius with ever-shifting + antennae—not in pride or conceit of their beautiful tints and + wonderful mechanism, but with a pitiful apprehension of danger, for the + admirers of the creature are many and ever so much in earnest—the + earnestness of unceasing voracity. + </p> + <p> + Having a decided partiality for eels, the blacks of North Queensland have + devised several means of capture, one of which does not call for the + exercise of the least skill on the part of the individual whose longing + for the dainty becomes imperative. His placid perseverance, too, is of no + avail, unless luck favours. Wading in a shallow, mangrove-bordered creek, + he blindly probes the bottom with a six-feet length of fencing wire, the + modern substitute for the black palm spear. Frequently he trifles thus + with coy Fortune for hours, an inch or so separating each prod; and again, + in a spasm of indignant impatience, he stabs determinedly into the mud at + random. Non-success does not make shipwreck of his faith in the existence + of the much-desired food in the black mud, for as far back as his own + experience and the camp's traditions go, substantial reason for that faith + has been plentifully revealed. He returns to the monotonous occupation + until an unlucky eel is impaled, and then it is given no chance of escape. + </p> + <p> + Pushing his spear a couple of feet through, the boy grips the prize with + both hands, or bends the wire into the form of a hook. Fortune may + continue to smile, and the boy takes several during the afternoon. + </p> + <p> + Many boys enhance the charms of solitude by ingeniously tricking eels, + Nature presenting them with an efficient engine of deceit and destruction, + so designed that neither the agitations of art nor the invention of + science could much improve it. About two feet of the thong or lorum of one + of the creeping palms (CALAMUS OBSTRUENS) is all that is necessary. These + lora are armed with definitely spaced whorls of recurved hooks, keen as + needles, true as steel, about one-eighth of an inch long. Three or four of + the whorls are removed to provide an unfretful but firm grip. The + pot-holes and shallow pools and gullies and trickling creeks are populated + by nervous, yet inquisitive, semi-transparent prawns, upon which eels + liberally diet. So silent and steady of movement is the boy that even the + alert prawns are unaware of, or become accustomed to, his presence; and + what is there to warn the eel, enjoying its comfort among the dead leaves + in the gloomiest corner of the pool, of danger? Could any but a black boy + detect the difference between the brown sodden leaves and the half-inch of + body which the eel has unwittingly exposed? The “pig-gee” (as some term + the lorum) is used with almost surgical delicacy of touch to hook away two + or three of the leaves. Then it is placed parallel to whatever increased + length has thus been made visible, and with a decisive twitch the eel is + torn from its retreat and killed off-hand. + </p> + <p> + Even the shy, long-armed little prawns (PALAEMON AUSTRALIS) do not escape + special means for their destruction. A pliant rod about four feet long is + improvised from the midrib of the creeping palm before mentioned, to the + end of which is fastened a slender thread of the same material, split off + by using the nails of the thumb and second finger. This strand, which is + about four inches long, is delicately noosed. Standing a few feet away + from the water-hole, the black so manipulates the line that the noose + encircles the tail of the prawn, which, making a retrogressive dart upon + alarm, finds itself fatally snared. The prawns are not, as a rule, eaten, + being reserved for bait. + </p> + <p> + In creeks and lagoons thin, hollow logs are submerged. Eels naturally seek + such refuges, and in due course the boy dives, and, sealing the ends with + his hands, brings log and eel to land. Dr. W. E. Roth mentions that + crayfish and a certain fish resembling the rock-cod are similarly + captured, and remarks that the log is lifted at an angle, with one hand + closing the lower aperture, in which position it is brought to and held + above the surface, when the water trickles out between the fingers of the + sealing hand. + </p> + <p> + Yet another method (analogous to “bobbing”) is practised for securing + eels. Huge worms, found under decaying logs, are threaded by means of a + needle formed of a thin strip of cane on a line from ten to twelve feet + long until several feet of bait are available. The line is merely doubled, + the ends made fast to a stout pole, and the loop dangled in the water. The + boy fishes patiently, nor does he strike at the first nibble, but permits + the eel to swallow slowly what might be considered an undue proportion of + the bait, when it is landed and compelled to disgorge for the benefit of + the next comer. + </p> + <p> + Among coastal blacks—all of whom may be said to be fishermen—some + are ardent devotees to the sea. Others of the same camp restrict + themselves to unsensational creeks and lagoons. The frog in the well knows + nothing of the salt sea, and its aboriginal prototype contents himself + with milder and generally less remunerative kind of sport than that in + which his bolder cousins revel. Such a man, however, may possess aquatic + lore of which the other is admittedly ignorant, and be apt in devices + towards which the attitude of the salt-water man is adverse, if not + contemptuous. The fresh-water man is skilful in the use of a net shaped + something like the secondary wings of a certain species of moth, and + expanding and closing similarly. It is made of fine twine (one-inch mesh), + preferably from the bark of one of the fig-trees or the brown kurrajong, + tightly stretched on two pieces of lawyer-cane each bent to form the half + of an irregular ellipse. This net (“moorgaroo”) is manipulated by two men + working in concert, principally for the capture of eels. They do not wait + for the eel to come to them, but by shrewd scrutiny discover its + whereabouts under the bank of the creek or among the weeds and roots. Then + one silent man holds the net widespread, or adroitly dodges it into + intercepting positions, while the other beats the luckless fish in its + direction with more or less fluster. The persistency with which the creeks + are patrolled by men with spears, netted and poisoned, invites one to + marvel that any fish escape, and yet once again quite a haul is made. + </p> + <p> + That great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, once in his life made a joke and + confessed to it, with apologies for its littleness. Lunching at a tavern + in the Isle of Wight, he asked: “Oh, is not this a very large chop for + such a small island?” Similarly, I have been astonished at the apparent + disproportion between the size of the eel and the insignificance of the + creek whence the exultant black has hauled it. + </p> + <p> + An instance of the poor part which the slimmest eel plays when pitted + against the Smartness and resourcefulness of the black may be related. A + large eel, in a moment of indiscretion, showed itself in a fairly deep + creek. Bewailing the absence of his wing-net, or “moorgaroo,” the boy + hunted the elusive fish hither and thither with cunning determination. At + last it disappeared under a log. In most of his activities the black boy + sniffs at conventions. Hastily stripping, the boy dived and when he + reappeared the eel was vainly squirming in one of the legs of his trousers + which had been knotted below the knee. + </p> + <p> + Another boy, a stranger, brought with him traditions which he successfully + materialised in favour of the employment of several light darts instead of + a single heavy spear for fishing. The subject was frequently debated, but + none of the camp adopted George's theories. His favourite weapons were the + dried stems of an all too common weed, which generally grows straight and + true. Into the thick end he would insert a four-inch length of No. 10 + fencing wire, sharpened to a delicate point, and with a battery of eight + or ten of these he would sally forth. His bag averaged high. Often he + treated me to practical demonstrations of the success of his methods. A + big flathead reposed in two feet of water, half buried in the sand. George + had one of his darts fast in a twinkling, and the fish flashed away, the + tip indicating its movement. In a few minutes the hapless flathead was + carrying no less than six darts, and as such a handicap was absurd it + abandoned the race for life. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion he struck a big sting-ray so full of his impish darts + that it resembled an animated pincushion of monstrous proportions. It, + too, realised the futility of kicking against so many pricks. On the other + hand, Tom, with his heavy shaft and barbed point, relied on a single + weapon. It seldom failed, for his right arm was strong and disciplined to + a nicety. + </p> + <p> + On a shallow tidal creek a settler had made a corduroy crossing of the + fibrous trunks of the Pandanus palms, which the blacks of the + neighbourhood turned to account in the capture of fish. A few frail + sticks, artlessly interwoven with grass, formed a primitive weir at the + down-stream end of the crossing. Fish which went up with the tide + frequently found themselves stranded on the way down, for the water passed + freely between the palm-tree trunks without affording them right of way, + and the rude weir often stopped for ever belated bream, mullet, and + barramundi. This simple trap, though it does not appear to be put into use + on the coast generally, seems almost to indicate an instinctive knowledge + of a studied design described to me by an observant friend who has + travelled into many an odd nook and corner of Queensland. On a deep but + narrow tributary of the Georgina River a permanent trap on a large scale + was wont to be maintained. A tree had been felled across the stream so + that each end of the trunk was supported by the respective bank. Straight + stakes were driven firmly into the bed of the creek as closely together as + possible, the heads resting against the horizontal tree-trunk. This + palisading formed the base of an embankment of packed grass and rubbish, + sufficiently tight to raise the level of the stream about three feet. In + the middle of the embankment, and about one foot below water-level, a hole + about one foot square had been cut. A platform about ten feet long by + three feet wide, having a fall of about one foot and formed of a number of + straight saplings laid parallel with the stream, and supported by a couple + of transverse bearers on four stout forked sticks, received the escape + from the sluice. At the lower end of the platform was a rough weir of + twisted grass, which was continued up each side for about half its length. + Water passed with little hindrance through the platform, while jew-fish, + yellow-tail, and bream, were retained in considerable numbers. + </p> + <p> + Many years have elapsed—peradventure centuries—since the + blacks of Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, built a weir of blocks and + boulders of granite which oysters cemented here and there. On the fulness + of spring tides fish frolicked over and among the boulders. Those which + delayed their exit found themselves in an enclosed pool which at certain + seasons of the year runs dry. To this day the sea continues to pay + tribute, though the blacks of the locality have passed away, and there is + none but the red-backed sea-eagle or the heavy-flighted osprey and a rare + and casual white man, to receive it. Among the few emblems of the + vanishing race, this persistent weir-taking toll of the fish month after + month, year after Year, for the benefit of successive generations of + eagles and ospreys, appeals vividly to the imagination. + </p> + <h3> + HOOKS. + </h3> + <p> + From what can be ascertained at this late date, pearl shell hooks were + very sure and killing, but seem to have been used principally for smaller + fish—whiting, perch, bream, flathead, etc.—the occurrence of + large hooks being exceedingly rare. Mullet (if tradition is to be + credited) were seldom caught by hook and line, but were speared among the + mangroves at high tide—a practice which prevails to this day. The + Dunk Island examples have a resemblance to one of the forms of pearl-shell + hooks used by the Tahitians in Captain Cook's day. + </p> + <p> + Tortoise-shell hooks capable of holding large kingfish and fair sized + sharks are common among the natives of Darnley Island, Torres Straits. + During the process of cutting and paring the hooks to the size and design + required, the shell is frequently immersed in boiling water, which + temporarily overcomes its inherent toughness. Incidentally, it may be + pointed out that the evidence derivable from these fish-hooks does not + afford proof of Papuan influence on the mind of the Australian aboriginal, + except at the extreme north of Cape York Peninsula and a few miles down + the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This default seems the more + remarkable in face of the fact that outrigger canoes, doubtless of Papuan + or Malayan origin, were known as far south as the Johnstone River. + </p> + <p> + To say that the coastal blacks of North Queensland had no knowledge of the + use of barbed hooks is misleading. In sheer desperation, when the supply + of pearl-shell hooks was exhausted, they were wont to attach bait to their + harpoon-points, and they used such unpropitious means successfully, and + occasionally made a miniature hook by tying a sharp spur to a thin, + straight stick. Recent proof has been obtained of the use of the lorum of + one of the creeping palms, from which all the spurs save three at the + thicker end were scraped off. With the knowledge of the efficacy of the + barb under extraordinary circumstances, is it not the more remarkable that + they failed to employ it systematically? Dr. W. E. Roth describes + crescentic hooks of coco-nut shell and wooden hooks with bone barb, and + also barbs improvised from one of the spines of the catfish. He also + mentions as “the most primitive form of hook” the dried tendril of HUGONIA + JENKENSII (“pattel-pattel” of the Dunk Island blacks). To anyone familiar + with the crescent pearl-shell hooks, the use of the singular tendrils of + the Hugonia would immediately be suggested; but my observation, inquiries, + and opinion do not support the theory. The shape of the tendril is all + that can be said in its favour. It is neither sharp nor tough enough for + actual use. + </p> + <p> + With these barbless hooks the bait was not impaled, but strapped on with + shreds of bark. + </p> + <h3> + NARCOTICS AND POISONS. + </h3> + <p> + It is said of the great Mogul Emperor Babur that he boasted of being able + to make fish drunk so that he might haul them in shoals, and when + “Carathis” pronounced her “barbarous incantations” the fish with one + accord thrust forth their heads from the water. Is it generally known that + the North Queensland blacks also are expert in the use of narcotics and + indifferent to the ethics of sport? The most commonly used of the fish + poisons on the coast of North Queensland is likewise employed by the + natives of Zambesi Land for a similar purpose. The plant is known + botanically as “Derris.” Two varieties, “scandens” and “uligijiosa,” are + known in this State. The aboriginal titles vary in different localities, + but “Paggarra” will suit the present purpose. Some blacks are so + offensively civilised that they know the plant by the name of “Wild + Dynamite.” Possibly it owes its popularity among fish poisons to the fact + that it is the handiest of all. It trails over the rocks, just out of + touch of high-water mark, but not beyond the reach of the spray of surges. + With roots investigating inclement crevices, and salt air damping its + leaves, the plant flourishes, and flowers prettily in graceful racemes. In + the semi-obscurity of the crevices the flowers put on a tinge of pink, + literally blushing unseen. The heartless blacks tear up the plant, + branches, leaves, flowers and all, coarsely bundle them together, and, + wading into an enclosed pool where fish are observed, beat the mass (after + dipping it into the water and while held in the left hand) with a + nulla-nulla. The action is repeated until the bark and leaves are + macerated, and then the bundle is thrown into the pool. In a few minutes + the fish rise to the surface, gasping and making extraordinary efforts to + get out of the infected water. Death ensues rapidly, but the fish are + quite wholesome as food. + </p> + <p> + Another of the vegetable poisons is known as “Raroo” (CAREYA AUSTRALIS). + The bark at the base of the trunk and of the roots contains an effective + principle, which is released in a somewhat similar fashion to that + employed with “Paggarra.” + </p> + <p> + The fruit of the handsome, shrubby tree known botanically as DIOSPYROS + HEBECARPA is also a most effective fish poison. It is oval-shaped, red + when ripe, and, as the name implies, covered with soft, fine hair. For all + its lofty title and attractive appearance, the fruit is deceptive, for it + bites and blisters the lips and tongue like caustic, and on being bruised + and thrown into a pool on the reef, all fish are killed outright. + </p> + <p> + A different and, for a black, singularly complicated process is employed + for the extraction of the noxious principle residing in the plant known as + “Koie-yan” (FARADAYA SPLENDIDA). This is one of the most rampant and + ambitious of the many vines of the jungle. + </p> + <p> + It combines exceeding vigour with rare gracefulness. The leaves are a + light glossy green, ovate, and often a foot long, while the flowers are + pure white (resembling slightly the azalea, but free from its fragility), + large, and with an elusive scent, sweet and yet indefinite. The fruit, + smooth and of porcelain whiteness, varies in size and shape, and is said + to be edible, though blacks ignore it. A large marble and an undersized + hen's egg may dangle together, or in company with others, from the topmost + branches of some tall tree, which has acted as host to the clinging vine. + The handsome but inconsiderate plant is turned from its purpose of lending + fictitious and fugitive charms to quite commonplace but passive trees to + the office of stupefying uncomplaining fish. But the element which holds + such deadly enmity to the sense of the fish is not obtainable by the + simple primary means successful with other plants. Indeed, the process is + quite elaborate, and goes to prove that the Australian aboriginal has to + his credit as a chemist the results of successful original research, and + that he is also a herbalist from whom it is no condescension to learn. In + this detail, at any rate, he is distinctly an accomplished person. + Portions of the vine are cut into foot lengths; the outer layer of bark is + removed and rejected, the middle layer alone being preserved. This is + carefully scraped off and made up into shapely little piles on fresh green + leaves. One might imagine that a black boy preparing the deadly “Koie-yan” + was really playing at chemist's shop with neat-handed scrupulousness. When + a sufficiency is obtained it is rubbed on to stones previously heated by + fire. The stones then being thrown into a creek or a little lagoon left by + the receding tide, the poison becomes disseminated, with fatal effect to + all fish and other marine animals. + </p> + <p> + It is pointed out, however, by Dr. Hamlyn-Harris that the nature of the + active principle of the “Koie yan” does not permit of elaboration by such + means. The heating of the shredded bark would, therefore, appear to fall + into line with the gibberish of ancient alchemists. It would bewilder the + uninitiated without enhancing results. + </p> + <p> + Many other plants supply the means of killing small fish wholesale, or of + reducing them to palsied cripples. The three described are fairly common, + and have, therefore, been selected to point a moral. Poisoning fish is a + poor sort of sport, perhaps, but there are two classes of fishermen—the + hungry and the artistic. The latter use flimsy tackle and complicated + gear, and play the game, giving the victims to their wiles a sporting + chance. Though not the only representative of the hungry class, the black + boy generally fishes on an empty stomach, and his demeanour coincides. No + slobbering sentiment affects him. Yet he is not so cruel as the mean white + who throws a plug of dynamite into the river while the fish are enjoying + their crowded hour, though he will with as little taint upon his + conscience poison a pool full of fish as drag with hooked stick a + reluctant crab piecemeal from its burrow among the mangrove roots. But + then he is responding to the appeals of a clamant and not over-particular + stomach, while your dynamitard is occasionally a well-fed barbarian with a + queasy palate. + </p> + <h3> + FLY-FISHING. + </h3> + <p> + The neatest and most artistic method by which the blacks kill fish + necessitates the employment of a particular species of spider known to the + learned as NEPHILA MACULATA PISCATORUM. This spider was discovered on Dunk + Island by Macgillivray, the naturalist of the expedition of H.M.S. + RATTLESNAKE in 1848. It has a large ovate abdomen of olive-green + bespangled with golden dust; black thorax, with coral-red mandibles; and + long, slender legs, glossy black, and tricked out at the joints with + golden touches. A fine creature, gentle and stately in demeanour, it spins + a large web, strong enough to hold the biggest of beetles and other + insects, and, to harmonise with the superior air of the manufacturer, the + gossamer is of golden-green. The great spider at the focus of the + resplendent web is a frequent and conspicuous ornament to the edges of the + jungle, and having no fear, and no indocility of temper, it undergoes the + ordeal of admiration with an assumption of disdainful coquettism. The + local name of this comely creature is “Karan-jamara.” Shameless + polyandrist, she maintains several consorts—from three to five seems + to be the average number—and they, semi-transparent, feeble, meek, + subdued little fellows, maintain precarious isolated existences in the + outskirts of the web. + </p> + <p> + Though my own experience is negative, direct incontrovertible evidence is + extant to the effect that birds often meet their fate by blundering into + the web, to be devoured by the nimble and gaily decorated owner. I have + frequently seen karan-jamara disposing of hard-shelled beetles as big in + bulk as some birds, and the strongest of butterflies, once entangled, is + powerless. The long-legged spider leaps on the struggling prey and stills + its beating wings with one pinch of powerful red mandibles. March flies + form the most frequent diet. One has been observed to dispose of fourteen + of the great stupid flies in a single evening, and if the flies could + reason they might, while whimpering because of the existence of such + voracious spiders, acknowledge that they design their webs in a very + perplexing and masterly manner. + </p> + <p> + In pursuance of inquiries—the results of which are herein recorded—a + casual black boy, a stranger to these parts, and therefore unfamiliar with + the local name and the special purpose to which the spider is put, was + cross-examined. At first he failed to recognise the photograph, but when + it was explained by the pointed allusion to a living Maltese-cross spider + close at hand, a gleam of intelligence brightened his bewildered face, and + he delivered a self-satisfied dissertation on the order Arachnida that is + worth quoting: + </p> + <p> + “That fella Oo-boo-boo. That fella mammy belonga 'nother fella altogether. + You no savee, come close up—that fella ply way. You no savee, come + close up, that fella no good; that fella vite.” + </p> + <p> + And the boy looked gravely sagacious and smiled the wide, wise smile + betokening proud superiority of information. Had Macgillivray but known + that the “Oo-boo-boo” was the parent of all the many species, and that it + belongs to the discreetly valorous class that “vites” and flies away, and + lives to “vite” another day, he might have achieved renown of a more + popular kind than is the reward of the unromantic naturalist who discovers + merely a superior spider. + </p> + <p> + This spider is used on some of the rivers as a lure, virtues almost + irresistible being ascribed to it. Experiments in salt water, though not + absolutely negative in their results, have not afforded any specially + exciting sport; but possibly the fascination of the lure is more efficient + in fresh than in salt water, and is influential over the habitual caution + throughout a certain species of fish only. The trick is worked in the + following manner: + </p> + <p> + The angler takes a light, thin switch and entangles one end in the web, + which, by dexterous waving action, is converted (without being touched + with the fingers) into a strand about two feet long. The spider is secured + and squashed, and the end of the line moistened in the juices of the body, + some of the fragments of which are reserved for bait, and also to be + thrown into the water as a preliminary charm. These buoyant titbits + attract shoals of small fish, among which the line, with its extract of + spider, is delicately trailed; a fish rises to the lure, the gossamer + becomes entangled in its teeth, and it is landed by a brisk yet easy + movement of the wrist. A great angler recently said that throwing a fly is + an act of feeling or instinct rather than reason. So the black boy with a + careless flourish fills his dilly-bag, while he smiles at the serious + attempts of the white man to imitate his skill. + </p> + <p> + Owing to the brevity and the frailness of the line, the catch is limited + to fish under the recognised standard as to size. Tests prove that the + breaking strain of the line is nearly three-quarters of a pound, but the + weight of the individual is of no great consideration, since numbers are + caught quickly. The gossamer is singularly sticky. The viscid substance + with which it is coated is not readily dissolvable in water; indeed, water + seems to have the effect of hardening it, so that the line' wears longer + than might be expected. Piquant morsels of the spider are entangled in the + frayed end of the line as its original potency becomes non-effective. + </p> + <p> + A friend for whose edification this novel method was demonstrated thus + writes it: + </p> + <p> + “It did not take the boy long to get ready. They simply broke a switch + about three feet long and attached a portion of the web about six inches + long to the end; squeezed out on to a leaf the fluid internals of the + spider, into which they dipped the end of the line, started a rather + melodious chant, and put the line in shallow water. I was only a few feet + away and could see no fish at first, but they came very soon. They were + very small, about one and a half inches long. They fasten their teeth in + the web, and are lifted out quite slowly. Some require to be pulled off + the line after being landed. I watched for about ten minutes, during which + time seventeen were caught.” + </p> + <p> + Sir William Macgreggor, ex-Governor of Queensland, has described the + Papuan art of fishing by means of kites, the lure being a tassel of the + web of a spider of the Nephila species. No doubt the blacks here made an + independent and original discovery, and in their simplicity applied it in + a different, but none the less effective, style from that of the advanced + Papuan. + </p> + <p> + Thus, to use the web and the fragments of a spider for fly-fishing is + certainly meting out poetic justice to the spider on account of the many + ensnared flies; and the black angler never pauses to reflect whether the + comminuted remains of a spider can possibly be construed into a fair fly. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART III—MISCELLANEA + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PEARLS + </h2> + <h3> + WHAT IS A PEARL? + </h3> + <p> + What is a pearl? The substance of a sensation—the consolidation of + discomfort on the part of an oyster or other nacre-secreting mollusc. It + is a globular deposit of carbonate of lime, with a very small proportion + of water, generally enclosing a trifle which is its cause and core and, so + to speak, is a waste product of the body's chemistry. In the restricted, + scientific sense, “true pearls are bodies consisting of calcareous + material with an organic basis.” Similar bodies having cores of sand + grains or other foreign substance are known as “blisters.” + </p> + <p> + Science, which peers and probes into the innermost affairs of oysters, and + speaks of them in terms of uneasy familiarity, asserts that pearls are + frequently caused by a parasite to which they are subject. + </p> + <p> + It would ill become one who has no scientific pretensions to suggest other + definitions, though he may claim to be among the few who have been + privileged to observe a pearl in the making, or, rather, to watch Nature's + finishing touches. + </p> + <p> + In the case of the oyster the radical home cure for the living irritant or + insoluble substance which had gained entrance between its valves is an + encasement of pearl-film. If this encasement is globular or pear-shaped, + or takes the form of a button and is lucid, lustrous, flawless, and of + large size, it may be of almost inestimable worth. + </p> + <p> + Does the proud beauty who glories in the possession of a pearl condescend + to imagine that she flaunts on her bosom just so many tombs containing the + dust of the germs of a parasite? Does she not rather love to think of the + gems as emblems of almost celestial purity, and to dwell on the fable of + the Persians rather than the audacious modern fact? + </p> + <p> + Addison has set the fable in imperishable gold: A drop of water fell out + of a cloud into the sea, and finding herself lost in such immensity of + fluid matter, broke out into the following reflection: “Alas! What an + inconsiderable creature am I in this prodigious ocean of waters; my + existence is of no concern to the universe; I am reduced to a kind of + nothing, and am less than the least of the works of God.” It so happened + that an oyster which lay in the neighbourhood chanced to gape and swallow + it up in the midst of this its humble soliloquy. The drop, says the fable, + lay a great while hardening in the shell, until by degrees it was ripened + into a pearl, which, falling into the hands of a diver after a long series + of adventures, is at present that famous pearl which is affixed on the top + of the Persian diadem. + </p> + <p> + Though one may count his pearls by the score, the hoard may be valueless. + Upon such examples entertaining, if not valuable, experiments may be made + without affectation or giving hostages to fortune. In all the little + deformed specimens thus dissected the core has been found to consist of a + foreign substance, generally what seemed under a microscope of limited + power a speck of dirt. The heart of one was a blob of mud, which gave off + a most baleful vapour. This was the result of the house-cleaning of a + common, edible rock oyster, and the pearl, dirty green and lustreless, + merely a thin casket, for the noisome mud had not solidified. The care + with which the impurity had been rendered innocuous demonstrated the + correct ideas of the oyster on sanitation. No doubt the germ of the + special form of tape-worm which troubles oysters, irritates to + pearl-making, and passes through other transformations in other hosts, and + completes its cycle in the body of a shark, would be too minute for + inexpert detection. The fact that molluscs do intern foreign and obnoxious + substances is testimony to their decency and love of cleanliness, and so + may the pearl be still accepted as the embodiment of purity. Though all + its little soul be dirt, the pearl is pure, and but for the dirt or the + germ of a filthy ailment it would not be pearl. + </p> + <p> + So many molluscs produce pearls that it would be absurd for the great + oyster family to set up exclusive rights. They do not, for your oyster is + ever humble even when tenanted with a rivalless pearl. On the coast of + North Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef, pinnas of at least two + species are among the producing agents, which, covering a wide range, seem + to meet in two distinct genera, far apart in appearance and habit. There + is the frail, flat, translucent “window-shell” (Placuna), the valves of + which fit so closely that the poor little inhabitant is squeezed to a + wafer, a film, a fragment of muscle. Yet in some localities nearly every + individual has a pearl, pretty in tint, but too minute to be of value. An + allied species is common on the coast of China, where the pearls are + collected for export to India, to be reduced to lime by calcination for + the use of luxurious betel-nut chewers. These almost microscopic pearls + are also burnt in the mouths of the dead who have been influential and + wealthy. + </p> + <p> + Coal-black pearls occur in one of the pinnas, the interior of which is + sooty, shot with iridescent purple, and since the pearl, whether produced + by oyster, mussel, pinna, or window-shell, is generally more brilliant + than the containing shell, that of the black pinna, with the high lights + of its environment concentrated, may be a gem of surpassing novelty and + beauty. But the habitual product of this pinna is small, dull, mud-tinted + or brown, and of no value whatever. Another of the genera grows “seed” of + excellent lustre, corresponding with the azure brightness of the shell. + </p> + <p> + The chief source of orient pearls on the coast of North Queensland is the + gold-lip mother-of-pearl PINCTADA MAXIMA, while the black lip PINCTADA + MARGARITIFERA occasionally yields fine and flawless specimens of a silvery + lustre. One which is still lovingly remembered was of pale blue and + wonderfully lighted. The commonest of the giant clams TRIDACNA GIGAS + sometimes betrays evidence of past internal trouble by the presence of a + concretion of porcelain whiteness and of porcellaneous texture, but such + are not to be described as pearls and to be prized as rarities only. + </p> + <p> + That some huge molluscs produced pearls before man, with his faculty for + admiration, came on the scene is proved by their existence as fossils in + chalk. Hemispherical specimens have been found on the inner surface of a + shell which has no living representative—viz., the Inoceramus (some + of which attained a length of two feet)—and spherical ones of the + same prismatical structure occur detached in the chalk. It were curious to + let the imagination run over the fact that the hosts of these uncommended + gems died ages before the advent of man. The best of modern prizes may be + puny in comparison with those which caused distress to the giant molluscs + of the age when the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and Pterodactylus were + the aristocrats of the animal world. Such gems have gone for ever, and + even during this age of insatiable and adventurous search man does not + secure a tithe of the ocean's tribute, for, since a pearl is a source of + discomfort to its host, the unceasing effort of the animal is towards + expulsion. The greatest and possibly the most magnificent are cast out as + rubbish on the ocean floor, or are retained within the valves when the + animal dies of old age. + </p> + <p> + So-called pearls have been found in elephants' tusks and semi-adherent to + the bones of fish, and concretions—hard, smooth, and round, and of + the flat hue of skimmed milk—in coconuts and in the cavities of + bamboos; but in the production of the real gem neither oyster nor mussel + nor pinna need fear the rivalry of anything on the earth's surface. The + pearl belongs to the sea. + </p> + <p> + Completely spherical pearls can be formed only loose in the mantle or soft + parts of the body of the animal; but intrusions incite a deposit of nacre + in the form of a projection on the interior, which projection, often a + mere bubble, but sometimes semi-detached, may take the shape and + dimensions of the foreign substance. Or an inoffensive mollusc may be + goaded by the piercing of its shell from the exterior to create that for + which men venture into the depths of the sea. If a pearl-secreting oyster + be inherently robust, its defence against assault from without may consist + of the strengthening of the interior at the point of attack by deposits of + nacre. Thus, a slight protuberance arises which becomes the base of a + blister or button or the starting-point of a pear-shaped gem. Many a + lovely gem is, therefore, nothing more than the imperishable record of + aggression on the part of a flabby sponge on a resourceful oyster. + Occasionally valuable pearls are found within huge blisters. Such pearls + originate, no doubt, in the ordinary way, but, becoming an intolerable + nuisance on account of increasing size, are confined in nacre. + </p> + <p> + One of the accompanying illustrations shows the fate which befell an + infant chiton upon intrusion on a small black-lip oyster, and + coincidentally the origin of a blister. The chiton family being notorious + for stolidity, the infant could not have realised the risks of its + trespass until the strait-jacket made its retirement impossible. The nacre + has reproduced the details of the chiton's exterior with the fidelity of a + casting, and further reveals the fact that it was alive when entombed, for + its struggles to escape are solidified. + </p> + <p> + This deliberate act of the oyster may not stand comparison with the stone + of Pyrrhus's ring, which had the figure of Apollo and the nine Muses in + the veins of it produced by the spontaneous handiwork of Nature without + any help from art. The marvellous stone belonged to the fabulous past; the + imprisoned chiton to the prosaic present. + </p> + <p> + Another illustration is that of an accumulation of nacre which has assumed + accidental resemblance to a miniature shark. It was found in a gold-lip + pearl shell in Torres Straits. The like quantity in globular shape would + represent a pearl of great value. + </p> + <h3> + A PEARL IN THE MAKING. + </h3> + <p> + On a calm and luminous day I waded, disrobed, in shallow water as limpid + as the fictitious stream which legend says King Solomon improvised at the + foot of his throne when the Queen of Sheba attended his court. Lifting her + robes—for she imagined the crossing of the water to be a ceremonial + device—the gorgeous Queen displayed her shapely calves. The water + resting on the verge of the lovely Isle was as delusively clear, but was + not deceptive. + </p> + <p> + It revealed living coral, good to avoid by the barefooted; clams with + patterned mantles of various tints—grey, slate-blue, sea-green, + brown, and buff; anemones in many shapes, some like spikes of lavender, + and irritant and repellent to the touch; some platter-shaped and + cobalt-blue; some as living vases with the opalescent tints of Venetian + glass, which, abhorring the hand of man, retreat into the sand until only + an inconspicuous fringe of neutral tint is visible. Sea-slugs in almost + endless form and variety of hue, and many other strange sea things, were + among the inhabitants of the reef—a closely packed arena of + never-ceasing slaughter. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of a clump of brown seaweed, which had fallen apart like the + neatly dressed hair of a woman, was a black streak, signifying the gape of + a wedge-shaped mollusc known as a pinna. The gape was about as long as the + parting of a woman's hair and about thrice as wide. As I crouched to note + the functions of the animal, my shadow intervened and the caution of the + creature was roused, the valves closing so that no sign of the presence of + the shell was distinguishable among the slightly wavering, minute + particles of alga. Changing my position, so that the pinna might not be + deprived of its share of the rays of the sun, the valves soon furtively + opened. A slight movement on my part and they closed again, without having + revealed any hidden charms. + </p> + <p> + After a few minutes, a certain confidence being established between us, + the pinna emerged from its retirement, in so far as such creatures are + permitted by Nature. The mantle of this particular species is shown as a + delicate fringe of lace in old gold and black. It ripples along the upper + edges of the confining valves, which are intensely black with a pearly + lustre. The pretty movements of the mantle—like the swinging of the + skirts of a well-apparelled damsel—attracted admiration, and on + peering into the shell a glimpse of something precious was obtained. + </p> + <p> + Tossed and twirled about just below the old gold fringe was a black pearl + about the size of a pea. The prize was safe. Without risk of loss it could + be watched in its unceasing revolutions. It seemed as if the animal, with + automatic perseverance, attempted to eject the incubus, the weight of + which kept it about an inch below the aperture of the valves. Such motion + would naturally tend to perfection. Whatsoever its lustre, it would + certainly be a sphere. Besides, it was a pearl in the making. As long as + it remained within the pinna and it could not be voluntarily rejected, its + size would inevitably increase. It was the rolling stone to which time and + the secretions of the animal would add weight and, peradventure, beauty. + </p> + <p> + Was mortal ever before privileged to watch over the growth of a black + pearl? The activities of the mantle, a blending of enticing colour and + poetic motion, were slow, free, and light-attracting. The ancients + believed that some pearls were constituted by flashes of lightning playing + on bubbles within the oyster. A relative of the family here seemed to be + wooing the tropic sun of its beams, if not to vitalise, at least to + burnish its treasure. + </p> + <p> + Close scrutiny showed that the pearl was not absolutely free. It was + enclosed in a transparent membrane, the merest film, which confined it to + a particular position in the mantle, while it seemed to possess + independent actions—vertical and revolutionary. Perhaps the rays of + light which fell unequally on it through the water created the illusion of + revolutions, but it is certain that the pearl seemed to be playing a game + of hide-and-seek. + </p> + <p> + Was it possible for human nature to deny itself so easily gotten and + pretty a prize? I confess, though the possibility of the pearl increasing + in size and loveliness was obvious, that the fact that pinnas are subject + to ills, chances, and mishaps, was also recognised. Left to be slowly + tossed about, the pearl would become greater; but size, though an + important feature, is not the only desirable quality. And while it grew + might not another barefooted beach-comber discover it? Or might not one of + the many unintelligent admirers of the pinna itself find entrance by + drilling or by the violent crushing of the valves, and, ignoring the + treasure, destroy the organs and the substance by and from which it was + being delicately elaborated? Suppose, I argued, I remove the gaping shell, + I shall no longer be able to enjoy the rare, the unique pleasure of + presiding over the gradual perfection of a pearl, an aesthetic advantage + to which I alone had been made free. Could present possession of a little + sphere of carbonate of lime, polished and sooty black, compensate for the + continuance of the chaste joy of watching one of the most covert and + intimate processes of Nature? Balancing the immediate material gain + against the inevitable moral loss, I was almost persuaded to self-denial, + when, with a sudden impulse, begot of the consciousness of rightful + acquisition, the pinna was forcibly yet carefully drawn out of the sand in + which it was deeply embedded and in which it was anchored by toughened + byssus. Directly the valves were prised apart the pearl fell into my hand. + Never before had I seen one so loosely retained within its shell. + Generally, in the case of the pinna, pearls are embedded in the muscles or + soft parts, and are not primarily discernible, but have to be sought for + by passing the “meat” through the fingers. On this occasion all previous + experience had been set at naught, so that it might seem that the prize + had been presented by the animal as its perfect and most opulent work. + </p> + <h3> + STRANGE PEARLS. + </h3> + <p> + The engaging theory of the ancients that pearls were made of glutinous + dewdrops condensed by the sun's heat does not take into account the fact + that some of the rarest, though not the most valuable, have assumed + contrary and fantastic shape. Fish, crabs, and marine insects have proved + a common origin of pearly developments while they have been regarded by + some as almost miraculous conceptions on the part of the afflicted + mollusc. + </p> + <p> + Hamed of Jeddah, the stubby Arab who deals in fish and oysters, and who + professes to have groped over in his youth a considerable extent of the + Red Sea for coral and pearls, relates many experiences in which the + popular gem takes pride of place. Oriental that he is, he loves + exaggeration, and while lending a propitious car to the stories in which + he enshrines his prime, when he could dive deep and long, and when the + precious red coral was “thick” and every shell contained a pearl, it is + discreet to disregard obvious breaks and bulges along the prim path of + truth. The very crudeness of his embellishments invests with kind of comic + relief some of his fables, which end invariably with insipid uniformity. + All the pearls which have slipped through Hamed's rough hands have been + valued at five hundred pounds, never more or less. It is not for me to rub + the gilt off the innocent inventions of the emotional Arab, but merely to + relate one of his time-beguiling tales, and one which, probably, is of + clean-cut truth. + </p> + <p> + A huge gold-lip, found four fathoms deep, where the sea grass sways + indolently long, contained a tinted pearl like: + </p> + <p> + “That fella sitting down along a tree and sing out along night time.” + </p> + <p> + “Flying fox?” I guessed grimly. + </p> + <p> + “No!” snapped Hamed indignantly. “'Nother fella.” + </p> + <p> + “That bird which says 'chump, chump, chump?'” I meekly asked. + </p> + <p> + Again Hamed sneered ironically. “No bird. No bird carn get along oyster. + Little fella-green like leaf. Sing out 'Ko-rog, ko-rog, ko-rog!'” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Frog!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Like frog. Me call him 'ghouk' along my country. That fella inside + gold-lip. One inch long. Leg, hand, mouth, eyes all asame. I bin get five + hundred pounds for that fella.” + </p> + <p> + Azure pearls in the similitude of tiny fish can be vouched for by people + far more careful of their facts than Hamed—fish which have intruded + themselves on the oysters and have been encased in nacre. Probably the + rarity which fell into Hamed's hands was the pearly presentment of a + crustacean, for marine frogs are infinitely rarer than pearls. Several + molluscs admit tenants, one particular species a rotund crab; but in the + case in point the wrong mansion was entered and, so to speak, the obtruder + was transformed. + </p> + <p> + A common and neat industry in China is the production of fraudulent + pearls, pretty and in accordance with submitted design, in which the + co-operation of the obedient but frail mussel is necessary. If a round + pearl is desired, a naked shot is introduced between the valves so much to + the discomfort of the animal that it proceeds to cover it decently with + layer after layer of pearl-film, the bulk of which depends upon the length + of life granted to the mussel. Sometimes little josses are stamped out in + thin uncorrosive metal, which, being presented to the mussel, are + faithfully modelled, the thrifty Chinese obtaining in course of time + quaint pearly gods—as potent as the best—without money and + without price. + </p> + <p> + Not so long as a quarter of a century ago a spirit-bottle full of pearls—buttons, + blisters, and chips of all sorts, sizes, and shapes—was purchased in + North Queensland by one who had but the crudest ideas as to the value of + such gems. The vendor was a whity-brown man, thin, and thinly clad in + cotton. The complexion of the buyer was ruddier than the cherry, for the + tropic sun had beamed ardently on his peachy Scotch skin, proclaiming him + a new-chum, a bright and shining new-chum. Because he was new he was alert + to the value of money. Had he not come, as all new-chums do, to Tom + Tiddler's ground to pick up gold and silver? Hence, when the hatless, + spare, whity-brown man in soiled cotton offered for sale the odd-shaped + beads in a besmeared whisky-bottle for five pounds, his national trait + expressed itself in a scoff. + </p> + <p> + The whity-brown man's seriousness, his confidentiality, his keen desire to + sell, his mysticism and misty English, the ruddy young man interpreted as + manifestations of the arts and wiles by means of which innocent strangers + from far away lands are tempted into bankruptcy bargains. The seller, + anxious to dispossess himself of ill-gotten gains prejudicial to his love + of liberty, pursued the Scotch youth almost tearfully, until the bottle + changed hands, but at a considerable reduction on the price originally + demanded. Shortly after a friend enlightened the youth as to the probable + value of the collection, and gave him some cheap advice, especially on the + desirableness of secrecy. The youth accepted the advice so literally that + the story ends. No one ever knew how, when, where, and for what + consideration, he disposed of his embarrassments. Fresh from the land of + his birth, and with the text of Burns's poetic letter in his mind, he kept + that something to himself. + </p> + <p> + The days of such sensational deals are past. The primal crop has long + since been harvested. Science is now bidden to stimulate the docile + oyster, for the rage for pearls is as the rage of the heathen. Is it not + the wish of every woman, old and young, to possess pearls? And while + subject man, flushed with hope, ventures to the “utmost port, washed by + the furthest sea,” for such merchandise at the caprice of woman, Science + plods sedately after man, beguiling him with the hope of some less risky + and laborious means of acquiring the gems, while at the same time she + soothes the irrepressible passion of every damsel with strings of artistic + counterfeits manufactured from the scales of silvery fish, and as pleasant + to glance at as many an orient. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards say that a paper cigarette, a glass of water, and the kiss + of a pretty girl, will sustain a man for a day without eating. But what is + a man to do who has no tobacco, only stale water, who is separated from + the nearest girl by seventy miles of perilous seas forlorn, and whose + appetite sickens at the sight of the coarse fare of a béche-de-mer boat? + There is but one resource for such a martyr. He must do “a perisher.” That + is precisely what the master of a lonely boat in an odd angle of the Coral + Sea was doing when a joyful sail appeared—a dove-like messenger from + civilisation and shops. It was a pitiable famine. No one had had a smoke + for a week. The black boys had broken up their nicotine-saturated clay + pipes and masticated them to pulp, and still treasured the quids, while + the “Boss” pondered cigars during the day and dreamt them at night. But + relief was at hand. The master of the strange craft, though well stocked, + was not disposed to be generous, until tempted by the sight of a lovely + yellow pearl, about the size of a small marble and of satiny lustre—sweet + to look upon, sweeter still to possess. Aware of the other man's agonising + needs, he drove a hard bargain, and the gem became his at the cost of a + box of tobacco. He hugged himself for joy, and after a decent lapse, + during which he acted the part of the virtuous who had relieved another's + necessities out of sheer goodwill (for the pearl was only a curio, was it + not?), he set sail for the nearest port. + </p> + <p> + Certain that fortune had at last beamed upon him, he laid up his lugger, + wound up his affairs, and hurried off to Sydney, secretly, to dispose of + his prize first-hand. An expert weighed the treasure, scrutinised it + shrewdly through a microscope, and handed it back with a casual remark + that it was a pretty curio, but that its market value was about half a + crown. “It has been exposed to great heat, and may crumble to pieces at a + change of temperature. Get me one like that uncooked and I'll give you + twelve hundred pounds.” + </p> + <p> + Some time after, the grasping man discovered that the pearl had been found + in the “meat” of a “helmet” shell which had been roasted by a hungry and + tobaccoless boy. + </p> + <p> + Without appearing to suggest anything beyond a trifling blemish in this + story, replete as it is with edifying illustrations of the frailties of + human nature, it would be well to remember that the helmet shell (CASSIS + FLAMMEA) is not nacreous and could not therefore produce a true pearl, but + merely g porcellaneous concretion, which, however, might possess a most + attractive tint, possibly pale salmon or orange. Such a gem might be + valuable. + </p> + <p> + Great pearls are not generally found on shallow reefs. He who would search + for them systematically must dive, and if he does not possess the proper + costume and accessories his trips below are but brief, and not always + profitable. When a diver boasts that he can remain under water two or + three minutes—and the boast is very common—he has gauged his + endurance by his sensations, not by the clock. Once an expert was timed, a + coloured gentleman who had great repute among his companions, all capable + divers. He made a special and supreme effort, and though the watch + recorded barely seventy seconds, he was much distressed. Recovery was, + however, speedy; of ten subsequent minutes he spent more than half out of + sight. It is not argued that human beings cannot remain voluntarily under + water more than seventy seconds, but the feat is so rare that those who + accomplish it are not usually pearl-divers. + </p> + <p> + The natives of some parts of Borneo declare that the valves of the oysters + containing the largest pearls are always open, and that by peering into + the water the pearls may be seen. They tell a story of a gigantic pearl + which was thus discovered by the men of old and actually brought while + within the oyster into a canoe, but had slipped from the fingers of a + careless holder into deep water. + </p> + <p> + Spencer St. John, author of “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” had + among his friends a chief who ventured most of his possessions in a + pearling cruise. Disaster attended the enterprise, but without subduing + his faith in luck; mortgaging everything, even to his wife and child, he + went out to woo fortune again. His slave-boy was preparing to dive one day + when he started back, touched his master's hand, and with signs of great + emotion pointed into the water. The chief looked, and there, seven fathoms + below, lay an oyster with an enormous pearl distinctly visible. Without a + moment's reflection he plunged in, and, diving with skill and speed, + reached the shell before it closed, his fingers being caught between the + valves. He quickly rose to the surface, and was helped into the boat by + his anxious follower. Upon the oyster being forced open, a pearl, + unsurpassed in size and of extraordinary beauty, was revealed. Returning + to his native village, the chief sold all his smaller pearls, and having + redeemed his wife and child, set sail for Manila, where lived an English + friend who advanced him money, to whom he said: “Take this pearl, clear + off my debt, give me what you like in return. I shall be satisfied.” The + author adds: “The merchant took the pearl, gave him what he considered its + value—at all events enough to make Sulu ring with his generosity—and + sent the pearl to China; but what became of it afterwards I could never + distinctly trace; but I learned that a pearl in Bengal called 'The + Mermaid' originally came from China, and as the one found in Sulu was said + to be shaped like a woman's bust, it is probably the same.” + </p> + <p> + Possibly the golden age of the pearl is passing as the golden age of the + reptile has passed, for can it not be imagined that, in those far-back + days when oysters attained a length of two feet and better deserved the + title of Tridacna (three bites) than the present clams, pearls of + corresponding magnificence of size were produced? Or are robust pearlless + oysters to be accepted as the type of the strong era, and small oysters + and pearls merely as signs of degeneracy? The largest of modern pearls + measured two inches long by a circumference of four inches and weighed + eighteen hundred grains. The containing shell may have been big only in + comparison with its contemporaries. A very small man has been known to be + afflicted with a disproportioned goitre, and there are some who argue that + the goitre may be but the prototype of the pearl. + </p> + <p> + Is fact or fable to claim the most glorious of pearl stories? Some verily + believe that Cleopatra did quaff the costliest beverage the world has ever + known. The incident is so faithful to the character of “that rare + Egyptian” that all sober record shall not discount delight in its + transcendent sumptuousness. Though the pearl may have been worth eighty + thousand pounds of our money, though Cleopatra was gay, though her + extravagance was impious, she was a glorious woman, and she had at least + one glorious, if nauseating, drink. The pearl decoction was merely an + episode in her policy, which was to fascinate Antony—Antony who had + called her to account for having aided his enemies in their war against + him. And what was an eighty thousand pound bauble in the high affairs of + State? “She was at the age when a woman's beauty is at its prime, and she + was also of the best judgment. So she furnished herself with a world of + gifts, stores of gold and silver, and of riches and other sumptuous + ornaments as is credible she might bring from so great a house and from so + wealthy and rich a realm as Egypt. But yet she carried nothing with her + wherein she trusted more than herself, and in the charms and enchantment + of her surpassing beauty and grace.” + </p> + <p> + And then the supper following the magnificent pageant! Anything less than + an eighty thousand pound pearl would have been an anti-climax, a mean and + clumsy culmination of a “gaudy night.” That soul-delighting gem which + vanished in foam told of a superb Cleopatra's “calm felicity and power.” + </p> + <p> + Some say that, the jewel—cast away so majestically was one of a pair + which Cleopatra wore as ear-rings, and that when Antony restrained his + hostess from a repetition of the draught, she presented the now matchless + pearl to him. Another version implies that the ear-ring had been + originally one monster pearl, which Cleopatra had caused to be sawn in two + to gratify her lust for unique and lavish ornament. + </p> + <p> + It is said, too, that the pearl was dissolved in wine. By a simple + practical test and at the sacrifice of a small quantity of baroque, proof + was obtained that ordinary culinary vinegar is a solvent of pearls. The + experiment also yielded these notable conclusions—that either the + wine of Cleopatra's age was much more corrosive than the vinegar of ours, + or that the costly beverage was prepared beforehand, or that the stately + banquet was long-drawn-out while the inestimable gem spluttered and + simmered in the goblet. The dissolution of such a large pearl must have + been slow, and the product far from nice, but it was one of the effects by + which a sovereign woman conquered the “most courteous lord” of his day. + </p> + <p> + A curious superstition prevails in some parts of the East Indies, it being + believed that if gold and pearls are placed by themselves in a packet they + will certainly decrease in quantity or number, and in the end totally + disappear; but, if a few grains of rice are added, the treasure is safe. + Rice is thought not only to preserve the original number of pearls, but to + actually cause increase. + </p> + <p> + Tarnished pearls are occasionally submitted to the process of “skinning”—the + removal with fine steel files under a magnifying glass of the outer + 'layer, on the chance of the existence of a better underneath. The + ancients treated lustreless gems differently, placing them before doves, + under the belief that they could be polished by being pecked and played + with by the gentle birds. + </p> + <p> + In some respects pearls are superior to all other gems. They are + emblematic of serenity, and serenity is often power in the highest + manifestation. None ever said an unkind word of pearls; no dubious legend + clings to them, making the timid afraid. They come to us perfectly + fashioned. No coarse handiwork has touched them, no soulless machine + ground them to conventional pattern. The last diamond may be, the last + pearl never, until the sea gives up more than its dead, its very being. + Pearls may begin and end in foam; but the beginning is now and always, and + the ending rare, for the Cleopatras are gone. Emblems of purity, + refinement, and peace, they are truly the gems for woman. Queenly or + demure, they become her, and she bestows on them a quality hard to define, + but singularly sweet and acceptable. Gold and precious stones may occupy + billions of years in the making, or may be the product of— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The war of elements, + The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds.” + </pre> + <p> + Once we find these hard, cold things and take hold of and seize them, we + know that we have, to use a homely simile, eaten our cake. The supply of + pearls is continuous, and under the control of the cruel ingenuity of man + they grow to an ordinary size in less than a decade. + </p> + <p> + Many years ago an opinion was expressed that the increasing knowledge 'of + the mollusc and its habits would enable man literally to sow the sea with + pearls as he sows a field with grain, and that the harvest would be + certain. Under natural conditions not one oyster in a hundred is troubled + with a pearl, and not one pearl in the hundred is of any real value. It is + demanded that unsuspecting oysters shall be inflicted with a kind of + plague, so that there shall be not one but several pearls in every + suffering individual, and in the greater number chance will contrive a + larger proportion of orients. Every oyster has its potentialities; Science + seeks to convert potentialities into certainties. + </p> + <h3> + PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY. + </h3> + <p> + Such merchandise has ever provoked the spirit of adventure in hardy, + healthy men, and pearls have claimed the lives of the best among them. The + health and figure of the friend who beguiled many an evening were + sacrificed to the lustrous gem so prized of women. A model of stalwart + manhood of the Viking strain, he died early, worn out with the stress with + which he sought the most serene of personal adornments. There may have + been some slight exaggeration in the popular belief that he had walked + along the bottom of the sea from one end of the Great Barrier Reef to the + other, a stretch of over one thousand miles; but that he had accomplished + more than that distance in the aggregate of his submarine wanderings may + be quite credible. Probably there was no human being who possessed such + intimate knowledge of the character of the ocean floor within the living + bounds of the Great Barrier; and since he was silent, reserved, and + self-contained to all save friends of long standing, was never guilty of + boasting, and ever reluctant to tell of his adventures, the world is + little the wiser from his work, though at the best time of his life most + of his days were spent under water in fairyland-like scenes. It may seem + absurd to associate fairyland with the depths of the sea; but the shy + explorer of many a coral grove has been heard to say that the scenes + fulfilled his ideals of what the realms of the fairies might be like. + </p> + <p> + Pearl-divers are more susceptible to the charms of wayward Fortune than + those who have not realised the thrill of expectancy with which a huge + goldlip, encrusted with coral and swathed with seaweed, is seized. It may + contain a gem worth a king's ransom, or but an animal which, though it may + be crossed in love, is not engaging in appearance or in any feature or + quality commendable. There is the chance; and it appeals to most rational + men. Secretive Fortune lures on, promising the bubble pearl 'and + proffering that which satisfieth not, until the stress and perils of the + avocation tell on the enthusiast, who finds himself not exuberant as wont; + that Fortune has been tricking him; that in the pursuit of pearls Chance + is oft repellent; and that the prize which seemed impossible to avoid has + eluded the most devoted seekers. + </p> + <p> + It may be that my captain did not seek his pearls with zeal beyond that + which is common to the calling the world over; but that his enthusiasm + beguiled him into remote and odd parts of the Barrier, that he became + familiar with rare scenes (denied to all save submarine adventurers in + tropical waters), that he was oft in peril of his life, and that he could + pause in the midst of strenuous, nerve-racking work to watch the + never-ceasing hostilities of the denizens of the sea, may not be + questioned. + </p> + <p> + Not long before he passed away he told of one of his adventures in a few + hurried words, after the manner of one who loves not to dwell on personal + reminiscences, save as a text for the rectification of popular error in + respect of sensational happenings. The story is here repeated, for it + throws light on an incident which sent one ship of warfare on dubious + patrol, and reveals the manner of the men who sought pearls in the old + days. + </p> + <p> + “Have you found that pearl?” he asked smilingly; for we had often talked + of the possibility of being rewarded with a fortune-bestowing gem. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed, I have; and a real beauty. I very much doubt if you, for all + your experience, ever saw such perfect shape and fine lustre. Here is an + instance of the perversity of Chance. You, tied up in a rubber bag, rake + the floor of the Barrier, fighting sharks and being hustled by turtle, and + never find anything out of the way. I stroll about the beaches, and see + what Fortune bestows!” + </p> + <p> + The size of a small marble, it lay swathed in white wadding. Minute + furrows sculptured the surface in radiating lines from pole to pole, + enhancing rare radiance. + </p> + <p> + The captain took the little casket in his hand that he might gloat over + the treasure, as, his eyes shining, he said: + </p> + <p> + “You lucky fellow! Where did you get it? I never saw a finer pearl, and I + have seen a few in my days. Fair numbers have passed through my hands; but—you + fraud!” + </p> + <p> + He lifted it, revealing a counterfeit, which had once ornamented a hatpin. + </p> + <p> + In good-humour he settled down on a lounge and gradually drifted into + reminiscences. + </p> + <p> + “About two years before what I am going to tell you happened, I heard of a + patch of shell off an island Sud-Est way; I kept the tip to myself, + determined to work the spot on my own account if ever I got the chance. I + waited till I saved a few pounds, and, taking in a mate, fitted out a + craft, and with a crew of very fair boys sailed away. I found the spot all + right; but—my usual luck—someone had been there before me. + Strange to say, the spot was by no means worked out, though it was fairly + good ground and easy working, and the shell large. We did good business + for a while, until one day I got a proper start. The life-line fouled on + something, and I found that it had taken a turn round the bowsprit of a + wreck. I got on top pretty quick, and, having had a talk with my mate, + went down again. Very soon I knew the boat. It was the ——, and + she had belonged to a man I had known very well. The strange part about + the business was that the boat had been burned. Her deck was gone; she had + burned to the water's edge and had sunk, and there she rested on her keel. + I knew that the owner had left port some months before on a secret cruise. + Someone must have given him the tip, too. He was well known and liked, and + generally did good business. My mate and I talked over the business. We + wanted to clean up that patch, so decided to remain a few days longer + before clearing out to report. I was convinced that murder had been + committed-that the natives of the island had massacred the party and had + sunk the lugger. + </p> + <p> + “While I was below next day an urgent message came down. I bobbed up + pretty quickly. A boat was sneaking out from the beach, apparently with + the plan of cutting us off from our lugger, which was anchored some + distance off, with only a couple of boys on board. You bet, we got up + steam pretty quickly. When we got on board we reached for our rifles, and + then felt safe. + </p> + <p> + “The boat was then making straight for us, and it appeared to be crowded + with darkies. We had been off the island for four days, and had not seen + the sight of a native. I knew there were plenty, and the fact that they + had kept away had made me a bit suspicious. As the boat came along I was + sure they meant mischief, and was determined, no matter how friendly they + wanted to be, not to let one of the beggars on deck. + </p> + <p> + “About half a mile away we saw one of them, who appeared to be a bit + lighter in colour than the rest, stand up in the bow and wave a kind of + message. He kept one arm going like a semaphore. Then we saw that he + carried under the other arm a basket—a peace-offering of yams and + fruit, no doubt. He had only a shirt on, and still he kept his right arm + working. When he got within hailing distance, the man in the bows shouted + my name. He was a brawny chap. I thought to myself that if it came to a + row I would pot him first, for he was ringleader. + </p> + <p> + “All the rest were naked. His scanty uniform marked him out. Probably he + got that shirt from the owner of the sunken lugger. I wetted my lips with + my tongue as I thought it might be my duty to wipe him out. Then my name + was shouted out again, and, recognising the voice, I discovered the man in + the shirt to be a well-known character who goes under the name of ——. + </p> + <p> + “I've got something nice for you, captain! Don't look so nasty with that + rifle to an old friend!' + </p> + <p> + “Still keeping our rifles ready, we let the boat come alongside and the + tinted man passed up the basket, It was native-made, and all the top was + covered with green leaves. Thinking of fresh yams and fruit, I pulled off + the leaves, and there—poof!—the head of a man-an old man who + must have died a violent death about two days before. + </p> + <p> + “The man in the shirt laughed loud and long at the disgust in my face, + and, coming on board, soon told of the tragedy of which the awful head was + a symbol of retaliation. + </p> + <p> + “The owner of the sunken lugger had fitted her out with unusual care. His + crew consisted of natives of the island off which we were lying. As a + special inducement to one of the boys, whose name was Massai, he had + promised a rifle, but designedly withheld the gift until towards the end + of the term of agreement. Massai had persistently begged for the rifle, + and it having become necessary for the Boss' to take a trip to the port, + he had definitely, promised to bring it with him. Again he designedly + forgot. Massai became morose. Things went on calmly enough until one day, + when the mate was below, the 'Boss' was suddenly thrown overboard. As he + floundered on the surface one of the boys struck at him with a tomahawk, + and then he must have realised that his life was at stake. + </p> + <p> + “Diving until well clear of the boat, he swam off to the lugger, about a + quarter of a mile away. As his master came up, Massai leaned over the + side, his master's rifle in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “'Don't shoot me, Massai,' he shouted. 'I give you good rifle belonga + yourself.' + </p> + <p> + “Massai shouted back, 'Me catch 'em plenty riple! You no good!' and fired. + The bullet splashed over the man's head. The next struck him fair in the + forehead, and he sank. + </p> + <p> + “In the meantime Massai's confederates were sporting with the diver, + hauling him up to the surface, pumping sufficient air to keep him alive, + shutting it off until he must have been nearly suffocated, reviving him + with fresh supplies, and with joy prolonging life until the fun of the + thing ceased; then they had cut the pipe so that he might drown. + </p> + <p> + “The lugger having been ransacked, she was fired, and she had sunk at her + anchorage. + </p> + <p> + “A few days after the man with the shirt arrived at the island, and since + these simple children of Nature cannot keep their doings to themselves, he + very soon was made a confidant, learning the whole details of the tragedy + by pidgin English and expressive pantomime, and obtaining as proof the + coat of the reckless man who had made a promise to Massai which, possibly, + he had never intended to fulfil. The plot of the revenge and murder had + been hatched out ashore at the instigation of Massai's mother. + </p> + <p> + “Fortified with full information, he sailed away to a neighbouring port, + where he exhibited the coat of the murdered 'Boss.' Being impressed, the + official representing the majesty of the law gave some vague commission to + the man, who now wears other clothes than a shirt, and he sailed away for + ports unknown. + </p> + <p> + “Interpreting his commission to make further inquiries very broadly, he + appeared off the island, and received a cordial welcome, for he was 'Hail + fellow well met' with the inhabitants of many a remote isle. He made + himself very friendly, and the frank natives rather gloried than otherwise + in the recitation of evidence which condemned them. + </p> + <p> + “Then he made plans for unauthorised punishment. Having disarmed suspicion—just + as the boat's crew had done in the case of his friend—he waited, and + one dark night surrounded the village with a well-armed, hostile force. + These Papuan villages are fortified in a certain sense. Some of the exits + are set with traps and spring spears, and none but those in the secret + dares venture along a track when the village has been made secure for the + night. + </p> + <p> + “The man with the shirt posted his forces so that the exits were + commanded, and waited for dawn, his instructions being that no + demonstration was to be made until he gave the signal. Before the designed + time a shot was fired, and the conscience-stricken community fled, all + save one old man and infant, who met their fate. + </p> + <p> + “The village was spoiled and fired, and thus retributive justice done to + those who had wantonly murdered two white men and destroyed their + property. + </p> + <p> + “Once again,” said the captain, “my luck was out. Goodness knows! There + might have been a big pearl in that patch. We didn't wait to find it!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE + </h2> + <p> + “Surely, then, it interests us to know the lot of other animal creatures. + However far below us, they are still the sole created things which share + with us the capability of pleasure and the susceptibility to pain.”—HUXLEY. + </p> + <p> + It may be edifying to confess a particular interest in man's first + enemy-not such interest as the man of science displays when he seeks to + add to the knowledge of the world, but a kind of social concern. None of + us is likely to forget that on the authority of Holy Writ the serpent + became familiar with mankind very shortly after his appearance on earth, + and whispered injurious secrets into guileless ears. Ever since the scene + in the Garden of Eden, war between man and the serpent has prevailed, and + now, if we are to credit the sayings of the wise, the end of all reptiles, + if not actually in view, cannot be long postponed. Is it not mete, + therefore, to take fair opportunity of studying the characteristics and + qualities of an animal, closely associated with us by fable and in fact, + which is doomed to extinction by the ruthless strides of civilisation, + which is regarded by some as cleanly and decent, and by others as + repulsive and direful? Plain, unromantic, unsensational statements make + for the acquirement of knowledge illustrative of the habits and faculties + of the creature against which the hand of the average man is raised with a + mixture of wrath, vengeance, and fear. + </p> + <p> + By study and observation one may come to understand the higher principles + of Nature, and so learn how to withstand influences inimical to his + interests without upsetting laws which tend to his welfare. + </p> + <p> + Occasionally quite casual happenings and bare and slight matters of fact + show that those who study natural history first-hand acquire information + not to be obtained from authoritative works. Let one instance concerning + the varied diet of the death adder be quoted, since it confounds the + experience of one of the most learned men in Australia on the subject. On + the beach just at high-water mark, beneath an overhanging shrub, several + birds sounded an alarm, notifying by peculiar and persistent screeching + the presence of an enemy. After a few minutes' search, for the strained + attitudes of the birds indicated the direction, a death adder was seen + gliding among thickly strewn brown leaves with a limp bird between its + jaws. It was quickly killed, and then the bird, a dusky honey-cater, was + seen to be dead. Dusky honey-eaters generally spend their days among the + topmost sprays of flowering trees and shrubs, while death adders + habitually seek the seclusion of the shadiest places on the surface of the + soil. In this case the adder was small, so small that it seemed to be a + vain if not impossible feat for it to swallow the bird. + </p> + <p> + Hitherto the food of the adder had been deemed to be frogs, lizards, + beetles, and such game of the ground. Was it curiosity which brought the + sun-loving bird within reach of the shade-loving snake? Upon the incident + being referred to Mr. Dudley Le Souef, who has quite an uneasy familiarity + with Australian snakes, dating from the days of ardent youth, when he was + wont to carry some species about with him in his pockets, that authority + wrote: “I did not know that death adders ever killed birds; I did not + think they were active enough, their usual prey being frogs, lizards, etc. + The honey-eater must have been taken unawares.” + </p> + <p> + Though scientifically regarded as “the most dangerous and probably the + most deadly” of Australian snakes, the death adder has to its credit many + everyday proofs to the contrary: so many, indeed, that some are inclined + to class it as comparatively harmless, the reasons for such opinion being—(1) + the small size of the creature, reducing the risks of its being interfered + with inadvertently; (2) its amiability; (3) the fact that unless the + sensitive membrane at the end of the tail, to which the curved spine is + the culminating-point, is trodden on or otherwise insulted, the chances + are that there will be, no active resentment. While adopting all + precautions, accepting no risks, and being very eager to reduce the number + by all and every possible means, it is well to avoid overexcitement; for + though the reptilian age is passing away, those who live in the bush are + too often reminded that snakes are still numerous, and some of them + decidedly vicious. + </p> + <p> + To disappoint the snake and at the same time to discredit its reputation, + calmness on the part of the individual who may happen to be bitten is + counselled. He should behave as a neighbour who one dark night stepped off + his verandah barefooted on to nearly cleared land. As he strode along the + scarcely distinguishable track, he trod on something other than a + half-burnt stick. Almost instantaneously the Scripture was fulfilled—the + serpent had bruised the man's heel. Now, this man has been in many + strange, not to say fear-provoking, situations, and has listened to more + than one close call without spoiling the occasion by anticipatory and + hideous outcry. He does not smoke or drink whisky or give way to any + nerve-affecting habit. He lives within hearing of the soothing lullaby of + the sea. When his heel was gripped he did not jump or offend the air with + unmanly plaint and ineffectual clamour, or otherwise fluster his heart + with pernicious apprehension. With calm deliberation he put his hand into + his pocket and drew forth—no! not a razor-edged knife, with which to + slash the region of the punctures, but a box of matches, so that the scene + might temporarily be surveyed. He saw, not the expected death adder, not a + deadly copper head, not the venomous black which flattens and distends the + neck like a cobra when its passions are roused, not the great red + pugnacious beast which has been known to kill off-hand a big horse, but a + shame-faced carpet snake, which, though innocent and inoffensive, will, + like the worm, turn if rudely trodden on. The snake was quite ready to + apologise for impulsive and graceless misbehaviour; but it seemed + fascinated by the sudden light—how little of brightness bewilders + such lovers of darkness—and maintained its repentant attitude until + the sacred law was finally vindicated by the fatal bruising of its head. + </p> + <p> + Many years ago a locality a few miles away suffered from a raid by bush + rats, which congregated in great numbers. Similar plagues have often been + recorded from the western downs; but the coastal visitation was singular, + for it was associated with death adders, which seemed to be on good terms + with the rats. One of the settlers was growing sweet-potatoes on a fairly + large scale for pig food, the plough being used for the harvesting of the + crop. Seldom was a furrow run for the full length of the field without + turning up both adders and rats. Suddenly the rats migrated, and then the + death adders disappeared, few of either being seen for a decade, when the + association between them was again sensationally illustrated. The daughter + of a settler rose at dawn, and with others ran off to the vegetable garden + for salads for breakfast. While she was looking for a seemly cucumber, a + rat was disturbed, and almost immediately after she was bitten by a death + adder which had lain inert at the very spot whence the rat had fled. The + child recovered, while the deceptive snake, which will not submit to have + its tail saluted even by the airiest of treads, was killed. Not only have + we here another proof of the non-fatal character of the bite of an adder, + but a singular instance of association between an adder and a rat. Why and + for what purpose does this apparent amicability exist? + </p> + <p> + Sometimes mankind is startled by the unexpected appearance of a snake. + Will credit be given to an almost magic disappearance? Those who hearken + to the voices of birds learn to discriminate between the language of + content and happiness and love and that of dismay and terror. A number of + loud and pleasant-noted fasciating honey-eaters suddenly changed their + tune to that indicative of fear. They were, gathered on a thick-leaved + tree on the edge of the jungle in a crude circle, with heads pointing to a + common centre. It was simplicity to conclude that a snake was present, but + not at all easy to see it, for the flustered birds began to change their + manoeuvres directly help was at hand. Eventually a thin brown snake was + seen doubled up and apparently sound asleep among the branchlets The gun + was called for, and two others hastened to the scene, each of whom + distinctly saw the snake. When the shot was fired, a peephole was made + through dense leafage just where the snake had reposed, but with the + report it had 'disappeared. Fragments of twigs and leaves came to Mother + Earth, but even a smart black tracker failed to find a trace of the snake, + though the force of the explosion must have carried portions out into the + open. The point of this artless narrative is that the black boy formed the + firm opinion that that which he and two others had concluded to be a snake + must have been “'Nother kind. Him no good. Close up 'debil-debil!'” To him + a visible snake was quite commonplace; but one that vanished under the + impulse of a charge of shot represented a mystery which called for caution + and hasty departure, and the boy strode away with the suggestion of hot + bricks below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material only, + returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered off with—was it?—a + note of thankfulness. + </p> + <p> + The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it is automatic, regard + for its own comfort and well-being—it cannot be induced to tie + itself into a knot. It is in mind that once in the old country a very long + and very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed and forgot the + primal instinct of the family, and paid for its absent-mindedness with its + life. But the ordinary snake under extraordinary conditions, whatsoever + its length, is most careful to disentangle itself even when knots are + designed for the special purpose of embarrassing it. Though the head of a + snake be battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, the lithe body + will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to disregard the great law. + However tight the corner into which it may squeeze or narrow the quarters + into which it may be driven, and though head and tail may be close + together and in the midst of a complication of coils, and the twisting and + writhing may appear to be without method, yet the snake emerges a triumph + of single purpose. + </p> + <p> + A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch specimen, and truth bids + me say that the snake did not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest of + eggs six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited to a snake, + and it being calculated that the meal would suffice for several days, no + particular zeal was displayed in tracing out the thief. Experience has + taught that snakes do not wander very far when good and nutritious food is + to be obtained by intrusion on the cosy quarters of a pet hen., Three days + were permitted to pass, and then in the nest a rat trap was placed baited + with two eggs, the door being secured with wire. The bait proved to be + irresistible and the trap effective. In the morning the trap was crowded + with snake, which had thrust its head between the wires, swallowed the + eggs, and was a prisoner until they were dissolved by the processes of + digestion or the door was unbolted. The natural process was not complete + when the discovery was made, but the snake had managed to make itself as + comfortable as possible in its temporary habitation. The trap seemed + almost suffocatingly full, and when the occupant thrust its head and more + than half its length between the bars, only to be checked by the + hard-hearted eggs, it was thought that possibly, in its confusion, the + snake might entangle itself; but invariably it retired into the trap + without putting itself into any false position. It was killed, the + executioner justly reflecting that a snake has mental limitations. Nothing + could induce it to tie itself into a knot, and yet, wilfully and with its + eyes open, it had entered a trap from which there was no possibility of + escape until in the course of nature it had digested the bait. + </p> + <p> + Is it generally known that a snake does everything with its eyes open—that + it is denied the privilege of closing its eyes? Such is the indisputable + fact. 'But without presuming to trespass on the preserves of men of + science, the belief may be expressed that some species, if not in + possession of a movable eyelid, have some means of suspending the faculty + of sight. Indeed, there is evidence in support of the view that one + species has a membranous eyelid similar to, but slighter than, that of a + bird. It is not to be doubted that another reptile—the green turtle—is + thus endowed, and that the “winking membrane” is found in many animals at + the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye. This membrane is + represented in animals by a rudiment only. In the eyes of human beings the + small reddish patch in the corner corresponds to the winking membrane—indeed, + is the vestige of it. In monkeys, and in most mammals below them, there is + present in this vestige a small piece of cartilage, and this is found + occasionally in man. In white races it is very rare, occurring, as far as + observations have shown, in less than one per cent. Recent investigations + by Dr. Paul Bartels show that in twenty-five South African natives whom he + had examined it occurred in twelve. Another investigation found it five + times in twenty-five Japanese. It is curious to find that vestige more + common in certain races, as it shows that in this small point they are + less advanced than the white race. + </p> + <p> + This quotation from a forgotten source supplies important links in the + chain of evidence in favour of the theory that certain species of snakes + may have the winking muscle, which exists in marine reptiles and is + present in some human beings. Apart from theory, it has been my + good-fortune to see a sleeping snake the eyes of which were obscured by a + greyish film, giving it the appearance of being “wall-eyed.” Being + satisfied that it was blind, for it betrayed no uneasiness at a + threatening demonstration, a determination was made to preserve it for + critical examination. As soon as the snake was touched the cloudy veils + were withdrawn, and the eyes flashed with the fire of malignity. It + appeared to be spiteful because it had been caught napping. The specimen + was not preserved, although it was bottled. + </p> + <p> + The blacks of this district are more nervous about adders than any other + snake, with the exception of that known to them as the “Wat-tam” + (pronounce the “a” as in cat), and believed to belong to the same genus as + the brown snake. This is a large snake, reddish-brown in colour, the + underside, for about half the length, being bright orange, the tint + gradually subsiding to pale yellow towards the tail. Post-mortem + examination of the first specimen detected on this Island cleared up a + bush tragedy. A nest had been built in a conspicuous spot by a pair of + shrike thrushes, which the blacks, according to locality, know as + “Moorgoody” and “Too-dring.” The birds are the sweetest-voiced of all + natives, and become wondrous tame and confiding. After the big spotted and + blotched eggs were hatched, the hen would perch on the side of the nest + within a foot of admirers, accepting compliments with tilted head and + bright and twinkling eyes. One night the brood disappeared, and desperate + things were held in store if ever a snake were found in the neighbourhood. + Two days after, the alert dog gave tongue, his language demanding urgency + and extreme caution. Within twenty yards of the site of the violated nest + he was found “setting” at a big snake, which had raised the forepart of + its body and appeared to be concentrating its strength and agility on one + fatal and perfidious spring. But the faithful dog was watchful too, and + agile, as he crouched fearlessly across the track of man's first enemy, + with its crafty pose and glittering eyes. The black boys stood afar off, + for the “Wat-tam” is so arrogant and pugnacious that it does not hesitate + to attack a man, invariably with fatal results if great vigilance be not + exercised—at least, such is their belief. Science, however, shows + that though the snake has poison fangs, they are located so far back in + the jaws as to be practically ineffective. Its fierce demeanour is + probably, therefore, assumed for the purposes of intimidation. The gun + speedily put the wicked-looking snake out of action, and a bulge in the + body indicated the site of the last meal—the confiding thrush and + her fledgeless brood. The incident illustrates another favourite theory—viz., + that venomous snakes have a specific, distinctive odour, which warns + animals likely to be attacked of their presence. The dog kills green tree, + ordinary whip snakes, and the black, white-bellied species fond of + reposing in the mounds of scrub hens, without ceremony and with all the + zest and enthusiasm of a good sport; but in the case of venomous species + so far he has not failed to call for help, but if assistance be delayed he + takes the law into his own hands. + </p> + <p> + Be it far from me to cast doubt on the truth of that which follows. The + record is found in “Memoirs of the Queensland Museum,” vol. ii., page 43: + “Although the scientific worker is hopelessly handicapped by the vividly + imaginative journalist when snake stories are told, yet occasionally there + are noticed incidents startling enough in their way. During the cooler + months a young and lithe DIEMENIA PSAMMOPHIS, Schleg, popularly known as a + 'whip snake,' usually retired under a piece of bark placed in its case, + and it was only to be tempted out on warm and sunny days. On one occasion + a small skink lizard was introduced, and the snake commenced a lively + chase. The lizard ran under the bark, and on reaching the other side + scampered back over the top, closely pursued by the snake. Again the + lizard entered the bark tunnel, through which the tail of the snake was + rapidly disappearing, making a spurt to keep up with the main body. The + snake darted for the lizard, missed it, and then seized its own retreating + tail about two inches from the tip. With characteristic pertinacity it + held on, and apparently the classic episode of a snake swallowing itself + was to be attempted. It was not until the snake was taken, out of the case + and forcibly handled that it let go, there being apparently no distinction + to the ophidian palate between its own flesh and that of its favourite + lizard.” The only comment that an unversed student of Nature may presume + to make on this incident is that, possibly, the snake retained its tail + because it could not do otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some + snakes so constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied? The + interests alike of science and the speculative world demanded that in the + circumstances Nature should not have been balked. Why deprive the serpent + of having its own blundering way with its own tail? + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by the conflicts which + rage continuously between living things lower in the scale of life than + himself; but the common slaughter is at times so cruel and so inexplicable + that it is not given the average intellect to discover good and sufficient + cause, though he may observe the more obvious habits and appetites of + frogs and snakes. The former oft implore aid against the attacks of green + tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of sleeping in hollow + logs, and since one does not understand from the beseeching tones of the + frog whether it is being molested by the universal enemy or not, he often + hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts down to the scene, to find, + instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps more useful in the harmony of Nature + than a frog, and certainly more endearing, since it possesses the habit of + silence. Unless the frog is past recovery it has become a practice to + scare the lizard, and to suggest to the frog the sanctuary of another + hollow. + </p> + <p> + But frogs are not always considerate of other and gayer creatures. A + friend who possessed a pet canary noticed that one morning in the cage of + his pet there sat a panting frog, blinking in the sunlight. Thinking that + the intruder had entered the cage to assuage his thirst, he did not eject + it. It was the habit of the canary to hail the smiling morn with cheerful + carol. In a few minutes unaccustomed silence prevailed, and then it was + noticed that the frog was distended to a degree which must have caused it + infinite satisfaction, while the canary had vanished. The conclusion was + obvious and damning. Being accustomed to post mortems, my friend settled + the point forthwith, the warm canary being revealed, with but slightly + disarrayed feathers. + </p> + <p> + A further illustration of the capacious and criminal appetite of the frog + may be quoted. The wet season had been generous and prolonged, the crop of + frogs prolific. The verge of a lagoon was crowded with active and lusty + creatures, belonging, if colour was to be accepted as evidence, to + different species, in fairly equal numbers. A casual glance inspired the + thought that the occasion was nothing more than a vast assembly of greys + and greens enjoying the pastime which boys imitate. All round were leaping + frogs engaged in contests—greys against greens. Suspecting no evil + intent, it was interesting thus to note the derivation of the game we have + all played in sportful youth; but closer inspection proved that, instead + of a friendly tournament on the grand scale, the rival frogs were + indulging in shocking cannibalism. A grey frog would approach a green, + when each would appear to become fascinated by the appearance of the + other. Thus would they squat for several minutes, contemplating each + other's proportions and perfections. Then both would leap high with mouths + agape, and that which timed the feat to the best advantage, or had the + widest gape, seized the less fortunate, and slowly and with much straining + and little apparent joy swallowed it. Often the rivals would not meet in + mid air, and the lapse provided the delusion of innocent play. There were + hundreds of examples of absorption of the least fit by the fittest to + survive, and the chronicling of the cannibal feast would be incomplete if + a singular detail were unrelated. The participators seemed of like size. + Complexion alone varied and foppish discrimination was exercised, for + since dog does not in a general way eat dog, greys did not eat greys or + greens greens. With unswerving decision, greys swallowed greens and greens + greys, and extreme corpulency was the inevitable result. Does this not + smack of the snake story? It certainly does, but it has the virtue of + being unexaggerated, and why shrink from the telling of the plain truth? + </p> + <p> + An unwitnessed tragedy may be told in a very few words. About twenty-five + feet above high-water mark was the shaft of a white sand-crab. The site + was not common, for the crabs are in the habit of burrowing well within + the range of the tide. For two or three days—for the spot was at the + back of the boat-shed and under daily observation—the alert creature + was oft disturbed by my coming and going. One morning it remained + motionless on the verge of its retreat. It seemed to be on guard, and as a + companionable feeling had been aroused, I was careful as I passed not to + unduly affright it. The statuesque position being abnormally retained, I + stooped down, to find the crab dead, with the froth still on the + complicated lips, while beside it was a huge wolf spider, “tremendous + still in death,” with head crushed to pulp. One may theorise that the + spider invaded the crab's burrow and was promptly evicted; a fight took + place for possession of the retreat, resulting in untoned tragedy. Venom + and ponderous weapon each had done its work. Each participant had been + victorious, each a victim. + </p> + <p> + A still more singular bush conflict was witnessed by a friend. He heard, + and not without concern, the pleading of a frog from the assaults of an + enemy, but having far too many of them about the premises decided on + noninterference, thinking that the hungry snake would soon silence the + clamour. But the cries becoming shriller and more piteous, he + investigated, finding among the leaves of a creeper on the verandah a + large green Mantis—religiosa, too—voraciously making a meal + off the hind-leg of a little green frog, which it grasped firmly. Almost + the whole of the flesh of the limb had been eaten, and the observer was of + opinion from the rapacity of the insect that there would have been little + left of the screaming frog if he had not interfered. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BUSH TRACK + </h2> + <p> + “They trade with Nature and the earth—a trade by which all that + breathe upon the earth live.”—RALEIGH. + </p> + <p> + It has no beginning. It ends—who shall say where Every high tide + smooths away the footprints of those who use it now, just as it did the + erratic tramplings of the host of the past. In those free, unregulated + days piccaninnies sprawled and scampered hard, glistening beach; young men + and girls there; men lazed and fought on its convenient spaces; women + wandered on the serious business of food-getting. The camps stood a pace + or two above high-water mark in the meagre shelter of sighing casuarinas, + and were often changed, for there were six miles of gently curving, + ripple-embroidered shore on which to rest. To this day most of the traffic + is regulated by the tide. High water drives the wayfarer to the loose, + impeding sand, over which the great convolvulus sends its tireless + tentacles, to be thrown back twisted and burnt by salt surges. + </p> + <p> + The ebb discovers a broad space, firm and wellnigh unimpresslonable. The + barefooted traveller may walk for miles and be trackless, so tough and + elastic the moist sand. It is not an officious thoroughfare, made formal + and precise by coarse hands working to plans correct to a hair, but + subject to economic deviations of some soulless contractor. It was not + laid with the foundation of the earth, and compacted by heat and stress. + It is still in the making, and sand, coral, and shell-grit ground to + pollen-like fineness and certain chemicals from the reef outside are among + its component parts. One other element invokes perpetual thanksgiving—the + flaked mica, which glistens delusively with hues of silver and gold, and + gives to the tide-swept track that singular pliancy which resists the + stamp of passing generations. + </p> + <p> + Midway between high and low water is a zone sensible to the airiest tread, + being fitted for such temporary effect by a mechanical operation. Millions + of the smallest of crabs, sand-tinted, delicate, apprehensive and alert, + possess this area, working out their destiny by digging circular shafts. + Obedient agents in the execution of the imperative ordinances of Nature, + they have the quality of compacting the almost fluid spoil and carrying it + to the surface in pellets complementary to the size of the individual, and + such pellets retain their rotundity. They are scattered about, not without + design, as may be seen if the industrious workers are closely observed, + and in such profusion that the feet of the user of a crab-infested zone + must press them flat. Then it is that the track becomes visible as far as + the eyes reach. But the incoming wavelets, babbling in unison, dissolve + the myriads of laboriously lifted pellets, effacing the record of the + passing of man. As the tides ebb, the crabs begin their work again, + preparing for the next-coming wayfarer. There is something almost + incomprehensively great in the tireless activities of the nervous crabs, + for not only do they carry compacted sand from their burrows, but they + seem to spend odd moments in forming similar globes from material gathered + from the surface. Digging, furrowing the surface in stellate patterns, + moulding pellets which to the tenderest ripple are but the plaything of a + moment, so are the lives of the shy crustaceans spent. What may be the + motive for the perpetual labour, as useless, apparently, as the rolling of + Sisyphus's stone? For part of the year the beach is the resort of the + red-necked sandpiper, which has an enormous appetite for the small, live + things of the sea's margin. To bewilder the birds and so reduce the risk + to life, Nature imposes the task upon the crabs of forming replicas of + themselves not readily distinguishable in size and tint, which represent + labour unconsciously expended as life insurance, and serve the subsidiary + purpose of detecting the passing of man. + </p> + <p> + What material has been left by the wayside for the history, not to be + altogether despised because of its rusticity, of the unstable ways of one + of the ancient peoples of the world, now few in numbers, forgetful of the + past, estranged from the customs of their fathers, and dying without + mourners and without records? Search the sites of camps the track passes, + and there is naught to tell of the manner of those who recently occupied + them save a tomahawk or a rare domestic implement of stone, and such + stones do not preach thrilling but distinctive sermons. Why hurry along + this pleasant way? Is not the one domestic appliance of the long-deserted + camps worthy of passing notice? There it rests, half buried in the sand—a + worn stone, with two others complementary to it to be had for the + searching. It is meet that the most primitive of mills should be examined, + and that one of the several and slow processes by which a poisonous, + repugnant, and intractable nut was wont to be converted into food should + be cited to the credit of the economic forethought of the most thriftless + of people. + </p> + <p> + On adjacent flats and slopes grow survivals from one of the most ancient + of all plants—a Cycad, that botanical paradox, combining some of the + characteristics of the lie palm and of the pine with the appearance of a + tree-fern, while being of distinctive order, which flourished during the + age when the Iguanodon and the Polacanthus and other monstrous and + ungainly reptiles roamed the land. + </p> + <p> + Let us rest awhile reviewing the earlier operations by which its nuts were + rendered innocuous, and while the ghosts of the past make and bake their + bread. + </p> + <p> + The fresh nuts of the plant (CYCAS MEDIA) known as Kim-alo, were roasted, + and while hot bruised between two stones, the upper (Ookara) a sphere + flattened at the poles into which the use of ages wore thumb and finger + indentations, the nether (Diban) flat with a saucerlike depression. + Fragments of the husks were carefully eliminated. The coarse meal was put + into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight fall, from the + lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native ginger, conducted + a gentle stream. Two days were sufficient to leach the poisonous + principle; but if the initial process of roasting the nuts was omitted—as + in some districts—the meal was submitted to the purification of + water for as long as two months, when it would be tasteless. It was then + ground on the nether stone by the Moo-ki (almost a perfect sphere), used + with a rotary action, until reduced to flour-like fineness, when it was + made into flat or sausage-shaped cakes, wrapped in green leaves and baked. + The intractability of the Cycad is such that if cattle eat the leaves they + die or become permanently afflicted with a disease of the nature of + rickets. To the human palate the fresh nuts-are inflammatory, and are said + to cause intense pain ending with death. That the blacks discovered the + means of converting such a substance into desirable food proves that they + were often enterprisingly, daringly hungry. + </p> + <p> + Let us push on, there is far to go. Chance rather than principle, it has + been said, turned the paths of old England into roads. Here may be studied + the germ of the primal path worn by the tread of the least reflective and + least mobile of human beings, the causes of its erratic course, and the + transitions by which, with amendments due to the irrefutable facts of + topography, it becomes formal and authoritative—a highway for the + usurping race. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the shore, one branch of the track crosses the high-water fold, + follows the bend of a mangrove creek, through which it Makes a muddy ford, + and is firmly impressed through forest country where every tree is + orchid-encumbered, and where the eager soil produces its own varieties. It + wriggles up and along a ridge, with the glaucous spathes of grass trees + standing like spears on each hand, and where wattle and tough she-oaks + grow leanly out of hard soil, thickly strewn with buckshot gravel, + rust-coloured. + </p> + <p> + Soon it descends into a low valley and through a belt of fan-palms and + jungle bordering an ever-flowering stream the banks of which are knee-deep + in fat, rich loam. Huge tea-trees stand in the water, where the fibrous + roots are matted like peat. + </p> + <p> + Out of the moist coolness the track abruptly ascends to a pleasant forest, + and thence drops almost imperceptibly to tea-tree flats intersected by + Pandanus creeks, which bulge here and there into sedge-margined lagoons. + In this “devil-devil” country it is barely the width of the foot, and it + wanders sinuously like the trail of a lazy snake. Sometimes it is barely + more discernible than such a trail, and again in the soft places it + broadens and deepens, for the man with boots has taken the place of the + original soft-footed traveller, and horses and cattle are ever fond of the + short-cuts which their owners design. + </p> + <p> + Here a distinct branch is made towards a river, across which Nature, the + first of bridge-builders, many a generation ago afforded an easy, dry + passage by throwing down a huge tree. It spans from bank to bank, and the + wood is worn to slippery smoothness by the passing of shoeless feet. + Thence it leads through forest and jungle and mangrove belts to another + river, and away south. + </p> + <p> + The western branch keeps to forest and jungle, following, generally, the + ridges, for in the wet season the grass lands are flooded, when the track + is but a silvery grey ribbon on a carpet of green. With careless + indecision it trends west, with here an angle and there a curve, dipping + and twisting, crossing gullies and creeping up slopes. The men whose feet + made it in ancient days knew all the landmarks. Mostly it keeps to sound + ground, albeit its wanderings perpetuate wayward impulses. + </p> + <p> + Imagination may follow the blacks of bygone days as they swung past, a + fallen tree; where sportful youths wandered a few yards to throw + grass-tree spears at white-ants' nests on bloodwood-trees; where they + turned aside for a drink from the palm creek. Possibly the track deviated + to follow the run of a scrub turkey, or because the boys knew of a scrub + hen's mound, where the rich pink eggs were raked out by the gins. It was + gin's work to overhaul the mounds; the boys did not like to do the digging + with their hands, for often little snakes bedded themselves in the warm + compost—snakes, though they bite not to the death, make one's hands + big and sore. Why incur any risk when there was a well-disciplined woman + to take it? There was a turn off (which was officially followed) leading + to a huge tree where in the hollow bees had hived; and another straggled + up the creek to the pool where eels secrete themselves in the moist, + decaying leaves. + </p> + <p> + Six or seven miles from the beach, where the scarcely discernible crabs, + with persistency as eternal as the sea, are strewing the way with millions + of tell-tale pellets, the track, skirting swamps, following the bends of a + river, passing through forest and jungle, is lost in vagueness and + indecision. + </p> + <p> + When it was ordained that roads should be defined in the interests of + settlers, it was natural that the original track as it then existed—broadened + and amended and bridged by the good bushmen who had used it for practical + purposes—should be followed. On the plan the formal road runs a + strangely erratic course, for in many places it is faithful to the + footpad. Some of the zigzags of the long past, some of its elbows and + angles, its stringent lines and curves, have been copied and confirmed, + for the bush track is one of the fundamental things, bearing the stamp of + Nature, and no more to be obliterated by the trivialities of art than is + the sand of the shore and the illimitable crabs. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LITTLE BROWN MAN + </h2> + <p> + “Care, that troubles all the world, was forgotten in his composition.”—CHARLES + LAMB. + </p> + <p> + If you chance to visit the Chief Protector of Aborigines on board his + yacht the MELBIDIR, one of the first to greet you, be you an old + acquaintance or a stranger, may be “Jimmy,” the cook. + </p> + <p> + He is a little brown man who wears blue shoes, which are also socks, and a + perpetual smile. The shoes, which are of some soft material, have a + separate compartment for the great-toe, and hook down the heel. The Chief + Protector has a similar pair of combination shoes—a gift from + “Jimmy”—and is given to smiling; but he does not pretend to compete + with his cook in that quality. “Jimmy's” smile is almost a fixture. It is + set, yet not professional. It is the smile of a happy man, and of one who + is a diplomat as well as a ship's cook. His customary costume is of + holland. When on duty he wears an exaggerated bib, and “Jimmy” without his + bib would be as little conceivable as “Jimmy” without his smile. He may + discard it when he puts on his sky-blue pyjamas for the night, but that he + smiles in his sleep is sure. The honourable wrinkles on his mahogany-hued + face forbid him to relax the appearance of unceasing good-humour, and who + would suggest that his serenity is artificial? + </p> + <p> + When he takes a hand with the whole of the ship's company to get up sail + or hoist the dinghy on board, he whistles as well as smiles, and then the + black boys laugh, and life on the trim ship is more buoyant than ever. He + goes down into the doll's-house galley backwards, smiling. Now, it is no + smiling matter to be jambed up against a hot stove on a hot day when the + seas run high and the yacht digs her crescent nose into the blue and + washes her own decks with Neptune's suds. But “Jimmy” will bob up again in + due season with a plate of hot cakes or, perhaps, even cool cakes—and + the smile. He has been smiling to the oven, which is inclined to + gymnastics, only it is restrained by effectual bolts. “Jimmy” is a + gymnast, and his free great-toes enable him to cook under circumstances + and conditions which others not so equipped would profane. + </p> + <p> + Smiles are his antidote for all injurious mental ferments, and how many + diseases of the mind are there which are not to be alleviated by such apt + physic? + </p> + <p> + It has been said that “Jimmy” is a diplomat. He certainly is. The MELBIDIR + had run within hailing distance of another yacht, the owner and commander + of which is an old friend of the Protector and “Jimmy.” When we did hail, + a silvery head and a sunburnt pair of shoulders popped up from below, and + with a comprehensive wave of sunburnt arms—the red type—vanished. + Soon the same head and the same shoulders, decently but loosely clad in + blue and followed by the rest of the hearty body, emerged, and in a few + minutes friends were gripping each other's hands and talking furiously + about a particular island, pilots, pearls, and Torres Straits “Jimmy” + passed, and the florid man in blue said, nudging his friend, “I seem to + know that boy.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you do,” replied the Protector; “that's 'Jimmy' from T. I.” + </p> + <p> + When “Jimmy” next appeared he had a jug of water in his hand and a bigger + smile than ever. + </p> + <p> + “Well, 'Jimmy,' you haven't forgotten me?” suggested the big man in blue. + </p> + <p> + “No. You capitain! My word, you young fellow now!” + </p> + <p> + And we all laughed, for though the years had been tender to the man in + blue, still, they had come and gone by the decade since the previous + meeting. “Jimmy's” smiles became vocal. Professional diplomats use the + great gift of speech, it is said, to delude the enemies of their country. + “Jimmy's” adroit compliment was the more delicate in that it was not + official and he cannot possess an enemy. + </p> + <p> + When he puckers his lips to whistle, “Jimmy's” smiles are singularly + infectious. The Protector's yacht is not a missionary, but merely, as her + name signifies, a messenger; but the Protector does not forbid the hymnal. + “Jimmy” has one, and as he studies the pious poems, for he reads fluently, + whistles appropriately. While we lolled on deck, familiar tunes wooed my + wandering thoughts. “Jesu, Lover of my Soul,” came line after line, verse + after verse, precisely, though the tone was soft. Was the black boy thus + accompanying his work at the pump? No; for the strokes were not in time, + and the boy occasionally chatted with his chum. I asked, and was told that + “'Jimmy' mak'm good fellow corroboree.” Presently he came up—smiling, + and with the last notes of “Abide with Me” on his lips. Then I questioned + him, and for a space we discussed our favourite hymns and hummed them, or + rather I did, for “Jimmy” was too shy to do more than nod in time before a + stranger. He confided, almost in a whisper, that when he was alone he + learned the words of the hymns, and afterwards picked up the tunes. Is it + not pretty to think of the wrinkled Japanese in bunk beside the hot and + clamorous engine conning hymnal—a trifle blotched with grease here + and there—and whistling softly those endearing tunes on which so + many of us were brought up? + </p> + <p> + Long may “Jimmy” cook and wear blue shoes a modestly supplicate “For those + in Peril on the Sea”! That he may smile to the last would be a superfluous + prayer. He cannot do else. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + UP AND AWAY + </h2> + <p> + “Man is the merriest species of creation; all above and below him are + serious.”—ADDISON. + </p> + <p> + “Let's up and away, Bill,” said Breezy Jim, as he started to his feet. + “I'm dog tired of this game. We're just working for tucker for the boys + and nothing—not even a smoke—for ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be in such a flurry. We might drop on a patch yet. I vote we stay + for another week. The anchorage is all right, and the season's young. The + little bit of fish we've got ain't too stinking. It'll pay expenses.” + Placid and patient, the half-caste Solomon Islander, Billy Boolah, kept + cheek on his impetuous partner, whose restless disposition forbade him to + continue long in one stay unless circumstances were essentially + favourable. + </p> + <p> + Certainly fish were not too plentiful, but the aboriginal crew worked + well, and were lighthearted almost to a fault. They had had no credit to + pledge for the season's stores. They had merely to pick up inert and + unresisting béche-de-mer from among the coral five fathoms down, where the + deceptive sea looked no more than ten feet deep under the squalid + flatties; to smoke and jabber in idle moments; to eat and to sleep, and to + listen to Mammerroo's version of the opening phrases of “The Last Rose of + Summer” on a mouth-organ worn with inveterate usage to the bold brass. The + tune was not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was ever more in + earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, unwritten air than the black + boy who wore little else than his own unwashed complexion and a strip of + red Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with all the fervour + of his simple soul, and though it said him nay, still did he hope and woo. + Out of his scanty earnings he bought mouth-organs by the dozen, for he + believed that owing to some defect on the part of such instruments the + tune was impossible save to one. Would he ever obtain that prize? The + organ which could play that tune as he had once heard it when his boss + took him to a concert at Cairns had to be discovered, and to earn money to + buy it Mammerroo shipped on these detestable béche-de-mer cruises. In the + meantime he would play with all his energies and with endless repetition + the halting, nerve-disturbing notes he knew to be incorrect. + </p> + <p> + “That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten mouth-organs at Cooktown, and + he hasn't got the one that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like 'The + Last Rose of Summer'? Why, you can hear those fish of yours humming! What + with hardly any fish, the stink of the whole boat, and that maddening + mouth-organ, I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and marry a mermaid. + Let's chuck it.” + </p> + <p> + “It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man when he gets nasty temper + he gets bad breath. That tune it's little bit close up. He can play right + up to the 'left blooming alone' sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “He's taken four months to get up to the 'left blooming alone'! At that + rate it will be years before he gets to the finish. I'll be mad if he + stays on this hooker another month. I'll chuck the three of them—organ, + boy, and tune—overboard.” + </p> + <p> + “If you make yourself a fool like that, no more work from that boy. Don't + be a fool and spoil this game. We're out till November. Let's make the + best of it.” + </p> + <p> + It was not clean work. The reek of the fish-raw, cooked, smoked, and + drying in the sun-saturated everything, even the damper. The brown, + shrivelled things were scattered in orderly profusion wherever the sun + could catch them to top them off prior to bagging. The bitter, eye-searing + smoke from the red mangrove fire in the hold, where the meagre catch of + yesterday was lying on a couple of trays, stung the nostrils. The odour + was as interminable as the half-accomplished tune, and Breezy Bill + writhed. He was not new to the game, but bad luck had been the portion of + the ship from the start, and small things irritated him, rasping his far + from sensitive soul. + </p> + <p> + “I think you are going to catch fever, Jim. That's what's the matter with + you. At the mission I used to read about that bird you call the + brain-fever bird. It just keeps on whistling the same old thing, and white + men go mad. That 'Last Rose of Summer,' it's got hold of you. Don't be a + fool! It's only a good tune half done. It won't kill anybody—at any + rate, a tough old shell-back like you!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bother! Stinks and rotten 'Last Rose of Summer' are driving me mad. I + could stand lots of both if we were doing well. They might be forty + overproof and played by forty bands, and every darned piccolo of them out + of tune, if only we were making money. Come, let's up stick and away. We + can't do worse and we might do better on that bit of 'reef Mammerroo talks + about. Here, Mammerroo, stop that blasted corroboree! Come and tell us + where that little fella reef sit down.” + </p> + <p> + Mammerroo shuffled down to the hatchway covering and traced a chart of the + locality with a grimy forefinger. + </p> + <p> + “That fella reef sit down 'nother side Red Hill alongside mainlan'. No + deep water. Plenty mangrove—my word full up pigeon. Reef him little + fella. Full up tit fish, calla-calla, mainlan' black. Fill'um up boat. + Take'm alonga Thors'dilan'. Come back. Fill'm up one time more. Too much. + Full up.” + </p> + <p> + “The same old yarn. I've been all over that ground. There's no reef there, + and if there had been it would have been found and skinned years ago,” + said dogmatic Billy, with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “I see,” said Jim; “the season's over as far as you are concerned. You can + go where you like. I'm sick of it now.” + </p> + <h3> + TROPIC DAYS + </h3> + <p> + The next morning saw the NAUTILUS scudding before a strong south-east + breeze, Jim, true to his name, sulky as a toad-fish. The good wind harped + on the rigging as Mammerroo tirelessly lagged after the ever evasive tune. + Jim heard him not. Billy, in a rage, was inclined to bundle the boy and + his battered instrument overboard, for he saw in the race north nothing + but a waste of time. + </p> + <p> + Three days later the NAUTILUS anchored to the north of Red Hill under the + lee of a low mangrove island uproarious with nutmeg pigeons. + </p> + <p> + All hands turned out to prospect, with Mammerroo as pilot. He was not long + in locating the reef—a forgotten and neglected patch that teemed + with fish. Béche-de-mer lay in shallow water, thick and big, by the ton.. + The reef, with its clear sandy patches, seemed to be the gathering-ground, + the metropolis, the parliament of the curious creature which makes feeble + eddies with its distended gills, moves with infinite and mysterious + deliberation, and which, though it may be two feet long and three inches + thick, can pass through a half-inch space, constricting its bulging body + during the progress. + </p> + <p> + The mangroves of the islet provided the best of fuels for the preservative + smoke. The fortnightly steamer passed not so very far out, so that it + would be possible to send away a couple of tons at a time without leaving + the locality or suspending work for more than an hour or two. + </p> + <p> + With cheerfulness and enthusiastic haste all started to work. No + irritating odour, no vexing tune, was perceptible or audible. Boys brought + in such quantities of fish that the mates could hardly cook and cure them. + Money was being coined, and the making of money begat dreams. Seamen do + not invariably build castles in the air. They devise aerial fleets. They + build bigger, better, and faster boats to sail on bluer seas into more + prosperous and happy havens than belong to this too substantial world. + Each sketches out the boat of his desire, and fits her with wondrous + comfort and conveniences. He glances, approving head thrown back, up her + tall, tapering, well-oiled masts, silver-topped with golden trucks. He + paints her in rival colours, rigs her with silken sails, names her after a + sweetheart, and sails away to lands fairer than any of the isles of the + Pacific—those isles of dreams where in coral groves the gold-lip is + embarrassed with pearls of ineffable lustre and of excessive size. + </p> + <p> + As they day-dreamed they gathered in actual riches, for the lazy fish were + big and almost overlying each other in their crowded spaces. + </p> + <p> + Never was there a happier béche-de-mer cruise, for the prospects of good + wages soon and a quick return to accustomed camps overladen with the + spoils of the Cooktown stores made each boy as joyful as a cherub and as + industrious as a scrub hen. Mammerroo saw visions of mouth-organs, one of + which was sure to contain the coveted tune. Little deaf Antony thought of + tobacco unlimited, a silver-mounted pipe, and plenty of unforbidden rum. + Indeed, most of the boys contented themselves with these ingredients to + fill the cup of happiness. But big lazy Johnnie's fancy went to a small + jockey's cap of red and yellow, to be worn with a football jersey of + orange and green in stripes, and blue trousers. This gorgeous costume was + to compensate for present pains and humiliation, for he had nothing but a + scanty and dirty loin-cloth, a necklace of grass beads, and a chip of + lustrous black-lip pearl-shell stuck in one ear. As they worked they let + their fancies range, and thus was the toil eased and the bags of dried + fish safely stowed in the hold. With twenty-eight bags in prime condition, + the NAULITUS sailed out to intercept the steamer—the LAVA KAVA. The + honest stuff was sent off to the agent at the Island post, and back the + stout little vessel went to the reef. + </p> + <p> + “As good as a gold-mine,” said Breezy Jim, who every day became breezier, + so that he threatened to develop into a gale of good humour. + </p> + <p> + “Better than splitting coco-nuts at the Mission Station,” said Billy + Boolah. + </p> + <p> + “Do you ever feel like chucking Mammerroo overboard now?” + </p> + <p> + Another fortnight saw another big load on the way to the agents. Mammerroo + poured out his soul in fervency over the limping phrases of his besetting + tune, and even Boisterous Jim applauded his persistency. + </p> + <p> + “That boy will catch 'The Last Rose of Summer' some day if the mouth-organ + market holds out. I'll give him the best to be got in Cooktown, and I'm + bothered if I don't teach him the tune!” + </p> + <p> + Late one afternoon a strange sail came into view. Slowly the big cutter + made for the anchorage, for the wind, busy elsewhere, could spare only a + few idle puffs for her business. + </p> + <p> + “That's a dago, I bet,” said Bill. “And I know who it is! Why, it's that + humbug, Black Charley!” + </p> + <p> + “We'll have to be pretty spry, or he'll have some of this patch. We'll + head him off, and ship what we've got to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + A flattie slid over the side of the cutter and plopped into the water, and + Black Charley, with a couple of downcast boys, came alongside the + NAUTILUS. + </p> + <p> + “Hullo, Bill! Hullo, Jim! How's yous getting on? Yous drop on good place. + I see yous boys picking up fish like a hen picking up corn.” + </p> + <p> + “Not much,” replied Jim. “It was pretty thick, but it was only a small + patch, and we've pretty well cleaned it up. Sent away half a dozen bags, + mostly mainlan' black. Too close in to be much good.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I suppose you'se no objection to me anchoring here for a bit and + 'seeing what I can do with the leavings?” said Black Charley. + </p> + <p> + “We found the patch, and it's too small for two boats. We'd be better + friends if you cleared off and left it to us,” replied Jim. “But if you're + up to dirty tricks stay where you are. We don't want sneaks on board this + craft.” + </p> + <p> + “It's no good being nasty. All the fish on the Barrier don't belong to + yous. I got a ton and more on board now, and I'm going to run out with it + to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “So are we. Come on board and have a drink” + </p> + <p> + It was late in the afternoon when the smoke of the LAVA KAVA showed + south-east. Both boats were waiting as she slowed down in her course, and + while they made fast transhipment began. Then she steamed slowly ahead. + </p> + <p> + “Better send you'se boys back with the NAUTILUS,” suggested Black Charley, + “and me and my mate will take yous back when we've had a drink and a bit + to eat. It's a long time since I've had a decent feed, and Captain + Andrews, he won't mind.” + </p> + <p> + Breezy Jim and Bill agreeing, the NAUTILUS cast off, with instructions to + anchor at the old spot and to work until the bosses returned. + </p> + <p> + There was more than one drink as the steamer forged ahead, with Black + Charley's cutter romping and curtseying behind. Then tea-time came, and + the captain asked his guests to remain. Black Charley had had so many + refreshments that he was scarcely fit company for the saloon, so he + offered his excuses and they were accepted with politely veiled relief. + </p> + <p> + The mates told of their bad luck down at the Barnards and the Palms; how + they had been driven away by the unmusical black boy in desperate pursuit + of “The Last Rose of Summer,” and of their great stroke of luck on the + reef of which he had told. + </p> + <p> + “There's plenty more fish on it yet. We'll be troubling you to stop for a + couple of months yet.” + </p> + <p> + “You won't be making a very early start to-morrow if we jerk your boat + much further,” remarked Captain Andrews, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” urged Bill. “We'll hunt up Charley and cut away back.” + </p> + <p> + The well-contented partners strolled on deck, anticipating a very tipsy + Charley, whom neither steward nor bo'sun could discover. + </p> + <p> + The sun had just set. A bewildering blank astern excited a wide and + comprehensive survey, and there in the blue-grey of the south-east Black + Charley's big white-winged cutter was fast fading from view. + </p> + <p> + When the partners got back to the reef, via Thursday Island and Cooktown, + a fortnight later, the boys were there, looking somewhat jaded. The + NAUTILUS was as trim as ever, for which the owners were sufficiently + thankful; but cute Black Charley, working both crews day and night like + galley slaves, had mopped up the patch as clean as the floor of a hospital + ward. + </p> + <p> + “We've bin had proper, Bill, old fellow. Let's up and away for Cooktown. + Mammerroo moans for that mouth-organ!” + </p> + <p> + And the Christian in Billy Boolah smiled as he hummed “Left blooming + Alone.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” + </h2> + <p> + “Whence has the man the balm that brightens all?” + </p> + <h3> + BROWNING. + </h3> + <p> + Though not popular, perhaps Tsing Hi was the best known of his + contemporaries on the tableland through which the Palmer River wanders a + hundred miles from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Short, slimly made as a + fourteen-year-old boy, nimble, fussy, plausible, he stood out from among + his countrymen as one having authority, while he posed among the Europeans + as a kind of diplomatic agent, explaining away misunderstandings, + conciliating grievances, and generally comporting himself as the chartered + representative of the horde of yellow new-chums which invaded the most + sensational of all Australian goldfields. He appeared to have cousins + among every fresh shipload from China, as well as among the hundreds who + ferreted in the gullies. There was not a white man, from the Police + Magistrate to Frank Deester's off-sider, with whom he was not on terms of + easy familiarity. + </p> + <p> + Had he not often confidentially consulted the Warden when a cousin had + blundered into the hands of the police, embarrassing that flustered + official with torrents of half intelligible speech, the purport of which + generally was to flout the proceedings with evidence of indubitable alibi? + All this he translated to his countrymen as proof of personal influence + with court authorities, and, what was more to the point, made them pay for + it. + </p> + <p> + No case in which a Chinaman was concerned as the accused, or plaintiff, or + disinterested witness, but Tsing Hi took, if not an official, an officious + part. Every new-comer from the Flowery Land passed through his hands. He + knew what personal property each possessed, and the value of the gold of + the lucky departing ones. That he prospered exceedingly was evident. The + fact was expressed in his costume. Beyond the court fees as interpreter, + the merry, chirping little fellow had really no lawful, visible means of + support. Yet he glistened and gleamed with emblems of riches. He was a + dandy from the soles of his shiny elastic-side boots to the crown of his + jaunty hard-hitter. Across a yellow waistcoat hung a very aggressive + chain, from which dangled a huge masonic jewel in gold-and-blue enamel, + and the frequently consulted watch—a big, bold-faced lever—ticked + with snappy determination. Tsing Hi had much more to live up to than the + huge watch, the chain, and the emblem; but they seemed to constitute + special and peculiar insignia. They were always to the front. He was one + of the men of his day and scene—to be admired, feared, and to be + conciliated by his fellow-countrymen all along the traffic-torn road. + </p> + <p> + The dust from that tortuous road rose in an earth adhering cloud from out + which honest, clean-souled men came like pain-distorted spectres, wearing + grey tear stained masks with pink-rimmed eyeholes and mud edged mouths. + But the dust was less distressing than that which Tsing Hi threw in the + eyes of bewildered mankind by this burst and gusts of speech. + </p> + <p> + In the heyday of his fame and prosperity Tsing Hi disappeared. His + absences were customary, for did he not flit here, there, and everywhere? + The police were not troubled to make inquiries. They knew where he was, + and the reason for his sudden retirement from accustomed scenes. The next + day all Byerstown knew also. + </p> + <p> + Tsing Hi, within the rough-hewn walls of the lock-up, was sad and silent. + He had been arrested for gold-stealing. + </p> + <p> + It was a clear case. Hundreds of complaints had been made. Dozens of + suspects had been shadowed, until a quick-witted detective intuitively + fastened the responsibility on the court interpreter, who, on the instant + of arrest, had become dumb. + </p> + <p> + The ransacking of his hut revealed a magazine of riches, the earthen floor + beneath the bunk being honeycombed with pits containing easily portable + but valuable property. In a jam-tin were several nuggets, among them the + very specimen which Bill Haddon had given to Mrs. Sinclair, landlady of + the Carriers' Arms—a plane of crystal from which rose a wonderfully + true pyramid of gold. It had been admired by hundreds, and could be sworn + to by everyone who had seen it. There was the white sapphire, with a + tell-tale flaw running down the middle, which had been found in the + hopperings at Revolver Point (where fighting Cameron made his pile) by Sam + Kickford, and likewise bestowed on Mrs. Sinclair as a “curio,” and because + that bounteous lady had mothered the unlucky Sam and nursed him through + the fever which took him to the very gates of a filthy hell. Dozens could + swear to it, but ever so many more were capable of bearing witness against + Tsing Hi on account of the specimen which Sam's mate, who had died of the + fever, had given to Mrs. Sinclair, having picked it out from the face of + his drive. It was a slug of rough gold in the shape of a tiny canoe, with + an upright splinter of white quartz at each end. Sam's mate had intended + it for a girl down at Ballarat, and she eventually got it—an emblem + of what might have been. Dozens of fancy slugs were brought to light, in + addition to two hundred ounces of fine gold against which no one could + make good claim. + </p> + <p> + Another tin held six rings, two of decidedly suspicious metal, the others + genuine and with good stones. A fine pearl was wrapped in a fragment of + silk. A pale green jade amulet, with three sets of. Chinese toilet + contrivances—ear-cleaners, tongue-scrapers, back-scratchers—in + ivory, were in a box with two rolls of gold-embroidered silk illustrated + with weirdly indecent scenes. Three gold watches wrapped in silk + handkerchiefs were stuffed into a ginger-jar. The sordid hut was a mine of + wealth, and the buzzing town became furious. It had accepted Tsing Hi as a + character, but not as a bad one. Being deceived, it swerved from tolerance + to righteous indignation and absolute wrath. The quaking thief, not too + comfortable, for the bloodwood slabs seemed too frail a partition against + the virtuous anger of the crowd, was condemned forthwith. + </p> + <p> + All the identifiable gold and other property was handed over to those who + successfully established claims, and Tsing Hi, limp and dejected, passed + into the custody of Tim Mullane for escort to Cooktown. + </p> + <p> + Tim was rough and raw, teeming with good-nature and blessed with a brogue + as thick as the soles of the massive boots made for him by his cousin + Terence at misty Ballinrobe. The once perky Tsing Hi slunk alongside the + far-striding Tim, and Tim looked down at him and was half ashamed of such + a “wee scrap of a Chinkee” as his first prisoner. + </p> + <p> + “Come away wid ye, me little fella—come away. Doan give me trouble, + and ye'll fin' me gintle wid ye. Thry to maake a fool af me, and be the + Holy Saints ye'll have occasion to be sorrowful.” And he picked Tsing Hi + up with one hand and set him down again with as big a jolt as such a + fag-end of humanity could expect to produce. Tsing Hi remained meek. The + crowd was unanimously against him. Big Tim might jolt him again and again + rather than he would take the risk of venturing among his recent friends, + for tales of his thieving, his acceptance of bribes, and imposition of + levies, were coming in so fast and thick that the crowd would have + relished adding something on its own account. + </p> + <p> + Before daylight next morning Tim left with his disconsolate captive, who + wore handcuffs and was manacled to the “D's” in the saddle of the horse + which he bestrode manifestly ill at case. In front of him was a huge swag + containing the unidentifiable gold, three watches, three rings, silk + stuffs, three pairs of elastic-side boots., several pairs of puce-coloured + socks, flash neckties, four hats, three suits of clothes, and other + clothing., All this was his own, to be handed over at the expiration of + the sentence. Tim merely held the inventory. There was some sort of + gratification for ill-doing, for the swag contained a fortune. He savagely + reflected that six months would soon pass. He would then vanish from + “Qee'lan,” to enjoy himself for the rest of his days. The sadness which + had stagnated during the past week began to dissolve. He sought to make a + friend of his escort. + </p> + <p> + “I tink we cam' harp way to-ni', Tim.” + </p> + <p> + “Shut up, you implicating tadpole! Wasn't I ordhered to hold convarse wid + me prisoner? Spake win Ye're spoke ter and be civil, Or I'll jolt the + teeth troo your hat!” + </p> + <p> + Tim jogged on, and the led horse bearing Tsing Hi jogged after. Tsing Hi + bumped until he was fain to lean heavily on his precious swag, trying to + discover by sensation an' unbruised part of his body on which to jolt. + </p> + <p> + “Hi! hi!” he shouted. “Horsey, him no goo'! You l'me walk!” + </p> + <p> + Tim whistled and jogged. Tsing Hi jolted and whimpered. The hot miles + wriggled slowly past. Dust lay a foot deep on the track. It was a windless + day. Tsing Hi, gripping with fearful intensity his swag, could not lift a + finger to wipe the stains which stood for many tears and coursed down his + cheeks in tiny rivulets, making puddles on his cramped hands. He, the + dandy, smothered in dust, weeping, sore in every bone, blistered and + scalded, pondered over his petty sins, moaned continuously, and longed for + the hard floor of the gaol. + </p> + <p> + He, a disciple of Confucius, found no present relief in the tags of the + master's philosophy that he could call to mind. Tears made him a grim + spectacle. The beautiful yellow waistcoat was indistinguishable beneath + dirt and dust. His carefully tended queue shook out in disordered loops, + and finally dangled, dust-soiled, behind. His trousers worked and wrinkled + up to the knees, chafed his unaccustomed skin, and still Tim in a cloud of + dust jogged on singing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Until that day, plase God, I'll shtick + To the wearin' o' the green.” + </pre> + <p> + It was a poor little prisoner, but his first and his own, and Tim was + elated, and when a true Irishman is happy he becomes poetically patriotic. + But happy though he undoubtedly was, even Tim was not sorry when the + chance came of stretching his legs and incidentally sluicing down the + dust. The halfway house looked cool and clean to him. In fact it was + neither. It must have appeared a celestial scene to moaning Tsing Hi. The + rough upright slabs (once rich yellow, now dingy) promised some sort of + refuge from the dust, and the narrow strip of verandah a thin slice of + shade. The mound of broken bottles at the rear betokened the drinks of the + past, while the mind dwelt lovingly on those of the present. Three panting + goats, all aslant, but tressed themselves determinedly against the end of + the house, and two boys, long since dust immune, occasionally hunted the + goats into the sun and away among the ant-hills. But when Tsing Hi slid + from the horse and into the shade, he felt like a saint in bliss. They + gave him water, and he wailed until Tim silenced him with threats of jolts + and locked the manacles round the middle post. + </p> + <p> + Tim sighed profoundly as he scented beer. “I do belave I'm dhry, Jerry. + Give's a long un. I've swallowed mud by the bucket. Give the wee little + divil outside a pannikin o' tay. Maybe it'll revoive, him!” + </p> + <p> + Tim drank long and well. + </p> + <p> + “I've heard about the case,” Jerry said, as he filled the thick glass a + third time. “Fancy the little beggar, an' him commin' and goin' as flash + as ye make 'ern, and pickin' and thavin' all the time. Maybe he got the + ear-rings the missis is after missin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Nawthin' o' the sort's in the swag we took with the raskil.” + </p> + <p> + A bit of dinner in the back room waited, for Jerry believed in keeping + well in with the force. Tim fed heartily, and, in spite of dust, heat, and + the chatter of the children, dozed, to wake with a start. + </p> + <p> + “Me sowl to glory! It's aslape I've bin! Let's hav' a look at the little + fella and be off.” + </p> + <p> + The horses stood limply, as much out of the shade as in, the big swag + leaned against the wall, the handcuffs lay half buried in the dust, but + Tsing Hi had vanished. + </p> + <p> + “Me sowl to glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! In + the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' 'em + like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of darbies like + the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a horse-collar, and + the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' hope! I'm the ruined + man, I am!” + </p> + <p> + “Off after him,” advised Jerry. “There's his tracks.” + </p> + <p> + “Just none o' your blasted interfarances! Lave 'm to me. He's away back to + hell, an' I'll folly him! How much does I owe yer, Jerry!” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing at all, sure, Tim. 'Tis little ye've had, and yer welcome as + posies in May, though it's little we see of 'em here. And good luck. Shall + I tell him away, back to look out V' + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing and be damned to yer! Keep your mout closed and lave me to do + the bizinis me own road,” shouted Tim as he disappeared in the dust, led + horse, swag and all. + </p> + <p> + A mile and a half back and a bit off the road lay the narrow, sheltered + flat between two forbiddingly barren ridges which Hu Dra, the gardener, + had converted into an oasis. Thin-leaved tea-trees fringed the little dam + whence the industrious fellow hauled water for his vegetables. + Drought-stricken, broad, blue-leaved, scented ironbarks stood in envious + array on the steep sides of the ridges, and grass-trees, blackened at the + butts, struggled with loose boulders for foothold. The muddy water which + the forethought of Hu Dra had conserved created the green patch which + insulted the aridity of the ridge. He was a proud and happy man, a + follower of the healing Buddha, a new-churn with scarce a word of English, + and a gardener. He had a way with vegetables. They prospered under his + hands, and he also prospered, for next to gold, vegetables were highly + prized in that dry, almost verdureless country. Just now he swayed along + with a pair of heavy baskets slung on a bamboo all the way from Wu Shu, as + the pilgrim under his load of sin, and as he swayed he sang in a weak + falsetto a ditty which sounded like— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam mo pen shih shih chia + Man tan lai lei tsun fo; + Hu fa chu t'ien p'u sa, + An fu ssu, Li she tzn.” + </pre> + <p> + His baskets, each screened with languid gum-leaves, held the week's output + of his garden, representing in money value at least two pounds. It wag not + likely to yield half as much, for, being a new-chum, he was fair game, and + it was considered smart to impose on his good-nature. He also paid through + an agent a weekly levy to Tsing Hi, which he understood purchased the + tolerance, if not goodwill, under all and every circumstance of the + dreaded police and the populace generally. It was a tax; but Hu Dra was + patient under such exactions, as all his ancestors had been. They were + unavoidable, inevitable, a part of the mystery of life, and consequently + to be endured, if not with complacency, at least without murmur. His + profits for the week might total one pound, a princely sum considering the + scene and circumstances of his birth and upbringing in far Li-Chiang, + where his father had reared a large family in a shed over a sewer, and had + never possessed property or estate worth more than five shillings. Soon, + if this money-making business continued to thrive, he would return + thither. He might—for had he not been reared to the art of living in + such places?—resume the sewer habit; but with three hundred pounds + in good English gold what sewer in Li-Chiang could not be transformed into + Paradise? + </p> + <p> + One basket contained a huge fruit which he understood his white customers + to term “plonkn”; with it was a broad-bladed knife, with which he would + slice off slabs according to demand. That one item might bring him in more + money than his revered father's fortune. Wrapped in day-dreams, he hummed + again his chant, dwelling on the refrain with lyrical gladness— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Li she tzu.” + </pre> + <p> + Perhaps it was the name of the maiden he proposed to ask to share his + fortune and his portion of the sewer, and so he repeated— + </p> + <p> + —-“Li she t——!” + </p> + <p> + A big, strong, authoritative hand had gripped him by the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + He screamed. The baskets sat down plump. + </p> + <p> + “Come away wid ye! I've cotched yer! I'll tache ye to escape from lawful + custody!” + </p> + <p> + “No savee! No savee!” screamed Hu Dra. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tache ye, thin V' shouted Tim, and Hu Dra reeled under the severity + of the first lesson—a back-hander across the face. + </p> + <p> + “Wha' for?” asked Hu Dra, still staggering. + </p> + <p> + “Come on! You know wha' for! I'll stan' none o' yer wha' for's!” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra clung to the basket-stick threateningly. + </p> + <p> + “Fwhat! Resisting the pollis in the execution of dooty. Me bhoy, ye're a + new-chum or yer niver wad be so bould. It is sarious bizinis.” The stick + flew out of Hu Dra's hands, and, as if by magic, he found his hands + clamped in iron bands, which pinched his wrists excruciatingly. + </p> + <p> + He yelled with vexation, fear, and pain. + </p> + <p> + “Ye can holler as much as ye have the moind ter. Be jabers, the next + haythen Chinkee that gits out of the darbies I clap on'm 'll be a + slippery, slathery eel, and meself after fergittin' to maake a knot in his + taale! Come quiet, me good haythen, and I'll dale aisy wid yer.” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra securely manacled to a scented gum, Tim dealt with the baskets, + capsizing the contents and belabouring them with the bamboo until they + looked as if they had been the playthings of a baboon. Hu Dra watched the + foundation of his fortune vanish. He wailed. + </p> + <p> + “Come away, me bhoy! I arrest ye, Tsing Hi, fer escaping from lawful + custody. Ye may be charged also with resisting the pollis in the execution + of dooty. It's a sarious charge. If ye come quiet I'll maake it aisy fer + ye. If ye maake it a haard job for me, be gorra I'll inuake ye sorryful!” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra gathered that it was a case of mistaken identity. He endeavoured to + explain that he was Hu Dra, and not Tsing Hi. Tim curtly informed him that + he was none other than Tsing Hi, that he had been convicted of stealing + gold, and while on the way to Cooktown had wilfully and with malice + aforethought escaped from legal custody. He would be taken to Cooktown at + once. Hu Dra understood but little of the harangue, but being a pious + Buddhist, having once climbed the Holy Mountain to gain merit, and being + in the hands of a strong man armed, he accepted the fate of the moment. + Meekly he followed Tim to the spot where the horses had been left, and was + hoisted into the saddle and manacled. It was all a dreadful mystery, but + he was sage enough to accept hard facts. + </p> + <p> + “Me Hu Dra,” he explained over and over again, in vain repetition. + </p> + <p> + “Ye're Tsing Hi, I tell yer. Ye're Tsing Hi in the name of Her Majesty. + Haven't I arrested ye as sich?” + </p> + <p> + “Me Hu Dra,” reiterated the captive as they jogged on. “Me come Coo'tow' + one yar.” + </p> + <p> + “Shut yer mout! Didn't I tell yer before that ye're Tsing Hi? Didn't yer + wilfully and knowingly escaape from me whin I was having a bite to ate, + and I had yer tied to the post at the shanty back beyant there! Naw, I'll + hear no more of yer Hu Rahin'. Kape a civil tongue betune yer taath, or, + be gorra, worse 'll happen yer.” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra was patient. He thought of his pilgrimage long ago to the top of + Mount Omei. Was this the reward he had gained? + </p> + <p> + He solaced his soul by murmuring the pious invocation which all pilgrims + to the Sacred Mount have perpetually on their lips—“Om mane padme + om!” + </p> + <p> + Torn from his secluded garden and happy and profitable toil, bruised and + manacled, bundled on to a fear-provoking horse, hurried off he knew not + whither, through a drought-stricken land under a searing sun, the road + reeking with dust—what a plight for a devout Buddhist, who had + sought to avert calamity and prolong life by the ascent of the chill mount + where, alone in all the world, is revealed the “Glory of Buddha.” + </p> + <p> + Mystic that he was, he found sure comfort in pious meditations. Present + pains of body and mind vanished as with half-shut eyes he drifted into the + chill realm where he hearkened to chants of priests, the tinkling of the + temple bells, the fervent response of hundreds of pilgrims as meek as + himself—“Om mane padme om!” + </p> + <p> + Such was the potency of the mechanical repetition of the all-healing words + that Tim presently found himself echoing them, and brought himself up with + a jerk. + </p> + <p> + “It's all haythen rubbish and cussing. The pore fule's daft wid the hate + and the dust and the welt I give him. Shure it's the way I have to be + sorry for the crature.” + </p> + <p> + Like the refrain of an infectious song, the musical phrase would not be + banished from Tim's mind and lips, and so the tough, rough Irishman and + the gentle exile from the Flowery Land went on their way, scarce conscious + of the grimy miles, both dreamingly hailing the jewel in the lotus. + </p> + <p> + Three days later the travel-stained pair arrived at Cooktown, where Hu Dra—henceforth + to be known officially and authoritatively, and in spite of all protest, + as Tsing Hi—was duly consigned to the custody of the lock-up keeper, + to await escort to the town where his sentence was to be served. + </p> + <p> + “He's that quare in his hid,” Tim informed Jock Egan, who now had charge. + “He's bin Tsing Hi-in and Hu Rah-in' and Paddy Om-in' (d'ye know the maan, + Jock?) all along the thrack till it's fair fascinated I am. And barrin' + him bein' the very thafe o' the wurrld, it's a poor honest body he be. + Shure it's little enough truble he give me, and me all alone be meself. + An' the swag of him! Glory be to God, I dunno but it's wort five hundred + pounds if it's wort a sint! Yirra! but it's weery I am. It's little slape + I've had. Shure the whole beesely thrack be lousy wid shnaakes; and show + me the man as cud slape shweet wid maybe four of the varmint all + ascroodging and squaaking nath his blanket!” + </p> + <p> + “It's quare in yer head yerself,” ye're exclaimed Jock. “Be off to bed wid + ye. If the sargint gets ye a-talkin' like that, he'll be afther thinkin' + ye're in dhrink.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, me sowl to glory; he'll jist be thinkin' fwhat I'm wishful for. + It's that farefull dhry up there on the Palmer I could dhrain a bucket.” + </p> + <p> + “Get to bed, yer fool! Ye're talkin' that wild, ye'll have no care for + yerself. It's meself that'll git the good woman beyant there to git ye a + cup o' biling hot tay.” + </p> + <p> + With that Jock got him out, with papers all in order. + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra had disappeared from the tableland as suddenly but not as' + tracklessly as a phantom. Lonely men in their tents and three or four + mothers of families in their slab humpies looked out vainly for him for + three days, anticipating necessary vegetables, and, being disappointed, + slandered him courageously, while they found consolation in the reflection + that if he ever came his round again they would distress and vex him by + withholding payments for the vegetables of the past. Not a customer but + owed him something. His country men gave notice of his disappearance to + the police, and black-trackers off-hand told a graphic and obvious story. + Hu Dra had begun his weekly round when he had been attacked by myalls. + They had capsized his baskets and wantonly battered them to pieces. For + him had been reserved the customary fate. He had been hustled off to the + gorges contiguous to Hell's Gates, to be killed and eaten in peace and + comfort. His hut, his cherished garden were forthwith occupied and tended + by another of the race-claiming cousinship. The newcomer even demanded + payment of debts owing to his unfortunate relation, but the whole + population sniffed with such vigour that the claim was not persisted in. + Once a Chinaman had left the district unceremoniously, more especially at + the forcible persuasion of flesh-hungry blacks, his dues lapsed by + unanimous consent. He became merely a fragrant remembrance. It is so + still, and the virtue is as virile as the odour of musk. + </p> + <p> + To himself Hu Dra was always so. Be his official and authoritative title + for the time being what it might, he was determined not to sacrifice his + identity. + </p> + <p> + The gaoler found him a docile and obedient creature with an abiding + affection for plants, which sprang up under his hands like magic. Within + two months corners of the desert yard began to blossom, to bear cucumbers + and radishes, and to be fragrant with shallots. + </p> + <p> + The pride of the gentle gardener lay in a few plants of zinnias close to a + dripping tap. In bright red, gold, and white, he accepted them as + substitutes for the sacred lotus, and prison flowers never flaunted more + freely. As innocent as they, he deftly, tirelessly trained each plant, + caressed each opening bud, cherished it as if it were a jewel, and found + surcease of the pangs of exile, easement for the restraints upon liberty, + and blissful consolation. Tendance upon the garden under the strait shadow + of wall was to him, not a duty, not a pastime, but a ritual. The captive + was happy, for here was the end of his pilgrimage. + </p> + <p> + Exemplary conduct, combined with the art with which he forced salads from + the boorish soils, found him favour and earned privileges and concessions. + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra kept no count of the passing months. What was time to a + contemplative Buddhist whose being was permeated with the hope of release + from delusions and sorrow and of attaining final sanctification? + </p> + <p> + One morning he was summarily marched into the presence of the big + loud-voiced man whose orders were obeyed with instant smartness, who told + him, to his amazement and despair, that he must depart with his property. + The seals of a sack were broken before him, and its contents displayed and + duly accounted for—a sleeping-mat, a small red blanket, the + elastic-side boots, two scrolls of sinfully painted silk, a hard round hat + stuffed with gaudy handkerchiefs, three watches and varied jewellery in a + ginger-jar, the quaintly carved toilet devices, the jam-tin full of + nuggets, and a chamois-leather bag delusively heavy with fine gold. + </p> + <p> + The same authority which had ordered his affairs ever since he had been + torn from the burnt hills now commanded him to begone. + </p> + <p> + For nigh upon two years he had dwelt passively in dream-land. This was but + another wonderment entrancingly agreeable. Without endeavouring to + elucidate the incomprehensible, he accepted the gifts of the gods, and + asked for a yellow zinnia. It was a reality, a guarantee, an assurance. + </p> + <p> + Good, though gruff, the gaoler was wont to say that his departing guest + gazed on the flower with almost religious fervour and mumbled over it a + prayer; and the gaoler's insight was true, for in comparison with a + flower, the masonic emblem, the pride of Tsing Hi's life was to Hu Dra but + tinsel. + </p> + <p> + It passed all understanding., + </p> + <p> + Hastening to escape from the land of bewilderment and easily gotten + riches, Hu Dra-the quietest, the happiest, the wealthiest of a great + company of his fellows boarded a steamer for Hong-Kong. + </p> + <p> + Many a long year after, Tim, who had blossomed into a sub-inspector, had + retired on pension, and had lost most of his brogue in the process, + confided in me the whole story. + </p> + <p> + “You see, my friend, it was either the sack or Chinkee for me. I got the + Chinkee. There were plenty of 'em!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TIME'S FINGER + </h2> + <p> + “The more cleer and the more shynynge that Fortune is, the more brutil and + the sooner breketh she.”—CHAUCER. + </p> + <p> + High up on the auspicious shoulder of the Island mountain stands the + Sentinel, a coarse, truncated pinnacle of granite, roughened and wrinkled + by the toll of the moist breezes, alternating with the scorching flames of + the sun. It overlooks the league-long sweep of the treacherous bay, with + its soft and smothering sands, the string of islets of the Yacka Eebah + group, while Bli and Coobie lie close under foot, set in a swirling sea. + </p> + <p> + One aspect of the Sentinel commands all the map-like detail of Pun-nul + Bay, with its labyrinthian creeks among a flat density of mangroves, like + lustrous, uncertain byways in a sombre field, erratic of shape, + magnificent of proportion. Beyond are many islets—dark blue on a + lighter plain. In the distance, on the other hand, islands and islets + trail away until lost in the vague blending of sea and sky; and for a + background is all Australia. In front alone does the Sentinel peer over + uninterrupted space, and not always, for at times patches of white + filigree mark the outliers of the Great Barrier Reef. + </p> + <p> + Looking up from Pun-nul Bay before sunrise, the base of the Sentinel 'was + swathed in white—night's rumpled draperies not yet tossed aside. As + the east glowed it stained the mist pink, and so warmed it that it parted + into patches of luminous fluff which floated up and dissolved into + crystalline air, and the great lumbering rock stood naked and bold in the + sunshine. + </p> + <p> + Then it was that the apex of a splintered peak beyond the Sentinel + glittered, and that Chutter-murra Wylo, the one survivor of the truculent + natives, told once more of the wonderful stone for which many had + ventured, which had caused the disappearance of several, which decoyed man + and beast, and stored their bones close to the awful hole whence issued + the smoke which made the rain, and the dread lightning, and the thunder. + </p> + <p> + None ever ventured there now; but sometimes in the early morning the stone + twinkled for a moment like a malignant sprite, watchful all night, but + abashed yet impudent to the authoritative sun. + </p> + <p> + Chutter-murra Wylo had so often indicated the exact locality of the stone, + and had described its dire influence with such sincerity that, when it + twinkled, a resolution which had been long in the back of my mind became + wilful and imperative. He said that it was “on top, along oo-nang-mugil”—a + gloomy place among rocks—and that the old men of the country had + been wont to say that this particular “oo-nang-mugil” was the favourite + resort of the “debil-debil,” the to whose arrogance and awful deeds the + bones of man and beast bore terrifying testimony. + </p> + <p> + Between the Sentinel and a spur to the south is a narrow ravine, from + which in the rainy season mist rises like jets of steam, and this was the + very spot whence the lightning and thunder ranged when the “debil-debil” + lifted the mighty stone which blocked the entrance to the cave of the + winds. All about was fantastic ground, peopled by evil spirits who + resented the intrusion of human beings and inflicted upon trespassers + peculiar punishments. Ill befell everyone who invaded that remote, almost + inaccessible, uninviting region, at the very centre of which the alluring + stone glittered. Of those who rashly determined to gaze at the prodigy at + close quarters, some never returned. Those who did come back were vexed + with burning and smarting pains; they suffered illnesses; their skin broke + out into blotches; they became old and enfeebled prematurely and all, + whether they survived for a few irritating weeks or a few sad years, wore + to the end a startled, awe-struck air. “That fella no more sit down quiet; + him frait all time,” Wylo explained. And the stone was good to look at. + Sometimes it was white like water; sometimes blue, like the sea; sometimes + red, like “carrie-wy-in-gin” (sunrise). Sometimes it shook, and then it + became so bright that the eyes were dazzled. The star-like stone had been + on the rock for all time, protected by distance and mystery. Was it not, + indeed, the eye of the “debil-debil” who had custody of the lightning and + thunder imps, and could it not be elevated or depressed like the eye of a + sand-crab? No intruder had ever escaped its vigil or the consequences of + his temerity. + </p> + <p> + We were camped under the lee of a low sand-dune, the top of which + commanded Pun-nul Bay. As the wind swayed its scalp-lock of twisted + shrubs, the dune quivered, and rivulets of singing sand, almost as fluid + and as unstable as water, trickled down, for it was one of the + rubbish-heaps of the sea, over the brink of which waste was unceasingly + shot. + </p> + <p> + The maze of mangroves whence weird hoots and bubbling cries and sharp + clicks came at night, the stealthy sand marching over the land, the barren + slopes of the mountain, and the misshapen rock, gave one's thoughts a + twist in the direction of the vague and mysterious. Wylo's continual + harping on the wonderful stone renewed the old longing for adventure. He + had seen it from a safe distance, but from the present aspect only the + indecorous glint at sunrise was visible. + </p> + <p> + The stone was a crystallised fact, but why had the blacks invested it with + such ill omen? Here was a worthy quest—a beautiful if not precious + crystal betokening the actual presence of a wary demon guardant over the + mouldering skeletons of Wylo's forefathers! What quest could be more + sensational or likely to be so famously rewarded? + </p> + <p> + Wylo was prepared to climb the mountain to the base of the Sentinel, but + no higher. Secrets hidden from his intemperate, insistent gaze must surely + be inconsequent. Once and for all, the legend of the crystal might be + disposed of at the cost of two or three hours' climbing. I would bring it + back to prove to Wylo that no irreverent “debil-debil” would ever again + blink at the sun from that particular spot. As for the skeletons, they + were, without doubt, as mythical as the evil spirit, and in any case a few + old bones were not to scare me from venturing to the boldly obvious summit + of the mountain. + </p> + <p> + Wylo went wellnigh naked, carrying a day's provisions and the rifle. I, + too, was lightly clad, but wore thick-soled boots, freely studded, and + with a tomahawk felt efficiently armed. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the entanglement of the beach scrub the way was open, though rough, + with granite boulders half hidden among rampant blady grass. The country + was decidedly hostile to the climber, though far from actually forbidding, + and with Wylo in the lead—for I held myself in reserve for the final + clamber up the ravine, to which the ascent to the base of the Sentinel was + merely a prelude—the pace was respectable and sure. Closer + acquaintance forced a certain sort of respect for the Sentinel, which was + more massive, more venerable and time-worn than could be imagined from + afar off, while all the scene below seemed softer and smoother and more + fairyland-like than in reality. + </p> + <p> + Having indicated what he deemed to be the direct route, and firmly + resolving to take no risks by peering into the domain of the + “debil-debil,” Wylo sat in the shadow of a huge boulder whence he could + command a view of the entrance to the rock-bestrewn gorge. Not more than + eight hundred feet separated the spot from the summit of the peak. A + couple of hours at most and I would be down again, and, semi-seriously, I + counselled Wylo to stop where he was until late in the afternoon, and if I + had not then appeared to return to the camp, where he was to remain for a + couple of days, when he would be at liberty to make his way to the head of + the mangrove creek where the boat was anchored, with the design of + bringing help to kill the “debil-debil” that detained me in his clutches. + He was not too cheerful in his parting injunctions. “No good you fight'm + that fella. Suppose he catch'm you, he kill you one time—finis. No + good me come back. Me clear out quick!” + </p> + <p> + In all seriousness he undertook to “sit down” for two days, and finally + imparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the “debil-debil,” + and either curb him or throw him out from his lair “with wondrous + potency.” Up the gorge I would find a prickly bush, from which I was to + cut a leafy branch as a frontal shield. Then, when the fiend swooped upon + me, its long arms and pliant hands, furnished with needle-like nails, + would become embarrassed by the “nails,” of the branch, and while it + howled and danced I could “kill'm alonga leg” with the tomahawk. I was to + be careful not to look up, for the eye of the “debil-debil” was so bright + and hot that it burnt up mortal sight, leaving the intruder a blind and + hopeless victim. + </p> + <p> + Discreetly valorous, Wylo was quite enthusiastic, anxious, indeed, that + the quest should be accomplished by an audacious white man and at no risk + to himself. Therefore did I accept his counsel gravely, and in parting + promised to bring down one of the hands of the long-standing terror of the + mountain as proof that I had exacted the last penalty for many demonic + deeds. + </p> + <p> + Thus, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through a + perplexity of shrubs growing among loosely packed stones, thankful for + strong boots and hands toughened by the sun. Overhanging trees and shrubs + almost converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a greenish + light wrought changeful patterns on the gloomy rocks, and ferns of sombre + green with unfolding fronds of ruddy brown occupied crannies and crowned + rocks favoured by drips. No sound of animal life came to my cars, but an + ever-increasing current of air was perceptible as the walls closed in and + became almost precipitous. + </p> + <p> + The narrow footway was swept bare of loose stones and vegetable rubbish, + save where the wet-season torrents had scooped out basins, or where a + ledge of resisting rock made a wet-season water fall. Such places had to + be discreetly scaled, for the rock was worn to polished smoothness and + hand and foot holds were few and far between. Aerial roots, thin as + whipcord, hung from the branches of trees crowding on the brink of the + ravine, and with tasselled terminals sopped up moisture. A melancholy, + humming monotone pervaded the ravine, seeming to increase in remonstrance + and warning the higher I ascended. Wylo had told of the noise like a + steamer's whistle a long way off. His local knowledge was being + authenticated at every step. Such a sound was almost uncouth in such a + locality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, was the + predicted bush with keen prickles thickset on limber branches. Half + amused, I climbed to the spot, and, clinging precariously to the principal + stem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, slipped several + yards down the smooth floor. It was not worth recovering, but a certain + half-humorous sense of obedience to the black boy's cautions induced me to + return for it; and as I trimmed off some of the prickles that it might be + grasped comfortably, a stone clattered down, bouncing on the rock almost + at my feet. + </p> + <p> + A substantial mystery! What invisible agency had given this hard fact its + force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a discordant crow dissipated + doubt-the stone had been dislodged by an industrious scrub fowl raking on + the brink of the ravine. A sense of fellowship with the harsh-voiced bird + manifested itself. A transient sensation of relief—I had not been + conscious of the least mental depression—followed the thought that + in and about the ravine there were other living things besides myself and + snakes. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally bruised just now, + had been the only sign of life, and it had been as dull-coloured and + almost as inert as the rock on which it lay—an emblem of death at + home in this almost lifeless seclusion. Dwelling with amusement on Wylo's + suggested precautions, I bore the branch before me as I climbed a steep + face, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and as cautious + and suspicious as a black boy. On the lip of what seemed to be a hollow a + fig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing roots of which made the final stages + of the ascent easy and safe. Briskly hauling myself up, I stepped over the + edge of the depression, and the solid rock lapsed and slid underfoot. + </p> + <p> + In a flash the head of a python arose, and with gaping jaws struck as the + branch fell from my hand.' In a moment I had whipped the tomahawk from my + belt and slashed at the body of the snake squirming at my feet, as, + baffled for a moment by the falling branch, it gathered itself for a + second attack. + </p> + <p> + Few of the enemies of man are more easily disabled than a snake. Always + zealous in obedience to the Biblical law, it is honest to confess to a + decided preference for elbow-room when engaged in its actual fulfilment. + This was a fight with man's first enemy in close and awkward quarters—a + precipice behind, walls of rock in front and at either hand. Three times + my length, strong enough to constrict to death a giant, wily enough to + seek the cover of the matted roots of the tree, several points were in + favour of the snake. My first wild haphazard stroke, which had merely + scored its flesh, seemed to have roused its vindictiveness. Once in those + coils, the chances of victory would be remote indeed. + </p> + <p> + Part of the python's still gliding length was within reach, while (the + forepart resting on a branch) the head was but slightly higher than mine, + though beyond the radius of the tomahawk. + </p> + <p> + The bulging head drew slowly back, as the snake released sufficient of its + length to encompass me. The yellow, blinkless eyes, with knife-edge + pupils, flashed with the hate of agelong feud as I edged against the wall. + My arm was free. The lust of battle tightened every nerve. Neither + flashing eyes nor strangulating length made for fear. The hitherto + all-conquering snake, lord and master of the ravine, bade defiance, + joining issue with the craft of its kind. + </p> + <p> + Slowly the pendant portion increased as the subtle beast seemed to + concentrate all its energies on one triumphant, invincible effort. + </p> + <p> + Anticipating the fateful instant, I slashed with all my force at the + portion of the body within reach, ducking simultaneously. Shooting over + me, the head of the enemy struck the rock with brain-bemuddling impact. + For once the serpent had been foiled. With jaws awry, the head swung + limply, like a ceasing pendulum. One blow with the back of the tomahawk + established the right of man to wander at will among the rough and secret + places of the mountain. + </p> + <p> + Still did the swaying reptile cling with a single coil round the figtree's + branch, while chill blood dripped and splashed among the intertwined and + snake-like roots. A sudden tug brought the body down a squirming mass. + With rough-shod heel, I fulfilled the letter of the law, bruising the + battered head, and then were revealed the bosses by which, with the tail, + the snake had sustained its dead weight. + </p> + <p> + Was this the “debil-debil” which had scared so many from the quest—a + python which any man might kill in the open without running any risk, and + which a black boy, with time on his hands, would joy to eat? Yet I own + that I was somewhat flustered, and not a little tired and bruised and + angry, because such an impediment had had to be cleared from the track. + Was there not cause for indignation? Why should a gormandising serpent, + full to repletion, lie slothfully across a highway open to all, to the + checking of a holiday-making mortal in lawful pursuit of a demon-protected + crystal? Let me once more vindictively stamp on its head. + </p> + <p> + But which way? Here was a dead and unscalable wall to right and left and + in front, and all in deep shadow. I estimated that another one hundred + feet would take me to the mountain-top, whence it would be possible to + survey the scene in relation to the bejewelled rock. Descent was the only + practicable preliminary towards further ascent. Utilising the interlacing + roots of the fig-tree, the way down was easy enough, and, choosing the + left wall of the ravine, I began a perilous climb out of gloom into + sunshine, upon a conglomeration of immense granite boulders, over which + the Sentinel cast a shadow. This shadow indicated that the ascent had + occupied at least three hours, and in my self-complacency I had calculated + to beard the “debil-debil” in his den, dislodge the crystal, and be back + at the camp gloating over the escapade to open-eyed Wylo in less time. + </p> + <p> + Though a night was to be spent in the haunt of the evil spirit, yet would + I proceed. I found not one but many “oo-nang-mugils,” lowering caves and + clefts in which scores of fearsome “debil-debils” might lurk, but which, + as far as a vigilant mortal could detect, were given over to innocent bats + and those sun-loving swiftlets which rear their young in nests adherent to + rocks in dusky places. + </p> + <p> + Over and beneath boulders, squirming through bolt-holes and up flue-like + openings, bruised and with bleeding hands, at last the top was reached, + harsh with granite, and there to the right, on a gigantic splintered + boulder which seemed to block the end of the ravine and to peer down into + the blue bay below, was the crystal glinting in sunshine. It was not more + than fifty yards away, and, easeful of mind, I sat down to munch a piece + of damper. Close by a patch of vivid green moss indicated the existence of + moisture and the further possibility of water. Sure enough, twenty yards + down spongy moss and fern spread over a lip of rocks, and from dangling + tufts and drooping fronds water dripped in melodious splashes into a + shallow depression, and overflowed in a fan-shaped film. The facets and + apex of the crystal reflected harsh brightness as unsullied as the + moss-filtered, unstable drips which gathered second by second and were + gone. How like those drips, how unlike the scarred, time-chastened rock, + that steadfast slip of light which since the dawn of creation had flashed + messages across the unresponsive sea. + </p> + <p> + From a ledge in which ferns and orchids grew in careless profusion—bird's-nest + fern and polypodium and white-flowering orchid—the crystal might be + reached by a little manoeuvring. But why hurry? Every minor crevice was + embossed with spongy moss, from which sprang modest little flowers, a + flower of mountaintops alone, lacking a familiar name, but which in its + dainty form and rich mauve is none the less precious. While all the rest + of the way had been barren or gloomy, here was brave sunshine and space, a + jewel-like crystal, and moss and ferns and flowers, and calm and cool + serenity which' bespoke remoteness from the “debil-debil” and all his + works, and from the noisy cave of the winds. Magic there was in plenty-the + air tingled with it—that exhilarating, mind-expanding silence of + mountain-tops which is the most thrilling magic of all. + </p> + <p> + Leisurely glances at the mass of granite from which the crystal shone + showed that from the ferny ledge it would be beyond reach, and that unless + care was exercised in the dislodgment it might fall among a confusion of + boulders far below and be lost for ever. My plan was of to build a + buttress of loose stone on which to stand to tap it with the tomahawk. + Like a miniature railway cutting, the ledge ran out on the face of the + rock, so that standing upon it one looked down into the ravine; but it was + broad enough to afford safe and even convenient footing. + </p> + <p> + As a final preliminary to the beginning of operations, I clambered up on + to the ledge. Ferns grew among decaying vegetable matter in masses + difficult to push through. Polypodiums with brown, oak-leaf like, + infantile fronds clung tightly to the rocks with furry fingers, and the + birds'-nests were big enough to conceal a man. A broad and comfortable + path it was, leading directly under the crystal, and with haste and + confidence I pushed along, smiling inwardly at “shynynge” fortune, to be + in another moment dismayed by her “brutilness.” The earth sank under me. I + shot into an acute fissure with ferns and dust piled overhead! + </p> + <p> + Gasping and coughing, I cleared away the smothering rubbish, to find + myself a fixture—jambed fast between walls of granite. Deceptive + ferns had masked the crevice. I had walked along a treacherous track until + at a weak spot it had given way as the gallows' trap beneath the feet of a + murderer. + </p> + <p> + Light came from ahead, too. There the lancehead-shaped fissure opened on + the ravine, whence it was flushed with cool air. + </p> + <p> + Was ever mortal in such a plight? A drop of eight from the spacious top of + the mountain had lodged me a prisoner in the narrowest of cells. Dismayed + but not despairing, I struggled frantically, working with shoulder and + arms against the walls of granite. The right foot was firmly fixed, while + a sensation of easiness was perceptible with regard to the left. Gently + yet firmly, and fearful lest the slight grain of comfort might be + fraudulent, I felt the weight of my body on the left foot, while + scrutinising in detail the horrible trap into which the crystal bait had + lured me. + </p> + <p> + There, a few feet below and further towards the ravine, was the skull of a + human being, and still further down, where space was more confined, other + bones were fixtures. There was a weird fascination about the skull, for at + noon it would receive the benediction of the sun, and the diurnal glare + into the secrets of the crevice had made a patch of white desert in an + oasis of grey mould. The bones below, green and earthly with age, lay in + disorder and confusion—poor fragments of the framework of man and + harmless beasts, sharing a common fate. + </p> + <p> + Though fast a prisoner, nothing to live on but hope and fresh air, a sense + of relief, somehow, sometime, established itself in my mind. Most of the + significant features of the adventure had been faithfully foretold by Wylo—the + prickly bush, the snake (archetype of the fiend), the mocking delusive + stone, the stored bones of man and beast-all as he had described. He must + have known more than he had voluntarily told, and assuredly would he + come', when he would coo-ee, and I would shout for very joy. In the + meantime would I possess my soul in patience and conserve all the strength + of my lungs and power of endurance. + </p> + <p> + Just beyond the platform of ferns a splash of lovely tints illuminated the + edge of the time-recording shadow—the solar spectrum produced by the + prism which had beckoned from afar. Was there no escape from the wizardry + of the crystal? No hope of evading comparison of its beauty and permanence + with the muddy and fleeting passions of mankind? Yet how fruitless its + functions—to glorify for aeons the intractable rock, and to leave it + ever unstained! For once in all the centuries may not a human hand be + interposed between those ineffectual flames and the surly rock? Cannot + even that small measure of space be overcome? + </p> + <p> + A few inches from the tips of my outstretched fingers were the prismatic + tints with which the crystal daily registered the decline of the day; but + not for all my striving and all my wit could I get within reach. They were + as remote as the creating sun! + </p> + <p> + The narrowness of the cleft forbade effort to reach down so that I might + unlace my boots. There wan but one chance of deliverance—the coming + of Wylo. And would he, agitated by superstitious awe, dare to venture into + the haunt of the evil spirit when he began to realise that I, too, had + fallen into the clutches he so much dreaded? Yet he must come! Of what + special impiety had I been guilty that so rare and terrible a fate should + have been reserved for me. He must come! + </p> + <p> + Yes. Listen! I hear his coo-ee far below! He is making his way up the + ravine! And with, all my vocal power I coo-eed and yelled. But the + muffling rocks stifled all noise at lips. Listen! Yes! The sound again—merely + the mellow cadences of a swamp pheasant whooping among the blady grass. + </p> + <p> + Wylo dared not venture to the very door of the cave of the winds. I was + alone with my fate! Could I master it? + </p> + <p> + The clean-cut shadow crept up the rock, and with it the colour splash + receded. As I gazed it glittered and was gone. It would not be visible + again until the next afternoon. Would I be here to watch it illuminate the + rock once more? Could I contain myself until then, and perhaps after, and + for day after day, until the last? And were my bones to be added to the + secret horde mouldering within a few feet of the mountain-top? A few feet + of nothingness—mere empty space—separated me from lost and + lovely liberty, and with frantic hands I strove against the hard face of + the rock, and cried aloud in agonising protest. + </p> + <p> + The old rock had disregarded similar protests and supplications, and had + endured like infantile pushings! Call, and who shall listen? Push and + shove and fight, and what availed it? + </p> + <p> + In my delirium I cursed and blasphemed, and “full of shriekynge was that + sory place.” + </p> + <p> + Darkness followed brief twilight, and up the ravine came the murmuring I + had heard below—a sobbing sound which at first affrighted and then + soothed, for it could be nothing but the echo of the sea on the curving + beach below; and in its comfort that lulled all ineffectual clamour, and + eventually to fretful but frightful sleep. Always I awoke panting with + thirst, stiff and strained, and with unmanly cries of fear and pain on my + lips, while the chaste stars danced across the narrow slit as I strove to + stem the turbid stream of despondency. + </p> + <p> + About midnight a singular peacefulness possessed me, overcoming me in + spite of myself. Feverish impatience and resistance seemed futile, and in + my resignation I began to realise that to avert cramp and disablement from + cold—for a chill, moist breeze from the ravine played continuously + on me—some sort of exercise must be undertaken. + </p> + <p> + My left foot was certainly not so compressed as the right. Though it could + not be raised, it was possible to move it ever so slightly forwards and + backwards. Might it not be possible, by never-ceasing friction, to so + abrade the edges of the sole of the boot that it might be reduced to such + dimension as would permit it to be raised? + </p> + <p> + With all the force of my mind concentrated on the one idea, I began to + work in a passion of patience. At first the play of the boot was hardly to + be registered; but hour after hour of ceaseless and calculated effort not + only counterbalanced mental tension and imparted some degree of warmth to + my body, but so amended the shape of the boot that it began to move with + some degree of freedom. The more easy the fit, the more cautious and calm + I became. + </p> + <p> + No insipid monotony pervaded the remote, cold crevice. The operation was + lubricated with hope. Once every heart-beat—for I kept strict tally, + as further mental relaxation—my boot rubbed against the rock, and + each rub wore away minute particles of leather. As time passed and the + work became still easier, it became more engrossing, until calmness gave + way, and every nerve thrilled with excitement, and I was convinced that I + would win a joyful passage from this narrow strait by dint of the resolute + continuation of the simplest of processes. + </p> + <p> + But the long night was not to end with such placid and entertaining + occupation. Absorbed in it, sternly waving off all sense of weariness or + despair, I was staggered and stunned by the fall, among an avalanche of + fern debris, of a heavy living body on my head and shoulders—a + grunting, struggling thing which kicked and scratched. + </p> + <p> + With a despairing shriek, 'all my vibrant nerves collapsed, as in the + darkness and confusion I fought against infernal odds. For one appalling + instant I was convinced of the reality of Wylo's most diresome fact, and + did furiously believe that I was actually entrapped in the stronghold of a + demon at that moment, intent upon tearing me limb from limb. The most + fantastic and horrific of nightmares was actually materialised. + </p> + <p> + But at that instant a familiar odour sluiced away all mystery. This + struggling thing, from the shock of which my very soul still trembled, was + but a fellow-victim—a wallaby which, feeding along the ledge, had + happened on the trap made by my fall. + </p> + <p> + In a flash of remorseless energy, I seized the panting body, felt for the + throat, and, expelling pity from my heart, gripped until all was still. + How precious and comforting it was! And once again all my powers of will + and muscle were centred on a single design and action as with machine-like + rhythm the boot wore itself against the rock. Disengaged from every other + theme, my mind dwelt on the one steady, inevitable purpose. Rub! Rub! Rub! + And I fancied I saw leathern dust fall like filings from iron down deeper + into the crevice. Before dawn the boot was working freely, and with one + arm on the compressed body of the wallaby to case my weight, rest was + possible. The plan for the disengagement of the right foot, painfully + rigid and cold, was perfect in theory. Would it hold in practice? When the + left was free I would, by friction of the iron studs In the sole, wear + away the laces of the engaged boot so that the foot might be withdrawn. + </p> + <p> + But physical weakness became imperious. The distraction of cramped and + bruised flesh had to be withstood the while the constancy of the function + was maintained. Continual comfort came from the dead body of the ill-fated + wallaby—a sort of fellowship, and a feeling that with its + co-operation the contest between living flesh and blood and the inert + force of the mountain was not altogether one-sided. Light was certainly + cheerful, but the crevice filled with mist which distilled on the rock, + and a chill current of air benumbed my aching limbs. + </p> + <p> + Under the pressure of fierce determination the task persisted, until, + quite unexpectedly as it seemed, the boot was free; and then, shoving and + squeezing the wallaby as a cushion for my right arm, the sole of the left + boot began to rasp away at the instep of the right. In such a constrained + position the operation, which could be persevered in by fits and starts + only, was exasperatingly slow. The sun sopped up the morning mist and + boldly explored the crevice, revealing the marvellous precision of the + space between the walls. No work of art could be more regular. The sheer + simplicity of the trap made it the more effectual. The sunlight showed, + too, that the fissure was the skylight of a cave which opened out on the + ravine. Dry boulders were strewn about fifty feet below, while ahead I + could catch a glimpse of a narrow ribbon of blue sea. This provoking sight + of unattainable water aggravated thirst almost beyond endurance. + Throughout the night had my longing increased, but now the pangs were + extreme. The most gratifying of all drinks—cool, fern-filtered, + flower-decorated water, water dripping in iridescent spangles from green + moss soft as velvet—splashed incessantly into a hollow out there a + few yards away in the free space of the mountain. Here, manacled with + “adamant eterne,” in an agony of impatience I quaffed the + thirst-stimulating draught of unsatisfied longing as I strove fitfully to + wear away the stubborn strips of leather which held me in bondage. In a + doze or dream the action went on. Startled, I awoke to find myself + pommelling with inane savagery the poor crumpled body of the wallaby, and + to the realisation that the imprisoned foot was loose in the boot. + </p> + <p> + A luxurious stupor took possession of my mind. I was at liberty to work + out of the crevice knees and shoulders; yet an impalpable force detained + me. It was not that I was not master of my fate, but that out there in the + glare of the sun was patient water, dripping for the refreshment and + cleansing of my grimy lips. So enchanting a thought was not to be abruptly + ended. Was it not deliciously dreamy to hold myself in suspense awhile, to + linger over anticipated sweetness and prolong blest gratifications + indefinitely? + </p> + <p> + Strange drowsiness and peace bewitched the sunlit chink. Why should I + struggle more? Could I not, in fancy, hearken to the measured splash of + the drops from the sodden moss? Could anything be more consoling than this + cushion to my bruised and aching arms? Ease and sloth were sweet indeed. I + was free, but not at large. The amazing adaptability of the human mind had + reconciled me in a few suffering hours to this confined space. Verily do I + believe that the overcoming of this subtle anodyne demanded the + expenditure of more vital force than the sum of all the long-sustained + automatic exertion by which I had won physical release. + </p> + <p> + One supreme mental tug and the baneful torpor was dispelled, and with + stiffened legs and bruised hand@ I began to screw myself up to the free + air cautiously and painfully; and there, in a beam of light from the + crystal, was the slow-dripping flower-bedizened water-celestial nectar to + parched lips. + </p> + <p> + Hours after I awoke as from a dream. Far below a column of smoke showed + that Wylo still watched. My first act was to send up a responsive signal. + In a fit of petty passion I flung the toil-worn boot into the ravine, and + began the descent by way of the spur to the west. + </p> + <p> + Wylo seemed scared by the sight of the staggering and tattered scarecrow, + barefooted, and stained with blood and dirt, who stumbled into the camp at + dusk, too weary to talk, almost too spent to eat; and to this day he is + convinced that I was actually detained by the “debil-debil,” whom I had + overcome by some means of which wonder-working white men alone have the + secret. + </p> + <p> + After two days' rest I climbed the mountain again, blocked the fissure + with loose stones, and built a buttress, standing upon which I tapped the + crystal gently with the tomahawk. It quivered. A shaft of rainbow tints + dazzled my sight. I tapped again. As I touched it it third time, the + fragile finger with which the gaunt old rock had scorned the plodding + centuries vanished in a splutter of spangles! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + </h2> + <p> + “These ghosts of the living and of the dead assuredly illustrate in a + striking manner the mysterious workings of the human mind, and the + unsuspected influence of soul on soul.”—PRODMORE. + </p> + <p> + Not more than a hundred yards from its mud-besmeared mouth the convenient + mangroves disappear and the little creek assumes becoming airs. Huge + tea-trees, with cushiony bark, straddle it, and ferns grow strongly in all + its nooks and bends. When the big trees blossom in watery yellow, + yellow-eared honey-eaters, blue-bibbed sun-birds, and screeching parrots + in accordant colours, assemble joyously, for the aroma, as of burnt honey, + spreads far and wide, bidding all, butterflies and jewel-backed beetles + which buzz and hum, to the feast, until the aerial anthem is harmonic to + the rustle of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The sturdy feet of the trees stand in black peat, through which the water + from the wholesome hills oozes and dribbles, and the russet stain from + discarded leaves is on their white bases. Russet, too, is the surface of + the ever moist soil. Some element in the water derived from pacted roots + of palm and fern tinctures whatsoever in it lies, so that the bottoms of + the shallow, erratic pools are thick with russet slime. All above is + bright and pure, and the water which flows over the slime-smudged roots + limpid and refreshing. If you cut into the bark of the tea-tree you will + find water in beads and trickles, water which sparkles with purity and has + a slightly saline taste. The bare roots alone suffer defilement. + </p> + <p> + Many a tall tea-tree stands sentinel on the margin of the creek, and there + are groves of slim palms with narrow truncated leaves—palms which + creep and sprawl over vegetation of independent character, and palm& + which coquette with the sun with huge fans. Orchid& display sprays of + yellowish-green flowers, which contribute a decided savour to the medley + of scents, and palm-like Cycads meander from the low bank out Into the + forest. + </p> + <p> + But there is one tree which, if not superior to the rest in broadness of + base, height, fairness of bark, and fullness of bloom, has especial + endowment. It stands at the spot where generation after generation of the + original owners of the soil has crossed the creek, wearing a waving path + upon which ferns ever encroach and which every flood amends. In a recess + in its massive roots reposes “Kidjo-bang,” the restless stone—a + boulder, man's-head size, stained with a rim of sober brown. + </p> + <p> + This is its accustomed scat. It roves the locality, returning, + swallow-like, to the close-fitting hollow of the root. The embraces of the + root are sometimes so strong that the dingy stone may not be moved. But + the floods of the wet season maintain an unceasing cataract to its + dislodgment, and then, according to the legends of the blacks, it begins + to “walk about.” It may rest a month just out of reach of the disturbing + water among the ferns. It has been known to appear mysteriously on the + sandy beach two hundred yards away, to which spot it is said to travel by + way of the grass lands, avoiding the slur of the muddy creek. + </p> + <p> + Whether it seeks change of scene beyond the ripple of dead leaves and + spoil of the flood, or whether it ventures out on to the open beach, where + the breezes from the Pacific play upon it, the round white stone returns, + independent of the agency of man, to the sanctuary which time, + ever-flowing water, and the hospitable roots of the tree, have combined to + afford. It is there this day. Should it be taken to one or other of the + blue islands in the broad bay, sooner or later it will be discovered + nestling cosily in the grotto in which the dyed slime smears it as with + pale blood. + </p> + <p> + To the ordinary investigator of the whimsicalities of “Kidj-o-bang” the + blacks betray no secret, though they would verify, with what to them is + proof positive, that it does on occasion appear in unexpected places and + unaccountably reoccupies its cell. Discreetly pursue the subject and + peradventure you may be told precisely why the stone may not always rest + in the one spot in the whole world which it fits as a kernel its shell. It + has been, they assert, associated with an evil deed of which it is now the + emblem. Among the many the mysteries of “Kidj-o-bang” dwell with the past, + though it is still associated with the ceremonies of the bestowal of + totemic names on the children of a certain father. + </p> + <p> + More than one legend concerning it is extant, and the young fellows of the + present day frankly scoff at them all, while the old men believe each + other's versions and repeat them with bated breath. They cannot discredit + stories which were accepted as established facts when they were young, + which no one then ever dreamed of doubting, and which provide a + comfortably satisfactory account for otherwise perplexing incidents. + </p> + <p> + Musing on the spot, the legend of the roving stone usurped my thoughts. + The trivial and uncertain notions of the black boy who was the first to + tell it, and by theatrical gestures to illustrate its verities, became + more and more indistinct. The soothsayers of the long past had been + forbidden by Nature to doubt that which was the lore of the camp. Was it + that Nature re-asserted her influence—that the essences of the + scene, subtle and pervasive, had recurred, creating a receptive spirit, so + deep a religion of assent that shadow and substance intermingled to my + bewilderment? I was permitted to be a sensitive percipient in the midst of + the ashes of shiftless folk who had passed away, catching but a casual and + deceptive glimpse of the coming of the desolating white man. + </p> + <p> + Piln-goi, the black boy, had wandered up the creek. A thrilling silence + prevailed. Stooping down, I laved my hands in the softly flowing water, + idly intent on lifting the stone. The tawny slime defeated irresolute + efforts, and my slipping hands bestowed a baptismal splash. + </p> + <p> + Instantly I became conscious of a strange presence, and, glancing over my + shoulder, saw an unfamiliar black boy lurking behind a glistening-fronded + Cycad. + </p> + <p> + The whole scene had undergone wishful transformation. The white-barked + trees, purified of smears from the sooty fingers of fire, stood out in + splendid contrast to a richer, thicker, a flowery undergrowth. Tall fern + trees spread green cobwebs to entrap sunbeams. The Cycad under which the + boy crouched was slim-shaped, and its foliage resembled that of one of the + most beautiful of ferns, with languorous, dolorous fronds, while it was + crowned with a huge fruit of golden-brown. All the scene had been + wondrously transfigured. Time's treacheries had been defeated. A + garden-like age had been restored. The sword-leaved orchid dangled + yard-long sprays of brilliant yellow flowers, which saturated the air with + delicate perfume. Fearless birds fluttered among and hovered over the + pendant blooms, whistling and calling. Water-rats sported in the + lily-bespangled stream, and a platypus basked, on the bank. + </p> + <p> + From the strained and expectant attitude of the boy, it was apparent that + he was hunting. He stepped cautiously out of cover, and, using a wommera + of dark wood with oval clutches of white shell, threw a spear into the + long grass. A kangaroo, mad with fear and pain, staggered forward, knowing + not whence fate had struck it, and, lurching helplessly, sank among the + ferns on the margin of the water. Ignoring my presence the boy, having + completed the hunter's office with a blow from a nulla-nulla, called in a + thin, shrill voice: + </p> + <p> + “Yano-lee!” (We go this way). + </p> + <p> + In a few seconds a young girl of his own race stepped through the leafy + screen. She cast casual glances at the dead kangaroo, and without saying a + word to her companion came to the pool, stooped down beside me, and drank + eagerly and noisily, using a scoop improvised from a leaf. Her back + glistened with perspiration, and her coarse, fuzzy, uncleanly hair ceased + in tufts on her neck. It was a slim and shapely little figure. The plumes + of the orchid, golden and syrupy, swayed over her heedless head and seemed + to caress it. Her eyes, round, large, and brimful of the bewildering + eagerness of youth, relieved the unobtrusive expansiveness of her nose and + almost atoned for her savage lips. Though almost touching me, the most + shy, wild creature of the bush seemed unconscious of my presence. She was + in fact and deed: + </p> + <p> + “We have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible.” I was the phantom—invisible, + intangible. The pair beside, the unembarrassed realities. + </p> + <p> + Do phantoms reflect? That privilege was mine. Let memory treasure every + detail of the scene, every vestige of its incidents. + </p> + <p> + “Kidj-o-bang” had vanished. There was its cell. A full and stainless + stream, in a gurgling cataract, sparkled over the big root, while high + among the blossoms birds clambered incessantly for nectar. + </p> + <p> + The primitive pair were at home, but not at case, In this Garden of Eden. + They spoke in mumbling tones, of which I could catch but stray phrases, + though I listened eagerly. Presently the girl took up two dry sticks, and, + using one as a drill between the palms of her hands, essayed to make a + fire. + </p> + <p> + The boy imperatively intervened. “Poo-nee imba!” (No fire). + </p> + <p> + The girl started up, and instantly both slid into the jungle as silently + and as tracklessly as snakes. + </p> + <p> + The dead kangaroo, the expectant phantom (gifted for the time being with a + faculty more subtle than any moral sense), remained alone among the birds + and the orchids, while shy pencil-tailed water-rats began to sniff and + peer among the sedges. So enthralling was the scene that time passed + insensibly. The sun was overhead when the pair reappeared noiselessly. + Smears of shell and grit betrayed an intervening meal of oysters. Swarms + of green ants, in a scramble for food, almost obscured the blood-stains on + the fur of the kangaroo, and, brushing them away, the boy made and + enlarged with his fingers an opening in the body, and having torn out the + heart, liver, and kidneys, made a fire, scarce a hand's-breadth wide and + smokeless, on which the meat was singed prior to being munched with grim + deliberation. They ate largely, some of the flesh from the hind quarters + being also eaten, scrap by scrap. + </p> + <p> + Were they fugitives? Tall and strong, the boy was as alert and suspicious + as a dingo. Every sense was strained. He seemed intent upon subduing the + very noises in his head as he slowly crushed his food and gulped. + </p> + <p> + A forlorn cry, half appeal, half gurgle, filtered through the leafage as + from the beach, and on the instant the jungle had soundlessly absorbed the + affrighted pair. The handful of fire and the mutilated kangaroo remained + as the only evidences of the handiwork of man. + </p> + <p> + What of the intruder? The cry was almost too weird to be human. Again it + thrilled through the leafage, a trifle stronger, and seemed to convey a + threat commingled with a prayer for succour. + </p> + <p> + The scene held me. I was powerless, but not indifferent; capable of sight, + incapable of action or utterance. Something in the tone of the voice told + of a member of my own race in sore distress. Yet I could not respond to + his appeal or move to his aid. + </p> + <p> + Half an hour of intense silence passed, and then a lusty shout startled + the air. Surely, I thought, the wayfarer who makes such outcry in this + unpeopled wilderness is an uncouth fellow who has lost his way and thinks + to dialogue with echoes for relief of loneliness. Presently the cracking + of branchlets and a rumble of discontented phrases told of someone + blundering along through the mangroves. Accustomed to the gentle sounds + and the delicious silence of the jungle, the clumsy noises irritated while + preparing me for the sight of the intruder—a big, aggressive, + weather-scored man, his only clothing a pair of short pants of canvas, + stained with wear and stiff and whitened with frost like sea-salt. The + ocean had but an hour ago cast him like its scum on the beach. + </p> + <p> + He burst on the scene to plunge his broken lips into the water at my feet. + Like the natives, he drank long and noisily, and when his thirst was + allayed called to an imaginary mate—“Pietro, Pietro!” cursed freely + when no answer came, and whimpered like a babe. + </p> + <p> + Huge of body, strong of limb, bully and brute stamped on his coarse + features, yet did his dread of loneliness piteously overcome him. His bald + pate, hung about with scant reddish ringlets, had been roasted by the + tropic sun until it glowed, and eyes and nose strove for supremacy of + inflammation. An unkempt moustache did not hide teeth of disreputable + tint; chin and jowl were covered with a fortnight's growth of streaky + hair. + </p> + <p> + Turning from the water, he saw the dismembered kangaroo, and, seizing one + of the legs, tore the flesh from the bones and with ravenous greed began + an uncleanly feast. The impure drank of the pure water and gulped the + strong flesh until his gorged stomach swelled cask-shape, and then he + slept as noisily as he had eaten and drank. + </p> + <p> + A leathern belt, cracked and whitened, furrowed his distended girth, and + as he lay stretched with the sun scrutinising his face, flies and + mosquitoes and carnivorous green ants feasted on his blood at will. Each + leaden-tinted, lean fly revelled until it assumed similitude to a + colouring grape, some “reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken men”; + bloated mosquitoes and green ants, commingling, made a living mosaic on + the skin of the unconscious man. What could the assaults and stings of + myriads of insects avail against fatigue so formidable? + </p> + <p> + But a decree had gone forth that the sleeper should wake, and who is man + that he should flout imperious commands? The merciless sun insisted. The + strong man fidgeted under the persistent blaze. Perspiration poured from + his skin; he snarled; his eyelids twitched and quivered; the veins of neck + and forehead throbbed ominously. The sun does not tolerate disobedience. A + thin trickle of blood issued from the grimy nose, and with a snort the man + awoke, his flame-red eye% swilled with enforced tears. Dazedly he plunged + his head into the water and drank greedily, and, sitting up, spat sullenly + and with signs of disgust and contempt. What comfort could cold water + afford so repleted a stomach? + </p> + <p> + Having disdainfully spurned the remnants of the kangaroo, he sat head + between knees, grumbling against fate. To him the fruitful and pleasant + land was disconsolate. A castaway, he had drifted on to its welcome + shores, and all that it could offer was loneliness, cold water, the raw + flesh of a strange animal, and denial of the solace of sleep. Out of the + depths of his misery and dejection he called imperatively on his God, and + taking from the lining of his belt a thumb-sized purse, of netted silver, + displayed a glorious pearl, which he held aloft, and with an admixture of + supplication and imprecation proffered it to the Most High as grudging + ransom from a God-abandoned country. + </p> + <p> + Who is there that delights not in the susceptible purity of pearls? The + gem which symbolises virginal placidity was like to be contaminated by the + coarse handling of the fretful, bargaining castaway. + </p> + <p> + Did I lean forward acquisitively to accept it from the noisome fingers, + reluctant that so serene a prize should be retained in so coarse a + setting? + </p> + <p> + The man started, for the votive offering had vanished, and blasphemous + lamentations and curses against the Supreme Being, whom he abused for + defrauding him of fortune by trickery, shocked the quietude. Then a spasm + of religious fervour jerked him to his knees as he patronised the Almighty + for having accepted a pledge for safe-conduct from death-like solitude. + After transports of impious piety, as uncouth and boisterous as his + struggles through the labyrinth of mangroves to the purifying water, he + sat bareheaded in the sun. + </p> + <p> + Steamy heat distilled strong aromatic odours from the myriad leaves; + languid flowers gave copiously and of the best of their fragrance; ferns + and lotus did obeisance to high noon. The birds had ceased to whistle, and + the droning of bees gave to the upper air slumbering rhythm of its own. + </p> + <p> + Again the intruder slept. Again the sun commanded and he woke raging. + Standing, he cursed both loud and long, eyes protuberant, face purpling + under the strain of vindictive oaths. + </p> + <p> + What an unflattering contrast to the unclad natives who had dominated yet + blended with the scene-the girl the prototype of a swaying palm, the boy + that of a tough young bloodwood beside the creek, among the topmost + branches of which a crimson-flowered mistletoe made a splash of colour in + harmony with the single red feather from the wing of a black cockatoo + which the soft-tongued youth had entangled in his hair. + </p> + <p> + This gross, profane, sun-smitten, sea-rejected herald of civilisation, + disowned by his fellows, disinherited of the world, defiled the spot, and + his voice created an inaugural discord. + </p> + <p> + With arms uplifted, he muttered ineffectual curses against his fellows, + upbraided his saints, and defied his deity. But while his lips frothed + with the passion of a stuttering tongue, the provoked but just genius of + the spot passed sentence, and swiftly and silently the messengers of Death + came. Four slender spear& penetrated his shaggy chest, as with a &cream + which ended lit a gulp he splashed back into the water. His struggles and + splutterings soon ceased. Silence resumed its fascination. + </p> + <p> + Blood welled from the mouth and nose and spear wounds, which the eager + water carried off in wavy, independent streams, while the dead face + whitened. + </p> + <p> + Many minutes elapsed before a dozen white-eyed natives cautiously oozed + through the Jungle, stimulating each other's nervousness by reassuring + gestures. Certain that the trespasser on their dominion was incapable of + mischief, they began to chatter, showing fidgety interest in the body, + which they touched and poked fearsomely with spears. + </p> + <p> + Dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the sun through a curtain of water, which + had already cleaned them of heat and passion, and wisps of red hair + drifted over the forehead. + </p> + <p> + The untimely yelp of a dingo some few yards in the jungle inspired a + similar response from one of the men, and without shyness or reserve the + boy and girl joined the throng, and all began to talk excitedly. Some of + the men assumed threatening attitudes towards the girl, who stood + submissively, while the boy talked in a rage of excitement. He had chosen + his mate, and would not, even on pain of summary death, abandon her. + </p> + <p> + So trivial an incident as the love affairs of boy and girl could not + compare with the phenomenon in the water. The crisis was momentary. + Amazement was pictured in every face, and not a man but subjected the + bleeding body to gross contempt and what passed among them for ridicule. + They mimicked the high stomach as they stood, as the dead man had stood, + with arms aloft in rebellion against his lot, and fell back, as he had + fallen, screaming, to kick and wallow on the ground. Here was plot and + matter for ludicrous corroboree, the first rehearsal of which took place + on the scene. + </p> + <p> + Soon curiosity took possession of the unstable actors. The belt was + removed, and on the purse being fumbled with, several small pearls fell + out. They were disregarded; but the strong man of the party looped the + belt about his own inadequate waist, the girl hid the purse (which had + been passed from hand to hand) in her hair, while the men tore the bone + buttons from the pants and fitted them into their ears as they strutted + foppishly. + </p> + <p> + The dead eyes stared defiantly up into the sky, the face whitened, and the + stains of blood seemed to settle on it. + </p> + <p> + A harsh sound came as an electric shock, and I heard as from afar off + Piln-goi shout: + </p> + <p> + “You bin sleep long time, boss! Big low water. We fella look out + pearl-shell!” + </p> + <p> + The scene had resumed everyday aspects. The sun concentrated its rays on + my head through a rift in the jungle, and the stone, stained dull red, lay + in its cell, while rootlets fringed with tawny slime wavered over it. + </p> + <p> + Had soul communed with soul on that illusive borderland we range in + dreams, the emblem of a deed of blood eloquent to reveal its secret? And + now that the tale is told, will it cease from bewildering the simple old + men of the soil who with one hand grapple the magical past and with the + other the realities of the present? + </p> + <p> + Piln-goi's impatience drew me from the spot and out on to the reef laid + bare by the ebb. The beguiling pearl still eludes him, but memory holds a + rarer treasure than all the fecund sea contains. + </p> + <p> + End + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. 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Banfield + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7324] +This file was first posted on April 14, 2003 +Last Updated: May 31, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROPIC DAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat + + + + + + + + + +TROPIC DAYS (1918) + +By E. J. Banfield + + +Author Of "The Confessions Of A Beachcomber" And "My Tropic Isle" + + +"Peace and silence. . . combined with the large liberties of nature." + + De Quincey + + +TO + +MY BROTHER BEACHCOMBERS; Professing, Practising + + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + +In my previous books the endeavour was to give exact if prosaic details +of life on an island off the coast of North Queensland on which a few +of the original inhabitants preserved their uncontaminated ways. Here +is presented another instalment of sketches of a quiet scene. Again an +attempt is made to describe--not as ethnological specimens, but as men +and women--types of a crude race in ordinary habit as they live, though +not without a tint of imagination to embolden the better truths. + +I thankfully acknowledge indebtedness to my friends Mr. Charles Hedley, +of the Australian Museum (Sydney); Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of +the Queensland Museum; and Mr. Dodd S. Clarke, of Townsville, N.Q., for +valuable aid in the preparation of my notes for publication. + +DUNK ISLAND. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I--SUN DAYS. + +IN IDLE MOMENT +ETERNAL SUNSHINE +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT +THE SCENE-SHIFTER +BRACE PLANTS +SHADOWS +"SMILING MORN" +ANCESTRAL SHADE +QUIET WATERS +"THE LOWING HERD" +BABBLING BEACHES +THE LOST ISLE + + +PART II--THE PASSING RACE. + + +THE CORROBOREE +THE CANOE-MAKER +TWO LADIES--NELLY, THE SHREW; MARIA DANCES +SOOSIE +BLUE SHIRT +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD +EAGLE'S-NEST FLOAT +NATURE IN RETALIATION +"STAR RUN ABOUT" +BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + HOOKS + NARCOTICS AND POISONS + FLY-FISHING + + +PART III--MISCELLANEA. + + +PEARLS + WHAT IS A PEARL? + A PEARL IN THE MAKING + STRANGE PEARLS + PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE +THE BUSH TRACK +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN +UP AND AWAY +"PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING" +TIME'S FINGER +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +AT HOME ON THE TROPIC STRAND +"DEBIL-DEBIL" +NATURE'S PUZZLE: FIND THE BIRD +ORCHID (PHAIUS GRANDIFOLIUS) +ORCHID (BULBOPHYLLUM BAILEYI) +A SPIDER CRAB +A SPIDER CRAB DISGUISED +CASUARINAS +TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA +MACARANGA TANARIUS +UMBRELLA TREE SHADOWS +SUN-SALUTED TREE FERNS +"THE LOWING HERD" +PERFECT HAPPINESS +GIGANTIC OYSTER (OSTREA CRISTA GALLI) +SANDSPIT SWIRL +GLOOM AND GLEAM +COWRIES +"SOOSIE'S" TYPE +TAPES +LEAF VARIATIONS (FICUS OPPOSITA) TYPICAL FORM RIGHT HAND TOP CORNER +TELLINA +A SHELL COLLECTION +TRITON +DOMESTIC DUTIES +PEARL-ENTOMBED FISH AND RACEMOSE PEARL +CATTIERS +PEARL-IMPRISONED CHITON +TWO STRANGE PEARLS +TWO BUBBLE SHELLS +PEARL JOSSES +WHITE APPLE (EUGENIA CORMIFLORA) +CYCADS +DESERTED +CYCAD AND PALMS +WIND-TORMENTED FIG-TREE +THE IDLE OCEAN + + + + + + + +PART I--SUN DAYS + + + + +IN IDLE MOMENT + + + +"'Are you not frequently idle?' 'Never, brother. When we are not engaged +in our traffic we are engaged in our relaxations.'"--BORROW. + +On the smooth beaches and in the silent bush, where time is not +regulated by formalities or shackled by conventions, there delicious +lapses--fag-ends of the day to be utilised in a dreamy mood which +observes and accepts the happenings of Nature without disturbing the +shyest of her manifestations or permitting 'the-mind to dwell on any but +the vaguest speculations. + +Such idle moments are mine. Let these pages tell of their occupation. + +As the years pass it is proved that the administration of the affairs of +an island, the settled population of which is limited to three, involves +pleasant though exacting duties. It is a gainful government--not +gainful in the accepted sense, but in all that vitally matters--personal +freedom, absence of irksome regulations remindful of the street, liberty +to enjoy the mood of the moment and to commune with Nature in her most +fascinating aspects. Those who are out of touch with great and dusty +events may, by way of compensation, be the more sensitive to the +processes of the universe, which, though incessantly repeated, are +blessed with recurrent freshness. + +The sun rises, travels across a cloudless sky, gleams on a sailless sea, +disappears behind purple mountains gilding their outline, and the day is +done. Not a single dust-speck has soiled sky or earth; not the faintest +echo of noisy labours disturbed the silences; not an alien sight has +intruded. What can there be in such a scene to exhilarate? Must not +the inhabitants vegetate dully after the style of their own bananas? +Actually the day has been all too brief for the accomplishment of +inevitable duties and to the complete enjoyment of all too alluring +relaxations. + +Here is opportunity to patronise the sun, to revel in the companionship +of the sea, to confirm the usage of beaches, to admonish winds to +seemliness and secrecy, to approve good-tempered trees, to exchange +confidences with flowering plants, to claim the perfumed air, to rejoice +in the silence-- + + "Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which pries not to th' interior." + +How oft is the confession that the fullest moments of life are achieved +when I roam the beaches with little more in the way of raiment than +sunburn and naught in hand save the leaves of some strange, sand-loving +plant? Then is it that the individual is magnified. The sun salutes. The +wind fans. The sea sighs a love melody. The caressing sand takes print +of my foot alone. All the world might be mine, for none is present to +dispute possession. The sailless sea smiles in ripples, and strews its +verge with treasures for my acceptance. The sky's purity enriches my +soul. Shall I not joy therein? + +Though he may be unable to attain those moments of irresistible +intuition which came to Amiel, when a man feels himself great like the +universe and calm like a god, one may thrill with love and admiration +for Nature without resigning sense of superiority over all other of her +works or abating one jot of justifiable pride. + +Even in tropical Queensland there is a sense of revivification during +the last half of August and first of September, and the soul of man +responds thereto, as do plants and birds, in lawful manner. Perhaps it +is that the alien dweller in lands of the sun, when he frisks mentally +and physically at this sprightly season, is merely obeying an imperative +characteristic bred into him during untold generations when the winter +was cruelly real and spring a joyful release from cold and distress. The +cause may be slight, but there is none to doubt the actual awakening, +for it is persuasive and irresistible. + +The lemon-trees are discarding the burden of superfluous fruit with +almost immoderate haste, for the gentle flowers must have their day. +Pomeloes have put forth new growth a yard long in less than a fortnight, +and are preparing a bridal array of blooms such as will make birds +and butterflies frantic with admiration and perfume the scene for the +compass of a mile. The buff-and-yellow sprays of the mango attract +millions of humming insects, great and small. Most of the orchids are +in full flower, the coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of +bud, loose bunches of white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and +the sunflower-tree is blotched with gold in masses. The birds make +declaration of attachment for the season. + +Great trees, amorous birds, frail insects, perceive the subtle influence +of the season, and shall not coarse-fibred man rejoice, though there +be little or nothing to which he may point as special evidence of +inspiration? He may feel the indefinable without comprehending any +material reason why. He may confess, although there is but a trifle more +sunshine than a month ago--and what influence a trifle where there is +so much--and scarcely any difference of temperature, that Nature is +insisting on obedience to one of her mighty laws--the law of heredity. +Why, therefore, refrain from justifying the allusion? Why persist in +declining the invitations of the hour? Far be it from me to do so. Is +sufferance the cognizance of this Free Isle? + +All my days are Days of the Sun. All my days are holy. Duty may suggest +the propriety of contentment within four walls. Inclination and the +thrill of the season lure me to gloat over the more manifest of its +magic. Be sure that, unabashed and impenitent, shall I riot over +sordid industry during the most gracious time of year to hearken to the +eloquence and accept the teachings of unpeopled spaces. + +Such is the silence of the bush that the silken rustle of the +butterflies becomes audible and the distinctive flight of birds is +recognised--not alone such exaggerated differences as the whirr of +quail, the bustle of scrub fowl, and the whistle and clacking of nutmeg +pigeons, but the delicate and tender characteristics of the wing +notes of the meeker kinds of doves and the honey-eaters, and also the +calculated flutterings of the fly-catchers. In the whistling swoop of +the grey goshawk there is a note of ominous blood-thirstiness, silent +though the destroyer has sat awaiting the moment for swift and decisive +action. + +Seldom, even on the stillest evening, may the presence of the night-jar +be detected, except by its coarse call, while the sprightly little +sun-bird flits hither and thither, prodigal of its vivid colours +and joying with machine-like whirring. The sun-bird exemplifies the +brightness of the day. All its activities are bold and conspicuous. +Aptly named, it has nothing to hide, no deeds which will not withstand +the scrutiny of the vividest rays. + +To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on secret doings and on +flight soft as a falling leaf. It is a bird of the twilight and night. +Startled from brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is +ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad daylight it +moves from its resting-place as a leaf blown by an erratic and sudden +puff, and vanishes as it touches the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. +Mark the spot of its vanishment and approach never so cautiously, and +you see naught. Peer about and from your very feet that which had been +deemed to be a shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a phantom +zephyr. + +The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains a puzzle. It moves +not, it may not blink. Its crafty parent has so nibbled and frayed the +edges of the decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that it has +become absorbed in the scene. There is nothing to distinguish between +the leaf-like feathers and the feather-like leaves. The instinct of +the bird has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, and to +be discovered only by the critical inspection of every inch of its +environment. You have found it; but not for minutes after its instinct +has warned it to possess its soul calmly and not to be afraid. So firm +is its purpose that if inadvertently you put your foot on its tender +body it would not move or utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated +on impassiveness, and thus does Nature guard its weakest and most +helpless offspring. + +While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the tiny creature which +suffers handling without resistance, the shred of bark, driven by the +imperceptible zephyr, falls a few yards away, and in an agony of anxiety +utters an imploring purr, or was it an imprecation? That half purr, half +hiss has been the only sound of the episode. It is a warning to be gone +and leave Nature to her secrets and silences. + +A month's abstinence may not be a very severe penance for an island on +which the rainfall averages 124 inches per year; but when vegetation +suffers from the cruelty of four almost rainless months, promises and +slights amount to something more than mere discourtesy. How genuine +the thanksgiving to the soft skies after an incense-stimulating shower. +Insects whirl in the sunshine. Among the pomelo-trees is a cyclone of +scarcely visible things. Motes and specks of light dance in disorderly +figures, to be detected as animated objects only by gauzy wings catching +the light and reflecting it. Each insect, wakened but an hour ago by +the warmth of the moist soil, in an abandonment of the moment, is a +helioscope transmitting signals of pure pleasure. Drops still linger +on myriads of leaves, and glitter on the glorious gold of the Chinese +laburnum; the air is saturated with rich scents, and the frolicking +crowd, invisible but for the oblique light, does not dream of disaster. +Their crowded hour has attracted other eyes, appreciative in another +sense. Masked wood-swallows, swiftlets, spangled drongos, leaden +fly-eaters, barred-shouldered fly-eaters, hurry to the circus to +desolate it with hungry swoops. The assemblage is noisy, for two or +three drongos cannot meet without making a clatter on the subject of the +moment. They cannot sing, but clink and jangle with as much intensity +and individual satisfaction as if gifted with peerless note. It is the +height of the season, and a newly matched pair, satisfied with an +ample meal, sit side by side on a branch to tell of their love, and +in language which, though it may lack tunefulness, has the outstanding +quality of enthusiasm. But why waste clamorous love-notes on a world +busy with breakfast? The sportful, tail-flicking dandy flits and alights +so that he may address himself solely to his delighted and accepting +spouse, peering into her reddish eyes the while, and in ecstasy +proclaiming, in tones as loud and unmusical as her own, that life +overflows with joy when mutual admiration surcharges the breast. + +The noise stays a company of metallic starlings in headlong flight from +the nest-laden tree in the forest to the many-fruited jungle. Though +they most conscientiously search the fronds of coco-nut palms for +insignificant grubs and caterpillars, starlings do not hawk for insects. +Held up by the excitement--for by this time other birds have darted +to the feast--the starlings alight among the plumes of the laburnum, +interrogating in acidulous tones, their black, burnished, iridescent +feathers and flame-hued eyes making a picture of rare vividness and +beauty. + +How thin becomes the throng! Last night's shower, the morning warmth of +the soil, have brought forth a gush of life that wheels and sparkles in +the sun and becomes bait for birds. Are droughts designed by Nature to +test endurance on the part of animal and vegetable life? Leaves fall +from evergreen trees almost as completely as from the deciduous, and +even the jungle is thickly strewn, while every slight hollow is filled +with brittle debris where usually leaves are limp with dampness and +mould. The jungle has lost, too, its rich, moist odours. Whiffs of the +pleasant earthy smell, telling of the decay of clean vegetable refuse, +do issue in the early morning and after sundown; but while the sun is +searching out all the privacies of the once dim area, the wholesome +fragrance does not exist. + +Drought proves that certain species of exotic plants are hardier than +natives. Wattles suffer more than mangoes, and citrus fruits have powers +of endurance equal to eucalyptus. Whence does the banana obtain the +liquid which flows from severed stem and drips from the cut bunch? Dig +into the soil and no trace of even dampness is there; but rather parched +soil and unnatural warmth, almost heat. Heat and moisture are the +elements which enable one of the most succulent of plants to bear a +bunch of fruit luscious and refreshing, and when heat alone prevails, +the wonder is that the whole patch of luxuriant greenness does not +collapse and wither. But the broad leaves woo the cool night airs, and +while the thin, harsh, tough foliage of the wattles becomes languid and +droops and falls, the banana grove retains its verdancy, each plant a +reservoir of sap. + +A noteworthy feature of the botany of the coast of tropical Queensland +is its alliance with the Malayan Archipelago and India. Most of the +related plants do not occur in those parts closest to other equatorial +regions in the geographical sense, but in localities in which climate +and physical conditions are similar. Probably there are more affinities +in the coastal strip of which this isle is typical than in all the +rest of the continent of Australia. One prominent example may be +mentioned-viz., "the marking-nut tree." When the distinctiveness of +the botany of the southern portions of Australia from that of the old +country began to impress itself on the earliest settlers, the miscalled +native cherry was the very first on the list of reversals. The good +folks at home were told that the seeds of the Australian cherry "grow +on the outside." The fruit of the cashew or marking-nut tree betrays +a similar feature in more pronounced fashion. The fruit is really the +thickened, succulent stalk of the kidney-shaped nut. The tint of the +fruit being attractive, unsophisticated children eat of it and earn +scalded lips and swollen tongues, while their clothing is stained +indelibly by the juice. Botanists know the handsome tree as SEMECARPUS +AUSTRALIENSIS, but by the indignant parent of the child with tearful +and distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the +"tar-tree," and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk +beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but +the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so +that unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree, +which belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and +there are those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in +other parts of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a +valuable means to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. +A tree that is ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty +and strange fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, +is not to be condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character. + +An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when +roasted is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail +or promotion nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially +indigestible unless eaten in immoderate quantity. + +One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family +exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer +fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion +arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of +varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable +inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to +credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while +individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral +lobes, with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal +forms tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. +There seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches +exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are, +according to local observation, invariably barren. The leaves, which, +when young, are densely hairy on the underside, on maturity become so +rough and coarse that they are used by the blacks as a substitute for +sandpaper in the smoothing of weapons. The fruit is small, dark purple +when ripe, sweet, but rough to the palate. + +During the fulness of the wet season, a diminutive orchid, the roots, +tuber, leaf, and flower of which may be easily covered by the glass of a +lady's watch, springs upon exposed shoulders of the hills. So far it +has not been recorded for any other part of Australia, or, indeed, the +world. Science has bestowed upon it the title of CORYSANTHES FIMBRIATA, +for it is all too retiring of disposition to demand of man a familiar +name. Probably it may be quite common in similar localities, but its +size, its brief periodicity, and inconspicuousness, contribute to make +it, at present, one of the rarities of botany. Beneath a kidney-shaped +leaf a tiny, solitary, hooded, purple flower shelters with becoming +modesty, the art of concealment being so delicately employed that it +seems to preserve its virginal purity. There is proof, however, that the +flower does possess some "secret virtue," for if the plant be immersed +in glycerine the preservative takes the hue of the flower. Nature having +ordained that the plants should be elusive, they appear in remote spots +and unlikely situations with foothold among loose and gritty fragments +of rock, and with cessation of the sustaining rains disappear, each +having borne but a single leaf and produced but a solitary flower. +The leaf does not seem to be attractive to insects, nor is the flower +despoiled or the tuber interfered with. The first dry day sears the +plants, and succeeding days shrivel them to dust and they vanish. What +part in the great scheme of Nature does the humble flower fulfil? Or is +it merely a lowly decoration, not designed to court the ardent gaze of +the sun, but to brighten an otherwise bare space of Mother Earth with a +spot of fugitive purple? + +Widely different are the ant-house plants, of which North Queensland has +two genera. One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree +like many of the orchids. In both genera the gouty stems are hollow, a +feature of which ants take advantage; they are merely occupiers, not the +makers of their homes. Few, if any, of the plants are uninhabited by +a resentful swarm, ready to attack whomsoever may presume to interfere +with it. It is discomposing to the uninitiated to find the curious +"orchid," laboriously wrenched from a tree, overflowing with stinging +and pungent ants, nor is he likely to reflect that the association +between the plant and the insect may be more than accidental. + +Some of the commonest wattles exhibit singularity of foliage well +worth notice. Upon the germination of the seeds the primary leaves are +pinnate. After a brief period this pretty foliage is succeeded by a +boomerang-shaped growth, which prevails during life. Botanists do not +speak of such trees as possessing leaves, but "leaf-stalks dilated into +the form of a blade and usually with vertical edges, as in Australian +acacias." If one of these wattles is burnt to the ground, but yet +retains sufficient life to enable it to shoot from the charred stem, the +new growth will be of pinnate leaves, shortly to be abandoned for the +substitutes, which are of a form which checks transpiration and fits +the plant to survive in specially dry localities. Several of the species +thus equipped to withstand drought are extremely robust in districts +where the rainfall is prolific. There are no data available to support +the theory that such species in a wet district are more vigorous and +attain larger dimensions than representatives in drier and hotter +localities. In her distribution of the Australian national flower, +Nature seems to be "careless of the type," or rather regardless in +respect of conditions of climate. + +Human beings, and occasionally animals lower in the scale, deviate +distressingly in their conduct from the general. Plants, too, though +lacking the organ of brain, are subject to aberrations of foliage almost +as fantastical as the mental bent which in man is displayed by the +sticking of straws in the hair. "Phyllomania" is the recognised term for +this waywardness. One of the trees of this locality, the raroo (CAREYA +AUSTRALIS), seems singularly prone to the infirmity, for without +apparent cause it abandons habitual ways and clothes its trunk and +branches with huge rosettes of small, slight, and ineffective leaves, +evidence, probably, of vital degeneration. + +Among the beautiful trees of this Island there is one, PITHECOLOBIUM +PRUINOSUM, possessing features of attraction during successive phases of +growth. The young branches, foliage, and inflorescence, are coated with +minute silky hair, as if dusted with bronze of golden tint. The dense, +light, semi-drooping foliage produces a cloud-like effect, to which the +great masses of buff flowers add a delightful fleeciness, while the ripe +pods, much twisted and involved (to carry similitude as far as it +may), might be likened to dull lightning in thunderous vapour. The tree +flourishes in almost pure sand within a few yards of salt water, and, +being hardy and of clean habit, might well be used decoratively. + +Standing with its feet awash at high tide, the huge fig-tree began life +as a parasite, the seed planted by a beak-cleaning bird in a crevice of +the bark of its forerunner. In time the host disappeared, embraced and +absorbed. Now the tree is a sturdy host. Another fig envelops some +of its branches, two umbrella-trees cling stubbornly to its sides, a +pandanus palm grows comfortably at the base of a limb, tons of staghorn, +bird's-nest, polypodium, and other epiphytal ferns, have licence +to flourish, orchids hang decoratively, and several shrubs spring +aspiringly among its roots. But the big tree still asserts its +individuality. It is the host, the others merely dependents or tenants. +Most of the functions of the tree are associated with the sea. Twice a +year it studs its branches with pink fruit, food for many weeks for a +carnival of birds, the relics of the feast dully carpeting the sand. +Before the first fruiting the old leaves fall, and for a brief interval +the shadows of branches and twigs, intricate, involved, erratic, might +be likened to unschooled scribblings, with here a flourish and there +a blot and many a boisterous smudge. Soon--it is merely a question of +days--the swelling buds displace millions of leaf-sheaves, pale green +and fragile, which fall and, curling in on themselves, redden, and again +the yellow sand is littered, while overhead fresh foliage, changing +rapidly from golden, glistening brown to rich dark green, makes one +compact blotch. And when the wind torments sea and forest, and branches +bend and sway, and creepers drift before it, the white blooms of the +orchids, so light and delicate that a sigh agitates them, might be "foam +flakes torn from the fringe of spray" and tossed aloft. + +The technical description of a fairly common tree--IXORA TIMORENSIS--is +silent on a quality that appeals to the unversed admirer almost as +strongly as the handsome flowers, which occur in large, loose panicles +at the terminals of the branches. Boldly exposed, the white flowers as +they lose primal freshness change to cream, but last for several weeks. +The omitted compliment from formal records is the singular fragrance +of the flowers--strong, sweet, and enticing, though with a drug-like +savour, as if rather an artificial addition than a provision of Nature. +During December the perfume hangs heavily about the trees, being +specially virile in the cool of evening and morning. Being confined to +the tropical coast, away from the centres of population, and flowering +at a season when visitors avoid the north, the scented Ixora has so far +remained uncommended. Those who are familiar with it in its native scene +dwell on its unique excellence, and are proud to reflect that when +a comprehensive catalogue of the flowering and perfumed plants of +Australia comes to be compiled it will stand high in order of merit, +being unique and characteristic of the richness of that part of the +continent in which it exists naturally. + +Twice during lengthy intervals have I been perturbed by the conduct of +the sea-swallows (terns) which breed in this neighbourhood. They select +for their nurseries coral banks, depositing large numbers of eggs beyond +the limit of high tides. In obedience to some law, the joyful white +birds began to lay in September, five or six weeks earlier than usual. +It seemed to be a half-hearted effort to maintain the strength of the +colony, the unanimous and general purpose being postponed for three +months, when numerous clutches and marvellously variegated eggs +embellished the coral. But that which was a perfectly safe and wise +undertaking in September was a foolish and dangerous experiment in +December. The tides then approach their maximum, flooding areas denied +three months previously. Wholesale tragedy was inevitable. The full +moon brought bereavement to many parents, for the sea overwhelmed the +nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise birds had laid their eggs +above the limit of the highest tide. Others screamed in protest against +the cruelty of the sea, for eggs and fluffy chicks do not surely +represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several fledglings were found +half buried in sand and coral chips, some with merely the head with +bright and apprehensive eyes obtruding. Why were not the whole of +the parents of the colony prudent when in default the penalty was +inevitable? Five score were wise, five hundred were foolish, and +the natural increase from the second brood must have been seriously +diminished. Several of the parent birds had brooded over their eggs +until overwhelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide limit +squatted buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. Of one the tip of a +wing only protruded. It was alive, fostering unbroken eggs. + +The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite tree--not massive +and tough, but a slim though tall Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets of +which are not notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, +beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise highly intelligent birds +so overstrain branches with groups of nests that "regrettable incidents" +cannot be averted? First there came to the ground a group of four, and +then twenty nests, all containing eggs or helpless young. By these and +similar mishaps during the season the colony suffered loss to the extent +of at least a hundred. + + "But, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather on the outward wall + Even in the force and road of casualty." + +How often, too, do we find nests in places absurdly wrong? Wonderfully +and skilfully constructed nests are attached to supports obviously +weak, and eggs are laid on the ground right in the track of man and less +considerate animals. Some birds seem to lay eggs and rear young solely +that snakes may not lack and suffer hunger, while how large a proportion +of beautiful and innocent creatures are destined to become prey to +hawks? + +Years ago scientific visitors to a coral islet found almost innumerable +sea birds and eggs. The multitude of birds and their prodigious +fecundity inspired the thought that the "rookery" for the whole breadth +of the Indian Ocean had been discovered. Investigations showed that the +islet was also the abiding-place of a certain species of lizard which +subsisted entirely on eggs. It was calculated that not one egg in +several hundred was hatched out; yet in spite of such an extraordinary +natural check the islet was enormously overpopulated. Thousands of birds +every year laid eggs for the maintenance of fat and pompous reptiles, +without reflecting that there were other and lizardless isles on which +the vital function of incubation might be performed without loss. +Years after other men of science sought the isle. Birds seemed to be as +numerous as ever, but the lizards had disappeared. Had the birds been +wise enough to perceive that the plague of lizards had been sent as +reproof for overcrowding, or did the lizards become victims to physical +deterioration incident upon gluttony and sloth? + +"Into every instinctive act there is an intrusion of reasoned act." +No doubt; but in the case of the terns--sea-frequenting and +sea-loving--which had not the wit to lay their eggs beyond the reach of +spring tides, the reasoning is the merest intrusion. Yet an instance of +what seems to be the reasoned act of a wasp may be cited. The insect had +selected a dead log of soft wood as a site for its egg-shaft. It was at +a spot to which the occupations of the season took me daily, so that the +boring operations were watched from beginning to end. The work was done +rapidly and neatly, and when all was ready for the deposit of the eggs +the insect constructed from papier-mache-like material a disc-shaped lid +exactly fitting the mouth of the excavation, to which it was attached on +its upper edge by a hinge. Then round and about the disc similar stuff +was plastered, so as to form an irregular splash, imitative of a bird's +droppings to the-degree of perfect deception. In the centre was the lid +with the hinge, and whensoever the insect visited its nursery the lid +swung up, closing behind it. On departure it fell into position. Unless +the insect by its presence betrayed its secret, the shrewdest observer +at close quarters would have been misled. + +There are reasons for the belief that green tree-ants understand and +respect the laws of neutrality. There are several communities in the +mango-trees, and since some of the trees overhang the fence, the top +wire is used as a highway. When a gate is opened traffic is suspended. +In a minute or two of a busy day there will be considerable gatherings +on the latch-style, and if the intervening space is narrowed by the +swing of the gate the impatient insects begin to make a living bridge +across the perilous gap. At one particular gate, which is opened and +shut many times a day, it has been noticed that the ants never seem to +resent interruptions or to be vexed by them. If they happen to get on +the hands or fingers, they submit to be restored to the gate; but go +to the formicary on the mango-tree half a dozen yards away and offer +a friendly finger, and you will find dozens of pugnacious individuals +ready to defend their home. Do they recognise that they are but pilgrims +of the fence, enjoying certain rights on sufferance, that it is a path +of peace on which belligerents must not intrude, a neutral tract under +the custody of the law of nations, which ants, as well as men, must +respect? Whatsoever the reason, the deportment of the truculent ant on +the highway is that of an upholder of peace at any price. It is to be +doubted if the animal world holds more illustrious examples of heroism +than a green tree-ants' nest. Two or three individuals may be despised +as long as their assaults are confined to the less sensitive parts of +the body; but let a huge colony up among the branches of an orange-tree +be disturbed, and the first army corps instantly mobilised, and it +will not be cowardly hastily to retreat. So eager for the fray are +the warriors, so well organised, so completely devoted to the +self-sacrificing duty of protecting the community, that two distinct +methods of advance and attack are exercised forthwith in the midst of +what appears to be calamitous confusion. Swarming on the extremity of +the branches among which the formicary is constructed, the defenders, +projecting their terminal segments as far into space as possible, eject +formic acid in the direction of the enemy. Like shrapnel from machine +guns, the liquid missile sweeps a considerable area. Against the +sunlight it appears as a continuous spray, and should one infinitesimal +drop descend into the eye the stoutest mortal will blink. Attacks are +made singly and in detachments. Heroes actually hurl themselves from +the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run along the ground and, +scaling his legs, inflict punishment on the first convenient patch of +unprotected skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in a mass to +the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes happens to be +successful, the observant man will retire with little of his dignity +remaining. + +It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire tastes for the sweet +fruits which man cultivates. One of the honey-eaters, the diet of which +ranges from nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, as +bitter as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate for the thorough +ripening of bananas. While on the plant the fruit is not appreciated, +but after the bunch has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits +are changing colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly bunches were +ripened in a thatched building for the the most part open, and the bird +got the very best of the bunch. Now the process takes place where the +bird has to venture through wire-netting. It has no fear, entering +without ceremony, loudly complaining when inadvertently disturbed, and +flying to other parts of the house to express remonstrance when the +supply is exhausted. + +Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of observation of some +birds and increases the trustfulness of certain species towards human +beings in a region wherein they are held to have rights on equality with +those of their superiors in the animal world. For years, during the few +weeks which generally intervene between the disappearance of +accustomed water reserves and the beginning of the wet season, with +its super-abundance, the metallic starlings have been wont to obtain +refreshment from a hollow far up a huge tea-tree, the supply in which +seemed to be inexhaustible. The tyrant's plea, necessity, ordained the +destruction of the never-failing tree, and now the starlings descend by +the hundred into the deep and shady ravine whence water is pumped, +and drink also from the cattle-trough and bathe therein with noise and +excitement of happy children on the beach. It is quite within the mark +to compute the starlings by the hundred. The trough is edged nearly all +day long by thirsty or dirty birds, while scores sit round among the +shrubs waiting turn and commenting on the frolics and splashings of +others in excitable tones. When, perhaps, there are but a poor dozen or +so round the trough, you may chance to see the birds in attitudes more +varied than those of Pliny's doves, and catch the shadows of burnished +necks darkening the water, as in that famous mosaic, and even the +glistening reflection of the red, jewel-like eyes. Other birds, with far +less assurance and shrill clamour than the lovely starlings, visit +the trough regularly and by the score. Two species of honey-eaters are +seldom unrepresented. The barred-shouldered dove, the spangled drongo, +the noisy pitta, the red-crowned fruit pigeon, the pheasant-tailed +pigeon, are less frequent visitors; and though the purple-breasted +fruit pigeon--the most magnificent of all--talks to his mate in coarse +gutturals from the trees above, he has not been seen actually drinking. +So shy and furtive a bird would choose his time for refreshment when +there is little likelihood of interruption. In the ravine there are +often metallic starlings by the dozen, and little green pigeons--for +those domiciled come and go at all hours of the day. Occasionally a +sulphur-crested cockatoo comes sailing down to the diminishing pool +through interwoven leafage noiselessly as a butterfly; but scrub +fowls, scared by the apparition in white, scamper off with a clatter, +scattering the dead leaves. In such narrow quarters, birds are under +restraint, and show anxiety and apprehension. There is no sport or +play. They drink quickly and with faculties strained, and flutter off +excitedly on the least alarm. Well may they be suspicious, for is +not the cool spot attractive to the sly enemy, the green snake, which +conceals its presence by faithful resemblance to the creepers among +which it glides? Here, too, come millions of industrious bees, and in +the dusk the big pencil-tailed water-rat, which the masterful dog kills +with as little ceremony as he does the bird-scaring snakes. + +It was late for cockatoos to start on their daily flight to the mainland +from the big tree close to the twin palms half-way up the hill, and +as they flew hastily and in close company they scolded each other in +unmannerly terms. The language must have been vexing, for as they sped +along far above the passionless sea one jostled the other. It was just +the sort of action to provoke hungry, peevish birds to vindictiveness. +That which had been jostled turned on the offender with angry +shrieking, and instantly a clamorous fight was in progress. Claws became +interlocked, and they fell each with distended crest, like a gilt-edged +cloudlet following the setting sun. Shadow and substance met with a +splash. The sea momentarily swallowed the combatants. Then a yellow note +of exclamation appeared, and with laboured flutterings, using his +enemy as a base, one rose and struggled to the beach oaks. Frantic +wing-beating showed that the other bird was in serious difficulties. +It was a hundred yards out, but the enjoyment of a sunbath after a sea +frolic enabled one to proceed to the rescue without preliminaries. Half +drowned and completely cowed, the bird was now confronted by a more +awful peril than that of the sea. A bedraggled crest indicated horror +at the steady approach of the enemy man, whose presence stimulated the +sodden bird to such extraordinary efforts that it succeeded in rising +and in making slow, low flight to the beach. + +At dawn a bat flew into a spider's web spun during the night, the +extremities of the wings being so entangled that struggling was almost +impossible. A big spider pounced on it. Not a minute elapsed from the +entanglement until the bat was released, but the venom of the spider had +done its work. There was not a sign of life. The spider is dark grey +in colour, bloated of body, slothful, and of most retiring disposition. +Huddled up into almost spherical form, it lurks in dark places, which it +soon makes insanitary. In the open it crouches among dead leaves which +have gathered in the fork of a tree, and will construct a web which +spans the coconut avenue with its stays. From one aspect its rotund body +invites a good-humoured smile, for the marking exactly simulates the +features of a tabby cat, well fed, sleepy, and in placid mood. Venom +of virulence to kill a bat almost instantly would be severe enough to a +human being. This dirty, obese spider deserves little consideration at +the hand of man. + +A moonless, cloudless night. The little praam takes the ground in the +bay a few yards from the beach, and in the midst of a constellation of +"jelly-fishes" spherical in form and varying in size. The larger are so +many pale blue orbs floating lazily in a luminous mist, the only visible +manifestation of life being a delicate but rhythmical deepening of the +central hue. The wash of my wading seems not to affect them. I become +conscious of the sudden appearance and swift disappearance of lesser +spheres of startling brilliance. They emerge from nothingness, pause +for a moment, and shoot towards me with extraordinary impulse. Each is +a mere globule, resplendently blue. The tint intensifies as with +accelerated velocity the atom flies until of its own excessive energy +it explodes with a shell-like flash, leaving a sinuous trail of +golden light. To burst into sight, gather force, to flash and slowly +vanish--such is the sum of life of a speck of sea-jelly. To be the +centre towards which scores of the watery meteors gravitate, to +witness their apparently spontaneous beginning, their swift, brief, but +ineffectual career and lingering end, delights this night of darkness. +How many of the race of man are there whose post-mortem glory outshines +life tenfold? + +Beneath a slab of dead coral on the reef there was revealed one of those +primitive and curious marine animals which has no common name, but +which science recognises as SYNAPTA BESELLI. It is a relation of the +beche-de-mer, of snake-like form, with a group of gills differentiating +the head. Playing about it were three or four little fish which +immediately took advantage of the only remaining cover, the body of the +Synapta, snoodling beside it so artfully that they were quite concealed. +The protector did not appear to resent the close company of the fish, +which remained perfectly motionless. In a few seconds the Synapta +began to extrude its feathery gills, which had been partly retracted on +disturbance. I counted the gills, and while my forefinger indicated the +sixth, a little fish, not previously noticed, appeared at the focus +and edged off to the margin of the pool, now and again making decided +efforts to regain its sanctuary. It was about an inch long and a third +deep, ruby red, with pink undersides and pink, transparent fins. Three +narrow bands of silver edged with lavender extended across the shoulder. +Life gave it jewel-like lustre. The companionship between the slow +and feeble Synapta, one of the most primitive of sea things, and the +brilliant, agile fish may be another instance of commensalism. + +No one who parades a coral reef can fail to be impressed by the various +means adopted by its weaker denizens to evade the consequences of +conspicuousness. Among the vast multitude of creatures, mostly hostile +to each other, few are more remarkable than the crabs, not only on +account of form and habit, but for care of themselves during the +periodic casting of their shells. They therefore represent an +entertaining study and a never-ending source of pleasure to the +observer, who, as he happens on some fantastic member of the family, +wonders, remembering his Shakespeare, what impossible matter will Nature +make easy next. Dreamy little ripples were laying on the strands sprays +of seaweed, torn from the reef which was not quite out of the influence +of the easterly swell. The conditions were ordinary, but one fragment +made itself noticeable by slight, almost undiscernible, but still +distinctive efforts to regain the water, whence it was separated by a +few inches. Seaweed alone was visible as it rested on the palm of the +hand. Presently it moved hesitatingly and with infinite slowness, +and, being reversed, revealed itself as a "watery" crab under living +disguise. The specimen was sent to the Australian Museum, Sydney, where +it came under the hands of my friend Mr. Allan R. McCulloch, who devotes +himself to the phenomena of the sea; and since his references to it +are explicit and authoritative, they will be more acceptable than +generalities from an uninformed pen: "The crab you sent is the second +specimen known of ZEWA BANFIELDI, which I described from a dried +specimen received from you some years ago. Not only the species, but the +genus also, was unknown until you gave me the opportunity of describing +this interesting beast. It is one of the spider crabs, or Oxyrhynchus, +most of which have long horns projecting from the rostrum, and are more +or less thickly covered with stiff curled setae, to which seaweeds, +sponges, and other marine growths--selected according to the taste of +the bearer--are attached. When these crabs shed their shells, which they +must do periodically to allow of growth, they retire to a dark corner +and draw themselves out of a slit between the back and the abdomen, +legs and all, which must, I imagine, be a delicate and somewhat painful +proceeding. After emerging, they are, of course, quite soft, and the +setae on the carapace and legs are flexible. The crab then selects +choice bits of weed from its old shell and fastens them to itself by the +setae, which soon curl at the tips like the tendrils of a vine, and so +hold them firmly. The weeds and sponges, requiring no roots, but merely +a secure base, readily grow in their new position, and so cover their +host with a sheltering disguise, enabling it to sally forth in quest +of fresh loves and other adventures. I am sending the reprint with the +original description and figure, also a sketch of the crab with its +weedy garments. Much of the weed had become detached on its arrival +here, which is, perhaps, fortunate, since the sketch would otherwise +have shown merely a cluster of weeds." It could be well wished that the +specimen had retained the whole of its floral cloak, for then the sketch +would have shown its deceptive qualities in perfection. Masquerading as +a spray of seaweed, the crab eludes its enemies, the mask being of such +high order that even man, with his perceptions, does not penetrate it +unless he exercises his reasoning faculties. Because he knows that a +spray of seaweed is not endowed with independent movement, when it does +walk about he, at first, is as incredulous as was Macbeth when told of +that "moving grove" of Birman. + + + + +ETERNAL SUNSHINE + + + +"North Queensland is my country. I love it. I live in it. I would die +for it."--DODD S. CLARKE. + +To those who earnestly believe that a country exercises dominance over +its inhabitants, mental as well as physical, the present state of North +Queensland offers interesting problems. Save for a fast-disappearing +remnant, gone are the original occupiers of the land. The most +listless, the least thrifty of the old peoples, have given place to +representatives of the most adventurous, the most successful--men and +women of British blood, of progressive ideas, vaunting and independent +spirit, but with slight respect for the traditions of their race. Apt +to regard their own land as all-sufficient, to resent the incoming of +strangers (especially those of dark complexion), determined to exclude +coloured labour from tropical fields, while demanding higher and yet +higher recompense for work which in other equatorial regions is deemed +to be servile, on what grounds do they base the hope of adapting +themselves to their environment, of becoming children of the soil? + +The genius of the race forbids degeneracy. Marked and sudden improvement +may be expected if examples drawn from the lower animals and certain +plants are applicable. Huxley laid it down that "the animals and plants +of the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in +the Southern Hemisphere as its own autochones, but are in many cases +absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. +Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabits a country is +not necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions." +Australian aboriginals having given way before a race better fitted +to flourish, what will the future of the new race be? What ideal is at +present pursued? + +To one who firmly upholds the theory of the evolution of Australian +types, and who thinks he perceives convincing evidence in support of his +belief, it seems likely that on the tropical coast, where the influence +of the sun is all-powerful, rainfall abundant, and vegetation prolific, +the type will not only be more rapidly developed, but that it will be +pronounced in bodily form, in tongue, and in temperament. One of the +reasons compelling towards such conclusion is the decided desire--nay, +the ambition--on the part of native-born Australians to do glad and +seemly homage to the sun. + +If a traveller from distant and friendly lands were to accept as germs +of a type those who sport in the surf at fashionable watering-places, he +might infer from the display of brown backs and shoulders that Australia +had not escaped a smudge of aboriginal blood. But this ardently +cultivated tint is notoriously impermanent. Contradictory as it may be, +the most earnest advocates of the "White Australia" principle use more +than the average quantity of oil, which makes the skin to shine +and embrown under the influence of the much-loved sun. Do not their +shoulders bear testimony to the sun's wholesome salutations, and does +not the too fair and thin-skinned individual smart under his peeling +and display envy against the favoured ones who burn to the tint of +old copper? Naturally, those who have the most intense longing for a +coloured skin, who persistently seek to acquire it by exposure to +the sun seconded by anointings, will prevail. In the course of a few +generations--it would be idle to say how many--the type will be fixed +and the unguent superfluous; in the meantime the use of coco-nut oil +has become one of the confirmed customs of the country, as in Fiji and +elsewhere in the Pacific. + +If "beauty born of murmuring sound" may enhance the charms of +maidenhood, is it too much to expect that sunburn, fervently desired, +may not only permanently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of +the race? And thus in years to come the white Australian may be of +the past--transformed physically by the supremacy of soil and sun, +and improved in disposition and character by economic observances as +irrefutable as the laws of Nature. The horses of out dry, stony uplands +have already developed hoofs in shape and texture well adapted to the +country over which they roam, and have become surer-footed and more +active and durable. Conditions and circumstances which in a few +generations effect desirable changes in horses will assuredly be +influential in respect of the physique and stamina and moralities of +man. North Queensland will establish a type, just as Tierra del Fuego +did many centuries since, and the type will be that which is best fitted +to maintain itself. It will be brown of complexion, hardy and alert. +North Queensland is expansive and varied. It comprises a marvellous +range of geological phenomena, from which may be expected remarkable +variants. The sheep-grower of the treeless downs will differ from the +denizen of the steamy coast who supplies him with sugar and bananas. The +man from among the limestone bluffs may be in temperament strange to the +dweller on the black soil plains and to the individual who lives among +barren hills seamed with copper. Readers of English books and magazines +are familiar with the little prominence given to matters which stand for +good and worthiness and the stress laid on the seeming disadvantages of +life in tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may contain a series +of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying information concerning +country life in Canada. It is impossible not to visualise the miles +of wheat-fields, the imposing elevators, the railways cutting across +endless prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, snowcapped as a +stage effect merely. The pictures of chubby children and buxom girls and +sturdy boys tell of the healthfulness and invigorating qualities of the +climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada? Would not the man +who whispered of snow and ice be a renegade, a dastard, a rebel? North +Queenslanders do not attempt to belittle the reputation of Canada as a +field for the activities of the surplus population of the old country. +We are of the same blood and breed, and merely ask for a proper +understanding of our own good land. The comfort given to Canada is all +in the family, and an Empire which extends from pole to pole must needs +embrace differences of climate and productions. + +Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of Empire? Here we bear +our share stripped to the buff, while Canada bustles under an equally +honourable but heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic +son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of North Queensland noon; +while the sweatful North Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous +ice of his far-away cousin. + +The denizens of the different parts of the Empire quite understand +one another, and realise that to be great the Empire must disregard +temperatures as it does prickly heat and chilblains. Only the casual +visitor fails in this. + +Sun Days are essential to the production of sugar and bananas and +mangoes, to say nothing of pineapples and other fruits of the tropics. +When we are called upon to endure extraordinary heat, we tell one +another of the penance and find excuse for extra drinks. But neither +the heat nor the comparison of personal experiences is of the injurious +nature of some of the refreshments. The weather is not compounded of +excesses, but of means. Is it not true that few countries in the wide +world would be considered fit for habitation by human beings if the +character of the climate was estimated by its extremes? + +No North Queenslander will resent records of high temperatures. He will +be quite content to be shown enjoying and flourishing in the heat in +which sugar-cane thrives, for thereby is to be proved a fact theorists +seem unable to grasp--viz., that such is the soundness and virtue of the +British race that it adapts itself with equal success to the long, dark, +cold winter of Canada and the perpetual summer of North Queensland. +Who is to say that the Canadian in his thick woollens and furs is +a healthier subject, a worthier type, than the North Queenslander, +stripped to the waist in the full blaze of the sun, glorying in his own +vigour, proud of his magnificent heritage, and scornful of the +opinions of those who have never experienced that supreme zest of life +unpurchasable outside the tropic zone? + +With intent to picturesquely demonstrate that soil will tell, some are +ready to assert that we owe Christianity to the horizontal limestone +formation of Palestine. Accepting the theory with whole-hearted +enthusiasm, and admitting that North Queensland comprehends tracts of +country not dissimilar from the Holy Land, mark what the future may have +in store for the race. Do you want old age?--Methuselah, Noah, Isaac. +Strong men?--Gosselin, Samson, Saul. Beautiful women?--Ruth, Rebecca, +Esther. Does not David, the man after God's own heart, appeal? Was not +Solomon, the wise, the glorious, the prolific, a superior type? And, +with all reverence be it said, was not the Founder of the Christian +religion a solar product? + +Hotter lands beyond the bounds of Palestine gave to the world men and +women whose deeds and influence still astound and stimulate millions +of mankind--the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Pharaoh the Great, Moses the +leader, whom the Lord knew face to face, Joseph the organiser, Mahomet, +the benign Buddha, and all the sages, the poets, the historians, the +architects of the gorgeous East. May not those who elect to live in +lands of high temperature and who are strong in their faith cite apt +and illustrious precedents, and make bold to say that none has exercised +more influence on the minds and destinies of mankind than those born in +the lands of the Sun? + + + + +FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT + + + +"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant +to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise."--Holy Writ. + +While the remnant of the crop of citrus fruits still hangs on the trees, +after providing refreshing food for six months and more, the blooms +which promise next year's supplies decorate the branches. Is it not +pleasing to have such graceful promises before the burden of the passing +season has disposed of all its sweetness? Possibly these early flowers +are destined to produce fruit for the admiration of living things +upon which the gardener bestows anything but a welcome. It may come +to maturity just after the wet season, when flies and moths feast and +corrupt in riot which provokes to wrath. Inconsequent feeders, they +probe the fruit and flit away after a sip which does not absorb a +thousandth part of its keen juices, or they use a comely specimen in +which to deposit eggs, which in the course of Nature become grubs. All +such infected fruit the trees abandon until the ground is strewn with +waste. Such disaster happens when the air is favourable to the breeding +of quivering gauze wings; but there comes a time when the fruit suffers +little or no ill, and then the heart of the orchardist rejoices as does +that of the fisher when the wind comes up from the sea. Then does he +accept fine promises in good faith, for it has come to be the fashion +for certain varieties of citrus fruits to provide two crops, and the +second, which ripens about the beginning of August, the superior in +size, appearances generally, and distinctly in flavour. The fruit is +just as juicy as that which ripens when the air is saturated with the +moisture of the wet season, while its fragrance almost equals that +of the snowy flowers whence it sprang. These facts hasten to this +conclusion--that the orange-grower has something beyond mere money in +compensation for his toil. Can it be called toil? Does he not for the +most part, after the first and essential preliminaries are of the past, +permit Nature to have her own wayward will with his dutiful trees? Does +he always and invariably cut out the dead wood which tells of much too +strenuous efforts on their part to justify their existence and his care? +Does he attempt to exterminate the pretty flies which send to the ground +a certain percentage, while yet the fruit is immature and bitter? Does +he let the light of the caressing sun into the hearts of his pet trees +by removing superfluous twigs? Well does he know that if he tended them +as he should their bounty to him would be much magnified. Yet does +he dream on, accepting that which comes, admiring leafage, bloom, and +fragrant fruit, and always postponing the day when substantial aid and +credit should be given. There is something to be said in favour of this +happy attitude towards good-natured trees. Should it not suffice to +have given them monopoly and choice? Many others, and some of far +nobler proportions, have been exterminated for their special benefit and +advantage. They have been grown from seed of most highly complimented +fruit; their infancy and youth have been nurtured and protected; each +has been assigned its proper place with due regard to the welfare of +neighbours; less promising vegetation has been summarily checked; the +first flowers have been sniffed with high delight, the first fruits +sampled with extravagant praise. Having bestowed upon trees care and +attention, while they were yet mere sprouts of tender green, and admired +their sturdy development, and approved their best efforts, is it not +yours to accept whatsoever they offer as reward and recompense for past +labour and present appreciation? + +From the artistic standpoint the most admirable of all the citrus-trees +is the pomelo, which, however, lacks merit from the commercial side. +The tree grows more sedately than the orange or the mandarin, but on +a grander scale. The leaves are bigger, tougher, and the appendages +on either side of the stalk (which botanists call the stipules) more +developed. The blooms are greater, and endowed with a much richer +perfume than the orange; the fruit is huge and fragrant, though somewhat +disappointing to the individual who expects the sweetness of the +mandarin; while, if the views of the learned in such attributes are +trustworthy it possesses medicinal qualities which are foreign to its +dainty, diminutive relative. It would be mere affectation to refrain +from these compliments to the pomelo when the atmosphere is saturated +with the perfume from lusty trees. Certainly one has to wait patiently +for many a long year ere his trees greet him with white flowers which +pour out perfume of rare density and enrich him with golden fruit +almost as big as footballs. From nine to twelve years must elapse, but +expectancy is not wholly measurable by the arbitrariness of time. The +true standard is the desire, tempered by the patience of the custodian +of the trees. + +In August the pomeloes put on their most attractive appearances. The +young leaves of lively tint contrast with the almost sombre green of the +older foliage, and flowers in clusters give a most becoming adornment. +Big and beautiful as they are, scent is their most conspicuous feature. +Even in the open air it is rich almost to cloyness. It hangs about the +tree while the wind is still, and the slightest movement of the air +wafts it hither and thither. It stings sensitive folk with its intensity +at close quarters, but when diffused is fragrance of ethereal delight. +All day long birds frolic in the trees, some to cull the nectar, some +to search for insects attracted for like purpose, some to nibble and +discard white petals. All the moist soil beneath is strewn with snowy +flakes, for at night flying foxes blunder among the branches, destroying +more blooms than they eat. But why grumble? Birds which nip off petals +and musty foxes which brush down whole posies in their clumsiness are +but positive checks to overproduction. Do they not avert the unthankful +task of carting away dozens of barrow loads of superfluous fruit? Last +night at dusk there was a sensation of the coming of rain, though the +air was still and the sky clear. I paused under the trees to expand my +lungs with their scented breathings. A semi-intoxicated bird twittered +drowsily among the branches, + + "His happy good-night air, + Some blessed hope, whereof he knew, + And I was unaware." + +Dozens of sphinx moths--big torpedo-shaped bodies carried by wings of +soft brown and dull red--floated about, sipping where and when and as +long as they liked. Sometimes the sphinx has almost an aggressive tone +In his flight--hasty, important, brooking no interference. Last night's +note was of supreme content. A rich and overflowing feast was spread +and the insects hovered over the posies and sipped and fluted like +merry roysterers, without a care or thought of the morrow. It was a +love-feast, for the still night seemed to invite the trees to give of +their richest and best; the psalm of the insects was audible, not to the +distance whence the perfume was dissipated, but for many a scented yard. +The trees seemed sanctified, and I stood bare-headed among them and gave +my silent praise for a delightsome experience. Expectancy and patience +had been overpaid. + + + + +THE SCENE-SHIFTER + + + +"We are all going to the play or coming from it."--DICKENS. + + +In a few hours came "the season's difference." The scene-shifter worked +with almost magical haste, with silence, and with supreme effect. The +gloomy days and nights of misty hill-tops and damp hollows, where the +grass was sodden and the air dull and irresponsive to sound, gave way +to bright sunshine, cloudless skies, calm seas, echoing hills, and the +tinge of that which for lack of the ideal word we call "spring." Spring +does not visit the tropical coast, where vegetation does not tolerate +any period of rest. When plants are not actually romping with excess of +vital force, as during the height of the wet season, they grow with the +haste of summer. And yet immediately on the dispersal of the mists of +July the least observance could not fail to recognise that a certain and +elaborate change had taken place. The mango-trees had been flowering for +several weeks in a trivial, half-hearted way, but when the sun sent +its thrills down into the moist soil the lemons and pomeloes began to +sweeten the air; the sunflower-tree displayed its golden crowns among +huge soft leaves, and the last blooms of belated wattles fell, showing +that it is possible for tributes representative of May and September to +be paid on one and the same date. + +The scene-shifter came softly "as the small rain upon the tender herb," +but with an orchestra of his own. Years of observation have shown that +the weather does control the habits of some birds--birds of distinct and +regular methods of life. Two such are common--the nutmeg pigeon and the +metallic starling. Both species leave this part of the North during the +third week of March, flying in flocks to regions nearer the equator. +For several weeks the starlings train themselves for the long Northern +flight and its perils, dashing with impetuous speed through the forest +and wheeling up into the sky until they disappear, to become visible +again as black dots hurtling through space when the sunlight plays on +their glossy feathers as the course of the flock is changed. With the +rush of a wind of small measure but immense velocity, the flock descends +earthwards, among and over the trees, perfecting itself by trials of +endurance and intricate alertness. The birds return during the first +week in August, in small and silent companies, to reoccupy favourite +resorts in common. The nutmeg pigeons are also of exact habit, the time +for their return generally coinciding with that of the starlings. This +year (1916) both birds were noticed just after the scene-shifter had +swept the hills of mists, and now other birds seem to have awakened to +the conditions which the starlings and the nutmegs brought with them +from hotter lands. The swamp pheasants are whooping and gurgling, and +that semi-migratory fellow, the spangled drongo--a flattering name, for +he jangles but does not spangle--sits on the slim branch of the Moreton +Bay ash which held last year's nest and chatters discordances in the +very ears of his responsive mate. They will start building a loose nest +on the brittlest branch forthwith, and while the lady sits on her three +eggs he will screech defiances to the high heavens and perform aerial +gymnastics with delirious delight. + +The sun-birds are searching the lemon blooms. The breast of the gay, +assertive little bird is far richer in tint than the brightest of the +lemons. A minute ago one perched on a ripe fruit as if to shame it by +contrast, and the fruit has since seemed a trifle dull of tint, and with +light-hearted inconsequence the pair are now probing narrow throats of +papaw flowers. The ground has been too much overgrown with grass and +weeds for the comfort of the little green pigeons which come strutting +down the paths for seeds and crumbs. Dry soil, which may be easily +scanned and scratched, is more to their liking, so they keep to the +forest, where in some places the undergrowth of wattles is so dense that +the sun may not visit the ground, and the bare places glitter with seed. + +When rain was seriously deficient, proof was given that some proportion +of the wattle seeds eaten by pigeons are not digested. In the crevices +of logs supporting the water-trough, which proved to be a popular +refreshment spot of many species of birds, clamorous with thirst, seeds +were deposited, and when the rains came the trough was fringed and +decorated with pinnate leaves of sprouting wattles, some of which grew +so strongly, notwithstanding the absence of soil, save that which occurs +from the slow decay of seasoned bloodwood, that if summary measures had +not been taken the trough might have been embowered. The season seems to +have been too damp for the night-jars, though quite to the taste of +all species of pigeons. In the course of a few minutes the voice of +the timid, tremulous, barred-shouldered dove came from among the +yellow-flowered hibiscus of the beach, while the pheasant-tailed pigeon +sounded its rich, dual note, the red-crowned fruit pigeon tolled its +mournful chime, and the guttural of the magnificent fruit pigeon--often +heard, but seldom seen--came from the jungle close at hand. Not one of +these birds was visible, nor was the fluty-voiced shrike thrush, which +answers every strange call and mimics crude attempts to reproduce its +varied notes. The blue kingfisher is investigating the tumour made by +white ants in the bloodwood wherein the nest is annually excavated, +and soon the chattering notes of the pair will be heard. A week ago +few signs of the approach of the scene-shifter were discernible. He +has come, and plants and birds respond to his genial and becoming +presence--plants with richer growth and more abundant flowers, birds +with the unreflecting gaiety of nuptial days. + + + + +BEACH PLANTS + + + +"Remove the vegetable kingdom, or interrupt the flow of its unconscious +benefactions, and the whole higher life of the world ends."--HENRY +DRUMMOND. + + +Strolling on the curving footway of broken shells and coral chips +marking the limit of the morning's tide, a vague attempt was made to +catalogue the plants which crowd each other on the verge of salt water, +and so to make comparison with that part of Australia the features +of which provoked Adam Lindsay Gordon to frame an adhesive phrase +concerning bright scentless blossoms and songless, bright birds. +Excluding the acacias and eucalypts, said to have given sameness to +the scenes among which the exotic poet ranged, a long list might be +compiled; nor will the pleasant sounds of the afternoon be set down in +formal order to the vexing of his memory, for possibly he never heard +the whoop and gurgle of the swamp pheasant or the blended voices of +hundreds of nutmeg pigeons mellowed by half a mile of still, warm air. + +Nor may such unassuming vegetation as the grasses--at least a dozen +varieties--find place in an enumeration which appeals primarily on the +grounds of prominence, though it would not do to despise the soft and +pleasant carpet beneath the orderly row of Casuarinas which the tide +planted during the last big cyclone with gardener's art. The common +name for the trees--"she" (or "shea" oaks, as the late F. Manson Bailey +preferred)--mimics the sound of the wind among the branches, which the +slightest zephyr stirs and, the storm lashes into sea-like roar. The +bright green of the grasses sets off the dull green and bronze of the +steadfast harps of the beach. At certain seasons and in some lights, +when the sun is in the west, the minute scales at the joints of +the slender, pendulous branchlets shine like old gold, producing a +theatrical effect which, if not experienced before, startles and almost +persuades to the belief that the complaining trees have been decorated +by one who "has sought out many inventions." But the slant of the sun +alters, the light fades, leaving them sombre in hue and whispering +more and more discreetly as the night calm settles over the scene. Such +communicable trees should stand together, commenting on passing events, +booming in unison with the cyclone, and mimicking the tenderest tones of +the idlest wind. During a storm, when the big waves crash on the beach +and the Casuarinas are tormented, the tumult is bewildering; but however +loud their plaint, very few suffer, though growing in loose sand; for +the roots are widespread and, like the trunk and main branches, tough, +while the branchlets stream before the wind. + +Close behind the screen of Casuarinas is a magnificent specimen of a +wide-spreading shrub, in form a squat dome, which commemorates the name +of a French naturalist--TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA. The leaves, crowded at +the ends of thick branchlets, are covered with soft, silky hairs of +a silvery cast, which reflect the sun's rays. It would be gross +exaggeration to say that the finely shaped shrub shines like silver, for +the general hue of the foliage is sage green, but that it has a silvery +cast, which in certain lights contrasts with the dull gold of its +neighbours, is an alluring fact which must not be strained. Moreover, +the shrub covers an almost perfect circle, about thirty feet in +diameter, and since it is not more than ten feet high, its form is as if +Nature had designed the creation of a circus of shadow, dense and cool, +for the comfort of mankind. + +At high-water mark stands one of the Terminalias with big terminal light +green leaves, musty flowers, and purple fruit--gold, silver, and purple +in close array--while over the sand the goat-footed convolvulus sends +long, succulent shoots bearing huge pink flowers complementary to the +purple of the beach-pea (CANVALIA OBTUSIFOLIA). + +Under the she-oaks young coral trees have sprung up, but the red flowers +are of the past, and so also have the gold and white of the Calophyllums +disappeared. But in the evening the breeze brings whiffs of a singular +savour, pleasant yet not sweet, which comes from the acre or two of +native hops a few yards back. The bruised leaves thereof give off +anything but an attractive odour, yet the faint natural exhalations +from the plant are sniffed eagerly and to the revivification of pleasant +recollections. + +Among a crowd of massive shrubs sprawls a plant of loose habit known as +CAESALPINA BONDUCELLA, the long clinging branches and the pods of which +are armed with hooked prickles. It is a plant of wide range, for the +bluish-grey seeds are said to be used in Arabia for necklets. In the +idle days of the past the blacks were wont to enclose a single seed in +a miniature basket woven of strips of cane for the amusement of +infants--probably the first of rattles. It has seized for support some +of the branches of a rare tree (CERBERA ODOLLAM) which bears long, +glossy, lanceolate leaves, large, pink-centred, white flowers, +delicately fragrant, and compressed oval fruit, brilliantly scarlet. The +tempting appearance of the fruit is all that may be said in its favour, +for it is hard and bitter, and said to be vicious in its effects on +the human system; hence the generic title, after the three-headed dog, +guardian of the portals of the infernal regions. + +Grouped here and there are pale green, big-leaved shrubs (PREMNA +OBTUSIFOLIA,) bearing flowers and fruit calling to mind the elder of +the old country. The wood is deep yellow in colour, but apparently of no +practical use. + +Another small tree, suggesting in its regular and well-balanced shape +the use of the pruning-knife, is GUETTARDIA SPECIOSA, the flowers of +which are white with a tinge of pink in the centre and highly fragrant. +The fruit is a hard, woody drupe, containing small seeds. TIMONIUS +RUMPHII, belonging to the same Family, but of more frequent occurrence, +bears small white flowers and globular fruit. The white, finely grained +wood is said to resemble English sycamore. Though harsh and flaky, the +surface of the bark seems to retain moisture, making it attractive to +several species of fungi and epiphytal ferns, the most conspicuous of +the latter being the stag's-horn. Few of the trees near the beach are +free from such encumbrances. + +To unaccustomed eyes the Pandanus palm is chief among the noticeable +features of the flora of the coast of tropical Queensland. Two species +are represented on these accommodating sands, each suffering no ill, +from imbibing salt water, each exhibiting the peculiarity whence the +genus derives its common name--the screw palm, the arrangement of the +long, narrow, prickle-edged leaves displaying in the most regular +and demonstrative style the perfect spiral. The single stem of youth +frequently deteriorates and occasionally disappears altogether, +adventitious roots, descending from various heights, forming an +elaborate and sure and ever-developing support. The huge, bright +orange-tinted fruit of the species known as Odoratissimus is highly +attractive in appearance, and to the uninitiated offers pleasing hopes +and delicious expectations. It is, however, delusive, being constituted +of woody drupes in close clusters collected into a globular head, +with meagre yellow pulp at the base of each group, the pulp having an +aromatic and unsatisfactory flavour. Each drupe contains an oblong oval +kernel, pleasant to the taste, but so trivial in size as to be hardly +worth the trouble of extraction unless there is little else to occupy +attention save the pangs of hunger. These defects do not detract from +the parade of the tree--picturesque, singular, and replete with interest +to the observer of the infinite variety of the vegetation of the +tropics. + +The cockatoo apple (CAREYA AUSTRALIS), which has several useful +qualities, flourishes exceedingly. The ripe fruit, green and insipid, +was wont to be eaten by the blacks, bark from the branches was twisted +into fishing-lines, that of the roots used for poisoning fish, while +the leaves, heated over the fire until the oil exuded, were applied to +bruised and aching parts of the body. Extraordinary tenacity of life +distinguished the tree, the axe, fire, and poison failing under some +circumstances to vanquish it. + +Another and closely related member of the same Family (Myrtaceae) +is BARRINGTONIA SPECIOSA, which, so far as local experience is to be +trusted, is restricted to the beaches, growing lustily in pure sand +at the very verge of high-water mark. The glossy leaves of this +many-branched tree often exceed a foot in length; the flowers, too, +are large and singular in style, the petals being comparatively +insignificant, while the numerous stamens attain a length of four inches +and are of a lovely shade of red. Like its relative, the cockatoo apple, +the flowers of the Barringtonia have a meaty smell, which seems to +attract many species of insects. In keeping with other characteristics, +the fruit is large, consisting of a thick, woody covering, as if Nature +designed that the single seeds should be adequately protected during a +protracted oceanic drift. It is often cast up on the sand, but the seed +does not germinate as consistently as that of the cannon-ball-tree; but +when it does it rarely fails to become established. + +Two species of Ficus deserve to be mentioned, though this catalogue does +not claim to be exhaustive. FICUS FASCICULATA, as the title implies, +bears its inedible fruit in bundles, branches, trunk, and exposed roots, +being alike fertile, and is almost as retentive of life as the cockatoo +apple. Opposita is remarkable for varied form of foliage, referred to +particularly elsewhere, and for the sweetness of its fruit. + +One of the loveliest and most remarkable plants of the beach is the +seacoast laburnum (SOPHORA TOMENTOSA), with its pinnate leaves of sage +green, hoary with silvery fur as soft as seal-skin, and bearing terminal +spikes of golden flowers with scent invoking slight comparison with +mignonette. The thick, silky leaves, the yellow flowers, and the strange +pods, are distinctive qualities, which atone for the absence of the +special sweetness of the garden favourite. The pods begin as slender, +silvery, dangling threads, which speedily lengthen and become +constricted. When the breeze flusters the shrubs, revealing the +undersides of the leaves at a reflective angle and shaking the tasselled +pods, and the splashes of gold sway hither and thither, the character +of the shrub as one of the most attractive ornaments of the beach is +so truly displayed that it might be likened to the tree of the sun +described by Marco Polo--green on one side, but white when perceived on +the other. + +This quality, however, is not special or peculiar. The brown kurrajong +(COMMERSONIA ECHINATA) exhibits it even more conspicuously, and, when +the dusty white flowers--displayed in almost horizontal planes--are +buffeted by the winds and the white undersides of the leaves are +revealed, the whole style of the tree is transformed as a demure damsel +is by tempestuous petticoats. + +With the grey-green of the Sophora is often intertwined the leafless +creeper CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS, which in the days of the past the blacks +were wont to use with other beach plants in the composition of a crude +seine net. The long-reaching, white-flowered CLERODENDRON INERME and the +tough, sprawling BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA, with its small, harsh flowers, +yellow as buttercups but resembling a daisy in form, were also embodied +in the net. + +The Poonga oil-tree, the new and old leaves the colour of new copper, +and the mature the darkest of green, bears spikes of pale lavender +flowers, and makes a decided blotch among the light green succulent +leaves of the native cabbage (SCAEVOLA KOENIGII), with its strange white +flowers and milk-white fruit. All parts of the plant are said to be +emetic. + +Two varieties of VITEX TRIFOLIA, each bearing pretty lavender flowers, +but in other respects sharply contrasted, are among the commonest of +denizens of the beach. The one is a prostrate plant with sage-coloured +and sage-scented leaves; the other a shrub or small tree with light +green foliage, the underside of which is mealy-white, and flowers paler +than those of its lowly kin. Each is pretty, and the creeping variety +(known in Egypt as the "Hand of Mary") decidedly one of the most eager +lovers of the sand, to which it keeps strictly. + +Almost within reach from high water are representatives of a tall, +shining-leaved shrub known as MORINDA CITRIFOLIA, the flower-heads of +which merge into a berry which has a most disagreeable odour and a still +more objectionable flavour. It is related that when La Perouse was cast +away on one of the islands of the South Pacific, a native undertook +to ward off the pangs of hunger by converting the fruit into an +edible dish. But his manipulation seemed but to intensify original +nauseousness, and the brave Frenchman and his companions found +semi-starvation more endurable than the repugnant mess. + +Magnificent representatives of the umbrella-tree (BRASSAIA +ACTINOPHYLLA), unique among the many novelties of the tropical coast, +are massed in groups or stand in solitary grace close to the sea. +Queensland has a monopoly over this handsome and remarkable tree, the +genus to which it belongs being limited to a single species occurring +nowhere else in a native state. Discovered by Banks and Solander at +Cooktown in 1770, the second record of its existence, it is believed, +was made from specimens obtained on this island by Macgillivray and +Huxley in 1848. Possibly the very trees which attracted their attention +still crown their rayed and glossy leaflets with long, radiating rods +thickly set with red, stud-like flowers. Such foliage and such flowers +would appeal gloriously to an enthusiastic botanist, and to so devoted, +indefatigable, and successful a searcher after the wonders and the +higher truths of the world as Huxley. + +Few of the ornaments of the beach are more noticeable than that known +commonly as the sunflower-tree and by the natives as Gingee (DIPLANTHERA +TETRAPHYLLA), with its big leaves, soft of surface when young, but harsh +and coarse at maturity. The golden flowers, grouped in huge heads, are +rich in nectar, attracting birds and butterflies by day and flying foxes +at night. The fruit, enclosed in a crisp capsule, is tough and leathery, +in shape a flattened oval, and is entirely covered with silken seeds +lying close and dense as the feathers of the grebe. When numbers of the +capsules open simultaneously, the seeds float earthwards like a silvery +mantle or stream before the wind like a veil. Rarely the capsule falls +to the ground complete, and then the parting of the valves reveals the +fruit, in form not unlike a small fish covered with glistening scales. +The soft white wood is generally condemned, but duly seasoned it becomes +tough, and is durable when not exposed to the weather. Like other +quick-growing trees, the Gin-gee takes no long time in arriving at +maturity, and its life is comparatively brief. Often big trees die from +no apparent cause, and the wood becoming dry and tindery, the limbs +crash to the ground suddenly, and in a few months the whole substance +disappears in dust and mould. + +Though the flowering season of the Calophyllum is of the past, the tree +which bestows on the beaches the deepest shade and is handsome in all +its parts must not be disregarded, for does it not, ever and anon, +strive after a higher purpose than the production of goodly leaves, +white flowers, and nuts "harsh and crude"? On rare occasions the +external covering of the nut turns yellow on the tree, and is then found +to enclose a thin envelope of pulp of aromatic and rather gratifying +flavour. Such a phenomenon seems to manifest inherent excellencies, a +laudable effort towards self-improvement, a plea for assistance on the +part of some approving and patient man, an indication of the lines on +which he might co-operate. The tree does not need gloss for its perfect +leaves or fragrance for its flowers, nor need the qualities of its pink +wood of wavering figure be extolled. With the exception of the stamens, +all parts of the inflorescence, inclusive of the long pedicles, are +milk-white, and the perfume is as sweet and refreshing as an English +spring posy. Chemists tell us that the oil from the kernels contains a +green pigment which changes to yellow on saponification, and that the +resin is emetic and purgative, and healing when applied as plaster. +If botanical science can develop the meritorious tendencies the fruit +occasionally exhibits, the Calophyllum would certainly rank as one of +the most wonderful of all tropical fruits. And may it not be wise to +indulge the highest hopes when it is borne in mind that at the head +of the Family to which the Calophyllum belongs stands that queen of +fruits--the mangosteen? Faith in the probable idealisation of the +Calophyllum is justified by reference to the "Prefatory and Other Notes" +to the late F. M. Bailey's great work, the "Comprehensive Catalogue of +Queensland Plants," where is to be found these encouraging words: "When +any particular plant is said to furnish a useful fruit, it must not be +imagined that the fruit equals the apple, pear, or peach of the present +day, but all so marked are superior to the fruits known to our far-back +forefathers." + +Two eucalypts--bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash (CORYMBOSA and TESSELLARIS +respectively)--and two acacias are represented, the former developing +into great trees of economic value, the latter being comparatively +short-lived and ornamental. The young shoots of Acacia flavescens are +covered as with golden fleece, and its globular flowers are pale yellow. +The wood resembles in tint and texture its ally, the raspberry-jam wood +of Western Australia, though lacking its significant and remarkable +aroma. ACACIA AULACOCARPA displays in pendant masses golden tassels rich +in fragrance. + +The yellow-flowered hibiscus (cotton-tree) overhangs the tide, and the +small-leaved shrub the blacks name Tee-bee (WIKSTRAEMIA INDICA), the +pink, semi-transparent fruit of which is eaten in times of stress, +springs from pure sand. + +A tall, almost branchless shrub (MACARANGA TANARIUS), the Toogantoogan +of the natives, grows in close clumps conducive to the production of +light, straight, slim stems used as fish-spears. The bark peels readily +in long strands, easily convertible into lines, and the sap from incised +stems, which crystallises with a reddish tint, is a fast cement. Huge +platter-shaped leaves are supported on long stalks from nearly the +centre, whence radiate prominent nerves of pale green. Some plants +exhibit leaf-stalks of ruby red, with central leaf-spot and nerves like +in hue, producing the most beautiful effect. If the growth of the plant +could be kept within bounds it would be gladly admitted as a garden +shrub. The stems and the base of the leaf-stalk are coated with, +glaucous bloom, like that of a ripe plum. The bloom, easily to be rubbed +off, is said to derive its title from that Glaucus who took part in the +Trojan War and had the simplicity, or the wisdom, to exchange his suit +of golden armour for one of iron. + +The length of the beach thus casually examined is not more than a +quarter of a mile long, and no plant mentioned is more than a few yards +from high-water mark, the soil being almost pure sand. Imagine some +three square miles of country varied by hills and flats of rich soil, +with creeks and ravines, precipices and bluffs, dense jungle and thick +forest, hollows wherein water lodges in the wet season, and granite +ridges, and then endeavour to comprehend the botany of one small island +of the tropical coast! + +To obtain demonstration of the vitalising and nourishing principles in +maritime sands under the effects of heat, light, and moisture, it +is necessary to retrace our steps and walk round the sandspit to the +transfigured and degenerate mouth of that once mangrove-creek known to +the blacks by a name signifying that a boy once tethered in it a sucking +fish (Remora). Obstructed by a bank, the creek is dead and dry save when +the floods of the wet season co-operate with high tides and effect a +breach, to be repaired on the cessation of the rains. No more than four +years have passed since the formation of the bank began. It is now a +shrubbery made by the incessant and tireless sea from materials hostile, +insipid, and loose-sand, shells, and coral debris, with pumice from some +far-away volcano. On this newly made, restricted strip one may peep and +botanise without restraint, discovering that though it does not offer +conditions at all favourable to the retention of moisture, plants of +varied character crowd each other for space and flourish as if drawing +nutriment from rich loam. + +Several botanical Families are represented, the genera and species +being: + + Casuarina equisetifolia (she-oak) + Avicennia officinalis (white mangrove). + Clerodendron inerme. + Premna obtusifolia. + Vitex trifolia. + Vitex trifolia, var. obovata. + Carapa moluccensis (cannon-ball-tree). + Erylhrina indica (coral-tree). + Sophora tomentosa (sea-coast laburnum). + Pongamia glabra (poonga oil-tree). + Vigna luteola (yellow-flowered pea). + Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel). + Terminalia melanocarpa. + Ximenia americana (yellow plum). + Scoevola koenigii (native cabbage). + Hibiscus tiliaceus (cotton-tree). + Wikstroemia indica. Macaranga tanarius. + Euphorbia eremophilla (caustic bush). + Dodonaea viscosa (hop-bush). + Passiflora foetida (stinking passion fruit). + Ipomea pes caprae (goat-footed convolvulus). + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form A. + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form B (spade-flower). + Blainvillea latifolia. + Gnaphalium luteo-album (flannel-leaf or cud-weed). + Vernonia cinerea (erect, fluffy-seeded weed). + Remirea maritima (spiky sand-binder). + Cyperus decompositus (giant sedge). + Erigeron linifolius (cobbler's pegs or rag-weed). + Tribulus terrestris (caltrops). + Triumfetta procumbens (burr). + Salsola kali (prickly salt-wort). + Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale (pig's face). + Anthistria ciliata (kangaroo-grass). + Paspalum distichum (water couch-grass). + Zoysia pungens (coast couch-grass). + Lepturus repens (creeping wire-grass). + Panicum leucophaeum (pasture-grass). + Andropogon refractus (barbed wire-grass). + Tragus racemosus (burr-grass). + Eragrostis brownii, var. pubescens (love-grass). + +With the exception of some of the grasses and two noxious weeds, this +assemblage is representative of plants which grow just beyond the +sweep of the waves, and are prosperously at home nowhere else. One, +the cannonball-tree, is so highly specialised that its presence is but +temporary, for it endures but a single set of conditions--saline mud +and the shade of mangroves. The thick, leathery capsule contains several +irregularly shaped seeds, somewhat similar to Brazil nuts, but larger in +size and not to be reassembled readily after separation. When stranded, +germination is prompt, but the young plants, lacking essential +conditions, invariably perish. One of the trailers--the caltrops--has +trilobed, saw-edged leaves (harsh on both sides), yellow flowers of +unpleasant odour, and fruit which, perhaps, formed the model of the war +weapon of the time of the Crusaders. In whatever position it rests on +the ground it presents an array of spikes to the bare foot. Though +all its superficial qualities are graceless, it performs the admirable +office of binding sand, and thus prepares the way for benign and +faultless vegetation. + +That his garden might not only be instructive but profitable to mankind, +Neptune heaved on to its verge three coco-nuts, the goose-barnacles on +two of which bore testimony to a long drift. That which retained the +germ of life fell into the hands of a visiting black boy, who split it +open to feast on the pithy and insipid "apple" within its shell at +the base of the sprout. This mischance ruined for the time being the +prospect of a fine effect; but the perseverance and prodigality of +Neptune none may estimate. He will certainly bring from distant +domain another nut which may escape the observation of the +never-to-be-satisfied black boys until the young plant itself has +assimilated its concentrated food, and begins to spread its glossy +fronds in the face of the sun. In the meantime the garden displays four +weeds, two of the nature of pests, two of discomfort merely; ornamental, +scented, and flowering shrubs, and trees promising to be conspicuous and +picturesque, so that credit is to be divided--the sea made the site, the +adjacent land provided all the becoming plants. + +What are the elements in this primitive spot which afford nutriment +to vegetation of such varied character? Probably there are few of the +beaches of islands within the Great Barrier Reef on which the majority +of the plants do not exist. It is typical, therefore, not of isolated +experiments on the part of Nature, but of conditions and processes +repeated in similitude wheresoever in the region raw sand heals the +wounds inflicted by the sea or the grumbling sea retreats before the +sibilant, incessant sand. + + + + +SHADOWS + + + +"The wish--that ages have not yet subdued--In man to have no master save +his mood." + + BYRON. + + +Before the coming of the obscuring grey of these wet-season days, when +the tranquil sea absorbed the lustrous blue of the sky, I discovered +myself day-dreaming for a blissful moment or two ere the crude anchor of +the flattie slipped slowly to the mud twelve feet below. The rough iron +and rusty chain cast curious crinkled shadows, and presently, as the +iron sank into the slate-coloured mud and the chain tightened, the +shadow was single but infirm. Light and the magic of the sea, which, +though it takes its ease, is forbidden absolute rest, transformed +it until imagination created similitude to a serpent in its natural +element. Its half-concealed, formless head was verified by a flake of +rust just where a watchful eye might have been, and the sun played upon +it. + +So here at last was the sea-serpent with alert eye and without end. It +was all so realistic and endowed with such benignity and such gentleness +of motion that I gazed at it with the gladness of a discoverer. In +response to a slight motion of the hand, the sea-serpent wriggled as +though in haste; but wriggle as it might the end never came. + +The boat drifted back. The serpent became seriously elongated, but +though the beginning was now a grey blotch in the mud, the end was not. +I might beat up a little foam with the chain, and see below a giddy +dance or at least lively flourishes and swaying. Yet there was something +lacking--the end. But for that very commonplace default did there not +here exist a very good beginning for another romance of the sea? + +The phantom, born of light and limpid salt water and iron into which +rust had deeply gnawed, gave zest to the pursuit of shadows. What is +commoner under the tropic sun? The boat was now over the sand of the +steeply shelving beach, where the water takes the tint of the chrysolite +and creatures of fairy lightness come into view. Often on still days +small sea-spiders sport under the lea of the boat, each of the eight +legs supported by a bubble. With astonishing nimbleness, the spider +slips and glides over the surface as a man in laborious snow-shoes over +the snow. Having basked in the sun and frolicked with its kind, the +spider abandons its pads, takes to its hairy bosom a bubble of air, +and dives below. The shadows, not the spiders alone, gave pleasing +entertainment. Each vague shadow and the eight bubble-shod feet formed +a brooch-like ornament on the yellow sand--a grey jewel surrounded by +diamonds, for every bubble acted as a lens concentrating the light. When +the frail creatures darted hither and thither--the majestic sun does not +disdain to lend his brilliance to the most prosaic of happenings--the +shadows of the bubbles became jewels or daylight lightnings. The hour +was so restful, the light so searching, that many of the spiders, long +of leg and pearly-grey of body, gathered about the boat, the shade +of which seemed to be grateful. A wave of the hand dispersed the gay +assemblage, but in a few seconds the playful creatures--not too easily +to be deprived of their place in the sun--reappeared from nowhere, +and the beads and flashes on the floor of old Ocean once more began to +glitter. + +Small, slim fish took shelter from the intense light. Some hung +motionless in the water; others nibbled daintily the green and lazy +slime on the batten at the bilge, their gently waving shadows being +barely perceptible, for their delicate, semi-transparent bodies absorbed +but the merest particle of the brightness of noonday. + +The unnoticeable swing of the tide took the responsive boat out from +the beach, and again the serpent swayed sleepily. Down in the mud an +organised conflict was taking place between a tiny soft-bodied crab +and four molluscs which used whip-like tentacles with unceasing energy, +while the crab defended itself with ever-ready claws. Borne down by +numbers, it sank into the mud, the energy of the victors creating a +tiny spiral of slush. A huge stingray passed on its way, the edges of +extended wings rippling never so gently, its shadow half the size of the +boat; and presently, with ghostly glide, a dull-skinned shark came into +view with motion so steady and apparently effortless that it might have +been a spectre. The pectoral fins swayed listlessly. The swirl of the +tail was as tender as a caress. Passing the boat a few yards, it turned +with a gracious sweep and nestled in its shade, and, though motionless, +it was wide awake. The eyes on each end of the projecting extremities of +the head blinked up at the boat. It was comfortable, but suspicious. Was +its conscience quite clear? The hammer-head has not the reputation +of being an active enemy of man. Why should it be distrustful? This +hammer-head would not sleep in the shadow, so let it be made aware of +the serpent. I took hold of the chain cautiously, the shark watching, +and with a quick turn of the wrist the docile serpent lashed +offensively. Then did the shark, frightened of a shadow, flee with +mud-stirring haste, like the wicked when no man pursueth. + +The hour of day-dreaming was past. I slip over the side of the boat to +roll and splash in tepid water limpid almost to invisibility, and to +test the wondrous buoyancy of the substantial part of man. Sit down, the +lips just awash, so that the accurately ballasted portion cushions on +the cleanly sand. Stretch out the legs so that the heels barely rest. +Head thrown back and arms extended, fill the lungs to their utmost +capacity with the placid, revivifying air, and you will find yourself so +uplifted that the heels alone gently touch the sand. At each inspiration +almost sufficient air is imbibed to float the whole bulk and machinery +of the body. And when the radiant air is all one's own, why be +niggardly? Let it be gulped greedily, strongly, wilfully, and let the +smiling sea, responding to the embraces of your widespread arms, salute +your lips with ripples. + + + + +"SMILING MORN" + + + +"The light of the morning, When the sun riseth, even a morning without +clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining +after rain." + + Holy Writ. + + +A cloudless sky, the long grass wet with the night's gentle shower, +a thin veil of mist on the hills, a glassy, steel-blue sea, the air +saturated with the essences from myriads of leaves and scented with +the last whiffs from the tea-trees and the primal blossoms of the +wattles--such are the features of this smiling morn. + +A spangled drongo--ardent lover of light and free air--talkatively +announced the dawn long before its coming; the noisy pitta--bird of the +moist soil and leafy gloom--triumphs in three notes. For an hour the +scrub fowl have been violently noisy, but have retired to the recesses +of the jungle, whence comes an occasional chuckle of satisfaction or +a coarse, triumphant crow. The fasciated honey-eater has loudly called +"with a voice that seemed the very sound of happiness"; the leaden +flycatcher, often silent but seldom still, has twittered and whispered +plaintively; the sun-birds are playing gymnastics among the lemon +blossoms, and the centre of activity for butterflies is the red-flowered +shrub bordering the wavering path. + +Since--sometimes wantonly, often thoughtlessly--man interferes with +plants, time out of mind the banqueting-table of the butterflies, is +it not a duty to provide substitutes for devastated natural vegetation? +When it is discovered that a plant, introduced to give satisfaction to +the lust of the eye, provides from year's end to year's end nectar as +unfailing as the widow's cruse of oil, is it not becoming to reproduce +it plentifully so that excited and virtuous insects may be encouraged +to return to former scenes? If not a duty, at least it is a source of +happiness, for the particular insects which revel in the nectar of the +perpetually flowering shrub are the two most gorgeous butterflies of the +land--pleasantly known as Ulysses and Cassandra. + +Science changes its titles so frequently that unless the intellect is +to be increasingly burdened it is well to refuse to be divorced from +the old and often explicit and fulfilling names. Cassandra is the lovely +green and gold fly which dances in the air so delightfully when he +woos his sober, fluttering mate. That of gorgeous royal blue with black +edging to the wings and dandyish swallow-tails, which wanders far and +wide and flies high and swiftly, is Ulysses. + +This glorious morn the ruddy shrub is as lively as a merry-go-round with +the feasting and antics of flitting gems, and there are others by the +dozen attentive to less seductive fare. For half an hour the courtship +of a perfect Ulysses has interfered with the staid ways of those not +in holiday humour. Unlike Cassandra, there is little in appearance to +distinguish the sexes, nor in the wooing does the dame exhibit staid +demeanour. The object of Ulysses' love is almost, if not quite, +as brilliantly decorated as himself. She is not, therefore, to be +fascinated by the display of blue no more lustrous than that of her +own proud wings. He may flit and toss about her, but she seems to take +scanty notice of his affected aerial limpings. Her raiment is just as +brave, and she has swallow-tails too. The wider black margin on her +wings is no badge of subserviency, but rather an additional charm +inciting tremulous fascination. She may soar over the mango-trees with +ease as careless as his, and slide down straight to the red flowers +with like certainty. She is not to be bewildered by his gyrations, nor +thrilled by mock hostile swoops. However sprightly his activities, +she has a mood to correspond and power to mimic. Indeed, is she not +indifferent?--so much on an equality with him that she might say: + +"If thou thinkest I am too easily won, I'll frown and be perverse, and +say thee nay." + +Might she not say more at the moment, since her airs are those of +independence? Possibly she imagines hers to be the superior sex. Is she +to be distinguished from her wooer as she flits from him disdainfully? +Can she not imitate his most audacious feats? Ah! but for how long may +she restrain primal emotions? The blue-mantled dandy understands his +art. His wings beat with the passion of the dominant lover. He tosses +himself before her, impeding her flight until she imitates his antics. +Tossing is not the privilege of his sex. She exercises her right to +toss, and the pair toss in delightful but bewildering confusion, like +jewels sent skyward by a conjurer. And thus having established her +rights if not her equality, she consents to play the part Nature +decrees, and the pair tumble and toss over the mango-trees, while half a +dozen others sip contentedly the red flowers. + +Many other winged creatures flit and glisten in the garden and down +along the grass-invaded path between the coco-nuts. Dragon-flies hover +over the moist spots, transparent wings carrying coral-red bodies, +and two sand-wasps pilot my steps, following the narrow ribbon of bare +ground as a fish the course of a shallow stream, buzzing ominously as if +in warning of some possible mischance. They are friends, and will in a +moment swerve, and boom back to the shafts they have excavated in sand +as depositaries for their eggs, and into which they will pack living +caterpillars as fresh food for their young. They dig with such deftness +and vigour that the sand is expelled in a continuous jet. When the mouth +of the shaft, round to exactness, is lumbered with soil, the insect +emerges backward and shovels away dog-like with its forelegs. Then it +disappears again, until the sand-jet has made another encumbering heap. + +These alert and furiously resentful insects are endowed with +resourcefulness and "intelligence" in keeping with their physical +activities. One had foraged a caterpillar in bulk and weight beyond +its flight strength, and was, therefore, compelled to haul it along the +toilful earth. On the wing the wasp finds its home unhesitatingly. On +the unfamiliar ground it lost its bearings, and, moreover, the lumbering +caterpillar had to be tugged through a bewildering forest of grass +stems, among which it went astray. During a pause the wasp surveyed the +scene, and, locating the shaft, after stupendous exertions deposited +its prey conveniently thereto, to find itself confronted with a problem, +since the diameter of the caterpillar exceeded that of the shaft. +It seemed to reflect for a few moments, and then with feverish haste +enlarged the shaft. Another difficulty had then to be overcome. Was it +possible to force such a bulky and unwieldy body head first down--the +habitual way? The insect came to a rapid decision in the negative. +Backing into the shaft, it seized the caterpillar by the head and drew +it down, presently emerging, and how it managed to squeeze past so tight +a plug is another of the magics of the morn. Having butted with its +highly competent head the caterpillar well home, the wasp selected +a neatly fitting stone as a wad, and, filling the shaft with earth, +strewed the surface with grass fragments, to the artistic concealment of +the site. + +On the beach is another industrious winged miner which has not learned +the art of the rapid evacuation of the spoil, but follows the slower +ways of the crab, carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, +and as it backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is made. But +it is a fussy worker, so charged with nervous energy that its glittering +wings quiver even while down in the depths of its shaft, as you may +assure yourself if you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air +makes competitive noises. + + + + +ANCESTRAL SHADE + + + +"Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the +root--and time has been When tempests could not." + + COWPER. + + +If it were possible to recall the spirits of the departed of this Isle +to solemn session and to exact from them expression of opinion as to +the central point of it, the popular, most comfortable and convenient +camping-place, there can be no question that the voice of the majority +would favour the curve of the bay rendered conspicuous by a bin-gum +or coral tree. Within a few yards of permanent fresh water, on sand +blackened by the mould of centuries of vegetation, close to an almost +inextricable forest merging into jungle, whence a great portion of the +necessaries of life were obtained, and but ten paces from the sea, +the tree stood as a landmark, not of soaring height, but of bulk and +comeliness withal. + +Generation after generation of careless coloured folk must have been +born and bred under its branches. When the soil became rank because of +continuous residence and insects of diabolical activity pestered its +occupants, the camp would shift to another site; but there existed +proofs that the bin-gum-tree localised the thoughts of those aimless, +unstable wanderers to whom a few bushes stuck in the sand as a screen +from prevailing winds represent the home of the hour and all that the +word signifies and embodies. Many a one was laid to rest beneath its +spreading branches, for it was the custom of the pre-white folk's days +to swathe the dead in frail strips of bark, knees to chin, and place the +stiffened corpse in a shallow pit in the humpy which had been in most +recent occupation. If the dead during life had possessed exceptional +qualities, burial rites would be ceremonious and prolonged. With tear +and blood stained faces (for the mourners enforced grief by laceration +of the flesh) incidents in the admirable career of the departed would +be rehearsed in pantomime. The enactment of scenes from the life of the +hunter and fighter might occupy hours. The art of the canoe or sword +maker would be graphically mimicked. The life of the woman found +rehearsal from infancy until she passed from the protection of her +father into the arms of her lover. If she had died childless, a +protesting infant or an effigy in bark would be placed on her shrunken +bosom, so that she might not suffer the reproach of matrons who had +preceded her to the mysterious better country. + +The ancestral shade was a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, +and the soil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree displayed its +ruddy flowers and gave of its best in nectar for birds and butterflies +and gauze-winged, ever-flitting creatures. + +It was not a comfortable tree to climb, for its grey-green branches were +studded with wens each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. It +offered the hospitality of its shade to man, but little else, save +flowers to gladden his eyes, though it stood as a perpetual calendar, or +rather floral harbinger, of some of the most excellent things in life. +At a certain season its big, trilobed, hollow-stalked leaves changed +from bright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before +the last disappeared, flower-buds registered the date with almost +almanac exactitude. Then, as the rich red began to glow here and there, +and impatient small birds to assemble in anticipation of the annual +feast, the old inhabitants of the Isle would comfort one another with +reminiscences of the "Oo-goo-ju," the nutmeg pigeon, which was wont to +congregate in such numbers that adjacent and easily accessible isles +were whitened. There would be plenty of eggs then, and in a few weeks +squabs quiveringly, helplessly fat. + +It was a good tree, for it gave good tidings, and it centralised the +shelter of the Isle. Its blooms were delightfully, dashingly red, and +they lasted long--that is, if the camp--the soil rectified by sun +and rain--happened to be in residence, for then the sulphur-crested +cockatoos would be scared. Otherwise the profligate birds would sever +the heavy racemes of flower in their eagerness for honey until the +ground beneath glowed with a furnace-hued shadow. But there would be +still plenty for the gay sun-birds and the honey eaters, while the grey +goshawk would make the site of regular call, for the bibulous lesser +birds could not always be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent +tea-trees. The hawk would abide its time, and have occasion, after its +kind, to be grateful because of the tree and its seductive nectar which +translated artless little songsters into shrill-tongued roysterers, +careless of the ills of life, or at least less watchful for the presence +of crafty enemies. Flying foxes would swoop into the tree at sundown to +squeak and gibber among its repellent branches till dawn, when some, too +full for flight, would hang among the lower limbs all day, sleeping with +eyes veiled by leathery wings. + +For many a long day the bin-gum tolerated no undergrowth. Despotic over +its territory, the shade was clean but for a carpet of ferns, and its +branches free from the embraces of orchids, save that which bears the +ghostly white flowers which set off its own of bold red. But as it +passed its maturity shrubs and saplings began to encroach, until it was +the centre of a circus of upstart vegetation, though still stretching +big, knotty limbs over the slim youths of yesterday. Anterior to this +era a neglected fire had scorched a portion of its trunk. Decay set in. +A huge cavity gradually appeared, betokening vital injuries. The soft +though tough wood does not patiently endure the annihilating fret of +time. Far up in a recess of this cavity a toy boomerang was found, +placed there by some provident but forgetful piccaninny. At the date of +the discovery of the missile the age of the resident blacks had passed +away; but still the tree stood, stout of limb, while the encompassing +saplings shot up until sun-seeking shoots caressed the branches and +familiarised with the blooms, as if taking credit for the seasonal +gaiety of the patriarch. + +In the prime of life the wood of the bin-gum is of pale straw colour +with a faint pinkish tinge, and tough though light. Sapless age makes +it tindery, and the decaying fibre descends in dust--glissades of dust +which form moraines within the hollow of the base. Then the end is not +far off. + +The old tree might have been credited with premonition of its fate. +However fanciful to ascribe to it power of utterance, some phenomena, +perhaps associated with the dusty flux draining its vitals, gave +it distinct voice. On silent days it was often heard--a whispering, +whimpering sing-song, pitifully weak for so great a tree, but not +without appeal. Did it not suggest the sanctuary of some wood-nymph +chanting never so faint a death psalm--a monotone which the idlest +zephyr might still? + +Disdaining to die while consenting to disappear, the great tree, proudly +green of head, did not fall headlong, like a giant, in its pride, but +subsided silently behind its leafy screen while all the winds were +still, and as one who passes away full of years and with untarnished +conscience. + +Though the saplings and shrubs which fought for its place decently +conceal its shattered relics, addressing glossy leaves to the face of +the sun, is it quite vain to expect that its graceful proportions--a +true and stately dome--will be transmitted to the most worthy of its +descendants? Or that they will escape for so long a term the many +mischances that befall soft-wooded trees? No; the bin-gum of the bay was +unique. Afar off its flowers assumed a bricky shade, which contrasted +with the sage-green background of huge and overtopping melaleucas, while +but a strip of creamy sand intervened between its low and spreading +branches and the shallow sea, with its varying tints of pale green and +blue. So lovely and conspicuous a feature is not to be reconstituted +under a century. + +If it be permitted to assume that trees are sentient, that each--since +it differs from all others in some material quality and condition--has +its individuality, and that one may stand out from the rest as a +figure and representative of its age, then was this old monarch which +maintained its red robes to the last an examplar of the race whose +births, nuptials, pastimes, deaths and burials it witnessed from the +date when the good ship ENDEAVOUR slowly plodded along the alien coast. +The dust of the witness is blending in common decay. A few months and +not a trace will be discoverable, and what is left of those who rested +in its shade? In the pages of history they will be unchronicled, for +were not their lives less beautiful than the life of a tree, and their +renown no more durable? + + + + +QUIET WATERS + + + +"Like playhouse scenes the shore slid past." + + KIPLING. + + +Lovable as is the open sea when the spray drenches the scanty clothing +of the steersman and rains upon his lips salty salutation, yet is there +rare delightsomeness in reverse of the wet frolic. + +A few minutes past the deck glistened in the sun as each rollicking +billow sent its herald over the bows, and here the surface of the river +is almost rippleless. Shallows and uncertainties perplex its union with +the ocean. Sombre green mangroves screen its muddy banks at full tide +and trail leathery leaves and the tips of spindly fruit on its placid +surface. Pendant roots and immersed branches create on each hand a +continuous scroll of wavering ridges and eddies bordered with the +living tints of the steadfast wall of leafage. The sun so burnishes the +midstream ribbon that the boat seems to float on an invisible element. +Though the topmost leaves of the mangroves fail to disclose any movement +in the air, an unceasing and inharmonious hum tells of the sea idly +shouldering the orange-hued sands outside. + +The original inhabitants of the country knew the stream as Marang. +None call it so; but half stranded on the bank at the mouth lies a raft +typical of the past, and of the ease and resource with which those of +the day are wont to avail themselves of Nature's suggestions in the art +of crossing flooded waters. The name of the river has gone, but not that +of the three buoyant logs lashed together with strips of cane which with +sullen lurch, take the wash of the boat. The boys jerk their heads in +the direction and murmur "wur-gun," and speculate on the last user. +The day is young. For the time being the best the ancient river has to +show--the quintessence of the season, superb October--shall be ours. The +cloudless sky is richly blue, lighter in shade than the shapely mountain +which seems to block the way miles ahead. The sun gives a taste of its +quality, not to fret or discomfort, but merely to add a slightly richer +tint to skin glowing with previous marks of his fervour and favour. + +All the sounds of the little engine are maliciously exaggerated as the +boat forges ahead. The silent green river has become vociferous with +echoes, which snap and grunt, groan and hiss, in mockery of inevitable +and earnest doings. Out at sea the merry moods of the boat and hasty +and determined throbs of the engine are manifestations of something +accomplished in the overcoming of distance. Here it is all mere idle +fancy, while the echoes jeer. Surely the uncouth imps of the dimly-lit +jungles need not proclaim their spite with such exaggerated fuss. + +With but little effort of imagination the boat becomes stationary on +a shining ribbon with strips of dark green on each side, and the banks +glide past with never so gentle undulations. The tide screens most of +the mud on which the many-rooted trees stand. Some are in full bloom, +the hawthorn-like flowers breathing perfume as from an orangery +soliciting the raids of millions of bees. Scents cling to the placid +surface. It is as a stream of scent, bounded and confined by changeful +tints as the sun toys with the shadows, and curve after curve, reach +after reach, slip by. Sometimes the chattering boat heads due east. +South she knows too, and then she bows her duty to the west, along +reaches which run straight and clean as a canal; and round hairpin bends +she sweeps with disdainful air, as if conscious of besoiling banks. + +Gradually the monopolistic mangroves become more tolerant of the rights +of other vegetation. Tea-trees with white papery bark and pale yellow +flowers dripping with spirity nectar, the sunflower-tree with its masses +of gold, an occasional wattle, and slim palms mirror themselves, and +here and there compact jungle, with its entanglement of ponderous vines +and smothering creepers, shoulders away the salt-loving plants. +Scents may vary as the river's fringe; but only a delicate blend is +recognised--the breathings of honey-secreting flowers and of sapful +plants free from all uncleanliness. Many trees endure sadly the +decoration of orchids in full flower, some lovely to look on and +deliciously scented. The snowy plumes of one species sway gently, as +if offering friendly greeting. A worthy similitude to the lily of the +valley clings to a decaying limb, and a passing smudge of lustrous brown +is but the reflection from a mass of the commonest of the Dendrobiums +which encumbers a long-suffering host. Where forest trees and wattles +guard the bank the water is of a different hue, as if the face of the +river had absorbed less of the actualities of the sun. The screen +of vegetation is not only higher, but it is varied and impresses its +individuality. Only during the pelting rains of the wet season may +this delightful stream be monotonous, for at intervals brief and +narrow vistas open out on patches of yellowing grass, and beyond lie +forest-clad hills. + +All save the boat is wonderfully still. The birds are silent, for this +is the first hot day of the season, and they have retired to the patches +of jungle where shade and dimness afford relief from the sunlight +spaces. For many a mile a cormorant, lacking valour to double on its +tracks, has fled before the boat, settling out of sight ever and anon, +only to be scared further from its nest. A mangrove bittern sitting +humpbacked on a root and roused from its night thoughts has flown ahead, +following the bends of the stream until it crossed a familiar loop and +so evaded incessant harrying. + +No murmur of the sea is audible, though the water is as briny as at the +mouth. Mangroves still reinforce the muddy banks at intervals, and big +barramundi swirl aside to give the boat precedence in the narrow way. +If in no impetuous haste, one might drift with the tide up and down with +but little exertion except during periods of flood, which quickly rise +and quickly subside. Drifters become familiar with characteristics of +the stream unknown to those who hurry up and down in an echo-rousing +motor-boat. They see crocodiles basking on their sides, as many as +seven on a sunny morning in the cool season, and many curse them in +De Quincey's phrase as "miscreated gigantic vermin" because the rifle +happens to be unavailable. Crocodiles have their moods. Sometimes they +are lazy and indifferent and will not be disturbed though the boat may +clink and chatter as it passes, and the then easygoing man disposes +of them. More often the faculties of the crocodile are disappointingly +acute. He is visible for such a fragment of time that the authoritative +man who has promised sport looks foolish and tries to relieve the strain +by the relation of anecdotes in which circumstances have not been all +in favour of the illusive creature. He tells of the slumbering one which +lay on a mud-bank with its jaws distended, weary of the monotony of +the mangroves, and took but sleepy notice when upbraided for being a +sluggard. And of that other monstrous beast which, with eyelids like +saucers and a bulk which filled a narrow tributary of the river, +floundered, splashed, and flurried into deep water, while the awestruck +individual with the rifle was too astounded to fire a shot. He may tell, +too, of another instance of good luck on the part of the crocodile. +How, drifting down silently with the ebb, the black boy indicated the +presence of game on a slide overhung by a deep verandah of mud; how a +shot was fired and a big log splashed into the water and the little +one remained bearing the bullet-wound, the real having been too big and +impressive for sight. + +The day is well spent among strange plants. Here is a tall hibiscus with +coarse leaves, diversely lobed, and great pink, fragile flowers, each +with a blotch of maroon at the base and each containing a fat and +lumbering bee spangled with maroon-tinted pollen. A trailing eugenia +bears dark red flowers shaped like a mop, and a tiny white lily with +petals and strangely protuberant anthers scents the air as with honey +and almonds. + +The tide ebbs fast. All the country teems with entertainment, and the +river, cool in the dusk, and black, reflects the dead mangroves, white +and spectral, on its brink. + +This breathless night the sea is as tetchy as petrol. Trailing fingers +are terminals which ignite living flames, and the propeller of the +little boat creates an avengeful commotion of light which trails far +astern. Blobs of light are cast off from her bows as she rounds the +familiar sandspit and glides to her moorings. + + + + +"THE LOWING HERD" + + + +"Your cattle, too--Allah made them; serviceable, dumb creatures; +they change the grass into milk; they come ranking home at evening +time."--CARLYLE. + + +Remote from the manners and the sights of the street, here are we secure +against most of the pains which come of the contemplation, casual +or intimate, of other folk's sufferings. No hooded ambulance moves +joltlessly, tended by enwrapt bearers, on pathless way; no formal +procession paces from the house of death to the long last home. Immune +from the associations which oft subdue the crowd, as well as from +its too exciting pleasures, and participating only indirectly in its +inevitable sorrows, yet we are occasionally forced to remember that +troubles do come to all that is flesh, and that keen is the grief +attendant upon enforced separations even among animals which cannot call +reason to their solace. Man cannot claim to be the sole proprietor +of the luxury of woe, and may he not draw edifying lessons from +contemplating the transient sorrows of his pets and domestic animals? +Is he to confine his schooling on the wholesome theme of the frailty +of flesh solely to his own species? It is not to be denied that animals +lower in the scale than mankind have acute sense of bereavement, though +it is equally certain that in their case the healing influences of time +are more prompt and potent. + +An illustration may be cited. Two favourite Irish terriers, in violation +of an all-precautionary training, molested a death adder, the emulation +of each inciting the other to recklessness. When the fray was over and +the wicked little serpent lay squirming in death, both dogs took joyful +credit on account of the feat. An hour after one began to froth at the +lips, and in another hour he lay dead. His son and companion, as well as +rival in all rat and lizard hunts, softly approached the body, lifting +each foot with almost solemn deliberation. He sniffed, and catching a +whiff of the scent of death, sat on his haunches, threw back his head, +and in loud and piercing tones lamented the tragedy until from very +hoarseness he could howl no longer. He stood the solitary spectator of +the burial, and as the soil was patted down tenderly, sniffed the spot, +whimpered plaintively, and followed with downcast mien. Unable to fathom +the mystery of death, yet fearful, if not resentful, he wandered about +for days rebuking the moon, or its dire influence, and hailing passing +steamers with weak whines. Time soon soothed the mental hurt. + +Since I became a milker and tender of pet cows many instances have been +revealed of the patience and amiability of these inestimable beasts. The +man who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who employs stockmen by the +dozen, who sends off hundreds of fat, contented, happy, liberty-loving +oxen in droves to end their days in an unknown locality amid the clatter +and swish of machinery and with the fearful scents of blood and decaying +offal defiling the air, has few opportunities of studying the nicer +qualities of his possessions. He may be full of bullock lore and able to +recite sensational and entertaining stories illustrative of the ways of +the big mobs which tramp from native hills and downs to the city of the +thousand deaths. He knows, perhaps, something of the individualities of +his herds, and will tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how +they pine when separated. Then will he register his personal regrets, +counting in the measure for fat, for, refusing food, the animals fall +away in condition, so that the sorrows of two fat bullocks due to +parting, enforced by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and +using violent and threatening language, come home to the owner in terms +of pounds, shillings, and pence. + +Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the full-fed and +contented herd supply generously milk and cream with no apprehensions +of the butcher? Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek cows +are more tender. At least it has been noticed that when the time comes +for the flash young bulls to be banished, and they are transported, the +mother's grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of departure +and all the novel excitement of a first experience of the motion of the +sea, the fat calf, which has rollicked in all that makes for good temper +and ease and comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, affrighted +eyes, and the head is turned wistfully when terms of comfort are +uttered. He is of the make of man and will not whimper. But the mother, +on the discovery of her bereavement, arouses the echoes of the hills +with her calls. + +Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your herd, your ears are +also attuned to the significant tones of each--the low warning hum of +the mother to her safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to +obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering offspring is out of +sight, the anxious call when it is absent from her side unaccountably, +the angry bellow when she thinks injury is being done. + +The other day a lusty young bull which had been wont to treat me as a +chum, and perhaps as a slightly inferior animal, was reluctantly +parted from. His face displayed his emotions-astonishment, grief, +resignation--and once, and only once, did he permit himself to protest +vocally. But for a week his mother's sorrow has been insistent. Early on +the morning following, the banishment, she led off the rest of the +herd in Indian file, to search accustomed scenes. At times she +hastened--perhaps she heard in fancy the loved one's voice--but more +often and with rare persistency she shrewdly scrutinised every possible +hiding-place, lowing plaintively and with a coaxing, wistful tone. +Frequently, attended by silent, sympathising companions, she made +frantic appeals to me, and then there seemed to be a note as of +upbraiding, if not accusation, in her voice. Knowing her feelings, it +was easy to interpret them, and her doleful mood and loud yet melodious +protests against the arbitrary usage of man affected the wonted serenity +of the Isle. + +How many lusty, fat, sleek, good-humoured, straight-backed, frolicsome +calves had she reared, and when they had come to the age when a +mother's pride must be in the full, each in its turn had mysteriously +disappeared. Was this not a subject of moan? Why should she not tell +her grief to the responsive hills, and send it as far as her voice might +carry over the irresponsive sea? + +Time soothes all such pangs. She calls now when she spies me in the +forest, still suspecting where responsibility rests, and mumbles as she +crops the succulent herbage. A few more days and her sturdy offspring +will be forgotten; but the recollection of her material woes excites the +thought that human beings, in guiding the destinies of domestic animals, +may not always be conscious of certain moral aspects of such incidents. +Are we justified in lacerating the feelings of those creatures, which +have become accustomed to our ways, which submit to our arbitrary +authority with wondrous patience, which depend on us in many ways, and +which trust us with unquestioning fidelity? + +Against all precedent, the dairy herd was started with a bull. Though +such a beginning is not to be recommended as a general precept, it must +be confessed that in this particular instance developments proved its +wisdom. Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by +society of his kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank +and friendly manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite +excursions in the bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable +of the frogs and the boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his +sportful moods, for what would have proved pure frolic to him might have +been fraught with disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, +he spent most of his leisure moments in the paddock where poultry +congregates, and where many of the domestic rites are performed. He +was at home, and he was a gentleman, and did no one premeditated ill. +Longing for something to play with, he would make hostile demonstration +against the wheelbarrow, but that dull-hearted vehicle never responded +except by ignominious collapse at tenderest touch of horn. One evening, +when all the good little chicks had been put to bed for the night, the +bull, impatient for play, overturned two coops so suddenly that two of +the inmates were crushed flat. There was no sheltering mother to protest +against such violation, and so the adjoining coop was visited. But for +once he went wrong in strategy. The coop contained an exceptionally +numerous family, the mother of which richly deserved the name of +"Scotty." The coop was overturned none too politely; the squeaking +chicks vanished in the grass and remained discreetly silent; the irate +hen, with the valour of ignorance and all feathers on end, flew in the +face of the startled bull. Though a white leghorn, she has fighting +blood in her veins, and as she hurled herself--stuttering with +frantic exclamations--at the violator of her home, he backed with a +mirth-provoking look of surprise and dismay. He seemed to wish to say +that he regretted the intrusion, and would apologise and ask permission +to retire. The hen was not in the mood to accept apologies, however +seemly the cringing attitude of the bull. Making herself ever so much +bigger than Nature intended, she followed up her advantages, slapping +her enemy's face with widespread wings until he winced again, and +clawing with truly feminine extravagance and uncertainty of aim. The +first round was all to the credit of the hen, and the startled poultry +cackled derisively as the bull retreated. Sure of victory, the hen +followed him up, skipping, flapping, clawing, and scolding as only an +irate hen in transports of rage can. Still the bull backed. He was a +gentleman, and genuinely afraid of female tantrums. With half-shut eyes, +he submitted to the buffets of the wings, while encouraging remarks +from friends and companions further excited the delirious pugnacity +of "Scotty." Then it seemed to dawn on him that honour was at stake. +Gallantry forbade him to do violence to a lady; honour forbade him to +run away. What other recourse was open? He must treat the whole episode +as a joke. So, rubbing his muzzle on the ground, he invited the hen to +come on. She did so. There was a splash of outspread feathers against +his front and more clatter than ever. He pawed the ground, jerking +little clods over his shoulders, and, lowering his head, menaced the +hen with horns that could have tossed her over the highest of the +mango-trees. But there was a smile on his face the while, and the +spectators knew, though "Scotty" did not, that it was all a joke. Again +and again she flew in his face. Just as often he refused to take her +seriously, though all the pantomime of battle was displayed. She cackled +in impotent anger. He bellowed with gratification. Not a fowl in the +yard saw the joke, and all the little chicks in adjacent coops strained +their necks to watch the battle and their voices in shrill comments. +Having made not the slightest impression on the jovial little bull, +"Scotty" retired, feinting and scolding, while he, still blue mouldy +for a game, coaxed her by unmistakable gesticulation to one round +more. Twice during the night "Scotty" dispelled the silences with loud +exclamations of wrath and defiance. She was fighting her battle again in +her dreams, and though I was not there to see, I am very sure that the +gentle bull beguiled his wakeful moments with smiles. There are several +white hens in the yard, and whensoever one crosses his path the +bull, who does not pretend to discriminate, tosses his head with an +interrogative gesture. "Do you want to fight?" he says, and the hens +flee--all except "Scotty." + +The herd comprises a dainty little cow of most placid disposition. +Nothing disturbs her placidity, incites her to hurry, or bewilders her. +Cure the dove of its timidity and shrinking and you will have a good +prototype of Parilla, who, taking life easily and affably, is fat and +amiable. When she brought home her firstborn, mooing plaintively, he, +big and fat for his age, walked into the byre as a matter of course. +Here was the first evidence of heredity. It was patent that Fillo +Billaroo was born with a mind like that of his sweet-tempered mother. +He earned his name because of acute dissimilarity to the swiftlet which +swoops about the cleared spaces, never resting save in a dark and dirty +cave. + +Though, apparently, entirely unselfconscious, Fillo Billaroo at once +established himself as a superior sort of creature. He did not exact any +rights. They were conceded with all possible grace. He enjoys privileges +none other dares to imagine. When he has exhausted for the time being +the maternal source of refreshment, he visits other mothers, and with +such a pompous, patronising, good-humoured, thoroughly appreciative and +yet gentle way, that the absurd creatures are flattered. They realise he +is something quite out of the common, and give agreeably of their best. +Thus he has become a favourite, and he drinks so much and has become so +fat that he could not for a couple of weeks accompany his lazy-pacing +mother on her daily rounds, but would be planted in shade and coolness +with cautions against straying until called for late in the afternoon. +Often would Parilla forget the hiding-place, or rather pretend to, +and beseech in wistful tones for help in the search, and when it was +successful the greetings she bestowed displayed the bigness of her +heart. + +Once the little mother left Fillo Billaroo in charge of Lady Clare, +a much more experienced matron, who cannot bear to permit her frisky +heifer out of her sight for a moment unless safely planted, and then the +treasure must not be wandered from more than a hundred yards. Parilla +went off for the day. Late in the afternoon, Lady Clare with her heifer +and Fillo Billaroo were found far away from the mob and driven home. It +had been hot, and the big calf has an enormous appetite and apparently +Lady Clare had been coy. When he saw his mother and his mother saw him, +he stooped with uplifting nose, sniffing; she stopped feeding and begin +to sniff. He seemed to say to himself, "I do believe I know that little +creature. Yes; I am certain I must have met her before. She rather +resembles my own mother; but I have so many fond, kind, and obliging +aunts that it is not so very easy to make sure. She has a special look. +Can I be mistaken? I really hope not, for I am painfully hungry." + +In the meantime Parilla was saying to herself--you could see it all +plainly written in her big, round, bulging eyes, so full of inquiry, +hope and longing--! "The sight of that really fine fellow reminds me +that I, too, am a mother. He is a pretty fellow; I fancy that Fillo +Billaroo is not unlike him. I now recollect with dismay that I have not +seen him since morning, when Lady Clare condescended to look after him. +And there's Lady Clare! Oh! if she's mislaid Fillo Billaroo! But can +that fine, beautiful fellow be mine? I must inquire. Come!" And she +moo'd, and Fillo Billaroo murmured "Mum," and they rushed to one +another, and the look in Parilla's face was that of perfect happiness. + + + + +BABBLING BEACHES + + + +"By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more pleasure may be +taken in small things than in great."--Ruskin. + + +On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and the wind +continuously sweeps off the dry surface, and your ears detect the +musical sound accompanying the process--vague as the visible part of it +is blurred and misty--then it is that you are made aware of the agencies +by which time creates geographical differences. Precipitated at the apex +of the spit, the sand as it sinks tints the verge of the sea, while +the lighter spoil, leaves and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent +voyage. The current from the south pares the spit, preserving its +shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the fluent inner curve. +The dry wind, the current with its northerly set, and the ebb in +conjunction, push the spit to the north, and as the sand advances, +vegetation consolidates the work. Then comes the season of northerly +winds, when the apex of the spit is forced backwards and outwards into +a brief but graceful flourish, in the bight of which small boats may +nestle, though the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards away. +Since the winds of the north are less in duration and persistency than +those from the south and east, the tendency of the spit--in defiance +of the yearly setback--is to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees +with bare, branchless limbs become stranded, to dry and whiten in the +sun and reinforce the sand, and in their decay, with ever contributed +seaweed, to make mould for vegetation. The work of encroachment and +consolidation is incessant and strangely rapid, for vegetation never +lacks pioneers of special character to prepare the way for the less +venturesome and less hardy. Often before vegetation appears, coral +chips, shells, small stones, and sharp gravel, are concreted into +platter-shaped masses which seem to become the base of blocks of rough +conglomerate, capable of resisting the attacks of the sea; and a few +yards back, where a mangrove-bordered creek once existed, the mud and +decayed fragments of wood have been transformed into a black, cheesy +substance which might be mistaken for soft coal. So do these beaches lay +bare their secrets. + +When the mainland streams pour out their floods and the commingled +volume hurries north in a mud-tinted, sharply delimited current, and +whole trees are cast up on the beaches of far-away isles, vivid examples +of the dispersion of animate and inanimate things by purely natural +means are afforded. Weighty stones are found locked among roots which, +as the wood decays, are deposited on alien sands, thereafter to invite +speculation as to origin and means of transport. On one such raft +voyaged a living specimen of the white and black banded snake, one of +the most singular of the family, for Nature has bestowed on it a placid +disposition, and provided it with an unmischievous mouth and fangs +so minute that, although classed as venomous, it is not considered +injurious to man. Though strange and interesting, on the plea that the +family is quite sufficiently represented, the derelict was unwelcome, +save as a living proof of the practicability of natural transports. +By what grace, indeed, could the creature which earned the Almighty's +bitter curse be accepted as "wilsam"--goods of God's mercy driven +ashore, no wreck or ship being visible? + +This small bay never ceases the laying of tribute at one's feet. There +are seasons when the amount is less than at others; but how seldom +are its sands trodden without a display of the infinite variety of +productions of the ocean? When the mood of the sea is savage and the +spoil from the reef is flung in ridges among the vegetation of the +shore--coral in blocks and shattered masses, shells, seaweed, sponges, +and other dead marine animals and driftwood, heap on heap--days of +enthusiastic toil might be spent in sorting out the oversurplus of the +secrets of the sea. But for months together the beach maintains its +cleanly orderliness, and during these dreamy days the sea will tell of +many a pretty treasure which the sands will reveal in the face of the +sun. + +The most famous of botanists compiled a floral almanac; the months, +and in some cases the weeks, being associated with the development and +flowering of significant plants. So might it be possible to ascribe to +particular months the tokens with which the obliging sea bestrews the +beaches. It is not proposed herein to attempt any such design, which +would involve special knowledge of the science of conchology and the +compilation of the records of years of patient observation. A few +examples of the material on which the delightful work might be +undertaken are given, so that the wealth of one brief strip of beach may +be taken as typical of a vast stretch of calm waters within the Great +Barrier Reef. + +The ridges and furrows of the cyclone season, when the clean sand is +covered and stained with weed, dead and living molluscs, coral, leaves +carried from the hills by flooded streams, all fermenting in the heat, +tell that Christmas is past and March not yet over. Many a year passes +without such a storm as compels the groaning ocean to ravage its reefs. +Then the beaches, during the first three months are not particularly +fertile, nor are the shells to be found special or peculiar. In April +many specimens of the mollusc known as Tapes, of which there are several +species, are cast ashore, empty but fresh. In life the animal buries +itself in the mud at the edge of the sand, and some disturbance of +natural conditions, possibly due to the fresh water from flooded rivers, +causes seasonal mortality. The most conspicuous of the species is that +known as "literati," because of the erratic scribblings decorating its +valves. With others of the genera, it is to be found cast away at other +times of the year, but the end of the wet season seems exceptionally +direful. + +April is confirmed, too, but transiently, by the presence of a frail +mollusc (HAMINAEA CYMBALUM) which is washed ashore attached to seaweed, +soon to disappear desiccated by the sun and ground to powder. The shell +is semi-transparent with a sandy tint, and in form not unlike that of +a common snail. As the weather becomes cooler, a thin, delicate bivalve +decorates high-water mark. It is one of the tellinas--semi-transparent, +lustrous, and fragile--which occurs in muddy sand, but why the species +should be more susceptible to the ills of life during a particular +season is not apparent. When the fates do conspire against its welfare +dozen of bright specimens may be picked up during a casual stroll, the +animal having disappeared. The epidemic the beach thus announced +with pink and glittering shells coincides with low night tides, which +possibly leave the inefficiently protected animals exposed to the +attacks of uncustomary enemies which thrive only when the muddy banks +are exposed. The cause of the exhibition of the relics is not of so much +concern to the unlearned observer as the relics themselves and the part +they play in signifying the progress of the season. If strong winds +occur during the cool months, among the wreaths of broken seaweed thrown +on the beach may be found unbroken and fresh specimens of a singularly +beautiful and fragile univalve known commonly and most appropriately as +the "bubble shell" (HYDATINA PHYSIS), which when alive is a most lovely +object, its fine spiral lines being black and faint yellow with faint +purple edges, while the mantle is fringed with light blue intermingled +with pale yellow. In some specimens the base colouring is fawn, the +lines, of varying width, being brown and "comely crinkled," like the +face of the pleasant old woman of whom a poet wrote. Such a frail shell +is subject to many mischances before it reaches the beach, and a few +hours of exposure to the sun tarnishes its lustre. To obtain it in +perfection the beach must be patrolled every day during due season, +and very rarely is the collector rewarded by the discovery of unsullied +specimens. + +When the chill is out of the surface the spring-time of the sea begins. +Vegetable life is strenuous, so that one may chance to see a lazy turtle +bearing on its back a weedy garden. The water is alive. Miles of space +are belted with that plant to which Captain Cook applied a significant +name, likening it in its myriads to "sea sawdust." Some dare call it +"whale spawn," forgetful that the whale is not a fish. Others assert it +to be none other than the "coral insect," which does not exist save in +the minds of those who write odes to such creatures: + + "Ye build, ye build, but ye enter not in, + Like the tribes whom the desert devoured in their sin." + +It consists of minute vegetation in bundles, to be individualised under +a strong microscope, though when countless billions drift on to the +beaches and die and become green and grey with corruption, the fumes are +by no means in proportion to the marvellous littleness of the individual +plants. Then we know by the organs of scent and sight that August has +come. The beaches are foul. The breakers roll in unbroken or with a +muddy, froth, for the scum acts as oil, calming even troubled water. + +The Red Sea is said by some authorities to derive its title from the +scum formed by this plant (TRICHODESMIUM ERYTHRAEUM), which is strongly +impregnated with iodine. It emits a most disagreeable odour and exhales +a gas which affects the mucous membrane, causing in some individuals +sneezing and inflammation of the eyes. One amateur fisherman of +considerable experience and by no means susceptible to intangible +irritations, and not to be diverted from his sport by trifles, has +frequently been compelled to move from a favourite ground by a stream of +the scum drifting to his anchored boat. The fumes gave intense smartness +to the eyes, which were relieved by a gush of tears, but keen discomfort +recurred when the tears were wiped away. + +Following the least desirable of marine phenomena is that which is known +as the "blanket weed," which floats ashore in loathsome blobs, a hand's +breadth and more, the centre a grey, solidified slime, with a periphery +of long, dull green, slimy, shapeless fringes Individual plants coalesce +on the sand and, mingling with other weeds, cover respectable beaches +with a woolly, compact mass not unlike a rough, thick blanket, but +teeming with unpleasantnesses. Isolated plants cling to ropes, which +become garlanded with thickened slime, from which evil-smelling mud +oozes. Offensive to man afloat and ashore, the "blanket weed" is a +luxury to mullet and garfish, for during its period both may be seen +in shoals skimming the surface of the sea in abandonment of habitual +shyness, and the stomachs of both are found to be full of the +greenish-grey slime. With the compliance of the sun the impurity +disappears, giving place to the graceful weed of vivid green that +attaches itself to dead and whitened shells and fingers of coral covered +at low water. Every flood-tide deposits a zone of shells splashed +with green, while the shallows glow as a field of rich pasturage. In +favourable situations, such as the upper part of a long immersed log, +coated to the water-line with goose barnacles, the plant grows long and +luxuriantly, falling on each side like a silken mantle. + +One other season, ephemeral but universal, do the babbling but +truth-telling beaches record. No rocky cove, no smooth strand, no +rubbish-accumulating creek, no mangrove-fringed islet, no coral +esplanade white under the tropic sun, no sand-bank with crest of +windshaken bush, is free. It is Christmas. Christian and pagan alike +tell it to the sea, and the sea tells it to the beaches in--corks. + +Though there are grounds for the belief that some molluscs are seasonal +in their appearances and disappearances, the majority are always with +us, though subject to many casualties. A few months since an epidemic +broke out among a certain species of sea urchins (Echinus), spherical +animals with shells thickly set with spines, keen and exceedingly +brittle. The beaches were strewn with thousands of the dead, no apparent +exterior injury having been suffered. The particular species afflicted +gathers to itself, seemingly as a disguise, but perhaps as ballast, the +dead shells of cockles, which are retained by the spines. It was noticed +that the dead were not encumbered. + +A curious and one of the rarest of local shells is that known as the +elephant's tusk (DENTALIUM APTINUM). Pure white and slightly fluted +longitudinally, it typifies the marvellous extent of Nature's +requirements and her fertility in design. It is especially interesting +to note that the existence of the species in Australian waters has not +hitherto been recorded, the nearest known locality being the Moluccas. + +The DRUPA RICINUS (so specifically called because of resemblance to +the prickly seeds of the castor-oil plant) has another feature almost +unique--two ivory-white projections in the mouth, singularly like a +baby's teeth. In the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the +form of an altogether different mollusc which is commonly known as the +"bleeding-tooth shell," the gory stains about the base of the tooth +being highly significant. The local example of the whimsicality of +Nature owes its excellence to absolute purity. No fond mother crooning +to her first-born ever looked on budding teeth more delightful in +modelling and pearliness. + +CHAMA LAXARUS belongs to the same family as the clams, the largest of +living molluscs, its specific title being an allusion to the tattered +raiment of the beggar of the most edifying of parables. Occasionally the +china-white upper valve is decorated with a broad streak of buff. Some +of the genera are attached to coral or rock indifferently by +either valve, and it is exceptional to find on the beach a perfect +specimen--that is, the valves united. Since on the reef the shells are +frequently protectively disguised with seaweed and other growth, it is +only after the violence of a cyclone that the amateur collector expects +to be rewarded. + +Unlike some others of the family, the cockscomb oyster, though not +objecting to the near-by presence of its kind, seems to hate a crowd. +Half a dozen may occupy separate areas on a rock, and solitary specimens +lie embedded and strongly anchored in the sand. A typical example may +weigh over seven pounds. So big and weighty a shell can scarcely +be sensible of its invariable burden of parasites and other +encumbrances--but the variety of such tenants never fails to excite +curiosity. That which is illustrated accommodated another oyster of +delicate texture, a thorny clam (which has the reputation of being +poisonous), a mass of seaweed, a serpentine mollusc, two species of +coral--the red organ-pipe and a mushroom--three burrowing crabs, besides +a number of smaller animals, fixed and mobile, in addition to the +congregation of less obvious life critical examination would undoubtedly +have revealed. + +Most species of univalves are wanderers, many bivalves are free, +and multivalves become fixed at an early stage of existence. The +goose-necked barnacle, with its five valves, comes in its myriads +attached to derelict coco-nuts, floating logs, and pumice-stone. The +species owes its name to the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary +state of the barnacle goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments +representing the plumage and the valves the wings. It has been found on +shells, whales, turtles, and marine snakes. + +In the mud close to the edge of the beach sand one of the most singular +of marine animals exists, and often its empty, horny, flexible, +semi-transparent shell, always tinted green, may be found. It is known +in some works as LINGULA ANATINA, and by the natives of this Isle, by +whom a certain part of it is eaten, as "Mill-ar-ing." A pinhole in the +mud indicates the presence of the animal, and the hungry black boy, +thrusting his hand with outspread fingers below it, closes the fingers +and withdraws anything but an inviting morsel. To the tongue-shaped +shell is attached a pedicle or stalk, attaining a length of ten inches, +opaque and tough, which is broken off, seared over the fire, and eaten +with apparent relish. It is remarkable that in localities in which this +mollusc is found a seaweed occurs similar in shape and size, the chief +difference in appearance being in the length of the stalk, which in the +plant is thin and membranous. + +The Phorous, or carrier, otherwise the mineralogist, is remarkable for +its extraordinary habit of cementing to its exterior stones of irregular +size, and in some cases dead shells of other species, an office +performed by the use of an exceptionally long tongue. Its movements are +said to be very clumsy and erratic, as if its self-imposed burden was +too cumbersome for its strength. Personal observation fails to verify +its staggering gait, for dead specimens only have been found. The +stones are, no doubt, designedly acquired as a disguise and so represent +another form of life insurance. When stationary the mineralogist +successfully baffles observation; but some day, peradventure, in a +moment of preoccupation, it will reveal itself lurching along over the +rough country it favours. How few living things escape the "penalties of +Adam." Some bear sorrows, some stones. + +Among the fixed molluscs are what is known as the winged shells, to +which the "pearl oysters" belong. The name is apt, for the expanded +valves are not unlike the form of a bird in flight. The illustration +shows a rare species, several specimens of which were found attached to +the mooring-chain of a buoy by what is known as the "byssus," a bunch +of tough fibres which passes through an hiatus in the margins of the +valves. Like the king's daughter of the Psalmist, PTERIA PEASEI is "all +glorious within," the nacreous surface, margined with lustrous black, +shining like silver with a tinge of blue. + +Only a very small proportion of the species of shells to be found on the +shore of this bay have been enumerated. In a work of general character a +complete commentary on any particular branch of natural science would +be out of place, nor is it competent for one who has but a trifling +knowledge of a special subject to deal with it in an enlightening +manner. It would be highly interesting to ascertain by study and +observation why the denizens of so many parts of the ocean meet in +community in such a narrow space, though it may not be very difficult to +present a fairly satisfactory theory for the continuous presence of +many species by reference to existing features and prevalent conditions. +Within the area of the bay the water varies in depth from a few feet to +four fathoms, the rise and fall of the tide being about two fathoms. The +fringing coral reef represents all stages of development and decay--live +growth on the outer edge, ever encroaching on the deeper water, and +comprising many varieties; dying masses on the shore-side, and a +considerable extent of dead and denuded relics lying in mud. There are +also weedy patches, bare sand-banks of limited extent, uncovered at low +water, and muddy depressions both in the deep and shallow portions and +clean sand. Strong currents race past the sand-spit and across the bay, +carrying, no doubt, continual supplies of spat from elsewhere to settle +in quiet places. No one who has lived on the margin of the tropic sea +can be astounded at its prolific life, though it may be a matter of +unceasing wonder that along a beach not more than four hundred yards +in extent should be found shells representative of species existing in +nearly all the warm waters of the world. + +And there are other isles with other beaches. One may present a narrow +strip of soft sand, cringing and squeaking under foot, almost entirely +composed of finely ground coral and shells, among which polished +fragments of red coral are to the beach-comber as the "colours" the gold +fossicker may find in his dish--prospective of reward. They reinspire +the like fervour which leads to the discovery of mountains as well as +microbes, for may they not signify the existence within the bounds of +the Great Barrier Reef of the precious coral of the Mediterranean and +the Red Sea? Above such hopeful sands lies a band formed of stag's-horn +coral, bleached snow-white, each time lying at right angles to the sea, +and higher up on the strand are blocks and lumps of weather-stained +coral among which vegetation is springing. A few yards further back +stands a group of Pandanus palms, the van of the dense and intricate +jungle covering rock and ridge. + +The shore of the sister islet may at the moment be but series of steeply +shelving banks of coral debris, to the base of the granite ramparts over +which the luxuriant foliage falls. + +Each islet has its distinguishing features, each beach its budget of +news for ears attuned to "small measures," each its display of seemly +things--the sweepings of the floor of the sea. + + + + +THE LOST ISLE + + + +"Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas." + + BROWNING. + + +In a region of rare serenity it lay--a blue stud on a silver +shield--aloof from other lands--unmapped, untarnished, pure, gleaming in +the dawn of exultant day. + +Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative, partly because of +remoteness from the taint of man-trodden land, mainly because, by right +of discovery, it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable +than such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, verdurous hills, +sheltered valleys, orange-tinted beaches, with the shadows of white +headlands staining the sea purple? + +An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in the shape of a +five-rayed star, each ray irregularly serrated. Here was promise of many +a landlocked cove to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. +Unsalted streams wound among the foothills of the central mountain, +whence a spire of rose-red porphyry shot into the luminous sky from +unbroken jungle, the superficies of which were soft and brilliant as +sodden moss. + +Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, flower-bedecked +glades, with great trees and blossoming shrubs in scattered clumps and +patches, among which sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of +deep hidden streams. Others were merely precipitous depressions in the +unbroken mass of foliage, variegated with aspiring palms so slender of +shaft that their unceasing swaying in the still air seemed an act of +unconscious affectation for the display of huge bunches of gaudy fruit, +seductive and dulcet to the taste. Spider-webbed tree-ferns with +furry, water-bespangled trunks stood in crowded groves on the brink of +spray-creating cascades and along the margins of cool rivulets which +murmured as they hurried to the sea. + +Water-dripping moss padded the lintels of grottos, before which dangled +translucent ferns of delicate form, yet so rich and intense with +life that crozier-tipped fronds took the hue of flowers--coral-red, +golden-bronze, and yellow; while golden dust clung to hairy undersides +like pollen to the thighs of hive-returning bees. Deep in perpetual +shadow lived a shy plant with heart-shaped leaves, so succulent and +distended as to resemble green capsules, and in association with each +leaf was a single semi-transparent fruit, pink with a central glow +like the fire of opal, but so frail that upon touch it resolved into a +dewdrop which glistened, trembled, and was gone in a moment. + +In the full blaze, feather-foliaged trees crowned with gigantic red +blossoms offered as a sacrifice fruit which blushed before the insistent +gaze of the sun; while beneath this gay canopy vine and creeper and +pliant shrub wove an undergarment which screened the moist earth and +created a realm of subdued light in which all the flowers were pale of +tint and tremulously fragile, though of almost forbidding magnitude of +form. + +Birds of painted plumage and loud and sonorous note sang and fluttered +among the flowers and fruit with no ill thing to disturb them, no +dissonance to compel them to silence and fear. + +Whithersoever I gazed, the lone and lovely Isle denoted a paradise of +unkempt vegetation, unfeared birds. No stump was there to betray +the passing of the devastating axe. No footprint except that of +birds--erratic, rectangular, scribbling--dented the sand. No human being +had ever visited those groves perfumed by orchids, gauzy as the wings of +the butterflies which poised over them and sipped the nectar stored in +their slender throats. + +Each bay and inlet and cove differed in delightsomeness. Unsoiled, +weedless sand littered with shells floored this deep and sheltered nook, +where shadow and substance blended to the complete deceit of the closest +scrutiny. The next was as a garden of shrubs with living blossoms and +fruit in strange shapes and gaudy colours. Many of the subaqueous plants +expanded and retracted their blossoms harmoniously, as if to the strains +of music audible only to the mute denizens of the sea--a measured, +waving dance, fantastic and wondrously beautiful. Crystalline clearness +magnified the detail of the next, the portals of which were coral, dyed +extravagantly and variously according to the secret of the sea, with its +inexhaustible chemicals. Fish in unimaginable shapes, fantastic hues, +and sea-things harmless and educative to the sight, roamed the coral +gardens, retiring at will into sapphire-blue caverns or flashing in +the clearness with lightning speed and scarce visible effort. Cream +and yellow, old gold, blue, pink and lavender, the corals flourished in +myriad shapes. Anemones, large as plates, royal blue and greyish-green, +and each bristling with thousands of independent activities, embossed +snow-white blocks. + +Opening out into an oval basin, the inlet was again constricted, the +bottle-neck entrance to a perfect haven being guarded by huge masses of +limestone, weathered grotesquely, from the crevices of which sprays +of peach-coloured orchids quivered, while the flora of land and sea +commingled on the lustrous surface. Beyond again, the inlet wound round +the base of it cliff vocal with the fugue of birds which flew from +flowery parapet to flowery parapet. + + +Gradually the cliffs retreated, leaving fair banks with shrubs and great +trees with branches pendulous over unbroken placidity, and there, on +a knoll, stood a palm, rigid and straight as a column, crowned with +shimmering fronds which shielded masses of nuts, brown and green, +and great sprays of straw-coloured infloresence. More palms beyond, +thick-set; and beyond again an avenue in perfect alignment, each tree +perfect in stately form, with one blotch of glorious purple--as high and +compact as a church--to block the diminished distance. + +The boat drifted to the landing never touched by foot of man. Lost in +admiration of the imposing and manifold perfections of the Isle, eager +to wander at will among those enticing glades, and to make festival with +their genial gods, I stepped out--and into nothingness! + +Can it be that never again shall be discovered in the Land of Dreams the +Lost Isle? + + + + + +PART II.--THE PASSING FACE + + + +THE CORROBOREE + + +"No ceremony that to great ones 'longs." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Summoned, invited, children, men, women, and piccaninnies assembled to +participate in the duties and recreations of the moment. + +Message-sticks had been carried into unfamiliar country by nervous boys. +One of the organisers at ease with his pen sent to his kin formal and +official invitations mingled with social and affectionate greetings. All +responded. + +The beach sent its silent-footed contingents trailing along the yellow +sands, carrying in well-worn dilly-bags oysters and scraps of half-baked +fish smeared with smoke, and gritty. All their lives had they trudged +along the convenient margin of the sea, where the receding tide leaves +a firm, level, springy track. They were familiar with all its moods, and +took little heed of any. + +The fame of a previous Parliament had spread far and wide, even to that +aspect of the Dividing Range which sends its waters to the great shallow +gulf to the west. Natives who, though living among the mountains but two +days' journey from the coast, had never seen the sea, hastened thither +in bee-line, passing through unknown but not unfriendly country. Though +the age of tribal feuds was past, special weapons of defence were +carried, for did not strange jungles teem with spectral denizens whom +imagination endowed with appalling shape, with cunning, and with rending +ferocity? Unmolested, the party arrived one evening, to gaze with +mute astonishment on the sea. It was almost as incomprehensible, and +therefore almost as fearsome, as the phantoms of the bush. Mysterious, +vast beyond the range of vision, here grumbling on the sand, there +mingling with the sky, the strangers peered at it through the screen +of whimpering casuarinas and trembled. The rustle of the subsiding +north-easter made for fear. They told one another that the big salt +water was alive. It talked in austere tones, while their own sleepy +lagoons were silent and tame. Wonderingly, they retreated to the jungle +for the night, there to take counsel of the long-shoremen. + +"That b-i-g fella salt water, him talk all asame?" + +"Yowi! Him sing out plenty. Mak'm b-i-g fella row!" + +"That fella him walk about lika that?" + +"Yowi! Him walk about. Quiet little bit. Sometime run about splash'm +water; mak'm boat capsize. Plenty men drown finis!" + +The strangers shivered and longed to return to their cool hills; but the +long-shoremen beguiled them with descriptions of the fish and the crabs +and oysters the generous sea gave, and told that in the morning it would +be "quiet fella" and that they need not be afraid. + +With taut-strung nerves, the highlanders approached the sea, which shone +in matutinal placidity. When the ripples wavered on the smooth sand and +ran in caressing ripples towards their feet, they started and shrunk. +The incomprehensible ocean was alive and much to be feared, for was it +not so big that no one could see where it ended? They sat and watched +its enticing gestures, and, gathering courage, stood tremulously while +the tide splashed their feet and retreated. The boldest walked in +ankle-deep and danced in daredevilry, and soon young and old were +gambolling uncouthly, tasting the sea's quality, shouting and splashing. +None ventured more than knee-deep; some crawled and wallowed in the wet +sand, too fearful to trust their lives to so big a thing which showed +itself to be alive by breathing and moving. The morning was spent in +moist frolics, and when the north-easter began to work up a little sea, +which spoke in menacing tones, the terrified strangers withdrew. + +Late in the afternoon the corroboree began, many of the participators +having spent hours in the assumption of the festive costume of the down +of sulphur-crested cockatoos plastered to the skin with grease and +the blood. It is not to be supposed that white down in the hands +of experienced dressers is incapable of variation in style. Several +original designs excited the approbation of spectators. The down was +arranged in tufts following the perpendiculars of the body from shoulder +to shin, or in a series of circles accurately spaced, or in intersecting +spirals, while the heads of all performers and combatants were converted +into white mops. + +And with the clapping of hollowed hands and the clicking of boomerangs +the function began. And having danced to their own satisfaction and the +delight of the crowd, the warriors with ostentation and bluster recited +private grievances and challenged those against whom they had real or +fancied wrongs to combat. Most of the noisy declamation was ill-founded. +The many had no grievances and no intentions of fighting, but out of the +shouting crowd stepped two big men who sought compensation for "another +Helen." Though not lovely or winsome or an heiress, she sufficed as the +motive for an honourable and public strife, quite as sincere as many +of the scuffles without the walls of Troy. Spears and boomerangs were +thrown viciously and dodged and evaded skilfully until one of the men +found a boomerang sticking fast in his leg. The wound was decisive, and +with much hullabaloo the defeated warrior limped away, while the lady, +whom niggardly Nature had denied the grace of blushing, passively went +to the victor. + +Among the strangers to the coast was an old man but a yard and a +quarter high, with unkempt, grisly beard, a head which needed not the +glorification of cockatoo's down, long, thin arms, huge hands, thick, +stump legs, and sprawling feet. No far-reaching crab of the reef just +showing its worn brown tusks off-shore was more grotesque of mien and +gait. To emphasise his malignant mood, he carried a huge boomerang, +which seemed to obey and embody his whims. It sprang from his powerful +hands in resolute and impetuous flight, whirred threateningly overhead, +and returned to foot, fluttering and purring, as if endowed with +affection for its unlovable master. None so mastered the missile; but +for all his weird influence over it, he was subject to the restraints of +another weapon which seldom left his hands. Is there not a spiritual +law which imposes checks on the bombastic tricks of crude and cultured +alike, or was it by force of gravity that the point of the dwarf's +long and slender spear dipped into the ground, punctuating mock martial +struts with perverse irregularity? Prodigious in his own estimation, his +jibes and taunts were almost as terrifying as the erratic flights of his +boomerang; for the dwarf was a privileged individual, the Thersites +of the campaign, and with one advantage over his prototype--he really +wanted to fight. So he swaggered, heeding not the reproving spear; he +fumed; he mocked; for no warrior affected to notice his vainglorious +absurdities. He was as much in earnest as those who fought on account +of elemental love, and far more so than any of the blusterers who talked +big and looked small. He longed to fight, and for money. + +Each warrior was challenged individually, and when none responded he +railed against all for cowards and sent the boomerang hissing defiance +against the blue sky, to fall with mutter and thud at his feet. In his +rage the little man became hysterical, and the more he scolded the less +important, while the swaying spear emphasised increasing agitation, +but brought him neither humility nor jibe, for the race does not +intentionally relieve its drama with comedy. + +No more influential personage was present than "Mooty," the crafty, +determined, plausible philosopher--the sagest of the counsellors, the +most flowery of orators, the most weird of the wizards. Long before +he had established his reputation as a medicine-man. A settler had +purchased some cast-off goats in a distant town, and had employed a +black boy of the district as assistant drover, and the name of the boy +was Tom. Since there are many "Toms," a distinguishing surname had to +be bestowed, so "Goat" was affixed, and as "Tom Goat" the stranger was +known. Having no sweetheart, he made love to several dusky dames, all +of whom rejected him because his absurd name made him a figure for +fun. Rosey, wife of Jack, was persistently courted, and scornfully she +despised her wooer. That individual, however, was not without malignant +resource. Rosey complained of a sore throat, and as she got worse her +boy became similarly afflicted. The faces and throats of both swelled +alarmingly, so that Mooty, who had the cases in hand, gave up hope. Both +were resigned, when Mooty, to his own horror and the dismay of everyone, +caught the dread disease. + +No such illness had ever been known in the district, and since it had +not only baffled Mooty's skill, but had irreverently seized him--the +only physician of credit and renown--its cause must be supernatural. +Thus did he reason, as he began occult investigations. Jack and Rosey +lay in their camp passively dying. Mooty prowled about, the sleeves of +a discarded shirt tied under his distended jaws. No physical origin +for the mysterious disease was found during the two days he devoted to +methodic search and secret rite. Then an anticipated discovery rewarded +him and made his name thrill among his race. To a condescending white +man he told of his skill in these terms: + +"Two fella him close up finis. Me bin look out camp belonga two fella. +B'mbi me bin find'm little fella fork stick close up alonga groun'. Me +frait. My word, me bin pick'm up easy fella. Me look out longa little +fella hole. Me bin see hair, too much, belonga Tom Goat. That hair bin +mak'm two fella no good. Him mak'm me fella no good. Me catch'm that +fella hair along two fella stick. Tchuck'm along ribber. My word! That +fella hair no good! Him go phuff! Kill'm fish, too many. B'mbi me fella +go alonga camp. Me tell'm two fella, 'You no more mak'm die. Me bin +find'm that fella hair belonga Tom Goat.' B'mbi two fella him get up; +him no more die; he walk about." + +Exasperated by such impropriety, aghast at the consequences, +Mooty--doctor alike of laws, of science, and of medicine, and a man of +imperative mood--sharpened his tomahawk at the Chinaman's grindstone, +theatrically testing its edge with distorted thumb. Tom Goat disappeared +as silently as last night's dew, for Mooty does not hesitate to +summarily administer his own judgment when his professions are scorned, +his family bewitched, his countenance distorted with mumps. + +With feasting and fighting, with dancing and storytelling, quarrelling +and reconciliations, the assemblage spent a happy week. Then the jungle +reabsorbed the nervous hillmen, and beach-combers straggled along the +yellow sands. + + + + +THE CANOE-MAKER + + + +"Last scene of all, . . . Is second childishness and mere oblivion." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +A tottering old man, frail alike in frame and mind, squats dying in an +alien camp. His teeth have almost disappeared, worn to the gums by +the mastication of food in which sand has been mingled in immoderate +proportion. All his life has been spent on the verge of the sea. He has +never known smooth food. Before he left his mother's breast grit was on +his lips, for in her sleep she snoodled naked in the sand. Hers was the +age of bark rugs or none, and was ever lord of the beach who shared with +his lady so rare a comfort? + +Counterparts of Cassowary's babyhood are extant to this +day--milk-bellied, nose-neglected, fumbling-fingered toddlers, who +smash with stones almost beyond their strength infant oysters and gulp a +mixture of squash and sand. + +As he grew up his food, seared on a fire on the beach, was always more +or less gritty. Possibly it would hardly have been relished if the +accustomed condiment had been absent. + +For many a long year Cassowary was a sort of king in the locality of his +birth, though this rank brought him no isolation. Now he is without rank +and grim in his lonesomeness. True to the sentiments of his race, the +men and women who knew him when he was strong and lusty strive to make +him comfortable in his dotage; but he is repellent. His surliness does +not vex them. They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To strangers +whom Cassowary has never loved and would now assault with spear and +nulla-nulla, they apologise. + +"Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up that fella finis." + +Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similar delusions have +afflicted notable men of the world, and even to this day are there not +apprehensive monarchs whose precautions are similar to those of +the age-worn savage? He imagines that he is regarded as a useless +encumbrance, and that his fellows would gladly hasten his departure to +that country on the bourne of which he painfully lingers. Suspicious of +plots to rob him of the poor vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard +against poison, his special dread. Rather than run risk he submits to +semi-starvation, for the decayed monarch of a narrow strip of shore +has no servitor on whom to impose the office of taster of his dishes. A +stranger may of his goodwill offer a tribute of tobacco. It is cast away +with every manifestation of indignation and haste. He is sure that the +one solace of existence has been drugged, and that if he indulges he +must die. How marvellous the self-denial! How many of us would purchase +half an hour's existence such as his at the cost of declining the one +luxury of life! + +Flour from his master's hands is served like the stranger's tobacco, +though he may not have tasted food for days; nor does he accept a +portion of the damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others +eat. Then he feeds reluctantly and with extreme caution, not to gratify +the palate, but to maintain life. + +Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more vindictive and envious +foes than this helpless old savage who possesses nothing save a grimy +shirt and the fragments of a blanket? + +Cassowary, an old man when I first met him, was of the sort which does +not make friends with white men. Silent, resolute, reserved, a man +apart, he disdained the race-shattering language his fellows hastened +to acquire. His pidgin English, limited to a few words, was almost as +unintelligible as his own rude tongue. Once I landed on the beach which +was his favourite resort, and as the anchor slipped into the sea, smoke +puffed and drifted from the camp and the lonesome man's dogs barked; but +by the time the camp was reached the smell of the fire had gone, and all +tracks had been obliterated as if by the efficient touch of the wind. +The heat of the sand at the entrance of the dome-shaped humpy revealed +the site of the covered embers, and the rest was silence. + +At the back of the humpy, concealed by carelessly disposed bark and +grass, was a bark canoe which Cassowary, fisherman and oyster-eater, +was never without. In those days he deserved the reputation of being an +unrivalled maker of canoes which, during the first few weeks of their +prime, were sound, neat of appearance, quite seaworthy, though of small +dimensions and exceedingly light. Others might be expert fishermen and +skilful in more exacting sport of turtle and dugong catching, but all +acknowledged his special superiority. Though custom had made him a king, +Nature had designed him for a canoe-maker, while with that invincible +irony with which she rebukes the self-esteem and baffles the ambitions +of mortals, she discounted her gift by the bestowal of frank distrust +of the sea. He was so impelled to the exercise of the one talent that +during youth and manhood his chief occupation and never-ending delight +lay therein. That which his right hand had found to do he did with +all his might, his frail craft being the admiration of all, while the +confidence with which others managed them proved their quality. They +toyed with the sea in its placid moods, and were deferential in its +ill-humour. But Cassowary never ventured beyond easy hail from the +shore, however urgent the occasion or propitious the day. + +Fear also restricted his wanderings in the bush, which kept him within +sound of the dreaded waves. He was an unaffected beach-comber. Neither +the food-bestowing sea nor the safe dry land was for him. + +By instinct he seemed to be guided to the best trees for bark, generally +selecting "gulgong," though others were equally pliant in his hands. Raw +from the tree, he would soak the single sheet in water, and while sodden +steam it over a smoky fire, and, as it softened, mould it with hand +and knee. Bringing the edges of the end designed for the stem into +apposition, using a device on the principle of the harness-maker's +clamp, he sewed them together with strips of freshly cut cane. +Two stretchers gave to the craft beam, and the necessary sheer and +thwart-ship stays of twisted cane stiffness. Gunwales of cane were +sewn on, the stitches being cemented with gum made plastic by frequent +renderings over the fire on a flat stone, and then the canoe was +complete save for the hand-paddles, spoon-bowl-shaped pieces of bark. + +Each canoe sat well down by the stern when the fisherman knelt in it, +crouching forward like a jockey on the withers of his mount, and sending +it along by the alternate strokes. + +Cassowary was wont to scan each new work with the tilted head of an +artist. All the stitches were regularly spaced, and since they were +burnished with smoke, the canoe became a study in brown, braided with +gold, representative of something more than a means towards earning +a diet of fish, and inevitable grit. It was neat and of harmonious +colouring; innocent of the least touch of finery; not a scratch expended +on ornament. All its lines, save those of the stretchers and stays +which stood for rigidity, were fluent. It was not made to model or +measurement, but developed under the maker's hard hands and tough +fingers--a tribute to his artistry and skill. On the water it was as +blithe as a bubble. + +Often had the wish to possess one of Cassowary's masterpieces arisen. +He scorned barter by abandoning his property whenever the interferer +appeared. When the camp was deserted while the boat was being brought +to anchor there was a strong temptation to take the canoe, leaving some +adequate reward. The self-denial is almost regretted, for the old +man with the thin white tuft on his chin, his shyness, his hatred of +strangers, and delusions of his decrepitude, are characteristic of an +age soon to be of the irrecoverable past. A canoe from such accomplished +hands would have represented a complimentary record of a race deficient +in the elements of history. + +Several years have elapsed since Cassowary made his last canoe. He +acknowledged that his fingers had lost their cunning, but the fates +ordained that his ideas should blossom as his manipulatory skill +withered Gradually he became feeble in mind and body, and was wont to +spend his time crouched in a rough shelter dreaming prodigious dreams. +He would wake not only his fellows, but a pitying neighbour of other +complexion, with enthusiastic shouts announcing that a "big fella +steamer" was whistling out at sea; that it was his steamer; that it +carried two bags of flour, and tea and sugar and tobacco, and one +"good fella trousis"; and he would demand help in the landing of his +merchandise. Worn with age, sleep would soon again claim him, but never +and anon his great cry, hailing the phantom steamer with her beneficent +cargo, would wake the poor and squalid camp. + +The time came when Cassowary could no longer obtain for himself the +coarse and trivial food essential to life, and he and another outcast, +blind and maimed, quartered themselves on the camp on the beach; arid +in spite of fretfulnesses and suspicions, their fellows administered +to their wants. Being brought face to face with facts, the State gave +orders which meant an old-age pension for the outcasts. The dole was +liberal enough. The mistake was that it came too late. + +There was no reaction, as is oft the case with those who retire after +the bustling phase to live on the bounty of the State, for Cassowary and +his blind companion had never been strenuous workers or brain-compelling +men. The pension represented unexampled abundance. It was real, and yet +it came from a source almost as intangible as Cassowary's ship. Food +and tobacco! What more could the heart of a casual relic of such a race +want? Actually he wanted nothing more, save, peradventure, a blanket; +but he dreamt he did, and no earthly agent could diminish the festal +extravagance of the scenes among which he revelled, conducted by the +enchanted sleep. + +Cassowary had at last come to his kingdom. His time had always been his +own. The ready-to-hand food gave him leisure. His days were all dreams. +Weary of crouching over the fire before the opening of his humpy, he +began to wander in the flesh as he was wont to wander in mind. He was +seen a mile away from the cheerless camp, where his companions, with +smoke-dried eyes, lamented his absence. + +Was he searching for a tree which might provide bark for yet another +canoe--his last work, a paragon? A few days passed and it became known +that Cassowary was missing. His shrunken body disordered a patch of buff +sand just above high water. + +Had the desolate old man, in his fancy, made the best of all canoes, and +for once ventured out to sea? + + + + +TWO LADIES + + + +"To one, resolution; to another, a disposition to dance." + + +NELLY, THE SHREW. + + +As the steamer from the South enters the bay, the traveller sees ahead +the fringe of houses on the low lands fronting the inlet where shipping +finds safe and convenient harbourage. To the left he may be introduced +to a strip of open beach between two low points of grey granite, back +from which are scattered groups of modest buildings and huts which form +the aboriginal settlement. The choice of the site for the settlement +was influenced by the character of the country. Although but a short +distance by sea from the port, it is isolated by its background of hard +and inhospitable hills patched with almost impenetrable jungle. Few +consigned there ever leave of their own motive, however earnest the +longing may be. The home-sick realise that escape is difficult and, if +successful, futile, for are not the police everywhere, and strong and +compelling? Why undertake the unknown perils of unknown hills--spiritual +perils more to be dreaded than physical--when capture and again +banishment are certain? + +Nellie Oongle-bi, among whose matrimonial experiences was Tom, of this +Isle, and who since his death has gone from bad to worse, had been +found under the protection of a coloured alien, sadly degenerated and +saturated with opium. For her own salvation she was transported to +the settlement afar off, with its frontier of sea and background of +repulsive hills. She went, being in the clutches of a superior force, +tractably enough, but with none of her unconquerable love of country +subdued. Nelly has nothing of an attractive nature. She has a vixenish +temper at times; is always on the alert for fancied slights; is by no +means cleanly, unless under duress; and does not hesitate to foment +subjects of quarrel. Few among her relations and friends would mourn her +exile. Even her own son, Jim, was scoffingly indifferent. She was far +from being so, but played her part well, being obedient, quite tame, and +ever observant. + +She "sat down" at the settlement, and made friends with two or three of +the women there with whom she had previously been acquainted; but while +she talked with apparent resignation, she scanned the hills, especially +fixing in her mind a particular gully which leads up to a ridge +promising an outlook to the south, upon which her hopes were fixed. +Soon after dark on the second night she took to the bush, carrying +a dilly-bag and a blanket. She is now one of the population of a +far-distant settlement, the site of which happens to be within her +own country. How she overcame the distance without food, friends, or +resources, has to be told, though not altogether in her own language, +for such would be unintelligible to the ordinary reader. + +She was determined to run away as soon as the steamer landed her, for +that part of the North was not her country, and she could not live +anywhere else. Besides, she was "sorry belonga that boy Jim." During the +first night of her homeward pilgrimage she never ceased walking among +rocks and through the scrub, for she was fearful of being recaptured. +Without pause she clambered on until well into the next day, when she +slept for a little while. Then on again until dark. One big "mung-um" +(mountain) stood in the hopeful direction. Thitherwards she hastened, +losing count of the days and nights. Nelly has no conception of figures +beyond one, two, and a great many. The climbing of the mountain +occupied many days. She was bewildered, for she could not "catch'm +that sal'water" which would lead her home. At last from a spur of the +mountain she saw the sea--"L-o-n-g way. Too far. Me close up sing out." +Though she might cry, the sight of big salt water beside which all her +life had been spent was a joy and a stimulant. Pushing and worming her +way through the jungle, she encountered nothing but birds, wallabies, +and snakes. + +Once she was startled by what seemed to be a worn narrow track. +Advancing cautiously along it, she came across a huge carpet snake +coiled "all a same rope alonga boat." It was asleep where an opening in +the roof of vegetation made a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor, and +she passed by, treading noiselessly. For food she had the fruits of the +jungle, crude, harsh, and bitter. Food, indeed, was almost repugnant, +for her thoughts were concentrated on her country, so she hastened down +towards the now hidden sea. Far inland she heard its welcome noise--a +greeting and a call from home which made her forgetful of all weariness +and fret. + +In course of time--a weak woman carrying a blanket and living on +innutritious foods does not struggle through jungle at any remarkable +speed--the foothills and then the low-lying country at the junction +of two rivers were reached. Here she took off her few and bedraggled +garments, and, making them into a bundle with her blanket and bag, waded +through swamps, eventually emerging on a sandy beach, which she intended +to follow until she regained her country, many a weary mile to the +south. Providence provided an easy means of crossing the estuary of the +rivers--a kindly white man, owner of a "little fella boat, little fella +ingin." To him she told the story of her escape and her longing for her +own country and her own people, and was ferried across. Then she picked +up a camp of her race, the members of which, sympathising with her, +accompanied her on her way for a couple of days. One day she woke from +her sleep on the edge of the mangroves with her blanket sopping with +blood which had flowed from her mouth and nose during sleep. "Me bin +sorry belonga that boy Jim. Me bin sorry belonga country. That 'nother +country no good belonga me. Me think me die. Me walk alonga sandy beach. +Some time alonga b-i-g fella rock. Me close up tumble down altogether. +Me tired. B'mbi catch'm Liberfool Crik (Liverpool Creek). Plenty fella +sit down. He bin sing out, 'Hello! You come back from that place?' Me +bin say 'Yes; that country no good belonga me.'" + +A month or so after Nelly was again found in the service of a coloured +alien, tugging away with another weak gin at what she calls a "two-fella +saw." For her task of sleeper-cutting her reward would probably be a +handful of rice and a dose of opium per day. + +Nelly is now at her leisure within a mile or so from the place of +her birth, hardly conscious of the feat represented by her solitary +pilgrimage. Occasionally she has the company of her tall and indifferent +boy. She enjoys the society of her relations, and indulges as oft as +may be in exhilarating misunderstandings with them. Without a vehement +squabble now and again life would be intolerably insipid. Anger, +accompanied by fluent abuse, is to her a kind of spiritual blood-letting +for the casement of her suddenly plethoric temperament. But such is of +her frailty. Proof of her strength of purpose, has it not been given? + + +MARIA DANCES. + + +In her youth Maria gave promise of a rare condition among coastal +blacks--tendency to width and breadth. As she grew in bulk she seemed, +if not to decrease in stature, at least to remain stationary. Thus it +was that her figure became perfect. + +If there be one feature of animal physiology more adorable than aught +else in the eyes of the lords of the soil, it is fat--fat under any +and every circumstance. They admire it in animals of the chase, and +the paltry, greasy relics of a feast may be smeared over the body with +something of the pride and gratification derivable in other and cleaner +walks of life from perfumed powder, pink and white. + +Being fat and shiny as a girl, Maria had keen and ardent lovers. She was +an adorable novelty. + +Blacks do not gaze into the faces of their sweethearts. They have +never found chaste delight in the writing of woeful ballads to their +mistress's eyebrows, or to the glorification of their snubby and +expansive noses. If any of Maria's admirers had been lyrical, her buxom +condition would have been the theme of their idealisations. In time she +became the mother of children, still retaining that charming superiority +of bulk which excited the rage of sisters whose skins did not shine, +whose flesh did not quiver whensoever they walked, talked, or even +smiled. + +No marvel that her matrimonial experiences were the comment of the camp +and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have +been known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, +Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the +flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her +the belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the +stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not an +ounce of irresistible fascination of which to boast. + +For some years the form of Maria had not waddled across accustomed +scenes. Quite unexpectedly it loomed up as large and buoyant as ever. +The light-hearted denizens of the camp had arranged an evening's +entertainment. The fires burned low, the sea babbled, making +white-skirted frolic on the hard level sand, and the piping voices of +the honey-seeking flying foxes among the tea-trees seemed to chide +the parrots of the day for having left so little refreshment in the +blossoms. Behind a screen of faded blankets the warriors of the camp +were adorning themselves with white clay and feathers and long, shaggy +beards of bark, while the leader of the orchestra began to tune his +boomerang and fire-hardened sticks, and his attendants to squat ready to +drum on thighs and lap with hollowed hand in time with his refrain and +clicking music. The fires flared up, and the band emerged with thumping +step and emphatic grunts to illustrate the ceremonious visit of +strangers to a camp at which the nature of the reception was in doubt. +One individual, in chalk for the most part, advanced, half nervously, +half anxiously, to the musician, and modestly retired, and advanced +again and retired, until reassured, and then the crowd came forward +whirling and grunting, and, with high-waving arms in unison and swaying +bodies, gave token of happiness. + +ACT II.--The master of ceremonies carried to the front a big and rough +sapling. The fires glowed again, the orchestra clicked and thumped, and +a single boy in an ancient red handkerchief and chalks danced into the +light, and, keeping time with the music, began in pantomime to fashion +the sapling into a sword, using a fictitious shell, with which he +scraped off imaginary bark. While absorbed in his work, his companions +came from the screen in haste, skipping round him and mimicking all his +actions and grunting in unison with him, while making the sand-ridge to +quiver with intensity of tread. Presently all flopped down on haunches +in close formation round the sword-maker, still maintaining rhythmical +sway of body and limb, and while some held the sapling, others toiled +strenuously towards the completion of a good and true weapon, the master +of ceremonies encouraging and exhorting the workers until nature could +hold out no longer, and they bounded to their feet and, with grunts +and signs and with bodies reeking with perspiration, whirled away into +darkness. + +ACT III.--Each of the noisy players came suddenly into the glare +carrying a rotund, compact bundle, and, squatting down, began with +grunts and sighs the great "coco-nut" act, obviously one of the +masterpieces of the corroboree. In perfect time the sham coco-nuts +were beaten with hands in lieu of sticks or tomahawks, while the +accompaniment became faster and faster. Ever and anon each, still +rocking, would peer closely at his prize to satisfy himself as to its +quality, and forthwith continue the resonant belabouring of the shell, +until the meat therein was available with joyous shout. + +ACT IV.--Most of the accumulated bark and leaves having by this time +passed into flame and smoke, the attendants raided the nearest gunyah +for fresh supplies of material for illumination. The big fires lit up +the arena anew, and, marshalled by the conductor, the band rushed out +of the darkness uttering grunts which rang a change on the monotony of +previous vocal efforts. A masterpiece of composition, it conjured up the +dimness of the jungle and the smell of damp vegetation. All squatted in +a double ring, back to back. This formation was not strictly maintained, +for each individual made half turns to right and left alternately, +simultaneously scratching the sand with distended fingers and kicking +vigorously until the sand ascended in the smoke-tinged glow, heads +bowing and ducking with mechanical regularity, as the entertainers +sought--and with conspicuous success--to portray a community of scrub +turkeys building an incubating mound. + +Then it was that the favourite and belle of the camp, the fascinating +creature whose magnificent condition bestowed privileges undreamt of +by other ladies, became conspicuous. Her costume had evidently been +designed for a lady not divinely tall, but considerably less of flesh +than the wearer. Maria did not actually overflow, though perilously near +that point. Surely buttons were never designed to resist such strain. +Coloured ladies generally sit meekly among the audience and chatter +and maintain the drum-beats, lacking which no corroboree could be +successful. During the intervals they may emboss pictures in the +impressionable sand with cunning forefinger and giggle, for the subjects +are often quaint. Maria, sure of her privileges, waddled out from the +flame-obscuring dusk, turned an ample back upon the double ring of boys, +and played her part as one of the giddy and industrious wild-fowls. Her +fingers scratched the air and her feet the dust with a realism not to +be excelled by the most gifted of the boys, while her half grunt, half +chuckle, exactly imitative of the social garrulity of the turkey, gave +artistic finish to a scene which would have been absolutely delusive +if feathers had been in fashion. Maria, a fleer at mere ponderosity, +skipped and whisked from left to right with fay-like airiness of foot +until a thrill of delight went through the camp. The frolicsome turkeys +scratched and scattered leaves that were not, and gobbled and clucked, +until, panting and perspiring, all rose, and with a simultaneous +shout scampered for the screen, while the master of ceremonies shouted +"Finis!" The music ceased, the flames faded, and substantial Maria +dissolved in the gloom. + + + + +SOOSIE + + + +"No legend! Well, let us invent one."--SCOTT. + + +A crinkled fist, fumbling and twisting, protruded from a rent in a +dilapidated dilly-bag. It had done so with infinite feebleness for many +an hour in unavailing protest against the woes and weight of life, for +faint scratch smeared with blood denoted the friction of tender skin +against the broken edges of the cane-made bag. + +A scarcely audible, inhuman wail--pathetically staccato--told of +unceasing pain. Whomsoever the bag contained was enduring martyrdom. + +"That fella, him no good. Close up finis. B'mbi me plant'm along scrub." + +Thus spoke the pleasant-faced gin who passed with the dilly-bag along a +narrow aisle of the jungle, intent upon ridding herself of a vexatious +encumbrance, and at the same time performing the rite of unrighteous +burial. + +Squirming in dirt was a naked infant-black, foul, and but a few days +old. + +"Mother belonga that fella him dead--finis. That fella, him no good. Him +sing out all a time. More better tchuck'm away." + +Frail outcast--the very scum of a blacks' camp, its repulsiveness was +tragic. Dirt and odour sickened, yet its appeal was irresistible. That +universal language, a human cry, which everywhere and always quickened +the pulse, stirred pity to its depths. I seized the stained bag (it +was a desperate deed) and, breaking down its worn sides, displayed its +contents--a girl in all the infamy of neglect, starvation, and dirt--a +panting mummy reeking with offence. + +Spreading out a handkerchief, I put the awful atom on it gingerly, while +the foster-mother reiterated her counsel to "tchuck'm alonga scrub." + +In the guise of a frail bundle at arm's-length was Soosie conducted to a +civilised home. + +Dismay tempered with pity greeted her. + +"How horrible! How dirty!" + +"Is it really a little girl? It looks like a wild animal." + +"Do let me nurse it." + +Thus was crinkled-faced Soosie welcomed. + +Many successive baths did she endure, faintly wailing, until dirt soaked +off and the wails ceased for the time being as Soosie sucked ravenously +at a tiny sugar-bag. + +What a frail little life it was--feeble beyond expression, and ugly +with the ugliness of savagery. She wriggled and screwed up her skinny +features with inane ferocity. A motherless wallaby would have submitted +to human solace and ministrations with daintier mien; but the whole +household thrilled with excitement. Could the spluttering spark of life +be made to glow? That was the all-absorbing topic for days. Gradually +some sort of a human rotundity became manifest, and on the occasion +of the bath it was more and more apparent that instead of being +impenetrably black the skin-tint was a mingling of pale brown and pink; +and as regular nourishment began to be effective the features changed, +losing their gross animalism. + +Just because of the waif's helplessness was repugnance to her conquered. +She had no other redeeming quality. In a certain sense she was fearsome; +she required unremitting attention and care; her whimpering fits, +in beast-like monotone, shook the nerve of the most patient of her +attendants. She was a charge to keep and foster, and the duty was +performed with devotion, which took little concern for self-sacrifice. +Before many months had passed Soosie had been transformed into a fat +roly-poly with a perpetual smile and gurgles of satisfaction, which even +vocalised sleep. + +All this happened years ago. In infancy Soosie had been informally +adopted. She was now a bright, sensible, slender girl, whose full, +melting eyes pleaded for inevitable facial defects, and whose complexion +was very greatly at fault. She grew up more averse from the manners +and moods of her mother than those of us who better understand the +differences of race. To her a black was more abhorrent than a snake. +She loathed the sight of those who came about the place, and would not +defile herself by touching the cleanest--kind-hearted "Wethera," who had +so nearly interred her, and to whom she was as a princess; "Wethera," +who was wont to say, "That fella Tchoosie, too flash. Close up me bin +tchuck'm away. Boss he bin catch'm." + +Soosie evaded all possible reference to her kin, and when others spoke +in sympathetic terms would say: "How can you bear to think of those +horrible people who live in dirt and only half dressed in the bush? I +love the scrub, and but for them would like to wander in it all day. I +dare not while they are about, for some day one of them might touch me, +and I would never feel clean again." + +We often wondered at the irreconcilable attitude which Soosie (she was +always "Miss Soosie" to all but members of the household) adopted to her +own race, for she well understood where she had been born and the manner +of her salvation from imminent death. + +Though no special training had been hers, none of the domestic arts were +unknown to her. She acquired them with ease and practised them with the +air of a dignified princess and neat-handed facility. While the other +children of the house stewed over lessons and rebelled against essential +tasks, to Soosie everything seemed to make for holiday. She read +voraciously, so that her application of English became so keen that she +was the first to detect verbal dissonances. She, the youngest of two +girls and a boy, would often correct their speech, not as a budding +pedant, but because her ears were delicately attuned to the music of the +tongue and could not, without offence, hearken to discords. She was an +affected prude. Her self-chosen style of dress, her pose, her disdainful +airs, her repugnance to coarse work, her inclination towards occupations +and pastimes which involved isolation, showed that self-consciousness +ruled her life. She lived within herself, and her life was gentle, +contrasting with the boisterous playfulness of her foster sisters and +brother, upon whose romps she smiled indulgently, but in which she +never took part. In her own estimation she was a girl quite out of the +ordinary, and one to whom the most honoured of guests must be polite, if +not deferential. She exacted little niceties of demeanour from all, +her equals and inferiors, for was she not treated as a daughter of the +house? Often, however, in her preoccupied moods would she assume an air +of detachment and jealousy towards the other children, for she could not +but contrast herself with them. They were white; she was pronouncedly of +the despised race. How wistfully would she scan the face of strangers! +How teeming with resentment against fate her inevitable conclusions! +In all save features she was white. Over her inheritance, the cruellest +which fortune could bestow, she was shudderingly horrified. Not all the +longings of an untainted mind could make her skin less tawny. Its stain +was too deep to be blanched by the most fervent of prayers. Her outlook +on life, her intensest wishes, were those of a white girl of more +than decent perceptions--of actual refinement, for they tended to the +avoidance of everything unpleasant and unsightly. In other respects, +too, she was an absolute variant from the type, for her sensitiveness to +the pain of others and of the lower animals amounted almost to a mania; +for though she had a girlish horror of blood, her eagerness to solace +sufferings made her so courageous that she became most apt and prompt +in the administration of first aid. Her big, startled eyes showed +the sincerity of her feelings, while her firm, slender fingers deftly +applied bandages as she spoke in soothing tones. + +The soul of a white damsel was in habitation of the body of one whose +parents had been black and utterly degraded. In the days of old evil +spirits were believed to be capable of taking spiteful possession of the +bodies of the weak to work, in unseemlinesses and indecencies, for the +mischief of the soul. Here was a good and gentle spirit which strove +undemonstratively for the salvation of a being the circumstances of +whose birth bordered on the infernal. It was as if the baths of infancy +had purified the soul, while the permanence and perversity of blood +triumphed in feature and complexion. + +While the other children of the house deserved and obtained love +and affection in full measure, towards Soosie were exhibited similar +sentiments, with, perhaps, more consideration, for was it not plain that +her life was a continual conflict--a conflict between body and soul--a +body self-abhorred, a soul which needed no purification? + +A creek which had its source in a ravine of the huge mountain which +intercepted the rising sun and caused accustomed shadow an hour after +the illumination of the western hills, ran past the lonely little +house, which stood in a clearing the upright walls of which were on the +sky-line scalloped with fan-palms. For many years Soosie never ventured +into the jungle unaccompanied, yet she seemed to possess a sense of +happenings beyond the almost solid screen of vegetation. Primal instinct +contended against her affections and her love for a sheltered, clean +life. Though she had always avoided association with the children of the +camp, and her knowledge by imitation or precept was negative, yet +was the bush an open book to her. She knew when and where to look for +birds'-nests. She knew at a glance a venomous from a non-venomous snake, +an edible from an inedible nut. As a child her favourite head-dress was +a squat, fat mantis, the bright orange and yellow of which contrasted +boldly with her fuzzy, coarse hair; and when the insect palled as an +ornament it would be frizzled and slyly eaten. + +Once as we strolled on the bank of the creek gazing at the lazy, +red-finned fish among the swaying weeds, her wandering eyes detected +a neat circular bore in the trunk of a huge silky oak. Having shrewdly +scrutinised the bark, she judged the tenant to be at home. With a +portion of one of the "feelers" of creeping palm stripped of all the +prickles save two, she probed the tunnel and, screwing the instrument +triumphantly, withdrew a huge white grub, which she ate forthwith; and +then, with a grimace, assumed an air of shame and contrition, for she +had astonished herself as well as others by an exhibition of untaught +bush-craft and ancestral appetite. + +She more than once confessed in shamefaced terms to an almost +uncontrollable impulse to rush away to the mountain, that she might +solace herself with the solitude and food in plenty there; but that when +she conjured up the chance of meeting some "dreadful native" she thanked +God for home and loving companions. How frequent and how intense was +this unconfessed lust for the bush we knew not. + +When Soosie was fourteen there came to the neighbourhood a hardy young +fellow who began to clear a small area of jungle land; for civilisation, +which had been marking time for nigh upon two decades, now marched +slowly, and to no throb of drum, in our direction. Times were changing, +and in some details less desirable conditions arose. The infinite +privacy of the bush suffered. The little clearing was no longer our own. +Soosie's demeanour became more reposeful. She had seemed to think that +it might be her fate, in common with others, to become a ward of the +State at some mission-station; but as settlement advanced, though still +miles away, for we were the furthest out, and no interfering guardian of +the peace came to enforce officialdom and insist upon obedience to the +letter of the law, it was comforting to reflect that this unofficial +daughter might be permitted to live out her life unhampered even by the +goodwill expressed, in the first stages, by the visit of a policeman. + +Her presence was necessary, not only on account of her amiable +disposition and self-sacrificing ways, but for the actual load she bore +of the duties of a quiet home. We had failed, however, to take into +calculation the chances of another means of separation. There was now +no disguising the fact that our new neighbour, Dan, was casting sheep's +eyes in Soosie's direction, and to her evident dismay. It was of little +avail to upbraid him as to the unseemliness of attachment to a girl who, +however civilised, was of inferior race and despised colour. He frankly +confessed that he wanted a wife as a companion and helpmeet; that he +could not hope, in consideration of his own lowly birth and slender +means and uphill task, to induce a white girl to halve his loneliness. +He had studied Soosie, and was sure that she was his superior except +in matter of colour. She was far better schooled and had been used to +softer life. + +"What," he asked, "don't you and the Missis and Miss Clare and Fan, and +Bob, here, love her? You couldn't help it; and you are not ashamed. You +treat her as your own child. It would be no sin for me to take her as my +own wife. If she'll have me I'll marry her before the best parson in +the North. What of her complexion? It's only a little more sunburnt than +mine." + +But Soosie was shy--more than shy. Her sensitiveness amounted to +physical repulsion. She declared that, though she liked Dan, she would +never marry. + +"I do feel in my heart that I am nothing more than a black girl, and +almost a savage. What if some day the horrible part of me got stronger, +and I did go to the mountain by myself? I have heard you say that blood +will tell. Often I am frightened of myself, especially when the nights +are very still and I listen to the scrub hens chuckling and the flying +foxes squealing, and smell the scents of the scrub. It must be very +nice to live away from everybody in the very loneliest part of the big +mountain, and to feel at home with actually wild things." + +There was no affectation between us, so I said in comfort: "But my dear +girl, you are whiter at heart than many a girl born white. It is only +your skin that is dark. Perhaps if in a year or so you did marry Dan it +would be the best, for a good woman, no matter what her complexion, will +always earn respect. Society may not want you, but you would not want +society; and it will be very many years before society hampers life in +this part of the bush." + +Soosie thought for a few minutes, and then replied with delicate +discretion. "I can never marry Dan. Sooner or later he would despise +me. It might be all right while I was young, but--we--we--blacks get +old very soon. Fancy Dan having an old gin in his house; for he won't be +living in a one-roomed hut all his life!" + +"You are spiteful against yourself, and that's not like you, Soosie." + +"I have my feelings. How else may I restrain them?" she petulantly +exclaimed. "He must never think of me. It might drive me to the +mountain--just to save him from me." + +Dan, good fellow, was discreet. He decided to play the laggard in love, +realising that any show of impetuosity might frighten Soosie. It came +to be understood that in time she might see the wisdom of accepting +him, and I, knowing both, and to whom mixed marriages are abhorrent, +was convinced that no girl could have been better qualified to fill the +position of a bushman's wife. Modest, clever, sympathetic, healthful, +none of the stains of the town had ever tarnished her mind. Her +voice was that of a well-schooled white girl, and all her perceptions +coincided. If the wander lust was to be suppressed for ever, it seemed +to me that Soosie must marry, and marry young. + +While Soosie's demeanour was still the cause of earnest solicitude, a +perplexing complication arose. An old man of the camp whence she had +been discarded began to do his best to attract her attention. + +Gifts of birds'-nests, eggs, ferns, orchids in flower, a cassowary +chick, neat dilly-bags, gay with crude Pigments, were brought to the +house with messages such as this: + +"That fella 'Pad-oo-byer' he bin gib'em alonga 'Ky-ee-rah.'" + +"Ky-ee-rah" (the evening star) had been proclaimed to be Soosie's +totemic name, and "Pad-oo-byer" we knew as "Duckbill," because of a +fancied resemblance to a platypus. + +The gifts were tearfully repudiated. They seemed to announce that +Soosie, was regarded by her mother's kin as one of themselves, +notwithstanding her civilised environment. + +Though for the girl's sake, not on account of any personal repugnance or +despiteful attitude, the blacks had been kept at arm's length, I was on +good terms with all in the district, and took interest in their doings +and folk-lore. One of their primary beliefs was that children, black +and white, were actually the produce of the locality, belonging, not to +chance parents, but to the very land on which they were born. The germs +of life, they assumed, came from the soil; the soil assimilated all +flesh after death. Infants were but phases of the life with which the +soil teemed. All the neighbourhood belonged to the camp--the land and +everything which sprang from it, for they were the original possessors. +It was their country. They argued that such things as sweet potatoes, +pumpkins and mangoes, the very roses which adorned a sprawling bush, the +richly tinted crotons, the flaunting alamanda over the gateway, were, +strictly speaking, common property. So, too, over those children born +on the place certain proprietary rights were claimed. They were akin +to them, alien to their parents. Whites and blacks born in the same +district must, according to their ideas, be more closely related +than folks whose birthplaces were separated by distances beyond +comprehension. + +Such being the general opinion, fortified by undeviating oral tradition, +in Soosie's case the theory was ever so much the more arguable. She was +claimed, not alone on the grounds that she was a native of their own +land, but because, having been born in their own camp, she must be +subject to it. + +Duckbill intercepted me on the edge of the clearing one morning +especially to propound the law of the land. + +Soosie, he told in his pidgin English, had been given to him by her +uncle. She was to be his gin now that she was grown up. "More better you +hunt that fella. Him want sit down alonga camp." + +The bald proposition shook me, for I could not but see the logic of it +from Duckbill's standpoint. He was the "big man," a wizard--ugly, old, +and villainously dirty. Here was the camp's husband for the coloured +girl with the white heart. The idea was revolting, and then and there I +resolved at whatever cost to save the girl from such degradation. + +"Clear out!" I shouted, assuming frantic anger. "You fella chuck'm +Soosie away when she little fella piccaninny. That one belonga me now. +Suppose you fella kick'm up row big fella government come clear you +fella out. No more let you sit down longa this country." + +"Country belonga me. You no humbug. You bin catch'm that fella Tchoosie +l-o-n-g time. You bin make'm good fella. Belonga me now." + +The disgusting old fellow went on to explain that he intended to come up +to the house that evening. "You hunt'm that fella Tchoosie, me catch'm. +No good belonga you." + +I was to drive the gently nurtured girl out of the house so that this +foul creature might seize her as he would a struggling wallaby, and take +her to live a degraded life in the camp! Explanations and threats were +of no avail. Duckbill, who was unable to comprehend that he and others +of the camp had by abandonment forfeited all rights to Soosie and that +she was now a "white Mary," made it plain that he would forcibly +abduct her if I would but give him the slight assistance of expulsion. +Otherwise he would catch her himself. + +Threatening the camp with the presence of the "big fella government" if +he or any of them dared to interfere, I went off, while he shouted his +orders to "hunt that fella close up karrie badgin!" (sunset). + +Forthwith the house was put in a state of semi-siege. Soosie, with +tearful eyes and tremulous hands, hysterically implored us to protect +her from a fate worse than death. A message brought Dan, who first +disdained to take Duckbill seriously. Told how Soosie had been wooed +with gifts, and that her maternal uncle had officiously bestowed her +upon the gaunt, ill-favoured king of the camp in accordance with tribal +law, which regarded her as a mere chattel at the disposal of the +whim and fancy of the nearest relative or at the demand of the most +authoritative man, he became concerned and installed himself as Soosie's +special guardian. + +A few minutes after sundown Duckbill appeared, quite unconscious of +offence against civilised customs, carrying a waddy with which to +administer an anodyne should his capture prove the least refractory. +Threats and scoldings were lost. He was incapable of comprehending +why there should be a moment's hesitation about the fulfilment of his +legitimate rights and demands. + +Though protests were vain, the fact that Soosie did not show herself +imparted some glimmering of sense of the situation to him, and he +wandered off in the gloom grumbling "That fella too flash," and frankly +announcing "B'mbi me catch'm." + +For weeks Soosie kept within doors, or if she ventured out was +accompanied by one or other well able and determined to protect her. Her +nerves were at acute tension; her life that of a hunted creature; for +though she thought her fate inevitable, she concentrated her mind on +what seemed to others pitiably weak and inconsequent schemes for the +bafflement of Duckbill. + +Was it that some ineffaceable trait told her that the tribal law as +expounded by Duckbill was so wise that resistance to it was vain, and +that the trivial plans over which she worried were merely invented as a +sort of temporary palliative? She scorned the possibility of existence +in the camp, yet strove to contest it by the use of fantastical devices. +She urged that Dan and I should get some fearsome masks and rush the +camp in the gloom, at the same time setting off fireworks, and so create +such terrifying effects that none would venture near the spot again. +With bated breath, she even suggested that I should make a "death-bone" +to be employed for the secret ill of Duckbill; she thus exposed the +dross of hereditary superstition which rose to the surface during mental +ebullition. + +It was quite in the nature of things that under stress such a nature +should break down. She nestled close to Dan, promising to be his +sweetheart on the condition that, rather than that Duckbill should take +her away, he would shoot her. If it came about that the dreadful black +man was himself driven off or disposed of by some other means and the +country made safe for her, then she would marry the man who had saved +her, and she hoped that she might never disgrace him. + +Dan accepted the guardianship. His hut was two miles away and on the far +side of the river. He saw little of it for the next few weeks. + +Duckbill and his friends, as we were well aware, knew of our plans for +the defeat of his proposed outrage. If Soosie could be ceremoniously +married to the faithful Dan, no black in the neighbourhood would +endeavour to molest her. Indeed, all, even to Duckbill, would be +flattered and demonstrative of pride in the alliance. + +A fortnight later Duckbill again intercepted me. Since the previous +verbal encounter I had gone armed. He carried, somewhat ostentatiously, +a tomahawk and a couple of nulla-nullas. + +"No good you keep'm that fella Tchoosie. Me bin look out plenty. That +fella belonga me. Suppose you no lat'm come, more worse b'mbi. Me want +mak'm that fella all asame black fella. You gib it Clare belonga Dan." + +My fingers twitched on the butt of the revolver. It was an ultimatum. +That which from other lips would have been resented as complacent +insolence had to be endured with apparent calmness. Threatening him +with all the consequences of a visit from the "big fella government," I +hurriedly left, for I was not too sure of self-control. + +A stricter watch than ever was maintained, for the least relaxation of +precautions might have involved results for which a lifetime of regrets +would not have atoned. Though of such a low type of the human race, the +North Queensland aboriginal possesses certain admirable characteristics. +His mind seldom swerves from a set purpose within view of attainment. +He may be rebuffed and disappointed, and may assume indifference to or +forgetfulness of his purpose; but in his heart he does not accept defeat +until an absolutely decisive blow is received. Invisible to us, the old +man persistently waited, and watched. The dogs frequently detected +his presence, if their eloquent alarms and their excursions were to +be credited. Though she continued to pit her wits against the secret +cunningness of the dreaded old man, Soosie was often preoccupied, +seeming to regard herself as one not primarily concerned. Her calmness +was preternatural, contrasting strangely with her previous petulant +agitation and tragic despair. She avoided Dan, while clinging with +profuse demonstrations of affection to her foster-sisters. + +The reason for her change of policy and manner was revealed with +distressing suddenness. At daylight one morning the door of the room in +which she slept under lock and key was wide open, and on her quaintly +embellished table a primly written note: + + +"DEAR MUM, + +"That horrible man who wants to take me away is right, and the Bible is +right. I belong to this country, and must go. I would rather die than go +to the camp; but I must know the big mountain. The dreadful people don't +go there. They are frightened of it; I love it. I shall live there by +myself till I die, and Dan will never be disgraced. You and Dada and +Clare and Fan and Bob have been all the world to me. You did your best +to make me white at heart; but since this trouble began I have thought +and thought, and found that the black in me smudges all the good out. +Don't try to come after me. I shall hide. I would be too much ashamed +ever to look at you again. Forget me, for I am nothing but an ungrateful +little savage. + +"SOOSIE." + + +In all haste Dan and I set out for the camp, a mile or so further in +the jungle. It was situated in a natural, symmetrical clearing, a circus +hemmed in by sullen vegetation, and upon which no plant save blady grass +ever invaded. + +The camp was deserted. Save for a few still warm spots indicative +of artfully smothered fires, there were few signs to indicate recent +occupation. An hour's search revealed definite tracks leading east--to +the mountain. + +No pains had been taken to baffle pursuers. Apparently the blacks had +just wandered off aimlessly in obedience to a whim of the moment. There +was nothing but conjecture to support the opinion that the decampment +had anything to do with the disappearance of Soosie. Probably the blacks +were aware, in advance of ourselves, that she had stolen away. If so, +they would inevitably get her, having, possibly, the advantage of hours +of start and being efficient in the art of tracking. Our plan was to +hasten so that we might, if fortune favoured, be in time to save the +distracted girl from the repulsive and obscene ceremonies to which she +would be subject if she fell into the hands of Duckbill. + +An hour's walk brought us to the foothills of the mountain. The tracks +turned abruptly north, winding indeterminately as if no special object +had been in view. It might be that while the men of the camp had +been intent on following Soosie's tracks, the women and children had +straggled after as if the quest was of no special concern to them. + +In the broken country well in to the base of the mountain all traces of +the exodus was lost, though bush instinct, supplemented by the actions +of the dogs, gave sense of its direction. Blundering down into a ravine +where blanched vegetation betokened complete seclusion from the sun, we +clambered up the opposing steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle +on a high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded view to the +west--a scene of theatrical clarity with a single theatrical smear. From +a hollow far below slothful smoke filtered through the matted, +sombre, dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted abruptly, +dissolving from diaphanous blue to nothingness. The resonant whooping +of a swamp pheasant, antiphonal to a bell-voiced, crimson-crowned fruit +pigeon in a giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur-crested cockatoo +as it tumbled in the air, evading the swoops of a grey goshawk, +materialised the peace and the conflicts of a scene upon which no man +had made mark. + +The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting-place of the fugitives, +though all tracks on the uneasy earth had failed. Odours of the jungle +soothed my mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, and +gave assurance that the men had unravelled Soosie's wanderings until she +had begun to ascend the mountain, and that, being then on strange and +terrifying ground, they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar +level country free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. + +With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, plunging again into the +dimness of the jungle, struck as direct a route as possible for the +smoke-revealed camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently through +the screen of ferns and banana plants, where in a secluded glade were +the wanderers in happy festival. + +Could any scene approach nearer the ideal? Men, women and children, +mostly unclad, talking and laughing in modulated tones, while amusing +themselves with trivial occupations and eating convenient food in the +depths of the jungle, sanctified by distance and scene and sound! Peace +smiled, propriety approved. They ate of the fruits of the earth. The +fern-embowered stream gave them to drink. No sign of the white man, with +his interfering and desolating ways, assailed the sight. It was as if +the mist of centuries had lifted, and for once time-soiled mortals were +permitted to gaze on a Garden of Eden free from danger and innocent of +sin. There was none here to make the quiet folk afraid or discontented. + +As I stepped out, the scene changed with pantomimic celerity. We were in +the midst of a community of excitable and resentful people, who, viewing +us, if not with active hostility, at least with surprise and anger, +seemed embarrassed by guilty knowledge. None of the customary greetings +welcomed us. None offered other than scowls. + +"Where Soosie?" I demanded in authoritative tones of a boy accustomed to +treat my slightest word with respect. + +With averted face he sullenly said: "That fella Tchoosie he run away. He +go l-o-n-g way, alonga mountain!" + +"Look here! You no humbug. Where Soosie sit down? Plenty row along +white man suppose Soosie no come back. That fella Soosie belonga Missis. +Missis very sorry. She bin make'm Soosie all asame white Mary." + +Still the face-averting boy reiterated: "That fella Soosie he bin go +long way--more far. You fella make'm Soosie no good." + +Others gathered round. Several carried weapons--nulla-nullas and wooden +swords--and assumed hostile attitudes. + +Dan became uncontrollably excited, storming for the production of +Soosie, and being met with inconclusive statements and evasions. Being +one who knew no fear, who deemed his questions justifiable, who felt +himself more than a match for the whole camp, and was convinced that the +blacks were in possession of essential information, he urged the policy +of chastising the sullenness out of a couple of incommunicative boys. +His attitude, and mine, hitherto, towards the blacks had been of cheery +good-nature tempered with considerate authority. Present moroseness was +novel, and he was eager to sweep it away with a sturdy stick, and thus +to demonstrate that when a friendly white man visited a camp blacks +should be deferential and alert to assist his mission. + +In the mood of the men tragedy was inevitable unless both of us kept +cool. What would be the ending of a fray between two white men and +many armed blacks, some of whom were aching under a prolonged, however +inconsequent, grievance against a white family? + +"Look here, Dan. Leave those fellows alone," I said firmly but quietly. +"There'll be sorrow for some if you begin a row." + +"I don't care for a hundred blacks! I'd kick myself if I could not floor +half a dozen single-handed! Where that Soosie?" + +To distract attention from Dan, I moved off a few yards. + +"What you ki-ki?" I asked of Wethera, who gnawed with concentrated +satisfaction at a charred bone. "You ki-ki wallaby?" + +"No wallaby! This one 'mandee' (hand) belonga Tchoosie!" + +Scorched flesh and blackened bone had left their smear on the face of +the kindest cannibal of them all. On the fire was a foot with +charred ankle-bones; in a dilly-bag other fragments, but in Wethera's +countenance no consciousness of evil-doing. + +"Come here!" I shouted. + +The excited man strode to the spot. + +"Soosie," I said, in the calmest tones I could command, "has been +murdered. This is a cannibal feast!" + +With a bound he upset the gin, who shrieked as she grovelled in the +embers. + +"You wretches! You kill Soosie! I kill you!" + +As he drew his revolver from his belt I seized his hand, and, +restraining him as best I could for a moment, spoke authoritative and +soothing words, and led him away weak and tremulous. + + + +Not for many months--long after Dan had left the district--did exact +information as to the fate of the hapless girl reach our ears. Wethera +told of the tragedy. Duckbill had followed her tracks from the house +towards the mountain, had overtaken her, and, since she had fought +frenziedly, had "killed her alonga head little bit," not intending to +kill her "dead, finis." Carried to the camp, it had been found out that +she was actually dead. Then all had become stricken and run away. + +By her obstinacy Soosie had offended tribal law. She had suffered. In +the necessitous jungle animal food is never wasted, be it beast, bird, +or reptile. + +It had been an edifying sacrament, too, founded on immemorial truth, +for had it not been devoutly believed that Soosie's most excellent and +potent personality would remain with and glorify every participant? + + + + +BLUE SHIRT + + + +"A strong, untutored intellect, eyesight, heart; a strong, wild +Man."--CARLYLE. + + +Half a century ago, when hardy and adventurous men made laws unto +themselves, and their somewhat hasty and inconsiderate hands began to +sting the aboriginal population, there lived on this Isle a stalwart +native whose force of character constituted him a captain among his +fellows. + +Possibly he was Tom's father. Before he passed away, Tom had often told +that his father was king of this realm and a man of parts. He it was +who harpooned a huge green turtle to the east. The game was so +extraordinarily strong that others hastened to his aid, for the capture +was beyond the capabilities of one man kneeling in a tucked-up sheet of +bark. The whole fleet of canoes barely succeeded in towing the massive +and reluctant creature to the nearest beach, and Tom was wont to +tell that it took eight strong men to turn it on its back. It was +"kummaoried" on the sand, and Tom oft pointed out the very spot as proof +of the most famous feast within the range of tradition. + +Let it be accepted, then, that Blue Shirt was Tom's father, since +history is silent on the point, and none is left to question or +authenticate it. He was a big man, and his son was like him. He was +fond of colours; so, too, was his son. He was a fighter; his son's +meritorious scars proved him worthy of his blood. He was a man in +authority and full of territorial pride; his son's dominance was +undoubted, for did he not chide the "big fella gubbermen" on its +audacity in disposing of his Island--his country--even to a friendly +white man? + +Blue Shirt was the ruler and lawgiver of this Island when a barque +strove with a cyclone which eventually shattered her to pieces and +scattered her cargo of cedar-logs to the four winds. After the wreck a +boat put out from a not distant port on a beach-combing cruise. The boat +was known as the CAPTAIN COOK. About a hundred years before her namesake +had reported that he had seen about thirty natives, all unclad, on an +adjacent islet. With the captain was his mate, two other white men, a +black boy, and a young gin. Many derelict logs were seen and certain +wreckage, which made the boat's company inclined to the belief that some +of the castaways might have landed on Dunk Island. They steered hither, +anchoring in the evening. + +Early the next morning three stalwart black boys put off in canoes to +the CAPTAIN COOK, and, making friendly demonstrations, were invited on +board. Food was given them, and to the leader the captain presented a +blue shirt. No dweller of the Island had ever before possessed such a +sumptuous and glorious garment. Indeed, if the absolute truth must +be told, no dweller had dreamt of anything more desirable than an +inadequate cloak laboriously wrought from the inner bark of a fig-tree, +raiment sanctioned by the first of fashions. + +Having made it known that they belonged to a neighbouring islet at the +moment unfriendly to the overbearing Dunk Island tribe, Blue Shirt and +his attendants mentioned that cedar-logs and other attractive flotsam +bestrewed the beaches, and volunteered to conduct the strangers to the +best places on the understanding that they, being alien and hostile, +should remain under the protection of the rifle-carrying white men. + +The captain, two men, and the black boy, followed Blue Shirt ashore; +but, although he was conspicuously clad, could not find him or any other +man. A few old and casual women represented the hospitable inhabitants, +while Sabbath quietude brooded over the scene as they strolled along the +yellow beach. By chance one of the party glanced towards the spot where +they had landed, and saw half a dozen vigorous gins endeavouring to haul +the boat above tideway. + +How excellent the strategy! + +The designing but faint-hearted women fled when the white men charged +for the boat, which now was seen to be endowed with an incredible, +uncanny rocking movement of its own. Looking beneath, they saw a huge +cripple straining himself, Atlas-like, to heave it over. In spite of +inferior legs, his brawny shoulders had almost accomplished the feat +when he was unceremoniously interrupted. While he sprawled away, a mob +of blacks rushed suddenly from the cover of some rocks, the leader +of the assailants being Blue Shirt, who had painted his unclad parts +martial red and white. The strength of the party was guessed at thirty. +An exact census was not taken, for with spears and nulla-nullas and big +swords, each warrior having the protection of a shield, the treacherous +band swept on the deluded guests of their leader, whose hostile yells +scandalised the meek phrases and friendly signs of a short hour before. + +The captain, poor, outwitted man, had laid his rifle beside the boat. +It was too late now to bring it into decisive action. Keeping close +together, the defenders warded off the first rush with whatever came +to hand. The rifle was recovered; but Blue Shirt, recognising that it +represented victory, struggled for it determinedly. A spear was thrown +at close quarters straight for the captain's neck, but one of the men +deftly twitched it off, a feat that so enraged the warriors that they +made him their special target, until at last one of their spears pierced +his hand. Being rough and thready, the black palm-point made an ugly +wound; but the resolute man drew it out, and, breaking the spear in +twain, threw it into the boat, and as he did so, another grazed his +abdomen. While he was thus defending himself against the spears and +nulla-nullas of outrageous fortune, the captain made wide, sweeping +movements with the butt of his rifle, and the other man and the boy, the +boat being by this time afloat, tugged at the oars. The attacking party +followed, the captain making good misuse of the rifle, the odd man and +the boy occasionally perverting an oar to wrongful but, at the crisis, +effective purpose, while the wounded suffered the hate of him who earns +personal as well as racial animosity. He sustained a cut on the head +from a wooden sword, yet he fought on, retaining his wits, while a +kind Providence, and his own artfulness and agility protected him from +hurtling spears. + +The cost of the little excursion was paid in wounds and bruises and, +eventually, putrefying sores, while the souls of all instantly mortified +under the sight of triumphant Blue Shirt jeering and gesticulating as +only an uncouth black dare, as he waved over his head a tomahawk he had +abstracted from the boat during the morning's pleasant entertainment. + +No one of the poor, depraved representatives of the race has any +knowledge of the event in which Blue Shirt showed himself to be a +successful plotter, a bold strategist, an original tactician, and a +brave fighter. His son is dust. His grandson, though true in complexion, +knows more about engines than he does of wooden swords and how to use +them. The zest of life was with his ancestor, who during a long life had +but one shirt. + + + + +THE FORGOTTEN DEAD + + + +"Of lonely folk cut off unseen." + + HOOD. + + +A few months ago chance bestowed the opportunity of listening to the +conversation of one who for very many yearn has hung upon the skirts of +civilisation. A bushman of rare resourcefulness, wide knowledge of the +dry as well as the moist parts of North Queensland, a reader, and +an acute and accurate observer of natural phenomena, he has often +entertained me with the relation of episodes in his career which, though +quite unsensational, is of the material of which the history of the +bush must be compiled. He is now settled on a tidal creek, his nearest +neighbours miles away. Independent of the regular assistance of +blacks in the cultivation of his land, he is one of those who, while +acknowledging no such thing as comradeship, and who, true to his +sentiments, keeps them at arm's-length, has, albeit, acquired +confidences rather unusual. + +When his reading matter has become exhausted, he has sat night after +night for months together absorbing the lore of the camp. To him has +been disclosed many a well-guarded secret. Not unto every man who asks +do the blacks tell their thoughts or impart their legends. You may study +them; but they, too, are discreet students, who often keep their counsel +while seeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their ways and be +wise as they are wise. + +My friend is one of those undemonstrative, self-contained men in whom +some of the coloured, cautious metaphysicians find a congenial +soul. Therefore is he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covert +knowledge. + +As we talked on the subject of the unexplained disappearances of men in +the bush of Australia, he told the incidents of the forgotten dead to +which these writings have special reference. I use my own words, so do +not bind myself to historic exactness. + +He had been away earning his own living, for his estate, fruitful as it +is, did not then quite provide for his sustenance, markets being +distant and far from consistent. Returning, he found the blacks who had +associated themselves with his humble establishment had in the interval +sought change of scene. The land that he called his had belonged +to their ancestors centuries before Cook tied the ENDEAVOUR to that +disputed and historic tree, and was theirs when he had first intruded. +His hut, his horses, his implements, were much as he had left them. The +camping-place of the blacks appeared to have been unoccupied for some +time. Such was in accordance with usual happenings. Going about his +lonesome work, he reflected that his dusky acquaintances would return +in their own good time, and being a man of mental resource, the solitude +was by no means irksome. + +Within a fortnight they appeared unceremoniously, and, taking casual +part in the ordinary work, the affairs of the isolated estate went on as +smoothly as before. There was a stranger in the camp, a middle-aged man, +timorous, and knowing little of the ways of white men. Of him scarcely +any notice was taken. Yet in a few weeks it was evident that the +stranger was determined to make himself pleasant. Accordingly, the white +man refrained from advances, while for the love of mental exhilaration +he pondered: "That boy wants to tell me something. He shall tell me all +he wants to in his own way, while I will play the part of an indifferent +auditor." + +That the stranger had some secret on his soul was apparent. My friend +resolved to receive that secret in the spirit of gracious condescension. +So played he his part, and line upon line, here a little and there a +little, the story was told. + +Few of the tribe of the stranger had ever seen a white man. None +had ever visited the coast. All were myalls, living naked among the +mountains in gorges gloomy with jungle, and but rarely hunting on the +foothills. One day consternation and curiosity spread through the camp. +Three strange men with yellow faces and short black hair had been seen. +They carried nothing in their hands, and seemed frightened. Thus the +nervous couriers of the camp spoke. + +Next morning the men took up the tracks, and, sneaking close up, +followed, alert and unseen, the unsuspecting visitors to their country. + +Bewildered in the jungle, the queer-looking men wandered aimlessly, +moaning and wailing. They were lost. Suddenly the blacks appeared. +Two of the strangers, glad of the company of any sort of human beings, +smiled and gesticulated pleasantly, making it plain that they were +hungry, tired, and frightened, and, longing to get back to the coast, +would bestow upon their guides unheard-of blessings for safe-conduct +thither. Strangely, the black men accepted the trust. Four each took +a hand of the confiding strangers, and, pointing ahead and chattering, +induced them to walk quickly in a direction in which by signs they +indicated the dwelling of a white man. + +The third wanderer had run away, blundering through the jungle, and the +blacks had refrained from following him. Nodding gaily and jabbering +volubly, but with mutual intelligibility, hosts and guests paced along a +narrow track, each of the latter personally and firmly conducted by +two of his newly found and most attentive friends. Others of the tribe, +"like frightful fiends, did close beside them tread"; and while the +escorts lured the yellow men with comforting pantomime, the frightful +fiends fell on them suddenly with great wooden swords, killing them +off-hand and on the very verge of the camp. + +Willingly hurrying to the place of execution, the murdered men had saved +the calculating blacks the trouble of carrying their carcasses. + +Then four went back for the nervous escapee. He was safe, for the tracks +were as obvious to them as a plough furrow to a European. Crouching +beside a fallen, decaying tree, where bird's-nest ferns grew +outrageously gross, they found him; and they jeered. He screamed and +shouted in unknown tongue, while the brisk, stubby hair of his head +stood on end. (My friend's hair-brush was alluded to in graphic +illustration.) They struck him down, and, smashing in his head and +seizing arms and legs, jogged back to the camp. + +And the festival lasted many days, though plenty made gluttons of them +all. + +The forgotten dead were Javanese--deserters from a sugar-plantation; for +the tragedy happened long ago, when labour was being drawn from Java +and other oversupplied countries. Desertions were not uncommon, for the +sanguine men of the equator endure with less philosophy than others that +sickness of the heart which comes from love of one's native land when +absent from it. + +From Java's seething millions were the nostalgic three ever missed? + + + + +EAGLES-NEST FLOAT + + + +"My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight." + + ROBINSON CRUSOE. + + +Those who study primitive races, applying their wisdom and learning to +the investigation of the origin of domestic and other implements and +contrivances, inform us that the first boat was probably a log, on which +the man sat astride, using a stick as a means of propulsion. In time the +idea of hollowing the log occurred, Nature undoubtedly presenting +the model and inviting the novice to squat inside. But what was the +inhabitant of a certain island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to do since +Nature failed to provide a tree big enough to possess the degree of +buoyancy necessary for his frail frame, when he wished to cross the +narrow channel separating him from a lesser island where turtle are +plentiful and unsuspicious? + +Being in status something above a wallaby--the largest animal other than +himself of his native land which, when hunted, occasionally swam towards +the opposite shore, he constructed one or other of two rafts or floats, +both derivable from Nature's models. One was in the form of an eagle's +nest, and not nearly so large as that in which some eaglets are reared, +made by interlacing branchlets of white mangrove until the mass was +sufficient to support his weight. With a double ended paddle rudely +shaped from the thin buttress roots of the red mangrove, and comic in +the crudeness and disproportion of its parts, he felt himself safe +miles out to sea. When he approached a passing vessel he presented the +illusion, not of walking, but of sitting on the water, for the float +was almost completely submerged. If it became necessary for his wife to +attend him on his marine excursions, she was towed behind, and used her +own pedal power. Possibly this primitive raft is the pathetic expression +of man's first struggle against the restrictions of the sea. + +The other resource of the boatless islander was another description of +float, also retrogressive from the log; the idea not transmitted to +him by any high-minded bird, but forced upon his attention by elemental +strife. He would have seen that the wind and the waves occasionally +tore from his beaches Pandanus palms, and that the matted, fibrous roots +thereof floated. Pondering in his dim way, and being sadly an hungered +and aware that fat and lazy turtle were basking in the sighed-for +shallows, he took a bundle of buoyant roots and light sticks and lashed +it securely at one end with strips of bark. He then spread out the other +end until it took the shape of a fan, and weaved the strands loosely +together with beach trailers. His raft was complete. At least this +description applies to that in use to-day, which represents the highest +stage to which the design has been brought. + +Under the influence of the peril-ignoring hunger, the hunter sat on +the float with legs extended frontally. Across his thighs crouched +his favourite dog, and behind him, her thin shanks outside his and her +skinny arms round his slim waist, sat, uncomfortable, his cowed wife--a +necessary part of his equipment. Can he be imagined half turning to his +deferential spouse, and saying: "My dear, in the words of Shakespeare, + + "On such a full sea are we now afloat + And we must take the current when it serves + Or lose our'--turtle"? + +Is it not edifying, too, to reflect that the timid man, encouraged +by the object-lessons of Nature, given in pity of his simplicity, had +contrived the only rafts the resources of his island made possible? +And does not the fact that he had courage to cross the estranging deep +thereon give graphic proof of the inhospitality of his native soil? + +Flat and generally of sad aspect, the country of the raftsman lies +remote and uncommended. The scented sandalwood is there, dwarfed, +attenuated, worthless. The most fragrant of the Pandanus palms is +plentiful, the fruit forming the chief part of the vegetable diet of the +lean and stunted inhabitants, who find difficulty in fashioning weapons +with which to obtain fish and turtle, the land failing to supply +straight sticks of the length needed for spears. Each has to be spliced. +The islands are expressed in the race they sustain--possibly the lowest +of Australian types. Does it not bespeak much to the credit of men +and women who have been used to the cities where the advantages of +civilisation are at command and its comforts available, that they should +abandon the society of kin and friends and isolate themselves in a drear +and unfriendly tract for the sake of a few coloured folk whose mental +capacities are feeble and whose habits are shockingly disgusting? + + + + +NATURE IN RETALIATION + + + +"Red in tooth and claw." + + TENNYSON. + + +In a mangrove creek a shoal of barramundi had been bombed with dynamite. +Immediately after the explosion the white onlookers as well as the +blacks dived off-hand into the stream to secure the helpless fish. One +of the party seized a weighty and unconscious victim of the outrage, and +to retain it thrust his fist through the gills and found himself unable +to withdraw, and when the fish began to revive he realised that he was +not master. With a supreme effort he did manage to get his head above +water to gulp a mouthful of air, but the gallant fish promptly exerted +itself, and a deadly struggle took place on the muddy bottom. Once more +the fish was tugged to the surface, only to dive just as the man became +conscious of the applause of the interested spectators. When they came +to the surface again ill luck on the part of the fish had brought it +into the shallows caused by a ridge of rocks, and the man hauled his +prize ashore, frankly acknowledging that the happy chance of the rocks +and not his own wits and strength had given the victory into his hands. + +On another occasion heartless dynamite was used in a creek, where had +assembled many blacks, who scrambled riotously in the muddy water for +the spoil, among which were several huge crabs, some dismembered by the +force of the explosion, some stunned, some merely agitated. Dilly Boy, +the biggest and the greediest of the crowd, acquired several fish and +three or four crabs, the largest of the latter of which seemed sound +asleep. The dynamite had ministered an anodyne from which, apparently, +there would be no awakening. It the boy disregarded, while he secured +those which were more or less active. Busily engaged, he was not aware +that a crab when he seems asleep may be merely plotting. This hero was +hatching out a scheme whereby it might be revenged for the outrage. +It watched and deliberated, and as the boy sat down grabbed him with +ponderous and toothed pinchers on that part of the body which is said to +be most susceptible to insult. The boy rose. Not half a plug of +dynamite could have given more hearty impulse, not all the clamour of a +corroboree equal his yell of surprise and anguish. He capered. The crab, +which had not speculated on the caper, and to avert summary divorce, +locked its claws, now guaranteed to hold to death and beyond it--to +destruction. Astounded--indeed, petrified--by the high antics of the +boy, none of the spectators could venture to his aid. They were fully +engaged with unrestrained and joyful hysteria. The more the boy +yelled and cavorted, the more frantic the fun. Blood trickled down the +chocolate-coloured skin, but the valiant crab held on. It was there for +a definite purpose. The hour and the crab had arrived. Vengeance for +centuries of wrongs to the race and heroic self-sacrifice animated brain +and inspired the claw with the dynamics of ten; while the afflicted +victim imagined--he had no mirror to hold up to Nature--that he was the +sport of a lusty crocodile. + +Amidst his shrieks he commanded the ministration of his wife. She ran +to meet him with a waddy. True to the limitations of her sex, though her +intentions were admirable and dutiful, the result was disastrous. The +boy got a paralysing blow on the small of the back, and flopped down. Up +jumped Dilly Boy, and the gin raced after him, murderously inclined +to the crab. Half her blows were misses and the other half seriously +embarrassed her husband, as his tumbles testified. She belaboured him +impartially and with perverted goodwill from shoulder to heel, for she +aimed invariably at the crab, and where is the woman who ever hit where +she designed? The crab was merely tickling; the faithful spouse, with +the tenderest motives, was cruelly beating her lord and master to +disablement, and it can scarcely be credited that the echo of his +remarks has yet subsided. In his fervour the boy made an exceptionally +vicious threat against the gin, and in response she missed him and hit +the crab. Under such forceful compulsion the crab parted with its claw. +It was ponderous and toothed, be it remembered, and well and truly +locked, and retained its grip. The target being smaller, the aims of +the gin went more and more astray. The back of the boy, owing to the +incessant misses of the waddy, changed from brown to purple, and a red +ribbon wavered down his thigh. Still he ran, and the devoted gin coursed +after him with the energy of a half-back, the fury of a disappointed +politician, and the riot of three-dozen cockatoos scared from a +corn-field. Almost worn out, the boy sprang round, and, seizing the +waddy, began to chastise the gin, whose screams blended with his +unwholesome threats. But the claws held on--not like grim death; they +were grim death. Every second blow was directed aft--one blow forward, +which generally severely disagreed with the gin; one blow astern, which +afforded neither mental relief nor physical comfort. The gin fled from +the infuriated boy; the boy from the fearsome relic of the crab, and +called louder as he ran. When in full flight, the gin tripped over a +mangrove root, and, spread-eagled, fell. The boy came tumbling after, +but the remnants of the crab--the bony bud of a tail--stood erect and +firm. Then the pitying spectators seized Dilly Boy, and, holding +him, unlocked the pinchers. He rolled over--it was the only easeful +attitude--as he cursed all gins, crabs, and dynamiters with wondrous +fluency. And may the potency of those coloured curses rest upon the +latter! + + + + +"STAR RUN ABOUT" + + + + "It is the stars, + The stars above us, govern our conditions." + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Primitive folk have ever looked up to the heavens for signs of good and +ill. Celestial appearances have fought for them terrestrial battles, or +have weakened their arms by prognostications of impending disaster. + +Appeals have been made to passionless planets for justice against +mundane decrees, and when coincidences have been favourable the devout +student of the skies has loudly proclaimed them as proof of supernatural +interest in trivial, transient occurrences. In accordance with the +degree of poetry in the fibre of the people, so, in a certain degree, +has the belief in stellar influence been manifest. + +The blacks of North Queensland, being, possibly, the least of the races +in a poetic sense, have but slight regard for the interference of the +stars in their poor little affairs, and in this respect are saner than +many a nation which has given abundant proof of wisdom. One of their +beliefs is that meteors are baleful, though under given conditions they +derive from such phenomena longed-for assurance. A meteor is described +as "Star run about." "That fella no good; him kill'em man!" Yet in +circumstances to be mentioned they find in a meteor a sign that life has +been restored to an individual whom they have done to death. It is the +opinion of men who have studied the customs of the blacks that they--and +to their honour be it said--were never among themselves premeditated, +gluttonous cannibals. Human flesh was eaten, if not with solemnity, at +least with ceremony, for the belief exists to this day that the moral +and physical excellencies of the victim are assimilated by those who +partake of his flesh. + +Reincarnation is prompt and practical, and unaccompanied by wasteful +and delusive hope. Herein lies the explanation of many a deliberate and +confessed killing, while to the meteor have the perpetrators looked for +absolution and remission of their sin. That which in the eyes of the +white man is regarded as an atrocious murder has not been, in their +semi-religious code, in any sense criminal, but a rite from which many +if not all the camp must inevitably benefit. + +In one respect the killing of a boy is the highest compliment which may +be paid him, for it is proof that he has personal qualities which are +the envy and admiration of others, and for general welfare should be +shared by all. The boy who so dies is an unconscious patriot. This is +proved sufficiently by the fact that only what are considered to be +the more vitalising portions of the boy's body are eaten, whereas if +gluttony were the impulse of the deed the whole of the body would be +consumed. + +An illustrative incident has been told me by one who has gained the +confidence of the blacks, and to whom other facts connected with it were +personally known. Not many years ago a boy from from a distant locality +visited a certain district in company with his master. He was tall, well +favoured, a good rider, quite an athlete, an accomplished performer with +the mouth-organ and concertina; ready and persuasive of tongue. These +qualities provoked unaffected admiration; for the natives of the place +are undersized, ill-looking, and deficient generally in the arts of +pleasing. Before the master left, Caesar was persuaded by his envious +fellow-countrymen to remain with them to be flattered and courted. + +To evade trouble, the whole camp took to the hills for a while. In the +meantime Caesar's master departed, thinking, no doubt, that the boy +would follow him to his own "more better country." After several weeks +the local blacks returned, but Caesar was not of the party, and it did +not occur to any of the white residents to ask questions concerning +him. In accordance with the love of notoriety which affects humanity +irrespective of complexion, one of the boys began to boast of being as +good as Caesar, and to prove his contentions by aping the manners of his +absent friend. It was not long before he blurted out the secret by which +he had become superfine--he had participated with others in a cannibal +rite after Caesar had been good-naturedly killed. + +Rumours of the tragedy came to the ears of the police. The ringleaders +of the assassins were arrested, and one at least endured a term of +imprisonment as punishment. Caesar had been lured away and killed +because he was a good fellow and strong, and because his murderers +wanted to be good and strong like him. Certain parts of his body were +eaten, without relish, but with fervent hope. A remarkable circumstance +in connection with the sacrifice and ceremonial rite for the general +welfare is that the perpetrators console and comfort themselves with the +belief that should a meteor appear it is a sign that the victim did not +actually die, or if he died under their hands, that he has come to life +again. Those who were concerned in the killing and who had partaken of +the flesh sat together for several evenings gazing with expectation into +the sky. A meteor flashed across it, and it was hailed as a sign that +Caesar was alive and had gone to his own country. The contrary +evidence of relics of the dead was waved away before the imperious and +disinterested testimony of the falling star. "No matter. That fella him +no dead--finish. Him walk about 'nother country. Him good fella. That +fella star run about bin tell 'em." + +They felt themselves to have benefited materially and spiritually by +participation in the rite, and were calm in their belief that the victim +was none the worse for the temporary misfortune from which he suffered. + +In another locality a meteor signifies the death of an individual, +and is referred to as "Tee-go-binah." When a death cannot be directly +attributed to it locally, the phenomenon is referred to with such rustic +logic as this: "Some fella dead alonga 'nother camp. Might be longa +way." The ancients felt "the sweet influences of the Pleiades." One +of the two intimacies of the blacks of North Queensland with +stellar phenomena which has come to my knowledge is associated with +reincarnation after a deed of blood. Their faith is as absolute, +perhaps, as was that of the men of old. + + + + +BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + + + +"For I tell you, scholar, fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to +catch fish."--IZAAK WALTON. + + +Along the coast of North Queensland evidence may still be obtained, +though it ever becomes more difficult to secure practical demonstration, +of several novel methods of killing fish in vogue among the blacks prior +to the advent of civilisation. In many parts, indeed, the presence of +the white man has swept away not only the use of decent, if trivial, +pursuits and handicrafts, but the knowledge also that they ever existed. + +The few facts here presented are, with some slight reservations, drawn +from actual observation. No doubt the well-informed on such subjects +will have plenary reasons--if ever these lines are honoured by perusal +of the class--for the accusation that there is nothing in them having +the virtue of newness or novelty. But I am not a professor with a mind +like a warehouse, rich with the spoils of time, but a mere peddler, +conscious of the janglings of an ill-sorted, ill-packed knapsack of +unconsidered trifles. + +Some pioneers know more about the acts of the past than the best +informed of the younger blacks, who look with wonder and unconstrained +doubt when shown articles similar to those which their grandfathers must +have used almost every day. + +Though the blacks of the past had but casual knowledge of the cruel +little barb that the resourceful white fisherman finds essential to +sport, and had neither neat tackle, nor reels, nor creels; though they +were denied the solace of tobacco, and every other accessory, they were +adepts at fishing. They had at command a stock of accumulated lore so +graphically transmitted that the babe and suckling must have seemed to +acquire it almost intuitively. They knew much of the habits of fish. +Their methods of laying under tribute the harvest of the sea were +so varied and unconventional that when one expedient failed, others, +equally free from the ethics of sport, were available at the shortest +notice. Fishing was not a pastime, but a serious occupation in which +nearly everyone was proficient. + +Times are changing; but still the mouths of smaller creeks are sometimes +dammed, save for certain sluices and by-washes where puzzling pockets +are set. Weirs formed by stakes driven into the sand and interwoven with +twigs guide incoming fish into ingenious traps, whence they are scooped +up in dilly-bags. Occasionally the whole camp, dogs and piccaninnies +included, take part in a raid upon the sea. Men in deeper water, women +and boys and girls forming wings at right angles to the beach, enclose +a prescribed area in the ever shifting, mobile fence. Certain of the men +have huge dilly-bags made of strips of lawyer-cane, and shaped like a +ninepin with a funnel for a head. The tactics of the party combine to +drive the fish towards the silent men having charge of the dilly-bags, +who manipulate what certainly has the appearance of being a very awkward +utensil in the water with great skill and alertness. Hurried to frenzy +by the shouting and splashing of the crowd, and the flurrying of the +surface with bushes, the fish dart hither and thither until most of them +have found their way into the bags, at the only spots where, for the +time being, peace and quietude prevail. At other times a somewhat +similar design of basket is used for trapping eels. + +Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in +shallow water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the +spear form the weapons of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands +of the Gulf of Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is used, the +blacks being so expert that little is left to chance. + +Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the yellamun, is common +in the neighbourhood of Dunk Island, it is not employed as an accessory +in the spearing of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a +combination of boomerang and wommera being the most popular form. This +dual-purpose weapon is merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is +fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of the spear. While +on this subject, it is interesting to note that, though the common form +of the implement for increasing the velocity and range of the spear +is generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its principle is +embodied in a contrivance which was used for a similar purpose in the +New Hebrides in Captain Cook's day. + +Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of Tanna, Cook ("Voyages +of Captain Cook round the World," vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in +the throwing of darts "they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of +stiff plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a +knot in the other. The eye is fixed on the forefinger of the right hand, +and the other end is hitched round the dart where it is nearly on +an equipoise. They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining +finger, which serve only to give direction, the velocity being +communicated by the becket and forefinger. The former flies off from the +dart the instant its velocity becomes greater than that of the hand, but +it remains on the finger ready to be used again." + +It is obvious that the Australian implement is much the more reliable +and effective. Cook mentions that with the dart the Tanna Islanders "are +sure of hitting a mark within the compass of the crown of a hat at a +distance of eight or ten yards; but at double that distance it is chance +if they hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the +weapon sixty or seventy yards." Such a standard of marksmanship would be +regarded with contempt by the average black of North Queensland. The +use of this becket (introduced very many years ago by the Kanaka) is a +fairly common accomplishment among coastal blacks. + +In shallow water, too, fish are chased until they become so exhausted +and nerve-shaken that they partially bury themselves in the sand, or +endeavour to elude observation by concealing themselves beneath stone +or coral, or by remaining passive among seaweed, trusting, no doubt, to +protective tints and assimilation with their surroundings. Few of these +stratagems of the fish are of avail when once a hungry black is on its +track. The science of war, we are bidden to believe, is not designed +for the slaughter of mankind, but so to impress the enemy with a +demonstration of overwhelming power, force, and majesty, that he may +become mentally unable or unwilling to offer resistance, because of its +obvious futility. So it is with the black in pursuit of a fish or turtle +in shallow water. By noise and bluster he works on the senses of the +fish until it becomes semi-paralysed. Then he proceeds callously to the +killing, which, in the case of fish, if his right hand is encumbered, +he generally accomplishes by a crunching bite into the back-bone at the +shoulders. + +At rare intervals the black varies his tactics by a night attack, which +is often highly demoralising. When the moon is on the other side of the +world, with spears and flaring torches of paper-bark, he rushes in a +band to raid the reef, to the dismay of startled and bewildered fish. +Substitute for the gurgling cadences of semi-submerged coral and +muteness and universal dimness instant noise and splashing, and dazzling +lights here and there and everywhere, and it is not to be considered +strange that the fish--tipsy with panic and confusion--fail to exercise +their habitual alertness. + +At a certain season of the year--November and December in the +neighbourhood of Dunk Island--myriads of fish, about the size of a +sardine, appear in shoals, an acre or so in area, or encircle the +islands with a living, bluish-grey frill yards broad. The blacks bestow +on this godsend, popularly known as "sprats"--HARENGULA STEREOLEPIS +(Ogilby)--the name of "Oon-gnahr." + +How skilfully does Nature dovetail her designs! This great multitude +of fish appears when it is most needed. The terns (sea-swallows) +are rearing their families, and ever need fresh food in unstinted +quantities. The small fry come to an excited and enthusiastic market. +Slim, silvery kingfish, grey sharks, and blue bonito, harry the shoals, +ripping through them with steel-like flashes, and as the little fish +ruffle the surface of sea or emerge therefrom in living silvery spray, +in frantic efforts to escape, the terns take all they want, screaming +with satisfaction. Then, too, the blacks join in the work of +destruction. When the frill of fish lies limp on the beach, they +fabricate a seine net, cheap, but admirably suited for the purpose. Long +strands of beach trailers and grass and slender twigs are rolled and +twisted up--apparently without the slightest art--into a huge loose +cable eight inches in diameter. The men run out the cable into the water +at right angles to the beach while still the gins, with nervous haste, +are adding to its length. If it breaks, a few twists and pokes suffice +to repair it. The men at the lead curve in towards the beach, and the +gins and piccaninnies wade out in line to meet them. Gradually the +cable, shocking in its frailty, is worked in, enclosing a patch of +the fish in a perilous coffer dam. Tumult and commotion are almost +as necessary contributories to the success of the stratagem as is the +cable. But before they realise what has happened, they are in such close +company that escape is impossible; dilly-bags are filled in a single +dip, and it may take half an hour to pick out those "meshed" in the +cable. It is all the work of a few minutes, and the haul often amounts +in quantity to a surfeit for the whole camp. + +One of these rude seines which was overhauled was composed largely +of the long, leafless, twine-like branches of the leafless parasite +CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS (which the blacks term "Bungoonno"), IPOMEA +PESCAPRAE ("Koree"), Blady-grass ("Jin-dagi"), and the tough sprawling +branches of BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA ("Gallan-jarrah"), the whole being +reinforced with withes of CLERODENDRON IMERME ("Missim"), all of which +plants grow on the verge of the sea. + +Vast as is the congregation of small fry, it gradually fritters away, +martyred to fish, flesh, and fowl. By the time the little terns are +thrown upon their own resources the violet frill of the sweet islands is +frayed and ragged, and drifts loosely in shabby remnants. + +For large fish--groper, the giant perch, king, bonito, rhoombah, +sweet-lips, parrot-fish, sea-mullet, and the sting-rays (brown and +grey)--a harpoon and long line are used. When iron is not available a +point is made of one of the black palms, the barb being strapped on with +fibre, the binding being made impervious to water by a liberal coating +of a pitch-like substance prepared from the resinous gum of the +arral-tree (EVODIA ACCEDENS). + +The point is eight or ten inches long, the barbless end being swathed in +fibre so that it may fit easily into the socket of the eight or ten feet +shaft. A long line is tied to a point above the swathing, and, being +drawn taut along the shaft, is secured to the end by a series of +clove-hitches. When the fish is struck the point is drawn from the +socket, while the shaft acts as a cheek on, and an indicator of, its +course when just below the surface. Such harpoons and lines are also +used for the capture of dugong and turtle, the line being made of the +inner bark (the bast layer) of one of the fig-trees, and is of two +strands only. Occasionally the HIBISCUS TILLIACEUS is laid under tribute +for ropes and lines, which, however, are not considered as durable as +those from the fig. Nets, set and hand, are also made with twine from +the fig or hibiscus. + +When, at low spring tides, the coral reef is uncovered, small rock-cod, +slim eels, parrot-fish, perch, soles, the lovely blue-spotted sting-ray, +catfish, flathead, etc., are poked out unceremoniously with spears or +sharp-pointed sticks from labyrinthine mazes, or from the concealment +afforded by the flabby folds and fringes of the skeleton-less coral +(ALCYONARIA), or from among the weeds and stones--a kind of additional +sense leading the black to the discovery of fish in places that a white +man would never dream of investigating. At this opportune time, too, +huge, defiantly armed and brilliantly coloured crayfish are exposed to +capture. A statement was published recently that this was the speediest +of all marine animals. The assertion is much to be questioned, but there +can be no doubt that the crayfish is a wonderful sprinter. Familiar with +its lack of staying power, blacks race after it uproariously as it flees +face to foe, all the graduated blades of its turbine apparatus beating +under high pressure. Two or three rushes and the crayfish pauses, and +then the agile black breaks its long, exquisitely sensitive and brittle +antennae, deprived of which it becomes less capable of taking care of +itself; or it may find its gorgeous armour-plates smashed with a stone +or penetrated by a spear. For the most part, however, the crayfish +lurks in coral caves, sweeping a considerable frontal radius with +ever-shifting antennae--not in pride or conceit of their beautiful tints +and wonderful mechanism, but with a pitiful apprehension of danger, for +the admirers of the creature are many and ever so much in earnest--the +earnestness of unceasing voracity. + +Having a decided partiality for eels, the blacks of North Queensland +have devised several means of capture, one of which does not call for +the exercise of the least skill on the part of the individual whose +longing for the dainty becomes imperative. His placid perseverance, +too, is of no avail, unless luck favours. Wading in a shallow, +mangrove-bordered creek, he blindly probes the bottom with a six-feet +length of fencing wire, the modern substitute for the black palm spear. +Frequently he trifles thus with coy Fortune for hours, an inch or so +separating each prod; and again, in a spasm of indignant impatience, +he stabs determinedly into the mud at random. Non-success does not make +shipwreck of his faith in the existence of the much-desired food in +the black mud, for as far back as his own experience and the camp's +traditions go, substantial reason for that faith has been plentifully +revealed. He returns to the monotonous occupation until an unlucky eel +is impaled, and then it is given no chance of escape. + +Pushing his spear a couple of feet through, the boy grips the prize +with both hands, or bends the wire into the form of a hook. Fortune may +continue to smile, and the boy takes several during the afternoon. + +Many boys enhance the charms of solitude by ingeniously tricking +eels, Nature presenting them with an efficient engine of deceit and +destruction, so designed that neither the agitations of art nor the +invention of science could much improve it. About two feet of the thong +or lorum of one of the creeping palms (CALAMUS OBSTRUENS) is all that +is necessary. These lora are armed with definitely spaced whorls of +recurved hooks, keen as needles, true as steel, about one-eighth of +an inch long. Three or four of the whorls are removed to provide an +unfretful but firm grip. The pot-holes and shallow pools and gullies +and trickling creeks are populated by nervous, yet inquisitive, +semi-transparent prawns, upon which eels liberally diet. So silent and +steady of movement is the boy that even the alert prawns are unaware +of, or become accustomed to, his presence; and what is there to warn the +eel, enjoying its comfort among the dead leaves in the gloomiest corner +of the pool, of danger? Could any but a black boy detect the difference +between the brown sodden leaves and the half-inch of body which the eel +has unwittingly exposed? The "pig-gee" (as some term the lorum) is used +with almost surgical delicacy of touch to hook away two or three of the +leaves. Then it is placed parallel to whatever increased length has thus +been made visible, and with a decisive twitch the eel is torn from its +retreat and killed off-hand. + +Even the shy, long-armed little prawns (PALAEMON AUSTRALIS) do not +escape special means for their destruction. A pliant rod about four +feet long is improvised from the midrib of the creeping palm before +mentioned, to the end of which is fastened a slender thread of the same +material, split off by using the nails of the thumb and second finger. +This strand, which is about four inches long, is delicately noosed. +Standing a few feet away from the water-hole, the black so manipulates +the line that the noose encircles the tail of the prawn, which, making +a retrogressive dart upon alarm, finds itself fatally snared. The prawns +are not, as a rule, eaten, being reserved for bait. + +In creeks and lagoons thin, hollow logs are submerged. Eels naturally +seek such refuges, and in due course the boy dives, and, sealing the +ends with his hands, brings log and eel to land. Dr. W. E. Roth mentions +that crayfish and a certain fish resembling the rock-cod are similarly +captured, and remarks that the log is lifted at an angle, with one hand +closing the lower aperture, in which position it is brought to and held +above the surface, when the water trickles out between the fingers of +the sealing hand. + +Yet another method (analogous to "bobbing") is practised for securing +eels. Huge worms, found under decaying logs, are threaded by means of a +needle formed of a thin strip of cane on a line from ten to twelve +feet long until several feet of bait are available. The line is merely +doubled, the ends made fast to a stout pole, and the loop dangled in the +water. The boy fishes patiently, nor does he strike at the first nibble, +but permits the eel to swallow slowly what might be considered an undue +proportion of the bait, when it is landed and compelled to disgorge for +the benefit of the next comer. + +Among coastal blacks--all of whom may be said to be fishermen--some are +ardent devotees to the sea. Others of the same camp restrict themselves +to unsensational creeks and lagoons. The frog in the well knows nothing +of the salt sea, and its aboriginal prototype contents himself with +milder and generally less remunerative kind of sport than that in which +his bolder cousins revel. Such a man, however, may possess aquatic lore +of which the other is admittedly ignorant, and be apt in devices +towards which the attitude of the salt-water man is adverse, if not +contemptuous. The fresh-water man is skilful in the use of a net shaped +something like the secondary wings of a certain species of moth, and +expanding and closing similarly. It is made of fine twine (one-inch +mesh), preferably from the bark of one of the fig-trees or the brown +kurrajong, tightly stretched on two pieces of lawyer-cane each bent +to form the half of an irregular ellipse. This net ("moorgaroo") is +manipulated by two men working in concert, principally for the capture +of eels. They do not wait for the eel to come to them, but by shrewd +scrutiny discover its whereabouts under the bank of the creek or among +the weeds and roots. Then one silent man holds the net widespread, or +adroitly dodges it into intercepting positions, while the other beats +the luckless fish in its direction with more or less fluster. The +persistency with which the creeks are patrolled by men with spears, +netted and poisoned, invites one to marvel that any fish escape, and yet +once again quite a haul is made. + +That great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, once in his life made a joke +and confessed to it, with apologies for its littleness. Lunching at a +tavern in the Isle of Wight, he asked: "Oh, is not this a very large +chop for such a small island?" Similarly, I have been astonished at +the apparent disproportion between the size of the eel and the +insignificance of the creek whence the exultant black has hauled it. + +An instance of the poor part which the slimmest eel plays when pitted +against the Smartness and resourcefulness of the black may be related. +A large eel, in a moment of indiscretion, showed itself in a fairly deep +creek. Bewailing the absence of his wing-net, or "moorgaroo," the boy +hunted the elusive fish hither and thither with cunning determination. +At last it disappeared under a log. In most of his activities the black +boy sniffs at conventions. Hastily stripping, the boy dived and when +he reappeared the eel was vainly squirming in one of the legs of his +trousers which had been knotted below the knee. + +Another boy, a stranger, brought with him traditions which he +successfully materialised in favour of the employment of several light +darts instead of a single heavy spear for fishing. The subject was +frequently debated, but none of the camp adopted George's theories. His +favourite weapons were the dried stems of an all too common weed, which +generally grows straight and true. Into the thick end he would insert a +four-inch length of No. 10 fencing wire, sharpened to a delicate point, +and with a battery of eight or ten of these he would sally forth. His +bag averaged high. Often he treated me to practical demonstrations of +the success of his methods. A big flathead reposed in two feet of +water, half buried in the sand. George had one of his darts fast in a +twinkling, and the fish flashed away, the tip indicating its movement. +In a few minutes the hapless flathead was carrying no less than six +darts, and as such a handicap was absurd it abandoned the race for life. + +On another occasion he struck a big sting-ray so full of his impish +darts that it resembled an animated pincushion of monstrous proportions. +It, too, realised the futility of kicking against so many pricks. On +the other hand, Tom, with his heavy shaft and barbed point, relied on +a single weapon. It seldom failed, for his right arm was strong and +disciplined to a nicety. + +On a shallow tidal creek a settler had made a corduroy crossing of +the fibrous trunks of the Pandanus palms, which the blacks of the +neighbourhood turned to account in the capture of fish. A few frail +sticks, artlessly interwoven with grass, formed a primitive weir at +the down-stream end of the crossing. Fish which went up with the tide +frequently found themselves stranded on the way down, for the water +passed freely between the palm-tree trunks without affording them right +of way, and the rude weir often stopped for ever belated bream, mullet, +and barramundi. This simple trap, though it does not appear to be put +into use on the coast generally, seems almost to indicate an instinctive +knowledge of a studied design described to me by an observant friend who +has travelled into many an odd nook and corner of Queensland. On a deep +but narrow tributary of the Georgina River a permanent trap on a large +scale was wont to be maintained. A tree had been felled across the +stream so that each end of the trunk was supported by the respective +bank. Straight stakes were driven firmly into the bed of the creek as +closely together as possible, the heads resting against the horizontal +tree-trunk. This palisading formed the base of an embankment of packed +grass and rubbish, sufficiently tight to raise the level of the stream +about three feet. In the middle of the embankment, and about one foot +below water-level, a hole about one foot square had been cut. A platform +about ten feet long by three feet wide, having a fall of about one +foot and formed of a number of straight saplings laid parallel with the +stream, and supported by a couple of transverse bearers on four stout +forked sticks, received the escape from the sluice. At the lower end of +the platform was a rough weir of twisted grass, which was continued up +each side for about half its length. Water passed with little hindrance +through the platform, while jew-fish, yellow-tail, and bream, were +retained in considerable numbers. + +Many years have elapsed--peradventure centuries--since the blacks of +Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, built a weir of blocks and boulders +of granite which oysters cemented here and there. On the fulness of +spring tides fish frolicked over and among the boulders. Those which +delayed their exit found themselves in an enclosed pool which at certain +seasons of the year runs dry. To this day the sea continues to pay +tribute, though the blacks of the locality have passed away, and there +is none but the red-backed sea-eagle or the heavy-flighted osprey and a +rare and casual white man, to receive it. Among the few emblems of the +vanishing race, this persistent weir-taking toll of the fish month after +month, year after Year, for the benefit of successive generations of +eagles and ospreys, appeals vividly to the imagination. + + +HOOKS. + + +From what can be ascertained at this late date, pearl shell hooks +were very sure and killing, but seem to have been used principally for +smaller fish--whiting, perch, bream, flathead, etc.--the occurrence +of large hooks being exceedingly rare. Mullet (if tradition is to be +credited) were seldom caught by hook and line, but were speared among +the mangroves at high tide--a practice which prevails to this day. +The Dunk Island examples have a resemblance to one of the forms of +pearl-shell hooks used by the Tahitians in Captain Cook's day. + +Tortoise-shell hooks capable of holding large kingfish and fair sized +sharks are common among the natives of Darnley Island, Torres Straits. +During the process of cutting and paring the hooks to the size and +design required, the shell is frequently immersed in boiling water, +which temporarily overcomes its inherent toughness. Incidentally, it may +be pointed out that the evidence derivable from these fish-hooks does +not afford proof of Papuan influence on the mind of the Australian +aboriginal, except at the extreme north of Cape York Peninsula and a few +miles down the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This default +seems the more remarkable in face of the fact that outrigger canoes, +doubtless of Papuan or Malayan origin, were known as far south as the +Johnstone River. + +To say that the coastal blacks of North Queensland had no knowledge of +the use of barbed hooks is misleading. In sheer desperation, when the +supply of pearl-shell hooks was exhausted, they were wont to attach +bait to their harpoon-points, and they used such unpropitious means +successfully, and occasionally made a miniature hook by tying a sharp +spur to a thin, straight stick. Recent proof has been obtained of the +use of the lorum of one of the creeping palms, from which all the spurs +save three at the thicker end were scraped off. With the knowledge of +the efficacy of the barb under extraordinary circumstances, is it not +the more remarkable that they failed to employ it systematically? Dr. +W. E. Roth describes crescentic hooks of coco-nut shell and wooden hooks +with bone barb, and also barbs improvised from one of the spines of the +catfish. He also mentions as "the most primitive form of hook" the +dried tendril of HUGONIA JENKENSII ("pattel-pattel" of the Dunk Island +blacks). To anyone familiar with the crescent pearl-shell hooks, the use +of the singular tendrils of the Hugonia would immediately be suggested; +but my observation, inquiries, and opinion do not support the theory. +The shape of the tendril is all that can be said in its favour. It is +neither sharp nor tough enough for actual use. + +With these barbless hooks the bait was not impaled, but strapped on with +shreds of bark. + + +NARCOTICS AND POISONS. + + +It is said of the great Mogul Emperor Babur that he boasted of being +able to make fish drunk so that he might haul them in shoals, and when +"Carathis" pronounced her "barbarous incantations" the fish with one +accord thrust forth their heads from the water. Is it generally known +that the North Queensland blacks also are expert in the use of narcotics +and indifferent to the ethics of sport? The most commonly used of the +fish poisons on the coast of North Queensland is likewise employed by +the natives of Zambesi Land for a similar purpose. The plant is known +botanically as "Derris." Two varieties, "scandens" and "uligijiosa," are +known in this State. The aboriginal titles vary in different localities, +but "Paggarra" will suit the present purpose. Some blacks are so +offensively civilised that they know the plant by the name of "Wild +Dynamite." Possibly it owes its popularity among fish poisons to the +fact that it is the handiest of all. It trails over the rocks, just out +of touch of high-water mark, but not beyond the reach of the spray +of surges. With roots investigating inclement crevices, and salt air +damping its leaves, the plant flourishes, and flowers prettily in +graceful racemes. In the semi-obscurity of the crevices the flowers put +on a tinge of pink, literally blushing unseen. The heartless blacks tear +up the plant, branches, leaves, flowers and all, coarsely bundle them +together, and, wading into an enclosed pool where fish are observed, +beat the mass (after dipping it into the water and while held in the +left hand) with a nulla-nulla. The action is repeated until the bark and +leaves are macerated, and then the bundle is thrown into the pool. In +a few minutes the fish rise to the surface, gasping and making +extraordinary efforts to get out of the infected water. Death ensues +rapidly, but the fish are quite wholesome as food. + +Another of the vegetable poisons is known as "Raroo" (CAREYA AUSTRALIS). +The bark at the base of the trunk and of the roots contains an effective +principle, which is released in a somewhat similar fashion to that +employed with "Paggarra." + +The fruit of the handsome, shrubby tree known botanically as DIOSPYROS +HEBECARPA is also a most effective fish poison. It is oval-shaped, red +when ripe, and, as the name implies, covered with soft, fine hair. For +all its lofty title and attractive appearance, the fruit is deceptive, +for it bites and blisters the lips and tongue like caustic, and on +being bruised and thrown into a pool on the reef, all fish are killed +outright. + +A different and, for a black, singularly complicated process is employed +for the extraction of the noxious principle residing in the plant known +as "Koie-yan" (FARADAYA SPLENDIDA). This is one of the most rampant and +ambitious of the many vines of the jungle. + +It combines exceeding vigour with rare gracefulness. The leaves are a +light glossy green, ovate, and often a foot long, while the flowers +are pure white (resembling slightly the azalea, but free from its +fragility), large, and with an elusive scent, sweet and yet indefinite. +The fruit, smooth and of porcelain whiteness, varies in size and shape, +and is said to be edible, though blacks ignore it. A large marble and +an undersized hen's egg may dangle together, or in company with others, +from the topmost branches of some tall tree, which has acted as host to +the clinging vine. The handsome but inconsiderate plant is turned +from its purpose of lending fictitious and fugitive charms to quite +commonplace but passive trees to the office of stupefying uncomplaining +fish. But the element which holds such deadly enmity to the sense of the +fish is not obtainable by the simple primary means successful with other +plants. Indeed, the process is quite elaborate, and goes to prove that +the Australian aboriginal has to his credit as a chemist the results of +successful original research, and that he is also a herbalist from whom +it is no condescension to learn. In this detail, at any rate, he is +distinctly an accomplished person. Portions of the vine are cut into +foot lengths; the outer layer of bark is removed and rejected, the +middle layer alone being preserved. This is carefully scraped off and +made up into shapely little piles on fresh green leaves. One might +imagine that a black boy preparing the deadly "Koie-yan" was really +playing at chemist's shop with neat-handed scrupulousness. When a +sufficiency is obtained it is rubbed on to stones previously heated by +fire. The stones then being thrown into a creek or a little lagoon left +by the receding tide, the poison becomes disseminated, with fatal effect +to all fish and other marine animals. + +It is pointed out, however, by Dr. Hamlyn-Harris that the nature of the +active principle of the "Koie yan" does not permit of elaboration by +such means. The heating of the shredded bark would, therefore, appear +to fall into line with the gibberish of ancient alchemists. It would +bewilder the uninitiated without enhancing results. + +Many other plants supply the means of killing small fish wholesale, or +of reducing them to palsied cripples. The three described are fairly +common, and have, therefore, been selected to point a moral. Poisoning +fish is a poor sort of sport, perhaps, but there are two classes of +fishermen--the hungry and the artistic. The latter use flimsy tackle and +complicated gear, and play the game, giving the victims to their wiles a +sporting chance. Though not the only representative of the hungry class, +the black boy generally fishes on an empty stomach, and his demeanour +coincides. No slobbering sentiment affects him. Yet he is not so cruel +as the mean white who throws a plug of dynamite into the river while +the fish are enjoying their crowded hour, though he will with as little +taint upon his conscience poison a pool full of fish as drag with hooked +stick a reluctant crab piecemeal from its burrow among the mangrove +roots. But then he is responding to the appeals of a clamant and +not over-particular stomach, while your dynamitard is occasionally a +well-fed barbarian with a queasy palate. + + +FLY-FISHING. + + +The neatest and most artistic method by which the blacks kill fish +necessitates the employment of a particular species of spider known to +the learned as NEPHILA MACULATA PISCATORUM. This spider was discovered +on Dunk Island by Macgillivray, the naturalist of the expedition of +H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE in 1848. It has a large ovate abdomen of olive-green +bespangled with golden dust; black thorax, with coral-red mandibles; +and long, slender legs, glossy black, and tricked out at the joints with +golden touches. A fine creature, gentle and stately in demeanour, it +spins a large web, strong enough to hold the biggest of beetles +and other insects, and, to harmonise with the superior air of the +manufacturer, the gossamer is of golden-green. The great spider at the +focus of the resplendent web is a frequent and conspicuous ornament +to the edges of the jungle, and having no fear, and no indocility of +temper, it undergoes the ordeal of admiration with an assumption +of disdainful coquettism. The local name of this comely creature +is "Karan-jamara." Shameless polyandrist, she maintains several +consorts--from three to five seems to be the average number--and +they, semi-transparent, feeble, meek, subdued little fellows, maintain +precarious isolated existences in the outskirts of the web. + +Though my own experience is negative, direct incontrovertible evidence +is extant to the effect that birds often meet their fate by blundering +into the web, to be devoured by the nimble and gaily decorated owner. I +have frequently seen karan-jamara disposing of hard-shelled beetles +as big in bulk as some birds, and the strongest of butterflies, once +entangled, is powerless. The long-legged spider leaps on the struggling +prey and stills its beating wings with one pinch of powerful red +mandibles. March flies form the most frequent diet. One has been +observed to dispose of fourteen of the great stupid flies in a single +evening, and if the flies could reason they might, while whimpering +because of the existence of such voracious spiders, acknowledge that +they design their webs in a very perplexing and masterly manner. + +In pursuance of inquiries--the results of which are herein recorded--a +casual black boy, a stranger to these parts, and therefore unfamiliar +with the local name and the special purpose to which the spider is put, +was cross-examined. At first he failed to recognise the photograph, but +when it was explained by the pointed allusion to a living Maltese-cross +spider close at hand, a gleam of intelligence brightened his bewildered +face, and he delivered a self-satisfied dissertation on the order +Arachnida that is worth quoting: + +"That fella Oo-boo-boo. That fella mammy belonga 'nother fella +altogether. You no savee, come close up--that fella ply way. You no +savee, come close up, that fella no good; that fella vite." + +And the boy looked gravely sagacious and smiled the wide, wise smile +betokening proud superiority of information. Had Macgillivray but known +that the "Oo-boo-boo" was the parent of all the many species, and that +it belongs to the discreetly valorous class that "vites" and flies away, +and lives to "vite" another day, he might have achieved renown of a +more popular kind than is the reward of the unromantic naturalist who +discovers merely a superior spider. + +This spider is used on some of the rivers as a lure, virtues almost +irresistible being ascribed to it. Experiments in salt water, though not +absolutely negative in their results, have not afforded any specially +exciting sport; but possibly the fascination of the lure is more +efficient in fresh than in salt water, and is influential over the +habitual caution throughout a certain species of fish only. The trick is +worked in the following manner: + +The angler takes a light, thin switch and entangles one end in the web, +which, by dexterous waving action, is converted (without being touched +with the fingers) into a strand about two feet long. The spider is +secured and squashed, and the end of the line moistened in the juices of +the body, some of the fragments of which are reserved for bait, and +also to be thrown into the water as a preliminary charm. These buoyant +titbits attract shoals of small fish, among which the line, with its +extract of spider, is delicately trailed; a fish rises to the lure, the +gossamer becomes entangled in its teeth, and it is landed by a brisk yet +easy movement of the wrist. A great angler recently said that throwing +a fly is an act of feeling or instinct rather than reason. So the black +boy with a careless flourish fills his dilly-bag, while he smiles at the +serious attempts of the white man to imitate his skill. + +Owing to the brevity and the frailness of the line, the catch is limited +to fish under the recognised standard as to size. Tests prove that the +breaking strain of the line is nearly three-quarters of a pound, but the +weight of the individual is of no great consideration, since numbers are +caught quickly. The gossamer is singularly sticky. The viscid substance +with which it is coated is not readily dissolvable in water; indeed, +water seems to have the effect of hardening it, so that the line' +wears longer than might be expected. Piquant morsels of the spider are +entangled in the frayed end of the line as its original potency becomes +non-effective. + +A friend for whose edification this novel method was demonstrated thus +writes it: + +"It did not take the boy long to get ready. They simply broke a switch +about three feet long and attached a portion of the web about six inches +long to the end; squeezed out on to a leaf the fluid internals of the +spider, into which they dipped the end of the line, started a rather +melodious chant, and put the line in shallow water. I was only a few +feet away and could see no fish at first, but they came very soon. They +were very small, about one and a half inches long. They fasten their +teeth in the web, and are lifted out quite slowly. Some require to be +pulled off the line after being landed. I watched for about ten minutes, +during which time seventeen were caught." + +Sir William Macgreggor, ex-Governor of Queensland, has described the +Papuan art of fishing by means of kites, the lure being a tassel of the +web of a spider of the Nephila species. No doubt the blacks here made an +independent and original discovery, and in their simplicity applied +it in a different, but none the less effective, style from that of the +advanced Papuan. + +Thus, to use the web and the fragments of a spider for fly-fishing is +certainly meting out poetic justice to the spider on account of the many +ensnared flies; and the black angler never pauses to reflect whether +the comminuted remains of a spider can possibly be construed into a fair +fly. + + + + + +PART II--MISCELLANEA + + + + +PEARLS + + + +WHAT IS A PEARL? + + +What is a pearl? The substance of a sensation--the consolidation of +discomfort on the part of an oyster or other nacre-secreting mollusc. It +is a globular deposit of carbonate of lime, with a very small proportion +of water, generally enclosing a trifle which is its cause and core +and, so to speak, is a waste product of the body's chemistry. In the +restricted, scientific sense, "true pearls are bodies consisting of +calcareous material with an organic basis." Similar bodies having cores +of sand grains or other foreign substance are known as "blisters." + +Science, which peers and probes into the innermost affairs of oysters, +and speaks of them in terms of uneasy familiarity, asserts that pearls +are frequently caused by a parasite to which they are subject. + +It would ill become one who has no scientific pretensions to suggest +other definitions, though he may claim to be among the few who have +been privileged to observe a pearl in the making, or, rather, to watch +Nature's finishing touches. + +In the case of the oyster the radical home cure for the living irritant +or insoluble substance which had gained entrance between its valves +is an encasement of pearl-film. If this encasement is globular or +pear-shaped, or takes the form of a button and is lucid, lustrous, +flawless, and of large size, it may be of almost inestimable worth. + +Does the proud beauty who glories in the possession of a pearl +condescend to imagine that she flaunts on her bosom just so many tombs +containing the dust of the germs of a parasite? Does she not rather love +to think of the gems as emblems of almost celestial purity, and to dwell +on the fable of the Persians rather than the audacious modern fact? + +Addison has set the fable in imperishable gold: A drop of water fell out +of a cloud into the sea, and finding herself lost in such immensity of +fluid matter, broke out into the following reflection: "Alas! What an +inconsiderable creature am I in this prodigious ocean of waters; my +existence is of no concern to the universe; I am reduced to a kind of +nothing, and am less than the least of the works of God." It so happened +that an oyster which lay in the neighbourhood chanced to gape and +swallow it up in the midst of this its humble soliloquy. The drop, says +the fable, lay a great while hardening in the shell, until by degrees it +was ripened into a pearl, which, falling into the hands of a diver after +a long series of adventures, is at present that famous pearl which is +affixed on the top of the Persian diadem. + +Though one may count his pearls by the score, the hoard may be +valueless. Upon such examples entertaining, if not valuable, experiments +may be made without affectation or giving hostages to fortune. In all +the little deformed specimens thus dissected the core has been found to +consist of a foreign substance, generally what seemed under a microscope +of limited power a speck of dirt. The heart of one was a blob of +mud, which gave off a most baleful vapour. This was the result of the +house-cleaning of a common, edible rock oyster, and the pearl, dirty +green and lustreless, merely a thin casket, for the noisome mud had not +solidified. The care with which the impurity had been rendered innocuous +demonstrated the correct ideas of the oyster on sanitation. No doubt the +germ of the special form of tape-worm which troubles oysters, irritates +to pearl-making, and passes through other transformations in other +hosts, and completes its cycle in the body of a shark, would be too +minute for inexpert detection. The fact that molluscs do intern foreign +and obnoxious substances is testimony to their decency and love of +cleanliness, and so may the pearl be still accepted as the embodiment of +purity. Though all its little soul be dirt, the pearl is pure, and but +for the dirt or the germ of a filthy ailment it would not be pearl. + +So many molluscs produce pearls that it would be absurd for the great +oyster family to set up exclusive rights. They do not, for your oyster +is ever humble even when tenanted with a rivalless pearl. On the coast +of North Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef, pinnas of at least +two species are among the producing agents, which, covering a wide +range, seem to meet in two distinct genera, far apart in appearance and +habit. There is the frail, flat, translucent "window-shell" (Placuna), +the valves of which fit so closely that the poor little inhabitant +is squeezed to a wafer, a film, a fragment of muscle. Yet in some +localities nearly every individual has a pearl, pretty in tint, but +too minute to be of value. An allied species is common on the coast of +China, where the pearls are collected for export to India, to be reduced +to lime by calcination for the use of luxurious betel-nut chewers. These +almost microscopic pearls are also burnt in the mouths of the dead who +have been influential and wealthy. + +Coal-black pearls occur in one of the pinnas, the interior of which +is sooty, shot with iridescent purple, and since the pearl, whether +produced by oyster, mussel, pinna, or window-shell, is generally more +brilliant than the containing shell, that of the black pinna, with the +high lights of its environment concentrated, may be a gem of surpassing +novelty and beauty. But the habitual product of this pinna is small, +dull, mud-tinted or brown, and of no value whatever. Another of the +genera grows "seed" of excellent lustre, corresponding with the azure +brightness of the shell. + +The chief source of orient pearls on the coast of North Queensland +is the gold-lip mother-of-pearl PINCTADA MAXIMA, while the black lip +PINCTADA MARGARITIFERA occasionally yields fine and flawless specimens +of a silvery lustre. One which is still lovingly remembered was of pale +blue and wonderfully lighted. The commonest of the giant clams TRIDACNA +GIGAS sometimes betrays evidence of past internal trouble by the +presence of a concretion of porcelain whiteness and of porcellaneous +texture, but such are not to be described as pearls and to be prized as +rarities only. + +That some huge molluscs produced pearls before man, with his faculty for +admiration, came on the scene is proved by their existence as fossils in +chalk. Hemispherical specimens have been found on the inner surface of a +shell which has no living representative--viz., the Inoceramus (some +of which attained a length of two feet)--and spherical ones of the same +prismatical structure occur detached in the chalk. It were curious +to let the imagination run over the fact that the hosts of these +uncommended gems died ages before the advent of man. The best of modern +prizes may be puny in comparison with those which caused distress to +the giant molluscs of the age when the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and +Pterodactylus were the aristocrats of the animal world. Such gems have +gone for ever, and even during this age of insatiable and adventurous +search man does not secure a tithe of the ocean's tribute, for, since a +pearl is a source of discomfort to its host, the unceasing effort of +the animal is towards expulsion. The greatest and possibly the most +magnificent are cast out as rubbish on the ocean floor, or are retained +within the valves when the animal dies of old age. + +So-called pearls have been found in elephants' tusks and semi-adherent +to the bones of fish, and concretions--hard, smooth, and round, and +of the flat hue of skimmed milk--in coconuts and in the cavities of +bamboos; but in the production of the real gem neither oyster nor mussel +nor pinna need fear the rivalry of anything on the earth's surface. The +pearl belongs to the sea. + +Completely spherical pearls can be formed only loose in the mantle or +soft parts of the body of the animal; but intrusions incite a deposit +of nacre in the form of a projection on the interior, which projection, +often a mere bubble, but sometimes semi-detached, may take the shape and +dimensions of the foreign substance. Or an inoffensive mollusc may be +goaded by the piercing of its shell from the exterior to create that +for which men venture into the depths of the sea. If a pearl-secreting +oyster be inherently robust, its defence against assault from without +may consist of the strengthening of the interior at the point of attack +by deposits of nacre. Thus, a slight protuberance arises which becomes +the base of a blister or button or the starting-point of a pear-shaped +gem. Many a lovely gem is, therefore, nothing more than the imperishable +record of aggression on the part of a flabby sponge on a resourceful +oyster. Occasionally valuable pearls are found within huge blisters. +Such pearls originate, no doubt, in the ordinary way, but, becoming +an intolerable nuisance on account of increasing size, are confined in +nacre. + +One of the accompanying illustrations shows the fate which befell +an infant chiton upon intrusion on a small black-lip oyster, and +coincidentally the origin of a blister. The chiton family being +notorious for stolidity, the infant could not have realised the risks of +its trespass until the strait-jacket made its retirement impossible. +The nacre has reproduced the details of the chiton's exterior with the +fidelity of a casting, and further reveals the fact that it was alive +when entombed, for its struggles to escape are solidified. + +This deliberate act of the oyster may not stand comparison with the +stone of Pyrrhus's ring, which had the figure of Apollo and the nine +Muses in the veins of it produced by the spontaneous handiwork of Nature +without any help from art. The marvellous stone belonged to the fabulous +past; the imprisoned chiton to the prosaic present. + +Another illustration is that of an accumulation of nacre which has +assumed accidental resemblance to a miniature shark. It was found in a +gold-lip pearl shell in Torres Straits. The like quantity in globular +shape would represent a pearl of great value. + + +A PEARL IN THE MAKING. + + +On a calm and luminous day I waded, disrobed, in shallow water as limpid +as the fictitious stream which legend says King Solomon improvised +at the foot of his throne when the Queen of Sheba attended his court. +Lifting her robes--for she imagined the crossing of the water to be a +ceremonial device--the gorgeous Queen displayed her shapely calves. The +water resting on the verge of the lovely Isle was as delusively clear, +but was not deceptive. + +It revealed living coral, good to avoid by the barefooted; clams with +patterned mantles of various tints--grey, slate-blue, sea-green, brown, +and buff; anemones in many shapes, some like spikes of lavender, +and irritant and repellent to the touch; some platter-shaped and +cobalt-blue; some as living vases with the opalescent tints of Venetian +glass, which, abhorring the hand of man, retreat into the sand until +only an inconspicuous fringe of neutral tint is visible. Sea-slugs +in almost endless form and variety of hue, and many other strange sea +things, were among the inhabitants of the reef--a closely packed arena +of never-ceasing slaughter. + +In the middle of a clump of brown seaweed, which had fallen apart like +the neatly dressed hair of a woman, was a black streak, signifying the +gape of a wedge-shaped mollusc known as a pinna. The gape was about as +long as the parting of a woman's hair and about thrice as wide. As I +crouched to note the functions of the animal, my shadow intervened and +the caution of the creature was roused, the valves closing so that no +sign of the presence of the shell was distinguishable among the slightly +wavering, minute particles of alga. Changing my position, so that the +pinna might not be deprived of its share of the rays of the sun, the +valves soon furtively opened. A slight movement on my part and they +closed again, without having revealed any hidden charms. + +After a few minutes, a certain confidence being established between us, +the pinna emerged from its retirement, in so far as such creatures are +permitted by Nature. The mantle of this particular species is shown as +a delicate fringe of lace in old gold and black. It ripples along the +upper edges of the confining valves, which are intensely black with a +pearly lustre. The pretty movements of the mantle--like the swinging +of the skirts of a well-apparelled damsel--attracted admiration, and on +peering into the shell a glimpse of something precious was obtained. + +Tossed and twirled about just below the old gold fringe was a black +pearl about the size of a pea. The prize was safe. Without risk of loss +it could be watched in its unceasing revolutions. It seemed as if the +animal, with automatic perseverance, attempted to eject the incubus, the +weight of which kept it about an inch below the aperture of the valves. +Such motion would naturally tend to perfection. Whatsoever its lustre, +it would certainly be a sphere. Besides, it was a pearl in the making. +As long as it remained within the pinna and it could not be voluntarily +rejected, its size would inevitably increase. It was the rolling stone +to which time and the secretions of the animal would add weight and, +peradventure, beauty. + +Was mortal ever before privileged to watch over the growth of a black +pearl? The activities of the mantle, a blending of enticing colour +and poetic motion, were slow, free, and light-attracting. The ancients +believed that some pearls were constituted by flashes of lightning +playing on bubbles within the oyster. A relative of the family here +seemed to be wooing the tropic sun of its beams, if not to vitalise, at +least to burnish its treasure. + +Close scrutiny showed that the pearl was not absolutely free. It was +enclosed in a transparent membrane, the merest film, which confined +it to a particular position in the mantle, while it seemed to possess +independent actions--vertical and revolutionary. Perhaps the rays of +light which fell unequally on it through the water created the illusion +of revolutions, but it is certain that the pearl seemed to be playing a +game of hide-and-seek. + +Was it possible for human nature to deny itself so easily gotten +and pretty a prize? I confess, though the possibility of the pearl +increasing in size and loveliness was obvious, that the fact that pinnas +are subject to ills, chances, and mishaps, was also recognised. Left to +be slowly tossed about, the pearl would become greater; but size, though +an important feature, is not the only desirable quality. And while it +grew might not another barefooted beach-comber discover it? Or might not +one of the many unintelligent admirers of the pinna itself find entrance +by drilling or by the violent crushing of the valves, and, ignoring the +treasure, destroy the organs and the substance by and from which it +was being delicately elaborated? Suppose, I argued, I remove the gaping +shell, I shall no longer be able to enjoy the rare, the unique pleasure +of presiding over the gradual perfection of a pearl, an aesthetic +advantage to which I alone had been made free. Could present possession +of a little sphere of carbonate of lime, polished and sooty black, +compensate for the continuance of the chaste joy of watching one of the +most covert and intimate processes of Nature? Balancing the immediate +material gain against the inevitable moral loss, I was almost persuaded +to self-denial, when, with a sudden impulse, begot of the consciousness +of rightful acquisition, the pinna was forcibly yet carefully drawn out +of the sand in which it was deeply embedded and in which it was anchored +by toughened byssus. Directly the valves were prised apart the pearl +fell into my hand. Never before had I seen one so loosely retained +within its shell. Generally, in the case of the pinna, pearls +are embedded in the muscles or soft parts, and are not primarily +discernible, but have to be sought for by passing the "meat" through +the fingers. On this occasion all previous experience had been set at +naught, so that it might seem that the prize had been presented by the +animal as its perfect and most opulent work. + + +STRANGE PEARLS. + + +The engaging theory of the ancients that pearls were made of glutinous +dewdrops condensed by the sun's heat does not take into account the +fact that some of the rarest, though not the most valuable, have assumed +contrary and fantastic shape. Fish, crabs, and marine insects have +proved a common origin of pearly developments while they have been +regarded by some as almost miraculous conceptions on the part of the +afflicted mollusc. + +Hamed of Jeddah, the stubby Arab who deals in fish and oysters, and who +professes to have groped over in his youth a considerable extent of +the Red Sea for coral and pearls, relates many experiences in which +the popular gem takes pride of place. Oriental that he is, he loves +exaggeration, and while lending a propitious car to the stories in which +he enshrines his prime, when he could dive deep and long, and when the +precious red coral was "thick" and every shell contained a pearl, it is +discreet to disregard obvious breaks and bulges along the prim path of +truth. The very crudeness of his embellishments invests with kind of +comic relief some of his fables, which end invariably with insipid +uniformity. All the pearls which have slipped through Hamed's rough +hands have been valued at five hundred pounds, never more or less. It is +not for me to rub the gilt off the innocent inventions of the emotional +Arab, but merely to relate one of his time-beguiling tales, and one +which, probably, is of clean-cut truth. + +A huge gold-lip, found four fathoms deep, where the sea grass sways +indolently long, contained a tinted pearl like: + +"That fella sitting down along a tree and sing out along night time." + +"Flying fox?" I guessed grimly. + +"No!" snapped Hamed indignantly. "'Nother fella." + +"That bird which says 'chump, chump, chump?'" I meekly asked. + +Again Hamed sneered ironically. "No bird. No bird carn get along oyster. +Little fella-green like leaf. Sing out 'Ko-rog, ko-rog, ko-rog!'" + +"Oh! Frog!" + +"Yes. Like frog. Me call him 'ghouk' along my country. That fella inside +gold-lip. One inch long. Leg, hand, mouth, eyes all asame. I bin get +five hundred pounds for that fella." + +Azure pearls in the similitude of tiny fish can be vouched for by people +far more careful of their facts than Hamed--fish which have intruded +themselves on the oysters and have been encased in nacre. Probably the +rarity which fell into Hamed's hands was the pearly presentment of a +crustacean, for marine frogs are infinitely rarer than pearls. Several +molluscs admit tenants, one particular species a rotund crab; but in +the case in point the wrong mansion was entered and, so to speak, the +obtruder was transformed. + +A common and neat industry in China is the production of fraudulent +pearls, pretty and in accordance with submitted design, in which the +co-operation of the obedient but frail mussel is necessary. If a round +pearl is desired, a naked shot is introduced between the valves so much +to the discomfort of the animal that it proceeds to cover it decently +with layer after layer of pearl-film, the bulk of which depends upon +the length of life granted to the mussel. Sometimes little josses are +stamped out in thin uncorrosive metal, which, being presented to the +mussel, are faithfully modelled, the thrifty Chinese obtaining in course +of time quaint pearly gods--as potent as the best--without money and +without price. + +Not so long as a quarter of a century ago a spirit-bottle full +of pearls--buttons, blisters, and chips of all sorts, sizes, and +shapes--was purchased in North Queensland by one who had but the crudest +ideas as to the value of such gems. The vendor was a whity-brown man, +thin, and thinly clad in cotton. The complexion of the buyer was ruddier +than the cherry, for the tropic sun had beamed ardently on his peachy +Scotch skin, proclaiming him a new-chum, a bright and shining new-chum. +Because he was new he was alert to the value of money. Had he not come, +as all new-chums do, to Tom Tiddler's ground to pick up gold and silver? +Hence, when the hatless, spare, whity-brown man in soiled cotton offered +for sale the odd-shaped beads in a besmeared whisky-bottle for five +pounds, his national trait expressed itself in a scoff. + +The whity-brown man's seriousness, his confidentiality, his keen +desire to sell, his mysticism and misty English, the ruddy young man +interpreted as manifestations of the arts and wiles by means of which +innocent strangers from far away lands are tempted into bankruptcy +bargains. The seller, anxious to dispossess himself of ill-gotten gains +prejudicial to his love of liberty, pursued the Scotch youth almost +tearfully, until the bottle changed hands, but at a considerable +reduction on the price originally demanded. Shortly after a friend +enlightened the youth as to the probable value of the collection, and +gave him some cheap advice, especially on the desirableness of secrecy. +The youth accepted the advice so literally that the story ends. No one +ever knew how, when, where, and for what consideration, he disposed of +his embarrassments. Fresh from the land of his birth, and with the text +of Burns's poetic letter in his mind, he kept that something to himself. + +The days of such sensational deals are past. The primal crop has long +since been harvested. Science is now bidden to stimulate the docile +oyster, for the rage for pearls is as the rage of the heathen. Is it +not the wish of every woman, old and young, to possess pearls? And while +subject man, flushed with hope, ventures to the "utmost port, washed by +the furthest sea," for such merchandise at the caprice of woman, Science +plods sedately after man, beguiling him with the hope of some less risky +and laborious means of acquiring the gems, while at the same time +she soothes the irrepressible passion of every damsel with strings of +artistic counterfeits manufactured from the scales of silvery fish, and +as pleasant to glance at as many an orient. + +The Spaniards say that a paper cigarette, a glass of water, and the kiss +of a pretty girl, will sustain a man for a day without eating. But what +is a man to do who has no tobacco, only stale water, who is separated +from the nearest girl by seventy miles of perilous seas forlorn, and +whose appetite sickens at the sight of the coarse fare of a beche-de-mer +boat? There is but one resource for such a martyr. He must do "a +perisher." That is precisely what the master of a lonely boat in an +odd angle of the Coral Sea was doing when a joyful sail appeared--a +dove-like messenger from civilisation and shops. It was a pitiable +famine. No one had had a smoke for a week. The black boys had broken +up their nicotine-saturated clay pipes and masticated them to pulp, and +still treasured the quids, while the "Boss" pondered cigars during the +day and dreamt them at night. But relief was at hand. The master of the +strange craft, though well stocked, was not disposed to be generous, +until tempted by the sight of a lovely yellow pearl, about the size of a +small marble and of satiny lustre--sweet to look upon, sweeter still +to possess. Aware of the other man's agonising needs, he drove a hard +bargain, and the gem became his at the cost of a box of tobacco. He +hugged himself for joy, and after a decent lapse, during which he acted +the part of the virtuous who had relieved another's necessities out of +sheer goodwill (for the pearl was only a curio, was it not?), he set +sail for the nearest port. + +Certain that fortune had at last beamed upon him, he laid up his lugger, +wound up his affairs, and hurried off to Sydney, secretly, to dispose +of his prize first-hand. An expert weighed the treasure, scrutinised it +shrewdly through a microscope, and handed it back with a casual remark +that it was a pretty curio, but that its market value was about half a +crown. "It has been exposed to great heat, and may crumble to pieces at +a change of temperature. Get me one like that uncooked and I'll give you +twelve hundred pounds." + +Some time after, the grasping man discovered that the pearl had been +found in the "meat" of a "helmet" shell which had been roasted by a +hungry and tobaccoless boy. + +Without appearing to suggest anything beyond a trifling blemish in this +story, replete as it is with edifying illustrations of the frailties of +human nature, it would be well to remember that the helmet shell (CASSIS +FLAMMEA) is not nacreous and could not therefore produce a true pearl, +but merely g porcellaneous concretion, which, however, might possess a +most attractive tint, possibly pale salmon or orange. Such a gem might +be valuable. + +Great pearls are not generally found on shallow reefs. He who would +search for them systematically must dive, and if he does not possess the +proper costume and accessories his trips below are but brief, and not +always profitable. When a diver boasts that he can remain under water +two or three minutes--and the boast is very common--he has gauged his +endurance by his sensations, not by the clock. Once an expert was timed, +a coloured gentleman who had great repute among his companions, all +capable divers. He made a special and supreme effort, and though the +watch recorded barely seventy seconds, he was much distressed. Recovery +was, however, speedy; of ten subsequent minutes he spent more than +half out of sight. It is not argued that human beings cannot remain +voluntarily under water more than seventy seconds, but the feat is so +rare that those who accomplish it are not usually pearl-divers. + +The natives of some parts of Borneo declare that the valves of the +oysters containing the largest pearls are always open, and that by +peering into the water the pearls may be seen. They tell a story of a +gigantic pearl which was thus discovered by the men of old and actually +brought while within the oyster into a canoe, but had slipped from the +fingers of a careless holder into deep water. + +Spencer St. John, author of "Life in the Forests of the Far East," had +among his friends a chief who ventured most of his possessions in a +pearling cruise. Disaster attended the enterprise, but without subduing +his faith in luck; mortgaging everything, even to his wife and child, he +went out to woo fortune again. His slave-boy was preparing to dive one +day when he started back, touched his master's hand, and with signs of +great emotion pointed into the water. The chief looked, and there, seven +fathoms below, lay an oyster with an enormous pearl distinctly visible. +Without a moment's reflection he plunged in, and, diving with skill +and speed, reached the shell before it closed, his fingers being caught +between the valves. He quickly rose to the surface, and was helped into +the boat by his anxious follower. Upon the oyster being forced open, a +pearl, unsurpassed in size and of extraordinary beauty, was revealed. +Returning to his native village, the chief sold all his smaller pearls, +and having redeemed his wife and child, set sail for Manila, where lived +an English friend who advanced him money, to whom he said: "Take this +pearl, clear off my debt, give me what you like in return. I shall be +satisfied." The author adds: "The merchant took the pearl, gave him what +he considered its value--at all events enough to make Sulu ring with +his generosity--and sent the pearl to China; but what became of it +afterwards I could never distinctly trace; but I learned that a pearl in +Bengal called 'The Mermaid' originally came from China, and as the one +found in Sulu was said to be shaped like a woman's bust, it is probably +the same." + + + +Possibly the golden age of the pearl is passing as the golden age of the +reptile has passed, for can it not be imagined that, in those far-back +days when oysters attained a length of two feet and better deserved +the title of Tridacna (three bites) than the present clams, pearls +of corresponding magnificence of size were produced? Or are robust +pearlless oysters to be accepted as the type of the strong era, and +small oysters and pearls merely as signs of degeneracy? The largest of +modern pearls measured two inches long by a circumference of four inches +and weighed eighteen hundred grains. The containing shell may have been +big only in comparison with its contemporaries. A very small man has +been known to be afflicted with a disproportioned goitre, and there are +some who argue that the goitre may be but the prototype of the pearl. + +Is fact or fable to claim the most glorious of pearl stories? Some +verily believe that Cleopatra did quaff the costliest beverage the world +has ever known. The incident is so faithful to the character of "that +rare Egyptian" that all sober record shall not discount delight in its +transcendent sumptuousness. Though the pearl may have been worth eighty +thousand pounds of our money, though Cleopatra was gay, though her +extravagance was impious, she was a glorious woman, and she had at least +one glorious, if nauseating, drink. The pearl decoction was merely an +episode in her policy, which was to fascinate Antony--Antony who had +called her to account for having aided his enemies in their war against +him. And what was an eighty thousand pound bauble in the high affairs +of State? "She was at the age when a woman's beauty is at its prime, and +she was also of the best judgment. So she furnished herself with a world +of gifts, stores of gold and silver, and of riches and other sumptuous +ornaments as is credible she might bring from so great a house and from +so wealthy and rich a realm as Egypt. But yet she carried nothing +with her wherein she trusted more than herself, and in the charms and +enchantment of her surpassing beauty and grace." + +And then the supper following the magnificent pageant! Anything less +than an eighty thousand pound pearl would have been an anti-climax, a +mean and clumsy culmination of a "gaudy night." That soul-delighting gem +which vanished in foam told of a superb Cleopatra's "calm felicity and +power." + +Some say that, the jewel--cast away so majestically was one of a pair +which Cleopatra wore as ear-rings, and that when Antony restrained +his hostess from a repetition of the draught, she presented the now +matchless pearl to him. Another version implies that the ear-ring had +been originally one monster pearl, which Cleopatra had caused to be sawn +in two to gratify her lust for unique and lavish ornament. + +It is said, too, that the pearl was dissolved in wine. By a simple +practical test and at the sacrifice of a small quantity of baroque, +proof was obtained that ordinary culinary vinegar is a solvent of +pearls. The experiment also yielded these notable conclusions--that +either the wine of Cleopatra's age was much more corrosive than the +vinegar of ours, or that the costly beverage was prepared beforehand, +or that the stately banquet was long-drawn-out while the inestimable gem +spluttered and simmered in the goblet. The dissolution of such a large +pearl must have been slow, and the product far from nice, but it was one +of the effects by which a sovereign woman conquered the "most courteous +lord" of his day. + +A curious superstition prevails in some parts of the East Indies, it +being believed that if gold and pearls are placed by themselves in a +packet they will certainly decrease in quantity or number, and in the +end totally disappear; but, if a few grains of rice are added, the +treasure is safe. Rice is thought not only to preserve the original +number of pearls, but to actually cause increase. + +Tarnished pearls are occasionally submitted to the process of +"skinning"--the removal with fine steel files under a magnifying +glass of the outer 'layer, on the chance of the existence of a better +underneath. The ancients treated lustreless gems differently, placing +them before doves, under the belief that they could be polished by being +pecked and played with by the gentle birds. + +In some respects pearls are superior to all other gems. They are +emblematic of serenity, and serenity is often power in the highest +manifestation. None ever said an unkind word of pearls; no dubious +legend clings to them, making the timid afraid. They come to us +perfectly fashioned. No coarse handiwork has touched them, no soulless +machine ground them to conventional pattern. The last diamond may be, +the last pearl never, until the sea gives up more than its dead, its +very being. Pearls may begin and end in foam; but the beginning is now +and always, and the ending rare, for the Cleopatras are gone. Emblems +of purity, refinement, and peace, they are truly the gems for woman. +Queenly or demure, they become her, and she bestows on them a quality +hard to define, but singularly sweet and acceptable. Gold and precious +stones may occupy billions of years in the making, or may be the product +of-- + + + "The war of elements, + The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds." + + +Once we find these hard, cold things and take hold of and seize them, we +know that we have, to use a homely simile, eaten our cake. The supply +of pearls is continuous, and under the control of the cruel ingenuity of +man they grow to an ordinary size in less than a decade. + +Many years ago an opinion was expressed that the increasing knowledge +'of the mollusc and its habits would enable man literally to sow the sea +with pearls as he sows a field with grain, and that the harvest would +be certain. Under natural conditions not one oyster in a hundred is +troubled with a pearl, and not one pearl in the hundred is of any real +value. It is demanded that unsuspecting oysters shall be inflicted with +a kind of plague, so that there shall be not one but several pearls +in every suffering individual, and in the greater number chance +will contrive a larger proportion of orients. Every oyster has +its potentialities; Science seeks to convert potentialities into +certainties. + + +PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY. + + +Such merchandise has ever provoked the spirit of adventure in hardy, +healthy men, and pearls have claimed the lives of the best among them. +The health and figure of the friend who beguiled many an evening were +sacrificed to the lustrous gem so prized of women. A model of stalwart +manhood of the Viking strain, he died early, worn out with the stress +with which he sought the most serene of personal adornments. There may +have been some slight exaggeration in the popular belief that he had +walked along the bottom of the sea from one end of the Great Barrier +Reef to the other, a stretch of over one thousand miles; but that he had +accomplished more than that distance in the aggregate of his submarine +wanderings may be quite credible. Probably there was no human being who +possessed such intimate knowledge of the character of the ocean floor +within the living bounds of the Great Barrier; and since he was silent, +reserved, and self-contained to all save friends of long standing, was +never guilty of boasting, and ever reluctant to tell of his adventures, +the world is little the wiser from his work, though at the best time +of his life most of his days were spent under water in fairyland-like +scenes. It may seem absurd to associate fairyland with the depths of the +sea; but the shy explorer of many a coral grove has been heard to say +that the scenes fulfilled his ideals of what the realms of the fairies +might be like. + +Pearl-divers are more susceptible to the charms of wayward Fortune than +those who have not realised the thrill of expectancy with which a huge +goldlip, encrusted with coral and swathed with seaweed, is seized. It +may contain a gem worth a king's ransom, or but an animal which, though +it may be crossed in love, is not engaging in appearance or in any +feature or quality commendable. There is the chance; and it appeals +to most rational men. Secretive Fortune lures on, promising the bubble +pearl 'and proffering that which satisfieth not, until the stress and +perils of the avocation tell on the enthusiast, who finds himself not +exuberant as wont; that Fortune has been tricking him; that in the +pursuit of pearls Chance is oft repellent; and that the prize which +seemed impossible to avoid has eluded the most devoted seekers. + +It may be that my captain did not seek his pearls with zeal beyond that +which is common to the calling the world over; but that his enthusiasm +beguiled him into remote and odd parts of the Barrier, that he became +familiar with rare scenes (denied to all save submarine adventurers +in tropical waters), that he was oft in peril of his life, and that he +could pause in the midst of strenuous, nerve-racking work to watch +the never-ceasing hostilities of the denizens of the sea, may not be +questioned. + +Not long before he passed away he told of one of his adventures in a +few hurried words, after the manner of one who loves not to dwell on +personal reminiscences, save as a text for the rectification of popular +error in respect of sensational happenings. The story is here repeated, +for it throws light on an incident which sent one ship of warfare on +dubious patrol, and reveals the manner of the men who sought pearls in +the old days. + +"Have you found that pearl?" he asked smilingly; for we had often talked +of the possibility of being rewarded with a fortune-bestowing gem. + +"Yes, indeed, I have; and a real beauty. I very much doubt if you, for +all your experience, ever saw such perfect shape and fine lustre. Here +is an instance of the perversity of Chance. You, tied up in a rubber +bag, rake the floor of the Barrier, fighting sharks and being hustled +by turtle, and never find anything out of the way. I stroll about the +beaches, and see what Fortune bestows!" + +The size of a small marble, it lay swathed in white wadding. Minute +furrows sculptured the surface in radiating lines from pole to pole, +enhancing rare radiance. + +The captain took the little casket in his hand that he might gloat over +the treasure, as, his eyes shining, he said: + +"You lucky fellow! Where did you get it? I never saw a finer pearl, and +I have seen a few in my days. Fair numbers have passed through my hands; +but--you fraud!" + +He lifted it, revealing a counterfeit, which had once ornamented a +hatpin. + +In good-humour he settled down on a lounge and gradually drifted into +reminiscences. + +"About two years before what I am going to tell you happened, I heard +of a patch of shell off an island Sud-Est way; I kept the tip to myself, +determined to work the spot on my own account if ever I got the chance. +I waited till I saved a few pounds, and, taking in a mate, fitted out a +craft, and with a crew of very fair boys sailed away. I found the spot +all right; but--my usual luck--someone had been there before me. Strange +to say, the spot was by no means worked out, though it was fairly good +ground and easy working, and the shell large. We did good business for +a while, until one day I got a proper start. The life-line fouled on +something, and I found that it had taken a turn round the bowsprit of a +wreck. I got on top pretty quick, and, having had a talk with my mate, +went down again. Very soon I knew the boat. It was the ----, and she +had belonged to a man I had known very well. The strange part about the +business was that the boat had been burned. Her deck was gone; she had +burned to the water's edge and had sunk, and there she rested on her +keel. I knew that the owner had left port some months before on a secret +cruise. Someone must have given him the tip, too. He was well known and +liked, and generally did good business. My mate and I talked over the +business. We wanted to clean up that patch, so decided to remain a few +days longer before clearing out to report. I was convinced that murder +had been committed-that the natives of the island had massacred the +party and had sunk the lugger. + +"While I was below next day an urgent message came down. I bobbed up +pretty quickly. A boat was sneaking out from the beach, apparently with +the plan of cutting us off from our lugger, which was anchored some +distance off, with only a couple of boys on board. You bet, we got up +steam pretty quickly. When we got on board we reached for our rifles, +and then felt safe. + +"The boat was then making straight for us, and it appeared to be crowded +with darkies. We had been off the island for four days, and had not seen +the sight of a native. I knew there were plenty, and the fact that they +had kept away had made me a bit suspicious. As the boat came along I +was sure they meant mischief, and was determined, no matter how friendly +they wanted to be, not to let one of the beggars on deck. + +"About half a mile away we saw one of them, who appeared to be a bit +lighter in colour than the rest, stand up in the bow and wave a kind +of message. He kept one arm going like a semaphore. Then we saw that +he carried under the other arm a basket--a peace-offering of yams and +fruit, no doubt. He had only a shirt on, and still he kept his right +arm working. When he got within hailing distance, the man in the bows +shouted my name. He was a brawny chap. I thought to myself that if it +came to a row I would pot him first, for he was ringleader. + +"All the rest were naked. His scanty uniform marked him out. Probably +he got that shirt from the owner of the sunken lugger. I wetted my lips +with my tongue as I thought it might be my duty to wipe him out. Then my +name was shouted out again, and, recognising the voice, I discovered the +man in the shirt to be a well-known character who goes under the name of +----. + +"I've got something nice for you, captain! Don't look so nasty with that +rifle to an old friend!' + +"Still keeping our rifles ready, we let the boat come alongside and the +tinted man passed up the basket, It was native-made, and all the top was +covered with green leaves. Thinking of fresh yams and fruit, I pulled +off the leaves, and there--poof!--the head of a man-an old man who must +have died a violent death about two days before. + +"The man in the shirt laughed loud and long at the disgust in my face, +and, coming on board, soon told of the tragedy of which the awful head +was a symbol of retaliation. + +"The owner of the sunken lugger had fitted her out with unusual care. +His crew consisted of natives of the island off which we were lying. As +a special inducement to one of the boys, whose name was Massai, he had +promised a rifle, but designedly withheld the gift until towards the end +of the term of agreement. Massai had persistently begged for the rifle, +and it having become necessary for the Boss' to take a trip to the port, +he had definitely, promised to bring it with him. Again he designedly +forgot. Massai became morose. Things went on calmly enough until one +day, when the mate was below, the 'Boss' was suddenly thrown overboard. +As he floundered on the surface one of the boys struck at him with a +tomahawk, and then he must have realised that his life was at stake. + +"Diving until well clear of the boat, he swam off to the lugger, about +a quarter of a mile away. As his master came up, Massai leaned over the +side, his master's rifle in his hand. + +"'Don't shoot me, Massai,' he shouted. 'I give you good rifle belonga +yourself.' + +"Massai shouted back, 'Me catch 'em plenty riple! You no good!' and +fired. The bullet splashed over the man's head. The next struck him fair +in the forehead, and he sank. + +"In the meantime Massai's confederates were sporting with the diver, +hauling him up to the surface, pumping sufficient air to keep him alive, +shutting it off until he must have been nearly suffocated, reviving him +with fresh supplies, and with joy prolonging life until the fun of the +thing ceased; then they had cut the pipe so that he might drown. + +"The lugger having been ransacked, she was fired, and she had sunk at +her anchorage. + +"A few days after the man with the shirt arrived at the island, and +since these simple children of Nature cannot keep their doings to +themselves, he very soon was made a confidant, learning the whole +details of the tragedy by pidgin English and expressive pantomime, and +obtaining as proof the coat of the reckless man who had made a promise +to Massai which, possibly, he had never intended to fulfil. The plot of +the revenge and murder had been hatched out ashore at the instigation of +Massai's mother. + +"Fortified with full information, he sailed away to a neighbouring port, +where he exhibited the coat of the murdered 'Boss.' Being impressed, the +official representing the majesty of the law gave some vague commission +to the man, who now wears other clothes than a shirt, and he sailed away +for ports unknown. + +"Interpreting his commission to make further inquiries very broadly, +he appeared off the island, and received a cordial welcome, for he was +'Hail fellow well met' with the inhabitants of many a remote isle. He +made himself very friendly, and the frank natives rather gloried than +otherwise in the recitation of evidence which condemned them. + +"Then he made plans for unauthorised punishment. Having disarmed +suspicion--just as the boat's crew had done in the case of his +friend--he waited, and one dark night surrounded the village with a +well-armed, hostile force. These Papuan villages are fortified in a +certain sense. Some of the exits are set with traps and spring spears, +and none but those in the secret dares venture along a track when the +village has been made secure for the night. + +"The man with the shirt posted his forces so that the exits were +commanded, and waited for dawn, his instructions being that no +demonstration was to be made until he gave the signal. Before the +designed time a shot was fired, and the conscience-stricken community +fled, all save one old man and infant, who met their fate. + +"The village was spoiled and fired, and thus retributive justice done +to those who had wantonly murdered two white men and destroyed their +property. + +"Once again," said the captain, "my luck was out. Goodness knows! There +might have been a big pearl in that patch. We didn't wait to find it!" + + + + +SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE + + + +"Surely, then, it interests us to know the lot of other animal +creatures. However far below us, they are still the sole created things +which share with us the capability of pleasure and the susceptibility to +pain."--HUXLEY. + + +It may be edifying to confess a particular interest in man's first +enemy-not such interest as the man of science displays when he seeks to +add to the knowledge of the world, but a kind of social concern. None +of us is likely to forget that on the authority of Holy Writ the serpent +became familiar with mankind very shortly after his appearance on earth, +and whispered injurious secrets into guileless ears. Ever since the +scene in the Garden of Eden, war between man and the serpent has +prevailed, and now, if we are to credit the sayings of the wise, the end +of all reptiles, if not actually in view, cannot be long postponed. +Is it not mete, therefore, to take fair opportunity of studying the +characteristics and qualities of an animal, closely associated with +us by fable and in fact, which is doomed to extinction by the ruthless +strides of civilisation, which is regarded by some as cleanly and +decent, and by others as repulsive and direful? Plain, unromantic, +unsensational statements make for the acquirement of knowledge +illustrative of the habits and faculties of the creature against +which the hand of the average man is raised with a mixture of wrath, +vengeance, and fear. + +By study and observation one may come to understand the higher +principles of Nature, and so learn how to withstand influences inimical +to his interests without upsetting laws which tend to his welfare. + +Occasionally quite casual happenings and bare and slight matters of fact +show that those who study natural history first-hand acquire information +not to be obtained from authoritative works. Let one instance concerning +the varied diet of the death adder be quoted, since it confounds the +experience of one of the most learned men in Australia on the subject. +On the beach just at high-water mark, beneath an overhanging shrub, +several birds sounded an alarm, notifying by peculiar and persistent +screeching the presence of an enemy. After a few minutes' search, for +the strained attitudes of the birds indicated the direction, a death +adder was seen gliding among thickly strewn brown leaves with a limp +bird between its jaws. It was quickly killed, and then the bird, a dusky +honey-cater, was seen to be dead. Dusky honey-eaters generally spend +their days among the topmost sprays of flowering trees and shrubs, while +death adders habitually seek the seclusion of the shadiest places on the +surface of the soil. In this case the adder was small, so small that it +seemed to be a vain if not impossible feat for it to swallow the bird. + +Hitherto the food of the adder had been deemed to be frogs, lizards, +beetles, and such game of the ground. Was it curiosity which brought +the sun-loving bird within reach of the shade-loving snake? Upon the +incident being referred to Mr. Dudley Le Souef, who has quite an uneasy +familiarity with Australian snakes, dating from the days of ardent +youth, when he was wont to carry some species about with him in his +pockets, that authority wrote: "I did not know that death adders ever +killed birds; I did not think they were active enough, their usual +prey being frogs, lizards, etc. The honey-eater must have been taken +unawares." + +Though scientifically regarded as "the most dangerous and probably the +most deadly" of Australian snakes, the death adder has to its credit +many everyday proofs to the contrary: so many, indeed, that some are +inclined to class it as comparatively harmless, the reasons for such +opinion being--(1) the small size of the creature, reducing the risks +of its being interfered with inadvertently; (2) its amiability; (3) the +fact that unless the sensitive membrane at the end of the tail, to which +the curved spine is the culminating-point, is trodden on or otherwise +insulted, the chances are that there will be, no active resentment. +While adopting all precautions, accepting no risks, and being very eager +to reduce the number by all and every possible means, it is well to +avoid overexcitement; for though the reptilian age is passing away, +those who live in the bush are too often reminded that snakes are still +numerous, and some of them decidedly vicious. + +To disappoint the snake and at the same time to discredit its +reputation, calmness on the part of the individual who may happen to be +bitten is counselled. He should behave as a neighbour who one dark night +stepped off his verandah barefooted on to nearly cleared land. As he +strode along the scarcely distinguishable track, he trod on something +other than a half-burnt stick. Almost instantaneously the Scripture was +fulfilled--the serpent had bruised the man's heel. Now, this man has +been in many strange, not to say fear-provoking, situations, and has +listened to more than one close call without spoiling the occasion by +anticipatory and hideous outcry. He does not smoke or drink whisky or +give way to any nerve-affecting habit. He lives within hearing of the +soothing lullaby of the sea. When his heel was gripped he did not +jump or offend the air with unmanly plaint and ineffectual clamour, +or otherwise fluster his heart with pernicious apprehension. With calm +deliberation he put his hand into his pocket and drew forth--no! not a +razor-edged knife, with which to slash the region of the punctures, but +a box of matches, so that the scene might temporarily be surveyed. He +saw, not the expected death adder, not a deadly copper head, not the +venomous black which flattens and distends the neck like a cobra when +its passions are roused, not the great red pugnacious beast which has +been known to kill off-hand a big horse, but a shame-faced carpet snake, +which, though innocent and inoffensive, will, like the worm, turn if +rudely trodden on. The snake was quite ready to apologise for impulsive +and graceless misbehaviour; but it seemed fascinated by the sudden +light--how little of brightness bewilders such lovers of darkness--and +maintained its repentant attitude until the sacred law was finally +vindicated by the fatal bruising of its head. + +Many years ago a locality a few miles away suffered from a raid by bush +rats, which congregated in great numbers. Similar plagues have often +been recorded from the western downs; but the coastal visitation was +singular, for it was associated with death adders, which seemed to be on +good terms with the rats. One of the settlers was growing sweet-potatoes +on a fairly large scale for pig food, the plough being used for the +harvesting of the crop. Seldom was a furrow run for the full length of +the field without turning up both adders and rats. Suddenly the rats +migrated, and then the death adders disappeared, few of either +being seen for a decade, when the association between them was again +sensationally illustrated. The daughter of a settler rose at dawn, and +with others ran off to the vegetable garden for salads for breakfast. +While she was looking for a seemly cucumber, a rat was disturbed, and +almost immediately after she was bitten by a death adder which had lain +inert at the very spot whence the rat had fled. The child recovered, +while the deceptive snake, which will not submit to have its tail +saluted even by the airiest of treads, was killed. Not only have we here +another proof of the non-fatal character of the bite of an adder, but a +singular instance of association between an adder and a rat. Why and for +what purpose does this apparent amicability exist? + +Sometimes mankind is startled by the unexpected appearance of a snake. +Will credit be given to an almost magic disappearance? Those who hearken +to the voices of birds learn to discriminate between the language of +content and happiness and love and that of dismay and terror. A number +of loud and pleasant-noted fasciating honey-eaters suddenly changed +their tune to that indicative of fear. They were, gathered on a +thick-leaved tree on the edge of the jungle in a crude circle, with +heads pointing to a common centre. It was simplicity to conclude that +a snake was present, but not at all easy to see it, for the flustered +birds began to change their manoeuvres directly help was at hand. +Eventually a thin brown snake was seen doubled up and apparently sound +asleep among the branchlets The gun was called for, and two others +hastened to the scene, each of whom distinctly saw the snake. When the +shot was fired, a peephole was made through dense leafage just where the +snake had reposed, but with the report it had 'disappeared. Fragments +of twigs and leaves came to Mother Earth, but even a smart black tracker +failed to find a trace of the snake, though the force of the explosion +must have carried portions out into the open. The point of this artless +narrative is that the black boy formed the firm opinion that that which +he and two others had concluded to be a snake must have been "'Nother +kind. Him no good. Close up 'debil-debil!'" To him a visible snake was +quite commonplace; but one that vanished under the impulse of a charge +of shot represented a mystery which called for caution and hasty +departure, and the boy strode away with the suggestion of hot bricks +below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material only, +returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered off with--was it?--a note +of thankfulness. + +The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it is automatic, regard +for its own comfort and well-being--it cannot be induced to tie itself +into a knot. It is in mind that once in the old country a very long +and very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed and forgot the +primal instinct of the family, and paid for its absent-mindedness +with its life. But the ordinary snake under extraordinary conditions, +whatsoever its length, is most careful to disentangle itself even when +knots are designed for the special purpose of embarrassing it. Though +the head of a snake be battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, +the lithe body will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to disregard the +great law. However tight the corner into which it may squeeze or narrow +the quarters into which it may be driven, and though head and tail may +be close together and in the midst of a complication of coils, and the +twisting and writhing may appear to be without method, yet the snake +emerges a triumph of single purpose. + +A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch specimen, and truth bids +me say that the snake did not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest +of eggs six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited to a +snake, and it being calculated that the meal would suffice for several +days, no particular zeal was displayed in tracing out the thief. +Experience has taught that snakes do not wander very far when good and +nutritious food is to be obtained by intrusion on the cosy quarters of a +pet hen., Three days were permitted to pass, and then in the nest a rat +trap was placed baited with two eggs, the door being secured with +wire. The bait proved to be irresistible and the trap effective. In +the morning the trap was crowded with snake, which had thrust its head +between the wires, swallowed the eggs, and was a prisoner until they +were dissolved by the processes of digestion or the door was unbolted. +The natural process was not complete when the discovery was made, but +the snake had managed to make itself as comfortable as possible in its +temporary habitation. The trap seemed almost suffocatingly full, and +when the occupant thrust its head and more than half its length between +the bars, only to be checked by the hard-hearted eggs, it was thought +that possibly, in its confusion, the snake might entangle itself; but +invariably it retired into the trap without putting itself into any +false position. It was killed, the executioner justly reflecting that a +snake has mental limitations. Nothing could induce it to tie itself into +a knot, and yet, wilfully and with its eyes open, it had entered a trap +from which there was no possibility of escape until in the course of +nature it had digested the bait. + +Is it generally known that a snake does everything with its eyes +open--that it is denied the privilege of closing its eyes? Such is the +indisputable fact. 'But without presuming to trespass on the preserves +of men of science, the belief may be expressed that some species, if +not in possession of a movable eyelid, have some means of suspending the +faculty of sight. Indeed, there is evidence in support of the view that +one species has a membranous eyelid similar to, but slighter than, +that of a bird. It is not to be doubted that another reptile--the green +turtle--is thus endowed, and that the "winking membrane" is found in +many animals at the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye. +This membrane is represented in animals by a rudiment only. In the eyes +of human beings the small reddish patch in the corner corresponds to the +winking membrane--indeed, is the vestige of it. In monkeys, and in most +mammals below them, there is present in this vestige a small piece of +cartilage, and this is found occasionally in man. In white races it is +very rare, occurring, as far as observations have shown, in less than +one per cent. Recent investigations by Dr. Paul Bartels show that in +twenty-five South African natives whom he had examined it occurred +in twelve. Another investigation found it five times in twenty-five +Japanese. It is curious to find that vestige more common in certain +races, as it shows that in this small point they are less advanced than +the white race. + +This quotation from a forgotten source supplies important links in the +chain of evidence in favour of the theory that certain species of snakes +may have the winking muscle, which exists in marine reptiles and +is present in some human beings. Apart from theory, it has been my +good-fortune to see a sleeping snake the eyes of which were obscured +by a greyish film, giving it the appearance of being "wall-eyed." +Being satisfied that it was blind, for it betrayed no uneasiness at a +threatening demonstration, a determination was made to preserve it for +critical examination. As soon as the snake was touched the cloudy veils +were withdrawn, and the eyes flashed with the fire of malignity. It +appeared to be spiteful because it had been caught napping. The specimen +was not preserved, although it was bottled. + +The blacks of this district are more nervous about adders than any +other snake, with the exception of that known to them as the "Wat-tam" +(pronounce the "a" as in cat), and believed to belong to the same genus +as the brown snake. This is a large snake, reddish-brown in colour, +the underside, for about half the length, being bright orange, the +tint gradually subsiding to pale yellow towards the tail. Post-mortem +examination of the first specimen detected on this Island cleared up a +bush tragedy. A nest had been built in a conspicuous spot by a pair +of shrike thrushes, which the blacks, according to locality, know as +"Moorgoody" and "Too-dring." The birds are the sweetest-voiced of all +natives, and become wondrous tame and confiding. After the big spotted +and blotched eggs were hatched, the hen would perch on the side of the +nest within a foot of admirers, accepting compliments with tilted head +and bright and twinkling eyes. One night the brood disappeared, and +desperate things were held in store if ever a snake were found in the +neighbourhood. Two days after, the alert dog gave tongue, his language +demanding urgency and extreme caution. Within twenty yards of the site +of the violated nest he was found "setting" at a big snake, which had +raised the forepart of its body and appeared to be concentrating +its strength and agility on one fatal and perfidious spring. But the +faithful dog was watchful too, and agile, as he crouched fearlessly +across the track of man's first enemy, with its crafty pose and +glittering eyes. The black boys stood afar off, for the "Wat-tam" is +so arrogant and pugnacious that it does not hesitate to attack a man, +invariably with fatal results if great vigilance be not exercised--at +least, such is their belief. Science, however, shows that though the +snake has poison fangs, they are located so far back in the jaws as to +be practically ineffective. Its fierce demeanour is probably, therefore, +assumed for the purposes of intimidation. The gun speedily put the +wicked-looking snake out of action, and a bulge in the body indicated +the site of the last meal--the confiding thrush and her fledgeless +brood. The incident illustrates another favourite theory--viz., that +venomous snakes have a specific, distinctive odour, which warns animals +likely to be attacked of their presence. The dog kills green tree, +ordinary whip snakes, and the black, white-bellied species fond of +reposing in the mounds of scrub hens, without ceremony and with all the +zest and enthusiasm of a good sport; but in the case of venomous species +so far he has not failed to call for help, but if assistance be delayed +he takes the law into his own hands. + + + +Be it far from me to cast doubt on the truth of that which follows. The +record is found in "Memoirs of the Queensland Museum," vol. ii., page +43: "Although the scientific worker is hopelessly handicapped by +the vividly imaginative journalist when snake stories are told, yet +occasionally there are noticed incidents startling enough in their way. +During the cooler months a young and lithe DIEMENIA PSAMMOPHIS, Schleg, +popularly known as a 'whip snake,' usually retired under a piece of bark +placed in its case, and it was only to be tempted out on warm and sunny +days. On one occasion a small skink lizard was introduced, and the snake +commenced a lively chase. The lizard ran under the bark, and on reaching +the other side scampered back over the top, closely pursued by the +snake. Again the lizard entered the bark tunnel, through which the tail +of the snake was rapidly disappearing, making a spurt to keep up with +the main body. The snake darted for the lizard, missed it, and then +seized its own retreating tail about two inches from the tip. With +characteristic pertinacity it held on, and apparently the classic +episode of a snake swallowing itself was to be attempted. It was not +until the snake was taken, out of the case and forcibly handled that +it let go, there being apparently no distinction to the ophidian palate +between its own flesh and that of its favourite lizard." The only +comment that an unversed student of Nature may presume to make on this +incident is that, possibly, the snake retained its tail because it +could not do otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some snakes so +constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied? The interests +alike of science and the speculative world demanded that in the +circumstances Nature should not have been balked. Why deprive the +serpent of having its own blundering way with its own tail? + +There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by the conflicts which +rage continuously between living things lower in the scale of life +than himself; but the common slaughter is at times so cruel and so +inexplicable that it is not given the average intellect to discover good +and sufficient cause, though he may observe the more obvious habits and +appetites of frogs and snakes. The former oft implore aid against the +attacks of green tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of +sleeping in hollow logs, and since one does not understand from the +beseeching tones of the frog whether it is being molested by the +universal enemy or not, he often hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts +down to the scene, to find, instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps +more useful in the harmony of Nature than a frog, and certainly more +endearing, since it possesses the habit of silence. Unless the frog +is past recovery it has become a practice to scare the lizard, and to +suggest to the frog the sanctuary of another hollow. + +But frogs are not always considerate of other and gayer creatures. A +friend who possessed a pet canary noticed that one morning in the cage +of his pet there sat a panting frog, blinking in the sunlight. Thinking +that the intruder had entered the cage to assuage his thirst, he did not +eject it. It was the habit of the canary to hail the smiling morn with +cheerful carol. In a few minutes unaccustomed silence prevailed, and +then it was noticed that the frog was distended to a degree which must +have caused it infinite satisfaction, while the canary had vanished. The +conclusion was obvious and damning. Being accustomed to post mortems, my +friend settled the point forthwith, the warm canary being revealed, with +but slightly disarrayed feathers. + +A further illustration of the capacious and criminal appetite of the +frog may be quoted. The wet season had been generous and prolonged, the +crop of frogs prolific. The verge of a lagoon was crowded with active +and lusty creatures, belonging, if colour was to be accepted as +evidence, to different species, in fairly equal numbers. A casual glance +inspired the thought that the occasion was nothing more than a vast +assembly of greys and greens enjoying the pastime which boys imitate. +All round were leaping frogs engaged in contests--greys against +greens. Suspecting no evil intent, it was interesting thus to note the +derivation of the game we have all played in sportful youth; but closer +inspection proved that, instead of a friendly tournament on the grand +scale, the rival frogs were indulging in shocking cannibalism. A grey +frog would approach a green, when each would appear to become fascinated +by the appearance of the other. Thus would they squat for several +minutes, contemplating each other's proportions and perfections. Then +both would leap high with mouths agape, and that which timed the feat to +the best advantage, or had the widest gape, seized the less fortunate, +and slowly and with much straining and little apparent joy swallowed it. +Often the rivals would not meet in mid air, and the lapse provided the +delusion of innocent play. There were hundreds of examples of absorption +of the least fit by the fittest to survive, and the chronicling of the +cannibal feast would be incomplete if a singular detail were unrelated. +The participators seemed of like size. Complexion alone varied and +foppish discrimination was exercised, for since dog does not in a +general way eat dog, greys did not eat greys or greens greens. With +unswerving decision, greys swallowed greens and greens greys, and +extreme corpulency was the inevitable result. Does this not smack of +the snake story? It certainly does, but it has the virtue of being +unexaggerated, and why shrink from the telling of the plain truth? + +An unwitnessed tragedy may be told in a very few words. About +twenty-five feet above high-water mark was the shaft of a white +sand-crab. The site was not common, for the crabs are in the habit of +burrowing well within the range of the tide. For two or three +days--for the spot was at the back of the boat-shed and under daily +observation--the alert creature was oft disturbed by my coming and +going. One morning it remained motionless on the verge of its retreat. +It seemed to be on guard, and as a companionable feeling had been +aroused, I was careful as I passed not to unduly affright it. The +statuesque position being abnormally retained, I stooped down, to find +the crab dead, with the froth still on the complicated lips, while +beside it was a huge wolf spider, "tremendous still in death," with head +crushed to pulp. One may theorise that the spider invaded the crab's +burrow and was promptly evicted; a fight took place for possession of +the retreat, resulting in untoned tragedy. Venom and ponderous weapon +each had done its work. Each participant had been victorious, each a +victim. + +A still more singular bush conflict was witnessed by a friend. He heard, +and not without concern, the pleading of a frog from the assaults of +an enemy, but having far too many of them about the premises decided on +noninterference, thinking that the hungry snake would soon silence +the clamour. But the cries becoming shriller and more piteous, he +investigated, finding among the leaves of a creeper on the verandah a +large green Mantis--religiosa, too--voraciously making a meal off the +hind-leg of a little green frog, which it grasped firmly. Almost the +whole of the flesh of the limb had been eaten, and the observer was +of opinion from the rapacity of the insect that there would have been +little left of the screaming frog if he had not interfered. + + + + +THE BUSH TRACK + + + +"They trade with Nature and the earth--a trade by which all that breathe +upon the earth live."--RALEIGH. + + +It has no beginning. It ends--who shall say where Every high tide +smooths away the footprints of those who use it now, just as it did the +erratic tramplings of the host of the past. In those free, unregulated +days piccaninnies sprawled and scampered hard, glistening beach; young +men and girls there; men lazed and fought on its convenient spaces; +women wandered on the serious business of food-getting. The camps stood +a pace or two above high-water mark in the meagre shelter of sighing +casuarinas, and were often changed, for there were six miles of gently +curving, ripple-embroidered shore on which to rest. To this day most of +the traffic is regulated by the tide. High water drives the wayfarer +to the loose, impeding sand, over which the great convolvulus sends its +tireless tentacles, to be thrown back twisted and burnt by salt surges. + +The ebb discovers a broad space, firm and wellnigh unimpresslonable. The +barefooted traveller may walk for miles and be trackless, so tough and +elastic the moist sand. It is not an officious thoroughfare, made formal +and precise by coarse hands working to plans correct to a hair, but +subject to economic deviations of some soulless contractor. It was not +laid with the foundation of the earth, and compacted by heat and stress. +It is still in the making, and sand, coral, and shell-grit ground to +pollen-like fineness and certain chemicals from the reef outside +are among its component parts. One other element invokes perpetual +thanksgiving--the flaked mica, which glistens delusively with hues of +silver and gold, and gives to the tide-swept track that singular pliancy +which resists the stamp of passing generations. + +Midway between high and low water is a zone sensible to the airiest +tread, being fitted for such temporary effect by a mechanical operation. +Millions of the smallest of crabs, sand-tinted, delicate, apprehensive +and alert, possess this area, working out their destiny by digging +circular shafts. Obedient agents in the execution of the imperative +ordinances of Nature, they have the quality of compacting the almost +fluid spoil and carrying it to the surface in pellets complementary to +the size of the individual, and such pellets retain their rotundity. +They are scattered about, not without design, as may be seen if the +industrious workers are closely observed, and in such profusion that the +feet of the user of a crab-infested zone must press them flat. Then +it is that the track becomes visible as far as the eyes reach. But +the incoming wavelets, babbling in unison, dissolve the myriads of +laboriously lifted pellets, effacing the record of the passing of man. +As the tides ebb, the crabs begin their work again, preparing for the +next-coming wayfarer. There is something almost incomprehensively great +in the tireless activities of the nervous crabs, for not only do they +carry compacted sand from their burrows, but they seem to spend odd +moments in forming similar globes from material gathered from the +surface. Digging, furrowing the surface in stellate patterns, moulding +pellets which to the tenderest ripple are but the plaything of a moment, +so are the lives of the shy crustaceans spent. What may be the motive +for the perpetual labour, as useless, apparently, as the rolling of +Sisyphus's stone? For part of the year the beach is the resort of the +red-necked sandpiper, which has an enormous appetite for the small, live +things of the sea's margin. To bewilder the birds and so reduce the risk +to life, Nature imposes the task upon the crabs of forming replicas of +themselves not readily distinguishable in size and tint, which +represent labour unconsciously expended as life insurance, and serve the +subsidiary purpose of detecting the passing of man. + +What material has been left by the wayside for the history, not to be +altogether despised because of its rusticity, of the unstable ways of +one of the ancient peoples of the world, now few in numbers, forgetful +of the past, estranged from the customs of their fathers, and dying +without mourners and without records? Search the sites of camps the +track passes, and there is naught to tell of the manner of those who +recently occupied them save a tomahawk or a rare domestic implement of +stone, and such stones do not preach thrilling but distinctive sermons. +Why hurry along this pleasant way? Is not the one domestic appliance of +the long-deserted camps worthy of passing notice? There it rests, half +buried in the sand--a worn stone, with two others complementary to it +to be had for the searching. It is meet that the most primitive of mills +should be examined, and that one of the several and slow processes +by which a poisonous, repugnant, and intractable nut was wont to be +converted into food should be cited to the credit of the economic +forethought of the most thriftless of people. + +On adjacent flats and slopes grow survivals from one of the most ancient +of all plants--a Cycad, that botanical paradox, combining some of the +characteristics of the lie palm and of the pine with the appearance of a +tree-fern, while being of distinctive order, which flourished during +the age when the Iguanodon and the Polacanthus and other monstrous and +ungainly reptiles roamed the land. + +Let us rest awhile reviewing the earlier operations by which its nuts +were rendered innocuous, and while the ghosts of the past make and bake +their bread. + +The fresh nuts of the plant (CYCAS MEDIA) known as Kim-alo, were +roasted, and while hot bruised between two stones, the upper (Ookara) a +sphere flattened at the poles into which the use of ages wore thumb +and finger indentations, the nether (Diban) flat with a saucerlike +depression. Fragments of the husks were carefully eliminated. The coarse +meal was put into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight +fall, from the lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native +ginger, conducted a gentle stream. Two days were sufficient to leach the +poisonous principle; but if the initial process of roasting the nuts +was omitted--as in some districts--the meal was submitted to the +purification of water for as long as two months, when it would be +tasteless. It was then ground on the nether stone by the Moo-ki +(almost a perfect sphere), used with a rotary action, until reduced to +flour-like fineness, when it was made into flat or sausage-shaped cakes, +wrapped in green leaves and baked. The intractability of the Cycad +is such that if cattle eat the leaves they die or become permanently +afflicted with a disease of the nature of rickets. To the human palate +the fresh nuts-are inflammatory, and are said to cause intense pain +ending with death. That the blacks discovered the means of converting +such a substance into desirable food proves that they were often +enterprisingly, daringly hungry. + +Let us push on, there is far to go. Chance rather than principle, it +has been said, turned the paths of old England into roads. Here may +be studied the germ of the primal path worn by the tread of the least +reflective and least mobile of human beings, the causes of its erratic +course, and the transitions by which, with amendments due to the +irrefutable facts of topography, it becomes formal and authoritative--a +highway for the usurping race. + +Leaving the shore, one branch of the track crosses the high-water fold, +follows the bend of a mangrove creek, through which it Makes a muddy +ford, and is firmly impressed through forest country where every tree is +orchid-encumbered, and where the eager soil produces its own varieties. +It wriggles up and along a ridge, with the glaucous spathes of grass +trees standing like spears on each hand, and where wattle and tough +she-oaks grow leanly out of hard soil, thickly strewn with buckshot +gravel, rust-coloured. + +Soon it descends into a low valley and through a belt of fan-palms +and jungle bordering an ever-flowering stream the banks of which are +knee-deep in fat, rich loam. Huge tea-trees stand in the water, where +the fibrous roots are matted like peat. + +Out of the moist coolness the track abruptly ascends to a pleasant +forest, and thence drops almost imperceptibly to tea-tree flats +intersected by Pandanus creeks, which bulge here and there into +sedge-margined lagoons. In this "devil-devil" country it is barely the +width of the foot, and it wanders sinuously like the trail of a lazy +snake. Sometimes it is barely more discernible than such a trail, and +again in the soft places it broadens and deepens, for the man with boots +has taken the place of the original soft-footed traveller, and horses +and cattle are ever fond of the short-cuts which their owners design. + +Here a distinct branch is made towards a river, across which Nature, the +first of bridge-builders, many a generation ago afforded an easy, dry +passage by throwing down a huge tree. It spans from bank to bank, and +the wood is worn to slippery smoothness by the passing of shoeless feet. +Thence it leads through forest and jungle and mangrove belts to another +river, and away south. + +The western branch keeps to forest and jungle, following, generally, +the ridges, for in the wet season the grass lands are flooded, when the +track is but a silvery grey ribbon on a carpet of green. With careless +indecision it trends west, with here an angle and there a curve, dipping +and twisting, crossing gullies and creeping up slopes. The men whose +feet made it in ancient days knew all the landmarks. Mostly it keeps to +sound ground, albeit its wanderings perpetuate wayward impulses. + +Imagination may follow the blacks of bygone days as they swung past, +a fallen tree; where sportful youths wandered a few yards to throw +grass-tree spears at white-ants' nests on bloodwood-trees; where +they turned aside for a drink from the palm creek. Possibly the track +deviated to follow the run of a scrub turkey, or because the boys knew +of a scrub hen's mound, where the rich pink eggs were raked out by the +gins. It was gin's work to overhaul the mounds; the boys did not like +to do the digging with their hands, for often little snakes bedded +themselves in the warm compost--snakes, though they bite not to the +death, make one's hands big and sore. Why incur any risk when there was +a well-disciplined woman to take it? There was a turn off (which was +officially followed) leading to a huge tree where in the hollow bees had +hived; and another straggled up the creek to the pool where eels secrete +themselves in the moist, decaying leaves. + +Six or seven miles from the beach, where the scarcely discernible +crabs, with persistency as eternal as the sea, are strewing the way with +millions of tell-tale pellets, the track, skirting swamps, following +the bends of a river, passing through forest and jungle, is lost in +vagueness and indecision. + +When it was ordained that roads should be defined in the interests +of settlers, it was natural that the original track as it then +existed--broadened and amended and bridged by the good bushmen who had +used it for practical purposes--should be followed. On the plan the +formal road runs a strangely erratic course, for in many places it is +faithful to the footpad. Some of the zigzags of the long past, some of +its elbows and angles, its stringent lines and curves, have been copied +and confirmed, for the bush track is one of the fundamental things, +bearing the stamp of Nature, and no more to be obliterated by the +trivialities of art than is the sand of the shore and the illimitable +crabs. + + + + +THE LITTLE BROWN MAN + + + +"Care, that troubles all the world, was forgotten in his +composition."--CHARLES LAMB. + + +If you chance to visit the Chief Protector of Aborigines on board +his yacht the MELBIDIR, one of the first to greet you, be you an old +acquaintance or a stranger, may be "Jimmy," the cook. + +He is a little brown man who wears blue shoes, which are also socks, and +a perpetual smile. The shoes, which are of some soft material, have +a separate compartment for the great-toe, and hook down the heel. The +Chief Protector has a similar pair of combination shoes--a gift from +"Jimmy"--and is given to smiling; but he does not pretend to compete +with his cook in that quality. "Jimmy's" smile is almost a fixture. It +is set, yet not professional. It is the smile of a happy man, and of one +who is a diplomat as well as a ship's cook. His customary costume is of +holland. When on duty he wears an exaggerated bib, and "Jimmy" without +his bib would be as little conceivable as "Jimmy" without his smile. He +may discard it when he puts on his sky-blue pyjamas for the night, but +that he smiles in his sleep is sure. The honourable wrinkles on his +mahogany-hued face forbid him to relax the appearance of unceasing +good-humour, and who would suggest that his serenity is artificial? + +When he takes a hand with the whole of the ship's company to get up sail +or hoist the dinghy on board, he whistles as well as smiles, and then +the black boys laugh, and life on the trim ship is more buoyant than +ever. He goes down into the doll's-house galley backwards, smiling. Now, +it is no smiling matter to be jambed up against a hot stove on a hot +day when the seas run high and the yacht digs her crescent nose into the +blue and washes her own decks with Neptune's suds. But "Jimmy" will bob +up again in due season with a plate of hot cakes or, perhaps, even cool +cakes--and the smile. He has been smiling to the oven, which is inclined +to gymnastics, only it is restrained by effectual bolts. "Jimmy" is a +gymnast, and his free great-toes enable him to cook under circumstances +and conditions which others not so equipped would profane. + +Smiles are his antidote for all injurious mental ferments, and how many +diseases of the mind are there which are not to be alleviated by such +apt physic? + +It has been said that "Jimmy" is a diplomat. He certainly is. The +MELBIDIR had run within hailing distance of another yacht, the owner and +commander of which is an old friend of the Protector and "Jimmy." When +we did hail, a silvery head and a sunburnt pair of shoulders popped +up from below, and with a comprehensive wave of sunburnt arms--the red +type--vanished. Soon the same head and the same shoulders, decently +but loosely clad in blue and followed by the rest of the hearty body, +emerged, and in a few minutes friends were gripping each other's hands +and talking furiously about a particular island, pilots, pearls, and +Torres Straits "Jimmy" passed, and the florid man in blue said, nudging +his friend, "I seem to know that boy." + +"Of course you do," replied the Protector; "that's 'Jimmy' from T. I." + +When "Jimmy" next appeared he had a jug of water in his hand and a +bigger smile than ever. + +"Well, 'Jimmy,' you haven't forgotten me?" suggested the big man in +blue. + +"No. You capitain! My word, you young fellow now!" + +And we all laughed, for though the years had been tender to the man in +blue, still, they had come and gone by the decade since the previous +meeting. "Jimmy's" smiles became vocal. Professional diplomats use +the great gift of speech, it is said, to delude the enemies of their +country. "Jimmy's" adroit compliment was the more delicate in that it +was not official and he cannot possess an enemy. + +When he puckers his lips to whistle, "Jimmy's" smiles are singularly +infectious. The Protector's yacht is not a missionary, but merely, as +her name signifies, a messenger; but the Protector does not forbid the +hymnal. "Jimmy" has one, and as he studies the pious poems, for he reads +fluently, whistles appropriately. While we lolled on deck, familiar +tunes wooed my wandering thoughts. "Jesu, Lover of my Soul," came line +after line, verse after verse, precisely, though the tone was soft. +Was the black boy thus accompanying his work at the pump? No; for the +strokes were not in time, and the boy occasionally chatted with his +chum. I asked, and was told that "'Jimmy' mak'm good fellow corroboree." +Presently he came up--smiling, and with the last notes of "Abide with +Me" on his lips. Then I questioned him, and for a space we discussed our +favourite hymns and hummed them, or rather I did, for "Jimmy" was too +shy to do more than nod in time before a stranger. He confided, almost +in a whisper, that when he was alone he learned the words of the hymns, +and afterwards picked up the tunes. Is it not pretty to think of the +wrinkled Japanese in bunk beside the hot and clamorous engine conning +hymnal--a trifle blotched with grease here and there--and whistling +softly those endearing tunes on which so many of us were brought up? + +Long may "Jimmy" cook and wear blue shoes a modestly supplicate "For +those in Peril on the Sea"! That he may smile to the last would be a +superfluous prayer. He cannot do else. + + + + +UP AND AWAY + + + +"Man is the merriest species of creation; all above and below him are +serious."--ADDISON. + + +"Let's up and away, Bill," said Breezy Jim, as he started to his feet. +"I'm dog tired of this game. We're just working for tucker for the boys +and nothing--not even a smoke--for ourselves." + +"Don't be in such a flurry. We might drop on a patch yet. I vote we stay +for another week. The anchorage is all right, and the season's +young. The little bit of fish we've got ain't too stinking. It'll pay +expenses." Placid and patient, the half-caste Solomon Islander, Billy +Boolah, kept cheek on his impetuous partner, whose restless disposition +forbade him to continue long in one stay unless circumstances were +essentially favourable. + +Certainly fish were not too plentiful, but the aboriginal crew worked +well, and were lighthearted almost to a fault. They had had no credit +to pledge for the season's stores. They had merely to pick up inert and +unresisting beche-de-mer from among the coral five fathoms down, where +the deceptive sea looked no more than ten feet deep under the squalid +flatties; to smoke and jabber in idle moments; to eat and to sleep, and +to listen to Mammerroo's version of the opening phrases of "The Last +Rose of Summer" on a mouth-organ worn with inveterate usage to the bold +brass. The tune was not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was +ever more in earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, unwritten air +than the black boy who wore little else than his own unwashed complexion +and a strip of red Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with +all the fervour of his simple soul, and though it said him nay, still +did he hope and woo. Out of his scanty earnings he bought mouth-organs +by the dozen, for he believed that owing to some defect on the part +of such instruments the tune was impossible save to one. Would he ever +obtain that prize? The organ which could play that tune as he had +once heard it when his boss took him to a concert at Cairns had to +be discovered, and to earn money to buy it Mammerroo shipped on these +detestable beche-de-mer cruises. In the meantime he would play with all +his energies and with endless repetition the halting, nerve-disturbing +notes he knew to be incorrect. + +"That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten mouth-organs at Cooktown, and +he hasn't got the one that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like 'The +Last Rose of Summer'? Why, you can hear those fish of yours humming! +What with hardly any fish, the stink of the whole boat, and that +maddening mouth-organ, I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and +marry a mermaid. Let's chuck it." + +"It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man when he gets nasty +temper he gets bad breath. That tune it's little bit close up. He can +play right up to the 'left blooming alone' sometimes." + +"He's taken four months to get up to the 'left blooming alone'! At that +rate it will be years before he gets to the finish. I'll be mad if he +stays on this hooker another month. I'll chuck the three of them--organ, +boy, and tune--overboard." + +"If you make yourself a fool like that, no more work from that boy. +Don't be a fool and spoil this game. We're out till November. Let's make +the best of it." + +It was not clean work. The reek of the fish-raw, cooked, smoked, and +drying in the sun-saturated everything, even the damper. The brown, +shrivelled things were scattered in orderly profusion wherever the +sun could catch them to top them off prior to bagging. The bitter, +eye-searing smoke from the red mangrove fire in the hold, where the +meagre catch of yesterday was lying on a couple of trays, stung the +nostrils. The odour was as interminable as the half-accomplished tune, +and Breezy Bill writhed. He was not new to the game, but bad luck had +been the portion of the ship from the start, and small things irritated +him, rasping his far from sensitive soul. + +"I think you are going to catch fever, Jim. That's what's the matter +with you. At the mission I used to read about that bird you call the +brain-fever bird. It just keeps on whistling the same old thing, and +white men go mad. That 'Last Rose of Summer,' it's got hold of you. +Don't be a fool! It's only a good tune half done. It won't kill +anybody--at any rate, a tough old shell-back like you!" + +"Oh, bother! Stinks and rotten 'Last Rose of Summer' are driving me mad. +I could stand lots of both if we were doing well. They might be forty +overproof and played by forty bands, and every darned piccolo of them +out of tune, if only we were making money. Come, let's up stick and +away. We can't do worse and we might do better on that bit of 'reef +Mammerroo talks about. Here, Mammerroo, stop that blasted corroboree! +Come and tell us where that little fella reef sit down." + +Mammerroo shuffled down to the hatchway covering and traced a chart of +the locality with a grimy forefinger. + +"That fella reef sit down 'nother side Red Hill alongside mainlan'. No +deep water. Plenty mangrove--my word full up pigeon. Reef him little +fella. Full up tit fish, calla-calla, mainlan' black. Fill'um up boat. +Take'm alonga Thors'dilan'. Come back. Fill'm up one time more. Too +much. Full up." + +"The same old yarn. I've been all over that ground. There's no reef +there, and if there had been it would have been found and skinned years +ago," said dogmatic Billy, with a sneer. + +"I see," said Jim; "the season's over as far as you are concerned. You +can go where you like. I'm sick of it now." + +TROPIC DAYS + +The next morning saw the NAUTILUS scudding before a strong south-east +breeze, Jim, true to his name, sulky as a toad-fish. The good wind +harped on the rigging as Mammerroo tirelessly lagged after the ever +evasive tune. Jim heard him not. Billy, in a rage, was inclined to +bundle the boy and his battered instrument overboard, for he saw in the +race north nothing but a waste of time. + +Three days later the NAUTILUS anchored to the north of Red Hill under +the lee of a low mangrove island uproarious with nutmeg pigeons. + +All hands turned out to prospect, with Mammerroo as pilot. He was not +long in locating the reef--a forgotten and neglected patch that teemed +with fish. Beche-de-mer lay in shallow water, thick and big, by +the ton.. The reef, with its clear sandy patches, seemed to be the +gathering-ground, the metropolis, the parliament of the curious creature +which makes feeble eddies with its distended gills, moves with infinite +and mysterious deliberation, and which, though it may be two feet long +and three inches thick, can pass through a half-inch space, constricting +its bulging body during the progress. + +The mangroves of the islet provided the best of fuels for the +preservative smoke. The fortnightly steamer passed not so very far out, +so that it would be possible to send away a couple of tons at a time +without leaving the locality or suspending work for more than an hour or +two. + +With cheerfulness and enthusiastic haste all started to work. No +irritating odour, no vexing tune, was perceptible or audible. Boys +brought in such quantities of fish that the mates could hardly cook and +cure them. Money was being coined, and the making of money begat dreams. +Seamen do not invariably build castles in the air. They devise aerial +fleets. They build bigger, better, and faster boats to sail on bluer +seas into more prosperous and happy havens than belong to this too +substantial world. Each sketches out the boat of his desire, and fits +her with wondrous comfort and conveniences. He glances, approving head +thrown back, up her tall, tapering, well-oiled masts, silver-topped +with golden trucks. He paints her in rival colours, rigs her with silken +sails, names her after a sweetheart, and sails away to lands fairer than +any of the isles of the Pacific--those isles of dreams where in coral +groves the gold-lip is embarrassed with pearls of ineffable lustre and +of excessive size. + +As they day-dreamed they gathered in actual riches, for the lazy fish +were big and almost overlying each other in their crowded spaces. + +Never was there a happier beche-de-mer cruise, for the prospects of good +wages soon and a quick return to accustomed camps overladen with the +spoils of the Cooktown stores made each boy as joyful as a cherub and as +industrious as a scrub hen. Mammerroo saw visions of mouth-organs, +one of which was sure to contain the coveted tune. Little deaf Antony +thought of tobacco unlimited, a silver-mounted pipe, and plenty of +unforbidden rum. Indeed, most of the boys contented themselves with +these ingredients to fill the cup of happiness. But big lazy Johnnie's +fancy went to a small jockey's cap of red and yellow, to be worn with a +football jersey of orange and green in stripes, and blue trousers. This +gorgeous costume was to compensate for present pains and humiliation, +for he had nothing but a scanty and dirty loin-cloth, a necklace of +grass beads, and a chip of lustrous black-lip pearl-shell stuck in one +ear. As they worked they let their fancies range, and thus was the +toil eased and the bags of dried fish safely stowed in the hold. +With twenty-eight bags in prime condition, the NAULITUS sailed out to +intercept the steamer--the LAVA KAVA. The honest stuff was sent off to +the agent at the Island post, and back the stout little vessel went to +the reef. + +"As good as a gold-mine," said Breezy Jim, who every day became +breezier, so that he threatened to develop into a gale of good humour. + +"Better than splitting coco-nuts at the Mission Station," said Billy +Boolah. + +"Do you ever feel like chucking Mammerroo overboard now?" + +Another fortnight saw another big load on the way to the agents. +Mammerroo poured out his soul in fervency over the limping phrases of +his besetting tune, and even Boisterous Jim applauded his persistency. + +"That boy will catch 'The Last Rose of Summer' some day if the +mouth-organ market holds out. I'll give him the best to be got in +Cooktown, and I'm bothered if I don't teach him the tune!" + +Late one afternoon a strange sail came into view. Slowly the big cutter +made for the anchorage, for the wind, busy elsewhere, could spare only a +few idle puffs for her business. + +"That's a dago, I bet," said Bill. "And I know who it is! Why, it's that +humbug, Black Charley!" + +"We'll have to be pretty spry, or he'll have some of this patch. We'll +head him off, and ship what we've got to-morrow." + +A flattie slid over the side of the cutter and plopped into the water, +and Black Charley, with a couple of downcast boys, came alongside the +NAUTILUS. + +"Hullo, Bill! Hullo, Jim! How's yous getting on? Yous drop on good +place. I see yous boys picking up fish like a hen picking up corn." + +"Not much," replied Jim. "It was pretty thick, but it was only a small +patch, and we've pretty well cleaned it up. Sent away half a dozen bags, +mostly mainlan' black. Too close in to be much good." + +"Well, I suppose you'se no objection to me anchoring here for a bit and +'seeing what I can do with the leavings?" said Black Charley. + +"We found the patch, and it's too small for two boats. We'd be better +friends if you cleared off and left it to us," replied Jim. "But if +you're up to dirty tricks stay where you are. We don't want sneaks on +board this craft." + +"It's no good being nasty. All the fish on the Barrier don't belong to +yous. I got a ton and more on board now, and I'm going to run out with +it to-morrow." + +"So are we. Come on board and have a drink" + +It was late in the afternoon when the smoke of the LAVA KAVA showed +south-east. Both boats were waiting as she slowed down in her course, +and while they made fast transhipment began. Then she steamed slowly +ahead. + +"Better send you'se boys back with the NAUTILUS," suggested Black +Charley, "and me and my mate will take yous back when we've had a drink +and a bit to eat. It's a long time since I've had a decent feed, and +Captain Andrews, he won't mind." + +Breezy Jim and Bill agreeing, the NAUTILUS cast off, with instructions +to anchor at the old spot and to work until the bosses returned. + +There was more than one drink as the steamer forged ahead, with Black +Charley's cutter romping and curtseying behind. Then tea-time came, and +the captain asked his guests to remain. Black Charley had had so many +refreshments that he was scarcely fit company for the saloon, so he +offered his excuses and they were accepted with politely veiled relief. + +The mates told of their bad luck down at the Barnards and the Palms; +how they had been driven away by the unmusical black boy in desperate +pursuit of "The Last Rose of Summer," and of their great stroke of luck +on the reef of which he had told. + +"There's plenty more fish on it yet. We'll be troubling you to stop for a +couple of months yet." + +"You won't be making a very early start to-morrow if we jerk your boat +much further," remarked Captain Andrews, with a smile. + +"Come," urged Bill. "We'll hunt up Charley and cut away back." + +The well-contented partners strolled on deck, anticipating a very tipsy +Charley, whom neither steward nor bo'sun could discover. + +The sun had just set. A bewildering blank astern excited a wide and +comprehensive survey, and there in the blue-grey of the south-east Black +Charley's big white-winged cutter was fast fading from view. + +When the partners got back to the reef, via Thursday Island and +Cooktown, a fortnight later, the boys were there, looking somewhat +jaded. The NAUTILUS was as trim as ever, for which the owners were +sufficiently thankful; but cute Black Charley, working both crews day +and night like galley slaves, had mopped up the patch as clean as the +floor of a hospital ward. + +"We've bin had proper, Bill, old fellow. Let's up and away for Cooktown. +Mammerroo moans for that mouth-organ!" + +And the Christian in Billy Boolah smiled as he hummed "Left blooming +Alone." + + + + +"PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING" + + + +"Whence has the man the balm that brightens all?" + +BROWNING. + + +Though not popular, perhaps Tsing Hi was the best known of his +contemporaries on the tableland through which the Palmer River wanders +a hundred miles from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Short, slimly made as a +fourteen-year-old boy, nimble, fussy, plausible, he stood out from +among his countrymen as one having authority, while he posed among +the Europeans as a kind of diplomatic agent, explaining away +misunderstandings, conciliating grievances, and generally comporting +himself as the chartered representative of the horde of yellow new-chums +which invaded the most sensational of all Australian goldfields. He +appeared to have cousins among every fresh shipload from China, as well +as among the hundreds who ferreted in the gullies. There was not a white +man, from the Police Magistrate to Frank Deester's off-sider, with whom +he was not on terms of easy familiarity. + +Had he not often confidentially consulted the Warden when a cousin had +blundered into the hands of the police, embarrassing that flustered +official with torrents of half intelligible speech, the purport of which +generally was to flout the proceedings with evidence of indubitable +alibi? All this he translated to his countrymen as proof of personal +influence with court authorities, and, what was more to the point, made +them pay for it. + +No case in which a Chinaman was concerned as the accused, or plaintiff, +or disinterested witness, but Tsing Hi took, if not an official, an +officious part. Every new-comer from the Flowery Land passed through his +hands. He knew what personal property each possessed, and the value of +the gold of the lucky departing ones. That he prospered exceedingly was +evident. The fact was expressed in his costume. Beyond the court fees +as interpreter, the merry, chirping little fellow had really no lawful, +visible means of support. Yet he glistened and gleamed with emblems of +riches. He was a dandy from the soles of his shiny elastic-side boots +to the crown of his jaunty hard-hitter. Across a yellow waistcoat hung +a very aggressive chain, from which dangled a huge masonic jewel +in gold-and-blue enamel, and the frequently consulted watch--a big, +bold-faced lever--ticked with snappy determination. Tsing Hi had much +more to live up to than the huge watch, the chain, and the emblem; +but they seemed to constitute special and peculiar insignia. They were +always to the front. He was one of the men of his day and scene--to +be admired, feared, and to be conciliated by his fellow-countrymen all +along the traffic-torn road. + +The dust from that tortuous road rose in an earth adhering cloud from +out which honest, clean-souled men came like pain-distorted spectres, +wearing grey tear stained masks with pink-rimmed eyeholes and mud edged +mouths. But the dust was less distressing than that which Tsing Hi threw +in the eyes of bewildered mankind by this burst and gusts of speech. + +In the heyday of his fame and prosperity Tsing Hi disappeared. +His absences were customary, for did he not flit here, there, and +everywhere? The police were not troubled to make inquiries. They knew +where he was, and the reason for his sudden retirement from accustomed +scenes. The next day all Byerstown knew also. + +Tsing Hi, within the rough-hewn walls of the lock-up, was sad and +silent. He had been arrested for gold-stealing. + +It was a clear case. Hundreds of complaints had been made. Dozens of +suspects had been shadowed, until a quick-witted detective intuitively +fastened the responsibility on the court interpreter, who, on the +instant of arrest, had become dumb. + +The ransacking of his hut revealed a magazine of riches, the earthen +floor beneath the bunk being honeycombed with pits containing easily +portable but valuable property. In a jam-tin were several nuggets, among +them the very specimen which Bill Haddon had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +landlady of the Carriers' Arms--a plane of crystal from which rose a +wonderfully true pyramid of gold. It had been admired by hundreds, +and could be sworn to by everyone who had seen it. There was the white +sapphire, with a tell-tale flaw running down the middle, which had been +found in the hopperings at Revolver Point (where fighting Cameron made +his pile) by Sam Kickford, and likewise bestowed on Mrs. Sinclair as a +"curio," and because that bounteous lady had mothered the unlucky Sam +and nursed him through the fever which took him to the very gates of +a filthy hell. Dozens could swear to it, but ever so many more were +capable of bearing witness against Tsing Hi on account of the specimen +which Sam's mate, who had died of the fever, had given to Mrs. Sinclair, +having picked it out from the face of his drive. It was a slug of rough +gold in the shape of a tiny canoe, with an upright splinter of white +quartz at each end. Sam's mate had intended it for a girl down at +Ballarat, and she eventually got it--an emblem of what might have been. +Dozens of fancy slugs were brought to light, in addition to two hundred +ounces of fine gold against which no one could make good claim. + +Another tin held six rings, two of decidedly suspicious metal, the +others genuine and with good stones. A fine pearl was wrapped in a +fragment of silk. A pale green jade amulet, with three sets of. Chinese +toilet contrivances--ear-cleaners, tongue-scrapers, back-scratchers--in +ivory, were in a box with two rolls of gold-embroidered silk illustrated +with weirdly indecent scenes. Three gold watches wrapped in silk +handkerchiefs were stuffed into a ginger-jar. The sordid hut was a mine +of wealth, and the buzzing town became furious. It had accepted Tsing +Hi as a character, but not as a bad one. Being deceived, it swerved +from tolerance to righteous indignation and absolute wrath. The quaking +thief, not too comfortable, for the bloodwood slabs seemed too frail +a partition against the virtuous anger of the crowd, was condemned +forthwith. + +All the identifiable gold and other property was handed over to those +who successfully established claims, and Tsing Hi, limp and dejected, +passed into the custody of Tim Mullane for escort to Cooktown. + +Tim was rough and raw, teeming with good-nature and blessed with a +brogue as thick as the soles of the massive boots made for him by +his cousin Terence at misty Ballinrobe. The once perky Tsing Hi slunk +alongside the far-striding Tim, and Tim looked down at him and was half +ashamed of such a "wee scrap of a Chinkee" as his first prisoner. + +"Come away wid ye, me little fella--come away. Doan give me trouble, and +ye'll fin' me gintle wid ye. Thry to maake a fool af me, and be the Holy +Saints ye'll have occasion to be sorrowful." And he picked Tsing Hi +up with one hand and set him down again with as big a jolt as such a +fag-end of humanity could expect to produce. Tsing Hi remained meek. +The crowd was unanimously against him. Big Tim might jolt him again and +again rather than he would take the risk of venturing among his recent +friends, for tales of his thieving, his acceptance of bribes, and +imposition of levies, were coming in so fast and thick that the crowd +would have relished adding something on its own account. + +Before daylight next morning Tim left with his disconsolate captive, who +wore handcuffs and was manacled to the "D's" in the saddle of the horse +which he bestrode manifestly ill at case. In front of him was a huge +swag containing the unidentifiable gold, three watches, three rings, +silk stuffs, three pairs of elastic-side boots., several pairs of +puce-coloured socks, flash neckties, four hats, three suits of clothes, +and other clothing., All this was his own, to be handed over at the +expiration of the sentence. Tim merely held the inventory. There was +some sort of gratification for ill-doing, for the swag contained a +fortune. He savagely reflected that six months would soon pass. He would +then vanish from "Qee'lan," to enjoy himself for the rest of his days. +The sadness which had stagnated during the past week began to dissolve. +He sought to make a friend of his escort. + +"I tink we cam' harp way to-ni', Tim." + +"Shut up, you implicating tadpole! Wasn't I ordhered to hold convarse +wid me prisoner? Spake win Ye're spoke ter and be civil, Or I'll jolt +the teeth troo your hat!" + +Tim jogged on, and the led horse bearing Tsing Hi jogged after. Tsing Hi +bumped until he was fain to lean heavily on his precious swag, trying to +discover by sensation an' unbruised part of his body on which to jolt. + +"Hi! hi!" he shouted. "Horsey, him no goo'! You l'me walk!" + +Tim whistled and jogged. Tsing Hi jolted and whimpered. The hot miles +wriggled slowly past. Dust lay a foot deep on the track. It was a +windless day. Tsing Hi, gripping with fearful intensity his swag, could +not lift a finger to wipe the stains which stood for many tears and +coursed down his cheeks in tiny rivulets, making puddles on his cramped +hands. He, the dandy, smothered in dust, weeping, sore in every +bone, blistered and scalded, pondered over his petty sins, moaned +continuously, and longed for the hard floor of the gaol. + +He, a disciple of Confucius, found no present relief in the tags of the +master's philosophy that he could call to mind. Tears made him a grim +spectacle. The beautiful yellow waistcoat was indistinguishable beneath +dirt and dust. His carefully tended queue shook out in disordered +loops, and finally dangled, dust-soiled, behind. His trousers worked and +wrinkled up to the knees, chafed his unaccustomed skin, and still Tim in +a cloud of dust jogged on singing: + + "Until that day, plase God, I'll shtick + To the wearin' o' the green." + + +It was a poor little prisoner, but his first and his own, and Tim +was elated, and when a true Irishman is happy he becomes poetically +patriotic. But happy though he undoubtedly was, even Tim was not sorry +when the chance came of stretching his legs and incidentally sluicing +down the dust. The halfway house looked cool and clean to him. In fact +it was neither. It must have appeared a celestial scene to moaning Tsing +Hi. The rough upright slabs (once rich yellow, now dingy) promised some +sort of refuge from the dust, and the narrow strip of verandah a thin +slice of shade. The mound of broken bottles at the rear betokened +the drinks of the past, while the mind dwelt lovingly on those of +the present. Three panting goats, all aslant, but tressed themselves +determinedly against the end of the house, and two boys, long since dust +immune, occasionally hunted the goats into the sun and away among the +ant-hills. But when Tsing Hi slid from the horse and into the shade, he +felt like a saint in bliss. They gave him water, and he wailed until +Tim silenced him with threats of jolts and locked the manacles round the +middle post. + +Tim sighed profoundly as he scented beer. "I do belave I'm dhry, Jerry. +Give's a long un. I've swallowed mud by the bucket. Give the wee little +divil outside a pannikin o' tay. Maybe it'll revoive, him!" + +Tim drank long and well. + +"I've heard about the case," Jerry said, as he filled the thick glass a +third time. "Fancy the little beggar, an' him commin' and goin' as flash +as ye make 'ern, and pickin' and thavin' all the time. Maybe he got the +ear-rings the missis is after missin'." + +"Nawthin' o' the sort's in the swag we took with the raskil." + +A bit of dinner in the back room waited, for Jerry believed in keeping +well in with the force. Tim fed heartily, and, in spite of dust, heat, +and the chatter of the children, dozed, to wake with a start. + +"Me sowl to glory! It's aslape I've bin! Let's hav' a look at the little +fella and be off." + +The horses stood limply, as much out of the shade as in, the big swag +leaned against the wall, the handcuffs lay half buried in the dust, but +Tsing Hi had vanished. + +"Me sowl to glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! +In the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' +'em like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of +darbies like the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a +horse-collar, and the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' +hope! I'm the ruined man, I am!" + +"Off after him," advised Jerry. "There's his tracks." + +"Just none o' your blasted interfarances! Lave 'm to me. He's away back +to hell, an' I'll folly him! How much does I owe yer, Jerry!" + +"Nothing at all, sure, Tim. 'Tis little ye've had, and yer welcome as +posies in May, though it's little we see of 'em here. And good luck. +Shall I tell him away, back to look out V' + +"Say nothing and be damned to yer! Keep your mout closed and lave me to +do the bizinis me own road," shouted Tim as he disappeared in the dust, +led horse, swag and all. + +A mile and a half back and a bit off the road lay the narrow, sheltered +flat between two forbiddingly barren ridges which Hu Dra, the gardener, +had converted into an oasis. Thin-leaved tea-trees fringed the little +dam whence the industrious fellow hauled water for his vegetables. +Drought-stricken, broad, blue-leaved, scented ironbarks stood in envious +array on the steep sides of the ridges, and grass-trees, blackened at +the butts, struggled with loose boulders for foothold. The muddy water +which the forethought of Hu Dra had conserved created the green patch +which insulted the aridity of the ridge. He was a proud and happy man, +a follower of the healing Buddha, a new-churn with scarce a word of +English, and a gardener. He had a way with vegetables. They prospered +under his hands, and he also prospered, for next to gold, vegetables +were highly prized in that dry, almost verdureless country. Just now he +swayed along with a pair of heavy baskets slung on a bamboo all the way +from Wu Shu, as the pilgrim under his load of sin, and as he swayed he +sang in a weak falsetto a ditty which sounded like-- + + "Nam mo pen shih shih chia + Man tan lai lei tsun fo; + Hu fa chu t'ien p'u sa, + An fu ssu, Li she tzn." + + +His baskets, each screened with languid gum-leaves, held the week's +output of his garden, representing in money value at least two pounds. +It wag not likely to yield half as much, for, being a new-chum, he was +fair game, and it was considered smart to impose on his good-nature. +He also paid through an agent a weekly levy to Tsing Hi, which he +understood purchased the tolerance, if not goodwill, under all and every +circumstance of the dreaded police and the populace generally. It was a +tax; but Hu Dra was patient under such exactions, as all his ancestors +had been. They were unavoidable, inevitable, a part of the mystery of +life, and consequently to be endured, if not with complacency, at +least without murmur. His profits for the week might total one pound, +a princely sum considering the scene and circumstances of his birth and +upbringing in far Li-Chiang, where his father had reared a large family +in a shed over a sewer, and had never possessed property or estate worth +more than five shillings. Soon, if this money-making business continued +to thrive, he would return thither. He might--for had he not been reared +to the art of living in such places?--resume the sewer habit; but with +three hundred pounds in good English gold what sewer in Li-Chiang could +not be transformed into Paradise? + +One basket contained a huge fruit which he understood his white +customers to term "plonkn"; with it was a broad-bladed knife, with which +he would slice off slabs according to demand. That one item might +bring him in more money than his revered father's fortune. Wrapped in +day-dreams, he hummed again his chant, dwelling on the refrain with +lyrical gladness-- + + + "Li she tzu." + + +Perhaps it was the name of the maiden he proposed to ask to share his +fortune and his portion of the sewer, and so he repeated-- + +---"Li she t----!" + + +A big, strong, authoritative hand had gripped him by the shoulder. + +He screamed. The baskets sat down plump. + +"Come away wid ye! I've cotched yer! I'll tache ye to escape from lawful +custody!" + +"No savee! No savee!" screamed Hu Dra. + +"I'll tache ye, thin V' shouted Tim, and Hu Dra reeled under the +severity of the first lesson--a back-hander across the face. + +"Wha' for?" asked Hu Dra, still staggering. + +"Come on! You know wha' for! I'll stan' none o' yer wha' for's!" + +Hu Dra clung to the basket-stick threateningly. + +"Fwhat! Resisting the pollis in the execution of dooty. Me bhoy, ye're a +new-chum or yer niver wad be so bould. It is sarious bizinis." The stick +flew out of Hu Dra's hands, and, as if by magic, he found his hands +clamped in iron bands, which pinched his wrists excruciatingly. + +He yelled with vexation, fear, and pain. + +"Ye can holler as much as ye have the moind ter. Be jabers, the next +haythen Chinkee that gits out of the darbies I clap on'm 'll be a +slippery, slathery eel, and meself after fergittin' to maake a knot in +his taale! Come quiet, me good haythen, and I'll dale aisy wid yer." + +Hu Dra securely manacled to a scented gum, Tim dealt with the baskets, +capsizing the contents and belabouring them with the bamboo until they +looked as if they had been the playthings of a baboon. Hu Dra watched +the foundation of his fortune vanish. He wailed. + +"Come away, me bhoy! I arrest ye, Tsing Hi, fer escaping from lawful +custody. Ye may be charged also with resisting the pollis in the +execution of dooty. It's a sarious charge. If ye come quiet I'll maake +it aisy fer ye. If ye maake it a haard job for me, be gorra I'll inuake +ye sorryful!" + +Hu Dra gathered that it was a case of mistaken identity. He endeavoured +to explain that he was Hu Dra, and not Tsing Hi. Tim curtly informed +him that he was none other than Tsing Hi, that he had been convicted of +stealing gold, and while on the way to Cooktown had wilfully and with +malice aforethought escaped from legal custody. He would be taken to +Cooktown at once. Hu Dra understood but little of the harangue, but +being a pious Buddhist, having once climbed the Holy Mountain to gain +merit, and being in the hands of a strong man armed, he accepted the +fate of the moment. Meekly he followed Tim to the spot where the horses +had been left, and was hoisted into the saddle and manacled. It was all +a dreadful mystery, but he was sage enough to accept hard facts. + +"Me Hu Dra," he explained over and over again, in vain repetition. + +"Ye're Tsing Hi, I tell yer. Ye're Tsing Hi in the name of Her Majesty. +Haven't I arrested ye as sich?" + +"Me Hu Dra," reiterated the captive as they jogged on. "Me come Coo'tow' +one yar." + +"Shut yer mout! Didn't I tell yer before that ye're Tsing Hi? Didn't yer +wilfully and knowingly escaape from me whin I was having a bite to ate, +and I had yer tied to the post at the shanty back beyant there! Naw, +I'll hear no more of yer Hu Rahin'. Kape a civil tongue betune yer +taath, or, be gorra, worse 'll happen yer." + +Hu Dra was patient. He thought of his pilgrimage long ago to the top of +Mount Omei. Was this the reward he had gained? + +He solaced his soul by murmuring the pious invocation which all pilgrims +to the Sacred Mount have perpetually on their lips--"Om mane padme om!" + +Torn from his secluded garden and happy and profitable toil, bruised and +manacled, bundled on to a fear-provoking horse, hurried off he knew not +whither, through a drought-stricken land under a searing sun, the road +reeking with dust--what a plight for a devout Buddhist, who had sought +to avert calamity and prolong life by the ascent of the chill mount +where, alone in all the world, is revealed the "Glory of Buddha." + +Mystic that he was, he found sure comfort in pious meditations. Present +pains of body and mind vanished as with half-shut eyes he drifted into +the chill realm where he hearkened to chants of priests, the tinkling of +the temple bells, the fervent response of hundreds of pilgrims as meek +as himself--"Om mane padme om!" + +Such was the potency of the mechanical repetition of the all-healing +words that Tim presently found himself echoing them, and brought himself +up with a jerk. + +"It's all haythen rubbish and cussing. The pore fule's daft wid the hate +and the dust and the welt I give him. Shure it's the way I have to be +sorry for the crature." + +Like the refrain of an infectious song, the musical phrase would not be +banished from Tim's mind and lips, and so the tough, rough Irishman +and the gentle exile from the Flowery Land went on their way, scarce +conscious of the grimy miles, both dreamingly hailing the jewel in the +lotus. + +Three days later the travel-stained pair arrived at Cooktown, where Hu +Dra--henceforth to be known officially and authoritatively, and in spite +of all protest, as Tsing Hi--was duly consigned to the custody of the +lock-up keeper, to await escort to the town where his sentence was to be +served. + +"He's that quare in his hid," Tim informed Jock Egan, who now had +charge. "He's bin Tsing Hi-in and Hu Rah-in' and Paddy Om-in' (d'ye know +the maan, Jock?) all along the thrack till it's fair fascinated I am. +And barrin' him bein' the very thafe o' the wurrld, it's a poor honest +body he be. Shure it's little enough truble he give me, and me all alone +be meself. An' the swag of him! Glory be to God, I dunno but it's wort +five hundred pounds if it's wort a sint! Yirra! but it's weery I am. +It's little slape I've had. Shure the whole beesely thrack be lousy wid +shnaakes; and show me the man as cud slape shweet wid maybe four of the +varmint all ascroodging and squaaking nath his blanket!" + +"It's quare in yer head yerself," ye're exclaimed Jock. "Be off to bed +wid ye. If the sargint gets ye a-talkin' like that, he'll be afther +thinkin' ye're in dhrink." + +"Then, me sowl to glory; he'll jist be thinkin' fwhat I'm wishful for. +It's that farefull dhry up there on the Palmer I could dhrain a bucket." + +"Get to bed, yer fool! Ye're talkin' that wild, ye'll have no care for +yerself. It's meself that'll git the good woman beyant there to git ye a +cup o' biling hot tay." + +With that Jock got him out, with papers all in order. + +Hu Dra had disappeared from the tableland as suddenly but not as' +tracklessly as a phantom. Lonely men in their tents and three or four +mothers of families in their slab humpies looked out vainly for him for +three days, anticipating necessary vegetables, and, being disappointed, +slandered him courageously, while they found consolation in the +reflection that if he ever came his round again they would distress and +vex him by withholding payments for the vegetables of the past. Not +a customer but owed him something. His country men gave notice of his +disappearance to the police, and black-trackers off-hand told a graphic +and obvious story. Hu Dra had begun his weekly round when he had been +attacked by myalls. They had capsized his baskets and wantonly battered +them to pieces. For him had been reserved the customary fate. He had +been hustled off to the gorges contiguous to Hell's Gates, to be killed +and eaten in peace and comfort. His hut, his cherished garden +were forthwith occupied and tended by another of the race-claiming +cousinship. The newcomer even demanded payment of debts owing to his +unfortunate relation, but the whole population sniffed with such vigour +that the claim was not persisted in. Once a Chinaman had left the +district unceremoniously, more especially at the forcible persuasion +of flesh-hungry blacks, his dues lapsed by unanimous consent. He became +merely a fragrant remembrance. It is so still, and the virtue is as +virile as the odour of musk. + +To himself Hu Dra was always so. Be his official and authoritative title +for the time being what it might, he was determined not to sacrifice his +identity. + +The gaoler found him a docile and obedient creature with an abiding +affection for plants, which sprang up under his hands like magic. +Within two months corners of the desert yard began to blossom, to bear +cucumbers and radishes, and to be fragrant with shallots. + +The pride of the gentle gardener lay in a few plants of zinnias close +to a dripping tap. In bright red, gold, and white, he accepted them as +substitutes for the sacred lotus, and prison flowers never flaunted more +freely. As innocent as they, he deftly, tirelessly trained each plant, +caressed each opening bud, cherished it as if it were a jewel, and +found surcease of the pangs of exile, easement for the restraints upon +liberty, and blissful consolation. Tendance upon the garden under the +strait shadow of wall was to him, not a duty, not a pastime, but a +ritual. The captive was happy, for here was the end of his pilgrimage. + +Exemplary conduct, combined with the art with which he forced salads +from the boorish soils, found him favour and earned privileges and +concessions. + +Hu Dra kept no count of the passing months. What was time to a +contemplative Buddhist whose being was permeated with the hope of +release from delusions and sorrow and of attaining final sanctification? + +One morning he was summarily marched into the presence of the big +loud-voiced man whose orders were obeyed with instant smartness, who +told him, to his amazement and despair, that he must depart with his +property. The seals of a sack were broken before him, and its contents +displayed and duly accounted for--a sleeping-mat, a small red blanket, +the elastic-side boots, two scrolls of sinfully painted silk, a hard +round hat stuffed with gaudy handkerchiefs, three watches and varied +jewellery in a ginger-jar, the quaintly carved toilet devices, the +jam-tin full of nuggets, and a chamois-leather bag delusively heavy with +fine gold. + +The same authority which had ordered his affairs ever since he had been +torn from the burnt hills now commanded him to begone. + +For nigh upon two years he had dwelt passively in dream-land. This was +but another wonderment entrancingly agreeable. Without endeavouring to +elucidate the incomprehensible, he accepted the gifts of the gods, and +asked for a yellow zinnia. It was a reality, a guarantee, an assurance. + +Good, though gruff, the gaoler was wont to say that his departing guest +gazed on the flower with almost religious fervour and mumbled over it +a prayer; and the gaoler's insight was true, for in comparison with a +flower, the masonic emblem, the pride of Tsing Hi's life was to Hu Dra +but tinsel. + +It passed all understanding., + +Hastening to escape from the land of bewilderment and easily gotten +riches, Hu Dra-the quietest, the happiest, the wealthiest of a great +company of his fellows boarded a steamer for Hong-Kong. + + + +Many a long year after, Tim, who had blossomed into a sub-inspector, +had retired on pension, and had lost most of his brogue in the process, +confided in me the whole story. + +"You see, my friend, it was either the sack or Chinkee for me. I got the +Chinkee. There were plenty of 'em!" + + + + +TIME'S FINGER + + + +"The more cleer and the more shynynge that Fortune is, the more brutil +and the sooner breketh she."--CHAUCER. + + +High up on the auspicious shoulder of the Island mountain stands +the Sentinel, a coarse, truncated pinnacle of granite, roughened +and wrinkled by the toll of the moist breezes, alternating with the +scorching flames of the sun. It overlooks the league-long sweep of +the treacherous bay, with its soft and smothering sands, the string of +islets of the Yacka Eebah group, while Bli and Coobie lie close under +foot, set in a swirling sea. + +One aspect of the Sentinel commands all the map-like detail of Pun-nul +Bay, with its labyrinthian creeks among a flat density of mangroves, +like lustrous, uncertain byways in a sombre field, erratic of shape, +magnificent of proportion. Beyond are many islets--dark blue on a +lighter plain. In the distance, on the other hand, islands and islets +trail away until lost in the vague blending of sea and sky; and for a +background is all Australia. In front alone does the Sentinel peer +over uninterrupted space, and not always, for at times patches of white +filigree mark the outliers of the Great Barrier Reef. + +Looking up from Pun-nul Bay before sunrise, the base of the Sentinel +'was swathed in white--night's rumpled draperies not yet tossed aside. +As the east glowed it stained the mist pink, and so warmed it that it +parted into patches of luminous fluff which floated up and dissolved +into crystalline air, and the great lumbering rock stood naked and bold +in the sunshine. + +Then it was that the apex of a splintered peak beyond the Sentinel +glittered, and that Chutter-murra Wylo, the one survivor of the +truculent natives, told once more of the wonderful stone for which +many had ventured, which had caused the disappearance of several, which +decoyed man and beast, and stored their bones close to the awful hole +whence issued the smoke which made the rain, and the dread lightning, +and the thunder. + +None ever ventured there now; but sometimes in the early morning the +stone twinkled for a moment like a malignant sprite, watchful all night, +but abashed yet impudent to the authoritative sun. + +Chutter-murra Wylo had so often indicated the exact locality of the +stone, and had described its dire influence with such sincerity that, +when it twinkled, a resolution which had been long in the back of my +mind became wilful and imperative. He said that it was "on top, along +oo-nang-mugil"--a gloomy place among rocks--and that the old men of the +country had been wont to say that this particular "oo-nang-mugil" was +the favourite resort of the "debil-debil," the to whose arrogance and +awful deeds the bones of man and beast bore terrifying testimony. + +Between the Sentinel and a spur to the south is a narrow ravine, from +which in the rainy season mist rises like jets of steam, and this +was the very spot whence the lightning and thunder ranged when the +"debil-debil" lifted the mighty stone which blocked the entrance to +the cave of the winds. All about was fantastic ground, peopled by evil +spirits who resented the intrusion of human beings and inflicted upon +trespassers peculiar punishments. Ill befell everyone who invaded that +remote, almost inaccessible, uninviting region, at the very centre of +which the alluring stone glittered. Of those who rashly determined to +gaze at the prodigy at close quarters, some never returned. Those who +did come back were vexed with burning and smarting pains; they suffered +illnesses; their skin broke out into blotches; they became old +and enfeebled prematurely and all, whether they survived for a few +irritating weeks or a few sad years, wore to the end a startled, +awe-struck air. "That fella no more sit down quiet; him frait all time," +Wylo explained. And the stone was good to look at. Sometimes it was +white like water; sometimes blue, like the sea; sometimes red, like +"carrie-wy-in-gin" (sunrise). Sometimes it shook, and then it became so +bright that the eyes were dazzled. The star-like stone had been on +the rock for all time, protected by distance and mystery. Was it not, +indeed, the eye of the "debil-debil" who had custody of the lightning +and thunder imps, and could it not be elevated or depressed like the +eye of a sand-crab? No intruder had ever escaped its vigil or the +consequences of his temerity. + +We were camped under the lee of a low sand-dune, the top of which +commanded Pun-nul Bay. As the wind swayed its scalp-lock of twisted +shrubs, the dune quivered, and rivulets of singing sand, almost as +fluid and as unstable as water, trickled down, for it was one of the +rubbish-heaps of the sea, over the brink of which waste was unceasingly +shot. + +The maze of mangroves whence weird hoots and bubbling cries and sharp +clicks came at night, the stealthy sand marching over the land, the +barren slopes of the mountain, and the misshapen rock, gave one's +thoughts a twist in the direction of the vague and mysterious. Wylo's +continual harping on the wonderful stone renewed the old longing for +adventure. He had seen it from a safe distance, but from the present +aspect only the indecorous glint at sunrise was visible. + +The stone was a crystallised fact, but why had the blacks invested it +with such ill omen? Here was a worthy quest--a beautiful if not precious +crystal betokening the actual presence of a wary demon guardant over +the mouldering skeletons of Wylo's forefathers! What quest could be more +sensational or likely to be so famously rewarded? + +Wylo was prepared to climb the mountain to the base of the Sentinel, +but no higher. Secrets hidden from his intemperate, insistent gaze must +surely be inconsequent. Once and for all, the legend of the crystal +might be disposed of at the cost of two or three hours' climbing. I +would bring it back to prove to Wylo that no irreverent "debil-debil" +would ever again blink at the sun from that particular spot. As for the +skeletons, they were, without doubt, as mythical as the evil spirit, and +in any case a few old bones were not to scare me from venturing to the +boldly obvious summit of the mountain. + +Wylo went wellnigh naked, carrying a day's provisions and the rifle. I, +too, was lightly clad, but wore thick-soled boots, freely studded, and +with a tomahawk felt efficiently armed. + +Beyond the entanglement of the beach scrub the way was open, though +rough, with granite boulders half hidden among rampant blady grass. The +country was decidedly hostile to the climber, though far from actually +forbidding, and with Wylo in the lead--for I held myself in reserve for +the final clamber up the ravine, to which the ascent to the base of the +Sentinel was merely a prelude--the pace was respectable and sure. Closer +acquaintance forced a certain sort of respect for the Sentinel, which +was more massive, more venerable and time-worn than could be imagined +from afar off, while all the scene below seemed softer and smoother and +more fairyland-like than in reality. + +Having indicated what he deemed to be the direct route, and firmly +resolving to take no risks by peering into the domain of the +"debil-debil," Wylo sat in the shadow of a huge boulder whence he could +command a view of the entrance to the rock-bestrewn gorge. Not more than +eight hundred feet separated the spot from the summit of the peak. A +couple of hours at most and I would be down again, and, semi-seriously, +I counselled Wylo to stop where he was until late in the afternoon, and +if I had not then appeared to return to the camp, where he was to remain +for a couple of days, when he would be at liberty to make his way to the +head of the mangrove creek where the boat was anchored, with the design +of bringing help to kill the "debil-debil" that detained me in his +clutches. He was not too cheerful in his parting injunctions. "No +good you fight'm that fella. Suppose he catch'm you, he kill you one +time--finis. No good me come back. Me clear out quick!" + +In all seriousness he undertook to "sit down" for two days, and +finally imparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the +"debil-debil," and either curb him or throw him out from his lair "with +wondrous potency." Up the gorge I would find a prickly bush, from which +I was to cut a leafy branch as a frontal shield. Then, when the +fiend swooped upon me, its long arms and pliant hands, furnished with +needle-like nails, would become embarrassed by the "nails," of the +branch, and while it howled and danced I could "kill'm alonga leg" with +the tomahawk. I was to be careful not to look up, for the eye of the +"debil-debil" was so bright and hot that it burnt up mortal sight, +leaving the intruder a blind and hopeless victim. + +Discreetly valorous, Wylo was quite enthusiastic, anxious, indeed, that +the quest should be accomplished by an audacious white man and at no +risk to himself. Therefore did I accept his counsel gravely, and in +parting promised to bring down one of the hands of the long-standing +terror of the mountain as proof that I had exacted the last penalty for +many demonic deeds. + +Thus, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through a +perplexity of shrubs growing among loosely packed stones, thankful +for strong boots and hands toughened by the sun. Overhanging trees and +shrubs almost converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a +greenish light wrought changeful patterns on the gloomy rocks, and ferns +of sombre green with unfolding fronds of ruddy brown occupied crannies +and crowned rocks favoured by drips. No sound of animal life came to my +cars, but an ever-increasing current of air was perceptible as the walls +closed in and became almost precipitous. + +The narrow footway was swept bare of loose stones and vegetable rubbish, +save where the wet-season torrents had scooped out basins, or where a +ledge of resisting rock made a wet-season water fall. Such places had to +be discreetly scaled, for the rock was worn to polished smoothness and +hand and foot holds were few and far between. Aerial roots, thin as +whipcord, hung from the branches of trees crowding on the brink of the +ravine, and with tasselled terminals sopped up moisture. A melancholy, +humming monotone pervaded the ravine, seeming to increase in +remonstrance and warning the higher I ascended. Wylo had told of the +noise like a steamer's whistle a long way off. His local knowledge was +being authenticated at every step. Such a sound was almost uncouth in +such a locality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, was +the predicted bush with keen prickles thickset on limber branches. +Half amused, I climbed to the spot, and, clinging precariously to the +principal stem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, slipped +several yards down the smooth floor. It was not worth recovering, but +a certain half-humorous sense of obedience to the black boy's cautions +induced me to return for it; and as I trimmed off some of the prickles +that it might be grasped comfortably, a stone clattered down, bouncing +on the rock almost at my feet. + +A substantial mystery! What invisible agency had given this hard fact +its force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a discordant crow dissipated +doubt-the stone had been dislodged by an industrious scrub fowl raking +on the brink of the ravine. A sense of fellowship with the harsh-voiced +bird manifested itself. A transient sensation of relief--I had not been +conscious of the least mental depression--followed the thought that in +and about the ravine there were other living things besides myself and +snakes. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally bruised just +now, had been the only sign of life, and it had been as dull-coloured +and almost as inert as the rock on which it lay--an emblem of death +at home in this almost lifeless seclusion. Dwelling with amusement on +Wylo's suggested precautions, I bore the branch before me as I climbed +a steep face, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and as +cautious and suspicious as a black boy. On the lip of what seemed to be +a hollow a fig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing roots of which made the +final stages of the ascent easy and safe. Briskly hauling myself up, I +stepped over the edge of the depression, and the solid rock lapsed and +slid underfoot. + +In a flash the head of a python arose, and with gaping jaws struck as +the branch fell from my hand.' In a moment I had whipped the tomahawk +from my belt and slashed at the body of the snake squirming at my feet, +as, baffled for a moment by the falling branch, it gathered itself for a +second attack. + +Few of the enemies of man are more easily disabled than a snake. Always +zealous in obedience to the Biblical law, it is honest to confess to a +decided preference for elbow-room when engaged in its actual fulfilment. +This was a fight with man's first enemy in close and awkward quarters--a +precipice behind, walls of rock in front and at either hand. Three times +my length, strong enough to constrict to death a giant, wily enough to +seek the cover of the matted roots of the tree, several points were in +favour of the snake. My first wild haphazard stroke, which had merely +scored its flesh, seemed to have roused its vindictiveness. Once in +those coils, the chances of victory would be remote indeed. + +Part of the python's still gliding length was within reach, while (the +forepart resting on a branch) the head was but slightly higher than +mine, though beyond the radius of the tomahawk. + +The bulging head drew slowly back, as the snake released sufficient of +its length to encompass me. The yellow, blinkless eyes, with knife-edge +pupils, flashed with the hate of agelong feud as I edged against the +wall. My arm was free. The lust of battle tightened every nerve. Neither +flashing eyes nor strangulating length made for fear. The hitherto +all-conquering snake, lord and master of the ravine, bade defiance, +joining issue with the craft of its kind. + +Slowly the pendant portion increased as the subtle beast seemed to +concentrate all its energies on one triumphant, invincible effort. + +Anticipating the fateful instant, I slashed with all my force at the +portion of the body within reach, ducking simultaneously. Shooting over +me, the head of the enemy struck the rock with brain-bemuddling impact. +For once the serpent had been foiled. With jaws awry, the head swung +limply, like a ceasing pendulum. One blow with the back of the tomahawk +established the right of man to wander at will among the rough and +secret places of the mountain. + +Still did the swaying reptile cling with a single coil round the +figtree's branch, while chill blood dripped and splashed among the +intertwined and snake-like roots. A sudden tug brought the body down a +squirming mass. With rough-shod heel, I fulfilled the letter of the law, +bruising the battered head, and then were revealed the bosses by which, +with the tail, the snake had sustained its dead weight. + +Was this the "debil-debil" which had scared so many from the quest--a +python which any man might kill in the open without running any risk, +and which a black boy, with time on his hands, would joy to eat? Yet I +own that I was somewhat flustered, and not a little tired and bruised +and angry, because such an impediment had had to be cleared from the +track. Was there not cause for indignation? Why should a gormandising +serpent, full to repletion, lie slothfully across a highway open to +all, to the checking of a holiday-making mortal in lawful pursuit of +a demon-protected crystal? Let me once more vindictively stamp on its +head. + +But which way? Here was a dead and unscalable wall to right and left and +in front, and all in deep shadow. I estimated that another one hundred +feet would take me to the mountain-top, whence it would be possible to +survey the scene in relation to the bejewelled rock. Descent was the +only practicable preliminary towards further ascent. Utilising the +interlacing roots of the fig-tree, the way down was easy enough, and, +choosing the left wall of the ravine, I began a perilous climb out of +gloom into sunshine, upon a conglomeration of immense granite boulders, +over which the Sentinel cast a shadow. This shadow indicated that the +ascent had occupied at least three hours, and in my self-complacency +I had calculated to beard the "debil-debil" in his den, dislodge the +crystal, and be back at the camp gloating over the escapade to open-eyed +Wylo in less time. + +Though a night was to be spent in the haunt of the evil spirit, yet +would I proceed. I found not one but many "oo-nang-mugils," lowering +caves and clefts in which scores of fearsome "debil-debils" might lurk, +but which, as far as a vigilant mortal could detect, were given over to +innocent bats and those sun-loving swiftlets which rear their young in +nests adherent to rocks in dusky places. + +Over and beneath boulders, squirming through bolt-holes and up flue-like +openings, bruised and with bleeding hands, at last the top was reached, +harsh with granite, and there to the right, on a gigantic splintered +boulder which seemed to block the end of the ravine and to peer down +into the blue bay below, was the crystal glinting in sunshine. It was +not more than fifty yards away, and, easeful of mind, I sat down to +munch a piece of damper. Close by a patch of vivid green moss indicated +the existence of moisture and the further possibility of water. Sure +enough, twenty yards down spongy moss and fern spread over a lip of +rocks, and from dangling tufts and drooping fronds water dripped in +melodious splashes into a shallow depression, and overflowed in a +fan-shaped film. The facets and apex of the crystal reflected harsh +brightness as unsullied as the moss-filtered, unstable drips which +gathered second by second and were gone. How like those drips, how +unlike the scarred, time-chastened rock, that steadfast slip of light +which since the dawn of creation had flashed messages across the +unresponsive sea. + +From a ledge in which ferns and orchids grew in careless +profusion--bird's-nest fern and polypodium and white-flowering +orchid--the crystal might be reached by a little manoeuvring. But why +hurry? Every minor crevice was embossed with spongy moss, from which +sprang modest little flowers, a flower of mountaintops alone, lacking a +familiar name, but which in its dainty form and rich mauve is none the +less precious. While all the rest of the way had been barren or gloomy, +here was brave sunshine and space, a jewel-like crystal, and moss and +ferns and flowers, and calm and cool serenity which' bespoke remoteness +from the "debil-debil" and all his works, and from the noisy cave of +the winds. Magic there was in plenty-the air tingled with it--that +exhilarating, mind-expanding silence of mountain-tops which is the most +thrilling magic of all. + +Leisurely glances at the mass of granite from which the crystal shone +showed that from the ferny ledge it would be beyond reach, and that +unless care was exercised in the dislodgment it might fall among a +confusion of boulders far below and be lost for ever. My plan was of +to build a buttress of loose stone on which to stand to tap it with the +tomahawk. Like a miniature railway cutting, the ledge ran out on the +face of the rock, so that standing upon it one looked down into the +ravine; but it was broad enough to afford safe and even convenient +footing. + +As a final preliminary to the beginning of operations, I clambered up +on to the ledge. Ferns grew among decaying vegetable matter in masses +difficult to push through. Polypodiums with brown, oak-leaf like, +infantile fronds clung tightly to the rocks with furry fingers, and the +birds'-nests were big enough to conceal a man. A broad and comfortable +path it was, leading directly under the crystal, and with haste and +confidence I pushed along, smiling inwardly at "shynynge" fortune, to be +in another moment dismayed by her "brutilness." The earth sank under me. +I shot into an acute fissure with ferns and dust piled overhead! + +Gasping and coughing, I cleared away the smothering rubbish, to find +myself a fixture--jambed fast between walls of granite. Deceptive ferns +had masked the crevice. I had walked along a treacherous track until at +a weak spot it had given way as the gallows' trap beneath the feet of a +murderer. + +Light came from ahead, too. There the lancehead-shaped fissure opened on +the ravine, whence it was flushed with cool air. + +Was ever mortal in such a plight? A drop of eight from the spacious +top of the mountain had lodged me a prisoner in the narrowest of cells. +Dismayed but not despairing, I struggled frantically, working with +shoulder and arms against the walls of granite. The right foot was +firmly fixed, while a sensation of easiness was perceptible with regard +to the left. Gently yet firmly, and fearful lest the slight grain of +comfort might be fraudulent, I felt the weight of my body on the left +foot, while scrutinising in detail the horrible trap into which the +crystal bait had lured me. + +There, a few feet below and further towards the ravine, was the skull +of a human being, and still further down, where space was more confined, +other bones were fixtures. There was a weird fascination about the +skull, for at noon it would receive the benediction of the sun, and the +diurnal glare into the secrets of the crevice had made a patch of white +desert in an oasis of grey mould. The bones below, green and earthly +with age, lay in disorder and confusion--poor fragments of the framework +of man and harmless beasts, sharing a common fate. + +Though fast a prisoner, nothing to live on but hope and fresh air, a +sense of relief, somehow, sometime, established itself in my mind. +Most of the significant features of the adventure had been faithfully +foretold by Wylo--the prickly bush, the snake (archetype of the fiend), +the mocking delusive stone, the stored bones of man and beast-all as he +had described. He must have known more than he had voluntarily told, and +assuredly would he come', when he would coo-ee, and I would shout +for very joy. In the meantime would I possess my soul in patience and +conserve all the strength of my lungs and power of endurance. + +Just beyond the platform of ferns a splash of lovely tints illuminated +the edge of the time-recording shadow--the solar spectrum produced by +the prism which had beckoned from afar. Was there no escape from the +wizardry of the crystal? No hope of evading comparison of its beauty +and permanence with the muddy and fleeting passions of mankind? Yet how +fruitless its functions--to glorify for aeons the intractable rock, +and to leave it ever unstained! For once in all the centuries may not a +human hand be interposed between those ineffectual flames and the surly +rock? Cannot even that small measure of space be overcome? + +A few inches from the tips of my outstretched fingers were the prismatic +tints with which the crystal daily registered the decline of the day; +but not for all my striving and all my wit could I get within reach. +They were as remote as the creating sun! + +The narrowness of the cleft forbade effort to reach down so that I might +unlace my boots. There wan but one chance of deliverance--the coming of +Wylo. And would he, agitated by superstitious awe, dare to venture into +the haunt of the evil spirit when he began to realise that I, too, had +fallen into the clutches he so much dreaded? Yet he must come! Of what +special impiety had I been guilty that so rare and terrible a fate +should have been reserved for me. He must come! + +Yes. Listen! I hear his coo-ee far below! He is making his way up the +ravine! And with, all my vocal power I coo-eed and yelled. But the +muffling rocks stifled all noise at lips. Listen! Yes! The sound +again--merely the mellow cadences of a swamp pheasant whooping among the +blady grass. + +Wylo dared not venture to the very door of the cave of the winds. I was +alone with my fate! Could I master it? + +The clean-cut shadow crept up the rock, and with it the colour splash +receded. As I gazed it glittered and was gone. It would not be visible +again until the next afternoon. Would I be here to watch it illuminate +the rock once more? Could I contain myself until then, and perhaps +after, and for day after day, until the last? And were my bones to +be added to the secret horde mouldering within a few feet of the +mountain-top? A few feet of nothingness--mere empty space--separated me +from lost and lovely liberty, and with frantic hands I strove against +the hard face of the rock, and cried aloud in agonising protest. + +The old rock had disregarded similar protests and supplications, and had +endured like infantile pushings! Call, and who shall listen? Push and +shove and fight, and what availed it? + +In my delirium I cursed and blasphemed, and "full of shriekynge was that +sory place." + +Darkness followed brief twilight, and up the ravine came the murmuring +I had heard below--a sobbing sound which at first affrighted and then +soothed, for it could be nothing but the echo of the sea on the curving +beach below; and in its comfort that lulled all ineffectual clamour, and +eventually to fretful but frightful sleep. Always I awoke panting with +thirst, stiff and strained, and with unmanly cries of fear and pain +on my lips, while the chaste stars danced across the narrow slit as I +strove to stem the turbid stream of despondency. + +About midnight a singular peacefulness possessed me, overcoming me in +spite of myself. Feverish impatience and resistance seemed futile, and +in my resignation I began to realise that to avert cramp and disablement +from cold--for a chill, moist breeze from the ravine played continuously +on me--some sort of exercise must be undertaken. + +My left foot was certainly not so compressed as the right. Though +it could not be raised, it was possible to move it ever so slightly +forwards and backwards. Might it not be possible, by never-ceasing +friction, to so abrade the edges of the sole of the boot that it might +be reduced to such dimension as would permit it to be raised? + +With all the force of my mind concentrated on the one idea, I began to +work in a passion of patience. At first the play of the boot was hardly +to be registered; but hour after hour of ceaseless and calculated effort +not only counterbalanced mental tension and imparted some degree of +warmth to my body, but so amended the shape of the boot that it began +to move with some degree of freedom. The more easy the fit, the more +cautious and calm I became. + +No insipid monotony pervaded the remote, cold crevice. The operation was +lubricated with hope. Once every heart-beat--for I kept strict tally, as +further mental relaxation--my boot rubbed against the rock, and each +rub wore away minute particles of leather. As time passed and the work +became still easier, it became more engrossing, until calmness gave way, +and every nerve thrilled with excitement, and I was convinced that +I would win a joyful passage from this narrow strait by dint of the +resolute continuation of the simplest of processes. + +But the long night was not to end with such placid and entertaining +occupation. Absorbed in it, sternly waving off all sense of weariness or +despair, I was staggered and stunned by the fall, among an avalanche +of fern debris, of a heavy living body on my head and shoulders--a +grunting, struggling thing which kicked and scratched. + +With a despairing shriek, 'all my vibrant nerves collapsed, as in the +darkness and confusion I fought against infernal odds. For one appalling +instant I was convinced of the reality of Wylo's most diresome fact, and +did furiously believe that I was actually entrapped in the stronghold of +a demon at that moment, intent upon tearing me limb from limb. The most +fantastic and horrific of nightmares was actually materialised. + +But at that instant a familiar odour sluiced away all mystery. This +struggling thing, from the shock of which my very soul still trembled, +was but a fellow-victim--a wallaby which, feeding along the ledge, had +happened on the trap made by my fall. + +In a flash of remorseless energy, I seized the panting body, felt for +the throat, and, expelling pity from my heart, gripped until all was +still. How precious and comforting it was! And once again all my powers +of will and muscle were centred on a single design and action as with +machine-like rhythm the boot wore itself against the rock. Disengaged +from every other theme, my mind dwelt on the one steady, inevitable +purpose. Rub! Rub! Rub! And I fancied I saw leathern dust fall like +filings from iron down deeper into the crevice. Before dawn the boot was +working freely, and with one arm on the compressed body of the wallaby +to case my weight, rest was possible. The plan for the disengagement of +the right foot, painfully rigid and cold, was perfect in theory. Would +it hold in practice? When the left was free I would, by friction of the +iron studs In the sole, wear away the laces of the engaged boot so that +the foot might be withdrawn. + +But physical weakness became imperious. The distraction of cramped +and bruised flesh had to be withstood the while the constancy of the +function was maintained. Continual comfort came from the dead body of +the ill-fated wallaby--a sort of fellowship, and a feeling that with its +co-operation the contest between living flesh and blood and the inert +force of the mountain was not altogether one-sided. Light was certainly +cheerful, but the crevice filled with mist which distilled on the rock, +and a chill current of air benumbed my aching limbs. + +Under the pressure of fierce determination the task persisted, until, +quite unexpectedly as it seemed, the boot was free; and then, shoving +and squeezing the wallaby as a cushion for my right arm, the sole of +the left boot began to rasp away at the instep of the right. In such a +constrained position the operation, which could be persevered in by fits +and starts only, was exasperatingly slow. The sun sopped up the morning +mist and boldly explored the crevice, revealing the marvellous precision +of the space between the walls. No work of art could be more regular. +The sheer simplicity of the trap made it the more effectual. The +sunlight showed, too, that the fissure was the skylight of a cave which +opened out on the ravine. Dry boulders were strewn about fifty feet +below, while ahead I could catch a glimpse of a narrow ribbon of blue +sea. This provoking sight of unattainable water aggravated thirst almost +beyond endurance. Throughout the night had my longing increased, but +now the pangs were extreme. The most gratifying of all drinks--cool, +fern-filtered, flower-decorated water, water dripping in iridescent +spangles from green moss soft as velvet--splashed incessantly into a +hollow out there a few yards away in the free space of the mountain. +Here, manacled with "adamant eterne," in an agony of impatience I +quaffed the thirst-stimulating draught of unsatisfied longing as I +strove fitfully to wear away the stubborn strips of leather which held +me in bondage. In a doze or dream the action went on. Startled, I awoke +to find myself pommelling with inane savagery the poor crumpled body of +the wallaby, and to the realisation that the imprisoned foot was loose +in the boot. + +A luxurious stupor took possession of my mind. I was at liberty to work +out of the crevice knees and shoulders; yet an impalpable force detained +me. It was not that I was not master of my fate, but that out there in +the glare of the sun was patient water, dripping for the refreshment +and cleansing of my grimy lips. So enchanting a thought was not to be +abruptly ended. Was it not deliciously dreamy to hold myself in +suspense awhile, to linger over anticipated sweetness and prolong blest +gratifications indefinitely? + +Strange drowsiness and peace bewitched the sunlit chink. Why should I +struggle more? Could I not, in fancy, hearken to the measured splash of +the drops from the sodden moss? Could anything be more consoling than +this cushion to my bruised and aching arms? Ease and sloth were sweet +indeed. I was free, but not at large. The amazing adaptability of the +human mind had reconciled me in a few suffering hours to this confined +space. Verily do I believe that the overcoming of this subtle anodyne +demanded the expenditure of more vital force than the sum of all the +long-sustained automatic exertion by which I had won physical release. + +One supreme mental tug and the baneful torpor was dispelled, and with +stiffened legs and bruised hand@ I began to screw myself up to the free +air cautiously and painfully; and there, in a beam of light from the +crystal, was the slow-dripping flower-bedizened water-celestial nectar +to parched lips. + +Hours after I awoke as from a dream. Far below a column of smoke showed +that Wylo still watched. My first act was to send up a responsive +signal. In a fit of petty passion I flung the toil-worn boot into the +ravine, and began the descent by way of the spur to the west. + +Wylo seemed scared by the sight of the staggering and tattered +scarecrow, barefooted, and stained with blood and dirt, who stumbled +into the camp at dusk, too weary to talk, almost too spent to eat; +and to this day he is convinced that I was actually detained by the +"debil-debil," whom I had overcome by some means of which wonder-working +white men alone have the secret. + +After two days' rest I climbed the mountain again, blocked the fissure +with loose stones, and built a buttress, standing upon which I tapped +the crystal gently with the tomahawk. It quivered. A shaft of rainbow +tints dazzled my sight. I tapped again. As I touched it it third +time, the fragile finger with which the gaunt old rock had scorned the +plodding centuries vanished in a splutter of spangles! + + + + +THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + + + +"These ghosts of the living and of the dead assuredly illustrate in +a striking manner the mysterious workings of the human mind, and the +unsuspected influence of soul on soul."--PRODMORE. + + +Not more than a hundred yards from its mud-besmeared mouth the +convenient mangroves disappear and the little creek assumes becoming +airs. Huge tea-trees, with cushiony bark, straddle it, and ferns grow +strongly in all its nooks and bends. When the big trees blossom in +watery yellow, yellow-eared honey-eaters, blue-bibbed sun-birds, and +screeching parrots in accordant colours, assemble joyously, for the +aroma, as of burnt honey, spreads far and wide, bidding all, butterflies +and jewel-backed beetles which buzz and hum, to the feast, until the +aerial anthem is harmonic to the rustle of the sea. + +The sturdy feet of the trees stand in black peat, through which the +water from the wholesome hills oozes and dribbles, and the russet stain +from discarded leaves is on their white bases. Russet, too, is the +surface of the ever moist soil. Some element in the water derived from +pacted roots of palm and fern tinctures whatsoever in it lies, so that +the bottoms of the shallow, erratic pools are thick with russet slime. +All above is bright and pure, and the water which flows over the +slime-smudged roots limpid and refreshing. If you cut into the bark +of the tea-tree you will find water in beads and trickles, water which +sparkles with purity and has a slightly saline taste. The bare roots +alone suffer defilement. + +Many a tall tea-tree stands sentinel on the margin of the creek, and +there are groves of slim palms with narrow truncated leaves--palms which +creep and sprawl over vegetation of independent character, and palm& +which coquette with the sun with huge fans. Orchid& display sprays of +yellowish-green flowers, which contribute a decided savour to the medley +of scents, and palm-like Cycads meander from the low bank out Into the +forest. + +But there is one tree which, if not superior to the rest in broadness +of base, height, fairness of bark, and fullness of bloom, has especial +endowment. It stands at the spot where generation after generation of +the original owners of the soil has crossed the creek, wearing a waving +path upon which ferns ever encroach and which every flood amends. In a +recess in its massive roots reposes "Kidjo-bang," the restless stone--a +boulder, man's-head size, stained with a rim of sober brown. + +This is its accustomed scat. It roves the locality, returning, +swallow-like, to the close-fitting hollow of the root. The embraces of +the root are sometimes so strong that the dingy stone may not be moved. +But the floods of the wet season maintain an unceasing cataract to its +dislodgment, and then, according to the legends of the blacks, it begins +to "walk about." It may rest a month just out of reach of the disturbing +water among the ferns. It has been known to appear mysteriously on the +sandy beach two hundred yards away, to which spot it is said to travel +by way of the grass lands, avoiding the slur of the muddy creek. + +Whether it seeks change of scene beyond the ripple of dead leaves and +spoil of the flood, or whether it ventures out on to the open beach, +where the breezes from the Pacific play upon it, the round white stone +returns, independent of the agency of man, to the sanctuary which time, +ever-flowing water, and the hospitable roots of the tree, have combined +to afford. It is there this day. Should it be taken to one or other of +the blue islands in the broad bay, sooner or later it will be discovered +nestling cosily in the grotto in which the dyed slime smears it as with +pale blood. + +To the ordinary investigator of the whimsicalities of "Kidj-o-bang" the +blacks betray no secret, though they would verify, with what to them is +proof positive, that it does on occasion appear in unexpected places +and unaccountably reoccupies its cell. Discreetly pursue the subject and +peradventure you may be told precisely why the stone may not always rest +in the one spot in the whole world which it fits as a kernel its shell. +It has been, they assert, associated with an evil deed of which it is +now the emblem. Among the many the mysteries of "Kidj-o-bang" dwell +with the past, though it is still associated with the ceremonies of the +bestowal of totemic names on the children of a certain father. + +More than one legend concerning it is extant, and the young fellows of +the present day frankly scoff at them all, while the old men believe +each other's versions and repeat them with bated breath. They cannot +discredit stories which were accepted as established facts when they +were young, which no one then ever dreamed of doubting, and which +provide a comfortably satisfactory account for otherwise perplexing +incidents. + +Musing on the spot, the legend of the roving stone usurped my thoughts. +The trivial and uncertain notions of the black boy who was the first to +tell it, and by theatrical gestures to illustrate its verities, became +more and more indistinct. The soothsayers of the long past had been +forbidden by Nature to doubt that which was the lore of the camp. Was it +that Nature re-asserted her influence--that the essences of the scene, +subtle and pervasive, had recurred, creating a receptive spirit, so +deep a religion of assent that shadow and substance intermingled to my +bewilderment? I was permitted to be a sensitive percipient in the midst +of the ashes of shiftless folk who had passed away, catching but a +casual and deceptive glimpse of the coming of the desolating white man. + +Piln-goi, the black boy, had wandered up the creek. A thrilling silence +prevailed. Stooping down, I laved my hands in the softly flowing water, +idly intent on lifting the stone. The tawny slime defeated irresolute +efforts, and my slipping hands bestowed a baptismal splash. + +Instantly I became conscious of a strange presence, and, glancing +over my shoulder, saw an unfamiliar black boy lurking behind a +glistening-fronded Cycad. + +The whole scene had undergone wishful transformation. The white-barked +trees, purified of smears from the sooty fingers of fire, stood out in +splendid contrast to a richer, thicker, a flowery undergrowth. Tall fern +trees spread green cobwebs to entrap sunbeams. The Cycad under which the +boy crouched was slim-shaped, and its foliage resembled that of one of +the most beautiful of ferns, with languorous, dolorous fronds, while it +was crowned with a huge fruit of golden-brown. All the scene had +been wondrously transfigured. Time's treacheries had been defeated. +A garden-like age had been restored. The sword-leaved orchid dangled +yard-long sprays of brilliant yellow flowers, which saturated the air +with delicate perfume. Fearless birds fluttered among and hovered over +the pendant blooms, whistling and calling. Water-rats sported in the +lily-bespangled stream, and a platypus basked, on the bank. + +From the strained and expectant attitude of the boy, it was apparent +that he was hunting. He stepped cautiously out of cover, and, using a +wommera of dark wood with oval clutches of white shell, threw a spear +into the long grass. A kangaroo, mad with fear and pain, staggered +forward, knowing not whence fate had struck it, and, lurching +helplessly, sank among the ferns on the margin of the water. Ignoring my +presence the boy, having completed the hunter's office with a blow from +a nulla-nulla, called in a thin, shrill voice: + +"Yano-lee!" (We go this way). + +In a few seconds a young girl of his own race stepped through the leafy +screen. She cast casual glances at the dead kangaroo, and without saying +a word to her companion came to the pool, stooped down beside me, and +drank eagerly and noisily, using a scoop improvised from a leaf. Her +back glistened with perspiration, and her coarse, fuzzy, uncleanly hair +ceased in tufts on her neck. It was a slim and shapely little figure. +The plumes of the orchid, golden and syrupy, swayed over her heedless +head and seemed to caress it. Her eyes, round, large, and brimful of the +bewildering eagerness of youth, relieved the unobtrusive expansiveness +of her nose and almost atoned for her savage lips. Though almost +touching me, the most shy, wild creature of the bush seemed unconscious +of my presence. She was in fact and deed: + +"We have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible." I was the +phantom--invisible, intangible. The pair beside, the unembarrassed +realities. + +Do phantoms reflect? That privilege was mine. Let memory treasure every +detail of the scene, every vestige of its incidents. + +"Kidj-o-bang" had vanished. There was its cell. A full and stainless +stream, in a gurgling cataract, sparkled over the big root, while high +among the blossoms birds clambered incessantly for nectar. + +The primitive pair were at home, but not at case, In this Garden of +Eden. They spoke in mumbling tones, of which I could catch but stray +phrases, though I listened eagerly. Presently the girl took up two +dry sticks, and, using one as a drill between the palms of her hands, +essayed to make a fire. + +The boy imperatively intervened. "Poo-nee imba!" (No fire). + +The girl started up, and instantly both slid into the jungle as silently +and as tracklessly as snakes. + +The dead kangaroo, the expectant phantom (gifted for the time being with +a faculty more subtle than any moral sense), remained alone among the +birds and the orchids, while shy pencil-tailed water-rats began to sniff +and peer among the sedges. So enthralling was the scene that time passed +insensibly. The sun was overhead when the pair reappeared noiselessly. +Smears of shell and grit betrayed an intervening meal of oysters. Swarms +of green ants, in a scramble for food, almost obscured the blood-stains +on the fur of the kangaroo, and, brushing them away, the boy made and +enlarged with his fingers an opening in the body, and having torn out +the heart, liver, and kidneys, made a fire, scarce a hand's-breadth wide +and smokeless, on which the meat was singed prior to being munched with +grim deliberation. They ate largely, some of the flesh from the hind +quarters being also eaten, scrap by scrap. + +Were they fugitives? Tall and strong, the boy was as alert and +suspicious as a dingo. Every sense was strained. He seemed intent upon +subduing the very noises in his head as he slowly crushed his food and +gulped. + +A forlorn cry, half appeal, half gurgle, filtered through the leafage as +from the beach, and on the instant the jungle had soundlessly absorbed +the affrighted pair. The handful of fire and the mutilated kangaroo +remained as the only evidences of the handiwork of man. + +What of the intruder? The cry was almost too weird to be human. Again it +thrilled through the leafage, a trifle stronger, and seemed to convey a +threat commingled with a prayer for succour. + +The scene held me. I was powerless, but not indifferent; capable of +sight, incapable of action or utterance. Something in the tone of the +voice told of a member of my own race in sore distress. Yet I could not +respond to his appeal or move to his aid. + +Half an hour of intense silence passed, and then a lusty shout startled +the air. Surely, I thought, the wayfarer who makes such outcry in this +unpeopled wilderness is an uncouth fellow who has lost his way and +thinks to dialogue with echoes for relief of loneliness. Presently the +cracking of branchlets and a rumble of discontented phrases told of +someone blundering along through the mangroves. Accustomed to the +gentle sounds and the delicious silence of the jungle, the clumsy noises +irritated while preparing me for the sight of the intruder--a big, +aggressive, weather-scored man, his only clothing a pair of short pants +of canvas, stained with wear and stiff and whitened with frost like +sea-salt. The ocean had but an hour ago cast him like its scum on the +beach. + +He burst on the scene to plunge his broken lips into the water at my +feet. Like the natives, he drank long and noisily, and when his thirst +was allayed called to an imaginary mate--"Pietro, Pietro!" cursed freely +when no answer came, and whimpered like a babe. + +Huge of body, strong of limb, bully and brute stamped on his coarse +features, yet did his dread of loneliness piteously overcome him. His +bald pate, hung about with scant reddish ringlets, had been roasted by +the tropic sun until it glowed, and eyes and nose strove for supremacy +of inflammation. An unkempt moustache did not hide teeth of disreputable +tint; chin and jowl were covered with a fortnight's growth of streaky +hair. + +Turning from the water, he saw the dismembered kangaroo, and, seizing +one of the legs, tore the flesh from the bones and with ravenous greed +began an uncleanly feast. The impure drank of the pure water and gulped +the strong flesh until his gorged stomach swelled cask-shape, and then +he slept as noisily as he had eaten and drank. + +A leathern belt, cracked and whitened, furrowed his distended girth, +and as he lay stretched with the sun scrutinising his face, flies and +mosquitoes and carnivorous green ants feasted on his blood at will. +Each leaden-tinted, lean fly revelled until it assumed similitude to +a colouring grape, some "reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken +men"; bloated mosquitoes and green ants, commingling, made a living +mosaic on the skin of the unconscious man. What could the assaults and +stings of myriads of insects avail against fatigue so formidable? + +But a decree had gone forth that the sleeper should wake, and who is man +that he should flout imperious commands? The merciless sun insisted. The +strong man fidgeted under the persistent blaze. Perspiration poured from +his skin; he snarled; his eyelids twitched and quivered; the veins +of neck and forehead throbbed ominously. The sun does not tolerate +disobedience. A thin trickle of blood issued from the grimy nose, and +with a snort the man awoke, his flame-red eye% swilled with enforced +tears. Dazedly he plunged his head into the water and drank greedily, +and, sitting up, spat sullenly and with signs of disgust and contempt. +What comfort could cold water afford so repleted a stomach? + +Having disdainfully spurned the remnants of the kangaroo, he sat head +between knees, grumbling against fate. To him the fruitful and pleasant +land was disconsolate. A castaway, he had drifted on to its welcome +shores, and all that it could offer was loneliness, cold water, the raw +flesh of a strange animal, and denial of the solace of sleep. Out of the +depths of his misery and dejection he called imperatively on his God, +and taking from the lining of his belt a thumb-sized purse, of netted +silver, displayed a glorious pearl, which he held aloft, and with an +admixture of supplication and imprecation proffered it to the Most High +as grudging ransom from a God-abandoned country. + +Who is there that delights not in the susceptible purity of pearls? The +gem which symbolises virginal placidity was like to be contaminated by +the coarse handling of the fretful, bargaining castaway. + +Did I lean forward acquisitively to accept it from the noisome fingers, +reluctant that so serene a prize should be retained in so coarse a +setting? + +The man started, for the votive offering had vanished, and blasphemous +lamentations and curses against the Supreme Being, whom he abused for +defrauding him of fortune by trickery, shocked the quietude. Then a +spasm of religious fervour jerked him to his knees as he patronised the +Almighty for having accepted a pledge for safe-conduct from death-like +solitude. After transports of impious piety, as uncouth and boisterous +as his struggles through the labyrinth of mangroves to the purifying +water, he sat bareheaded in the sun. + +Steamy heat distilled strong aromatic odours from the myriad leaves; +languid flowers gave copiously and of the best of their fragrance; ferns +and lotus did obeisance to high noon. The birds had ceased to whistle, +and the droning of bees gave to the upper air slumbering rhythm of its +own. + +Again the intruder slept. Again the sun commanded and he woke raging. +Standing, he cursed both loud and long, eyes protuberant, face purpling +under the strain of vindictive oaths. + +What an unflattering contrast to the unclad natives who had dominated +yet blended with the scene-the girl the prototype of a swaying palm, the +boy that of a tough young bloodwood beside the creek, among the topmost +branches of which a crimson-flowered mistletoe made a splash of colour +in harmony with the single red feather from the wing of a black cockatoo +which the soft-tongued youth had entangled in his hair. + +This gross, profane, sun-smitten, sea-rejected herald of civilisation, +disowned by his fellows, disinherited of the world, defiled the spot, +and his voice created an inaugural discord. + +With arms uplifted, he muttered ineffectual curses against his fellows, +upbraided his saints, and defied his deity. But while his lips frothed +with the passion of a stuttering tongue, the provoked but just genius +of the spot passed sentence, and swiftly and silently the messengers of +Death came. Four slender spear& penetrated his shaggy chest, as with +a &cream which ended lit a gulp he splashed back into the water. His +struggles and splutterings soon ceased. Silence resumed its fascination. + +Blood welled from the mouth and nose and spear wounds, which the eager +water carried off in wavy, independent streams, while the dead face +whitened. + +Many minutes elapsed before a dozen white-eyed natives cautiously oozed +through the Jungle, stimulating each other's nervousness by reassuring +gestures. Certain that the trespasser on their dominion was incapable of +mischief, they began to chatter, showing fidgety interest in the body, +which they touched and poked fearsomely with spears. + +Dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the sun through a curtain of water, +which had already cleaned them of heat and passion, and wisps of red +hair drifted over the forehead. + +The untimely yelp of a dingo some few yards in the jungle inspired a +similar response from one of the men, and without shyness or reserve the +boy and girl joined the throng, and all began to talk excitedly. Some +of the men assumed threatening attitudes towards the girl, who stood +submissively, while the boy talked in a rage of excitement. He had +chosen his mate, and would not, even on pain of summary death, abandon +her. + +So trivial an incident as the love affairs of boy and girl could not +compare with the phenomenon in the water. The crisis was momentary. +Amazement was pictured in every face, and not a man but subjected the +bleeding body to gross contempt and what passed among them for ridicule. +They mimicked the high stomach as they stood, as the dead man had stood, +with arms aloft in rebellion against his lot, and fell back, as he had +fallen, screaming, to kick and wallow on the ground. Here was plot and +matter for ludicrous corroboree, the first rehearsal of which took place +on the scene. + +Soon curiosity took possession of the unstable actors. The belt was +removed, and on the purse being fumbled with, several small pearls fell +out. They were disregarded; but the strong man of the party looped the +belt about his own inadequate waist, the girl hid the purse (which had +been passed from hand to hand) in her hair, while the men tore the bone +buttons from the pants and fitted them into their ears as they strutted +foppishly. + +The dead eyes stared defiantly up into the sky, the face whitened, and +the stains of blood seemed to settle on it. + +A harsh sound came as an electric shock, and I heard as from afar off +Piln-goi shout: + +"You bin sleep long time, boss! Big low water. We fella look out +pearl-shell!" + +The scene had resumed everyday aspects. The sun concentrated its rays on +my head through a rift in the jungle, and the stone, stained dull red, +lay in its cell, while rootlets fringed with tawny slime wavered over +it. + +Had soul communed with soul on that illusive borderland we range in +dreams, the emblem of a deed of blood eloquent to reveal its secret? And +now that the tale is told, will it cease from bewildering the simple old +men of the soil who with one hand grapple the magical past and with the +other the realities of the present? + +Piln-goi's impatience drew me from the spot and out on to the reef laid +bare by the ebb. The beguiling pearl still eludes him, but memory holds +a rarer treasure than all the fecund sea contains. + + + +End + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. 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Banfield + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + .side { float: right; font-size: 75%; width: 25%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; margin-left: 0.8em; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. Banfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tropic Days + +Author: E. J. Banfield + + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7324] +This file was first posted on April 14, 2003 +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROPIC DAYS *** + + + + +Text file produced by Col Choat + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + TROPIC DAYS (1918) + </h1> + <h2> + By E. J. Banfield + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h5> + Author Of “The Confessions Of A Beachcomber” And “My Tropic Isle” + </h5> + <h5> + <br /> <br /> + </h5> + <h4> + “Peace and silence. . . combined with the large liberties of nature."<br /> + De Quincey + </h4> + <h4> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </h4> + <h3> + TO <br /> <br /> MY BROTHER BEACHCOMBERS; Professing, Practising + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> AUTHOR'S NOTE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>PART I—SUN DAYS</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> IN IDLE MOMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> ETERNAL SUNSHINE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE SCENE-SHIFTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> BEACH PLANTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> SHADOWS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> “SMILING MORN” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> ANCESTRAL SHADE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> QUIET WATERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> “THE LOWING HERD” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> BABBLING BEACHES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> THE LOST ISLE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <b>PART II.—THE PASSING FACE</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> THE CANOE-MAKER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> TWO LADIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> SOOSIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> BLUE SHIRT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> THE FORGOTTEN DEAD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> EAGLES-NEST FLOAT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> NATURE IN RETALIATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> “STAR RUN ABOUT” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> BLACKS AS FISHERMEN </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> <b>PART III—MISCELLANEA</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> PEARLS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> THE BUSH TRACK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> THE LITTLE BROWN MAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> UP AND AWAY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> “PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> TIME'S FINGER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AUTHOR'S NOTE + </h2> + <p> + In my previous books the endeavour was to give exact if prosaic details of + life on an island off the coast of North Queensland on which a few of the + original inhabitants preserved their uncontaminated ways. Here is + presented another instalment of sketches of a quiet scene. Again an + attempt is made to describe—not as ethnological specimens, but as + men and women—types of a crude race in ordinary habit as they live, + though not without a tint of imagination to embolden the better truths. + </p> + <p> + I thankfully acknowledge indebtedness to my friends Mr. Charles Hedley, of + the Australian Museum (Sydney); Dr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, Director of the + Queensland Museum; and Mr. Dodd S. Clarke, of Townsville, N.Q., for + valuable aid in the preparation of my notes for publication. + </p> + <h3> + DUNK ISLAND. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I—SUN DAYS + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IN IDLE MOMENT + </h2> + <p> + “'Are you not frequently idle?' 'Never, brother. When we are not engaged + in our traffic we are engaged in our relaxations.'”—BORROW. + </p> + <p> + On the smooth beaches and in the silent bush, where time is not regulated + by formalities or shackled by conventions, there delicious lapses—fag-ends + of the day to be utilised in a dreamy mood which observes and accepts the + happenings of Nature without disturbing the shyest of her manifestations + or permitting 'the-mind to dwell on any but the vaguest speculations. + </p> + <p> + Such idle moments are mine. Let these pages tell of their occupation. + </p> + <p> + As the years pass it is proved that the administration of the affairs of + an island, the settled population of which is limited to three, involves + pleasant though exacting duties. It is a gainful government—not + gainful in the accepted sense, but in all that vitally matters—personal + freedom, absence of irksome regulations remindful of the street, liberty + to enjoy the mood of the moment and to commune with Nature in her most + fascinating aspects. Those who are out of touch with great and dusty + events may, by way of compensation, be the more sensitive to the processes + of the universe, which, though incessantly repeated, are blessed with + recurrent freshness. + </p> + <p> + The sun rises, travels across a cloudless sky, gleams on a sailless sea, + disappears behind purple mountains gilding their outline, and the day is + done. Not a single dust-speck has soiled sky or earth; not the faintest + echo of noisy labours disturbed the silences; not an alien sight has + intruded. What can there be in such a scene to exhilarate? Must not the + inhabitants vegetate dully after the style of their own bananas? Actually + the day has been all too brief for the accomplishment of inevitable duties + and to the complete enjoyment of all too alluring relaxations. + </p> + <p> + Here is opportunity to patronise the sun, to revel in the companionship of + the sea, to confirm the usage of beaches, to admonish winds to seemliness + and secrecy, to approve good-tempered trees, to exchange confidences with + flowering plants, to claim the perfumed air, to rejoice in the silence— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, + Which pries not to th' interior.” + </pre> + <p> + How oft is the confession that the fullest moments of life are achieved + when I roam the beaches with little more in the way of raiment than + sunburn and naught in hand save the leaves of some strange, sand-loving + plant? Then is it that the individual is magnified. The sun salutes. The + wind fans. The sea sighs a love melody. The caressing sand takes print of + my foot alone. All the world might be mine, for none is present to dispute + possession. The sailless sea smiles in ripples, and strews its verge with + treasures for my acceptance. The sky's purity enriches my soul. Shall I + not joy therein? + </p> + <p> + Though he may be unable to attain those moments of irresistible intuition + which came to Amiel, when a man feels himself great like the universe and + calm like a god, one may thrill with love and admiration for Nature + without resigning sense of superiority over all other of her works or + abating one jot of justifiable pride. + </p> + <p> + Even in tropical Queensland there is a sense of revivification during the + last half of August and first of September, and the soul of man responds + thereto, as do plants and birds, in lawful manner. Perhaps it is that the + alien dweller in lands of the sun, when he frisks mentally and physically + at this sprightly season, is merely obeying an imperative characteristic + bred into him during untold generations when the winter was cruelly real + and spring a joyful release from cold and distress. The cause may be + slight, but there is none to doubt the actual awakening, for it is + persuasive and irresistible. + </p> + <p> + The lemon-trees are discarding the burden of superfluous fruit with almost + immoderate haste, for the gentle flowers must have their day. Pomeloes + have put forth new growth a yard long in less than a fortnight, and are + preparing a bridal array of blooms such as will make birds and butterflies + frantic with admiration and perfume the scene for the compass of a mile. + The buff-and-yellow sprays of the mango attract millions of humming + insects, great and small. Most of the orchids are in full flower, the + coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of bud, loose bunches of + white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and the sunflower-tree is + blotched with gold in masses. The birds make declaration of attachment for + the season. + </p> + <p> + Great trees, amorous birds, frail insects, perceive the subtle influence + of the season, and shall not coarse-fibred man rejoice, though there be + little or nothing to which he may point as special evidence of + inspiration? He may feel the indefinable without comprehending any + material reason why. He may confess, although there is but a trifle more + sunshine than a month ago—and what influence a trifle where there is + so much—and scarcely any difference of temperature, that Nature is + insisting on obedience to one of her mighty laws—the law of + heredity. Why, therefore, refrain from justifying the allusion? Why + persist in declining the invitations of the hour? Far be it from me to do + so. Is sufferance the cognizance of this Free Isle? + </p> + <p> + All my days are Days of the Sun. All my days are holy. Duty may suggest + the propriety of contentment within four walls. Inclination and the thrill + of the season lure me to gloat over the more manifest of its magic. Be + sure that, unabashed and impenitent, shall I riot over sordid industry + during the most gracious time of year to hearken to the eloquence and + accept the teachings of unpeopled spaces. + </p> + <p> + Such is the silence of the bush that the silken rustle of the butterflies + becomes audible and the distinctive flight of birds is recognised—not + alone such exaggerated differences as the whirr of quail, the bustle of + scrub fowl, and the whistle and clacking of nutmeg pigeons, but the + delicate and tender characteristics of the wing notes of the meeker kinds + of doves and the honey-eaters, and also the calculated flutterings of the + fly-catchers. In the whistling swoop of the grey goshawk there is a note + of ominous blood-thirstiness, silent though the destroyer has sat awaiting + the moment for swift and decisive action. + </p> + <p> + Seldom, even on the stillest evening, may the presence of the night-jar be + detected, except by its coarse call, while the sprightly little sun-bird + flits hither and thither, prodigal of its vivid colours and joying with + machine-like whirring. The sun-bird exemplifies the brightness of the day. + All its activities are bold and conspicuous. Aptly named, it has nothing + to hide, no deeds which will not withstand the scrutiny of the vividest + rays. + </p> + <p> + To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on secret doings and on + flight soft as a falling leaf. It is a bird of the twilight and night. + Startled from brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is + ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad daylight it moves + from its resting-place as a leaf blown by an erratic and sudden puff, and + vanishes as it touches the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. Mark the spot + of its vanishment and approach never so cautiously, and you see naught. + Peer about and from your very feet that which had been deemed to be a + shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a phantom zephyr. + </p> + <p> + The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains a puzzle. It moves not, + it may not blink. Its crafty parent has so nibbled and frayed the edges of + the decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that it has become + absorbed in the scene. There is nothing to distinguish between the + leaf-like feathers and the feather-like leaves. The instinct of the bird + has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, and to be discovered + only by the critical inspection of every inch of its environment. You have + found it; but not for minutes after its instinct has warned it to possess + its soul calmly and not to be afraid. So firm is its purpose that if + inadvertently you put your foot on its tender body it would not move or + utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated on impassiveness, and thus + does Nature guard its weakest and most helpless offspring. + </p> + <p> + While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the tiny creature which suffers + handling without resistance, the shred of bark, driven by the + imperceptible zephyr, falls a few yards away, and in an agony of anxiety + utters an imploring purr, or was it an imprecation? That half purr, half + hiss has been the only sound of the episode. It is a warning to be gone + and leave Nature to her secrets and silences. + </p> + <p> + A month's abstinence may not be a very severe penance for an island on + which the rainfall averages 124 inches per year; but when vegetation + suffers from the cruelty of four almost rainless months, promises and + slights amount to something more than mere discourtesy. How genuine the + thanksgiving to the soft skies after an incense-stimulating shower. + Insects whirl in the sunshine. Among the pomelo-trees is a cyclone of + scarcely visible things. Motes and specks of light dance in disorderly + figures, to be detected as animated objects only by gauzy wings catching + the light and reflecting it. Each insect, wakened but an hour ago by the + warmth of the moist soil, in an abandonment of the moment, is a helioscope + transmitting signals of pure pleasure. Drops still linger on myriads of + leaves, and glitter on the glorious gold of the Chinese laburnum; the air + is saturated with rich scents, and the frolicking crowd, invisible but for + the oblique light, does not dream of disaster. Their crowded hour has + attracted other eyes, appreciative in another sense. Masked wood-swallows, + swiftlets, spangled drongos, leaden fly-eaters, barred-shouldered + fly-eaters, hurry to the circus to desolate it with hungry swoops. The + assemblage is noisy, for two or three drongos cannot meet without making a + clatter on the subject of the moment. They cannot sing, but clink and + jangle with as much intensity and individual satisfaction as if gifted + with peerless note. It is the height of the season, and a newly matched + pair, satisfied with an ample meal, sit side by side on a branch to tell + of their love, and in language which, though it may lack tunefulness, has + the outstanding quality of enthusiasm. But why waste clamorous love-notes + on a world busy with breakfast? The sportful, tail-flicking dandy flits + and alights so that he may address himself solely to his delighted and + accepting spouse, peering into her reddish eyes the while, and in ecstasy + proclaiming, in tones as loud and unmusical as her own, that life + overflows with joy when mutual admiration surcharges the breast. + </p> + <p> + The noise stays a company of metallic starlings in headlong flight from + the nest-laden tree in the forest to the many-fruited jungle. Though they + most conscientiously search the fronds of coco-nut palms for insignificant + grubs and caterpillars, starlings do not hawk for insects. Held up by the + excitement—for by this time other birds have darted to the feast—the + starlings alight among the plumes of the laburnum, interrogating in + acidulous tones, their black, burnished, iridescent feathers and + flame-hued eyes making a picture of rare vividness and beauty. + </p> + <p> + How thin becomes the throng! Last night's shower, the morning warmth of + the soil, have brought forth a gush of life that wheels and sparkles in + the sun and becomes bait for birds. Are droughts designed by Nature to + test endurance on the part of animal and vegetable life? Leaves fall from + evergreen trees almost as completely as from the deciduous, and even the + jungle is thickly strewn, while every slight hollow is filled with brittle + debris where usually leaves are limp with dampness and mould. The jungle + has lost, too, its rich, moist odours. Whiffs of the pleasant earthy + smell, telling of the decay of clean vegetable refuse, do issue in the + early morning and after sundown; but while the sun is searching out all + the privacies of the once dim area, the wholesome fragrance does not + exist. + </p> + <p> + Drought proves that certain species of exotic plants are hardier than + natives. Wattles suffer more than mangoes, and citrus fruits have powers + of endurance equal to eucalyptus. Whence does the banana obtain the liquid + which flows from severed stem and drips from the cut bunch? Dig into the + soil and no trace of even dampness is there; but rather parched soil and + unnatural warmth, almost heat. Heat and moisture are the elements which + enable one of the most succulent of plants to bear a bunch of fruit + luscious and refreshing, and when heat alone prevails, the wonder is that + the whole patch of luxuriant greenness does not collapse and wither. But + the broad leaves woo the cool night airs, and while the thin, harsh, tough + foliage of the wattles becomes languid and droops and falls, the banana + grove retains its verdancy, each plant a reservoir of sap. + </p> + <p> + A noteworthy feature of the botany of the coast of tropical Queensland is + its alliance with the Malayan Archipelago and India. Most of the related + plants do not occur in those parts closest to other equatorial regions in + the geographical sense, but in localities in which climate and physical + conditions are similar. Probably there are more affinities in the coastal + strip of which this isle is typical than in all the rest of the continent + of Australia. One prominent example may be mentioned-viz., “the + marking-nut tree.” When the distinctiveness of the botany of the southern + portions of Australia from that of the old country began to impress itself + on the earliest settlers, the miscalled native cherry was the very first + on the list of reversals. The good folks at home were told that the seeds + of the Australian cherry “grow on the outside.” The fruit of the cashew or + marking-nut tree betrays a similar feature in more pronounced fashion. The + fruit is really the thickened, succulent stalk of the kidney-shaped nut. + The tint of the fruit being attractive, unsophisticated children eat of it + and earn scalded lips and swollen tongues, while their clothing is stained + indelibly by the juice. Botanists know the handsome tree as SEMECARPUS + AUSTRALIENSIS, but by the indignant parent of the child with tearful and + distorted features and ruined raiment it is offensively called the + “tar-tree,” and is subject to shrill denunciations. The fleshy stalk + beneath the fruit is, however, quite wholesome either raw or cooked, but + the oily pericarp contains a caustic principle actually poisonous, so that + unwary children would of a certainty eat the worst part. The tree, which + belongs to the same order as the mango, has a limited range, and there are + those who would like to see it exterminated, forgetful that in other parts + of the world the edible parts are enjoyed, and also that a valuable means + to the identification of linen is manufactured from it. A tree that is + ornamental, that provides dense shade, that bears pretty and strange + fruit, an edible part, and provides an economic principle, is not to be + condemned off-hand because of one blot on its character. + </p> + <p> + An Indian representative of the genera produces a nut which when roasted + is highly relished, though dubiously known as the coffin-nail or promotion + nut, but there is no reason to believe that it is specially indigestible + unless eaten in immoderate quantity. + </p> + <p> + One of the many bewilderments of botany is that plants of one family + exhibit characteristics and habits so divergent that the casual observer + fails to recognise the least signs of relationship. Similar confusion + arises in the case of plants of the same species producing foliage of + varied form. One of the figs (FICUS OPPOSITA) displays such remarkable + inconsistency that until reassured by many examples it is difficult to + credit an undoubted fact. The typical leaf is oblong elliptical, while + individual plants produce lanceolate leaves with two short lateral lobes, + with many intermediate forms. As the plant develops, the abnormal forms + tend to disappear, though mature plants occasionally retain them. There + seems to exist correlation between foliage and fruit, for branches + exhibiting leaves with never so slight a variation from the type are, + according to local observation, invariably barren. The leaves, which, when + young, are densely hairy on the underside, on maturity become so rough and + coarse that they are used by the blacks as a substitute for sandpaper in + the smoothing of weapons. The fruit is small, dark purple when ripe, + sweet, but rough to the palate. + </p> + <p> + During the fulness of the wet season, a diminutive orchid, the roots, + tuber, leaf, and flower of which may be easily covered by the glass of a + lady's watch, springs upon exposed shoulders of the hills. So far it has + not been recorded for any other part of Australia, or, indeed, the world. + Science has bestowed upon it the title of CORYSANTHES FIMBRIATA, for it is + all too retiring of disposition to demand of man a familiar name. Probably + it may be quite common in similar localities, but its size, its brief + periodicity, and inconspicuousness, contribute to make it, at present, one + of the rarities of botany. Beneath a kidney-shaped leaf a tiny, solitary, + hooded, purple flower shelters with becoming modesty, the art of + concealment being so delicately employed that it seems to preserve its + virginal purity. There is proof, however, that the flower does possess + some “secret virtue,” for if the plant be immersed in glycerine the + preservative takes the hue of the flower. Nature having ordained that the + plants should be elusive, they appear in remote spots and unlikely + situations with foothold among loose and gritty fragments of rock, and + with cessation of the sustaining rains disappear, each having borne but a + single leaf and produced but a solitary flower. The leaf does not seem to + be attractive to insects, nor is the flower despoiled or the tuber + interfered with. The first dry day sears the plants, and succeeding days + shrivel them to dust and they vanish. What part in the great scheme of + Nature does the humble flower fulfil? Or is it merely a lowly decoration, + not designed to court the ardent gaze of the sun, but to brighten an + otherwise bare space of Mother Earth with a spot of fugitive purple? + </p> + <p> + Widely different are the ant-house plants, of which North Queensland has + two genera. One is purely an epiphyte, growing attached to a tree like + many of the orchids. In both genera the gouty stems are hollow, a feature + of which ants take advantage; they are merely occupiers, not the makers of + their homes. Few, if any, of the plants are uninhabited by a resentful + swarm, ready to attack whomsoever may presume to interfere with it. It is + discomposing to the uninitiated to find the curious “orchid,” laboriously + wrenched from a tree, overflowing with stinging and pungent ants, nor is + he likely to reflect that the association between the plant and the insect + may be more than accidental. + </p> + <p> + Some of the commonest wattles exhibit singularity of foliage well worth + notice. Upon the germination of the seeds the primary leaves are pinnate. + After a brief period this pretty foliage is succeeded by a + boomerang-shaped growth, which prevails during life. Botanists do not + speak of such trees as possessing leaves, but “leaf-stalks dilated into + the form of a blade and usually with vertical edges, as in Australian + acacias.” If one of these wattles is burnt to the ground, but yet retains + sufficient life to enable it to shoot from the charred stem, the new + growth will be of pinnate leaves, shortly to be abandoned for the + substitutes, which are of a form which checks transpiration and fits the + plant to survive in specially dry localities. Several of the species thus + equipped to withstand drought are extremely robust in districts where the + rainfall is prolific. There are no data available to support the theory + that such species in a wet district are more vigorous and attain larger + dimensions than representatives in drier and hotter localities. In her + distribution of the Australian national flower, Nature seems to be + “careless of the type,” or rather regardless in respect of conditions of + climate. + </p> + <p> + Human beings, and occasionally animals lower in the scale, deviate + distressingly in their conduct from the general. Plants, too, though + lacking the organ of brain, are subject to aberrations of foliage almost + as fantastical as the mental bent which in man is displayed by the + sticking of straws in the hair. “Phyllomania” is the recognised term for + this waywardness. One of the trees of this locality, the raroo (CAREYA + AUSTRALIS), seems singularly prone to the infirmity, for without apparent + cause it abandons habitual ways and clothes its trunk and branches with + huge rosettes of small, slight, and ineffective leaves, evidence, + probably, of vital degeneration. + </p> + <p> + Among the beautiful trees of this Island there is one, PITHECOLOBIUM + PRUINOSUM, possessing features of attraction during successive phases of + growth. The young branches, foliage, and inflorescence, are coated with + minute silky hair, as if dusted with bronze of golden tint. The dense, + light, semi-drooping foliage produces a cloud-like effect, to which the + great masses of buff flowers add a delightful fleeciness, while the ripe + pods, much twisted and involved (to carry similitude as far as it may), + might be likened to dull lightning in thunderous vapour. The tree + flourishes in almost pure sand within a few yards of salt water, and, + being hardy and of clean habit, might well be used decoratively. + </p> + <p> + Standing with its feet awash at high tide, the huge fig-tree began life as + a parasite, the seed planted by a beak-cleaning bird in a crevice of the + bark of its forerunner. In time the host disappeared, embraced and + absorbed. Now the tree is a sturdy host. Another fig envelops some of its + branches, two umbrella-trees cling stubbornly to its sides, a pandanus + palm grows comfortably at the base of a limb, tons of staghorn, + bird's-nest, polypodium, and other epiphytal ferns, have licence to + flourish, orchids hang decoratively, and several shrubs spring aspiringly + among its roots. But the big tree still asserts its individuality. It is + the host, the others merely dependents or tenants. Most of the functions + of the tree are associated with the sea. Twice a year it studs its + branches with pink fruit, food for many weeks for a carnival of birds, the + relics of the feast dully carpeting the sand. Before the first fruiting + the old leaves fall, and for a brief interval the shadows of branches and + twigs, intricate, involved, erratic, might be likened to unschooled + scribblings, with here a flourish and there a blot and many a boisterous + smudge. Soon—it is merely a question of days—the swelling buds + displace millions of leaf-sheaves, pale green and fragile, which fall and, + curling in on themselves, redden, and again the yellow sand is littered, + while overhead fresh foliage, changing rapidly from golden, glistening + brown to rich dark green, makes one compact blotch. And when the wind + torments sea and forest, and branches bend and sway, and creepers drift + before it, the white blooms of the orchids, so light and delicate that a + sigh agitates them, might be “foam flakes torn from the fringe of spray” + and tossed aloft. + </p> + <p> + The technical description of a fairly common tree—IXORA TIMORENSIS—is + silent on a quality that appeals to the unversed admirer almost as + strongly as the handsome flowers, which occur in large, loose panicles at + the terminals of the branches. Boldly exposed, the white flowers as they + lose primal freshness change to cream, but last for several weeks. The + omitted compliment from formal records is the singular fragrance of the + flowers—strong, sweet, and enticing, though with a drug-like savour, + as if rather an artificial addition than a provision of Nature. During + December the perfume hangs heavily about the trees, being specially virile + in the cool of evening and morning. Being confined to the tropical coast, + away from the centres of population, and flowering at a season when + visitors avoid the north, the scented Ixora has so far remained + uncommended. Those who are familiar with it in its native scene dwell on + its unique excellence, and are proud to reflect that when a comprehensive + catalogue of the flowering and perfumed plants of Australia comes to be + compiled it will stand high in order of merit, being unique and + characteristic of the richness of that part of the continent in which it + exists naturally. + </p> + <p> + Twice during lengthy intervals have I been perturbed by the conduct of the + sea-swallows (terns) which breed in this neighbourhood. They select for + their nurseries coral banks, depositing large numbers of eggs beyond the + limit of high tides. In obedience to some law, the joyful white birds + began to lay in September, five or six weeks earlier than usual. It seemed + to be a half-hearted effort to maintain the strength of the colony, the + unanimous and general purpose being postponed for three months, when + numerous clutches and marvellously variegated eggs embellished the coral. + But that which was a perfectly safe and wise undertaking in September was + a foolish and dangerous experiment in December. The tides then approach + their maximum, flooding areas denied three months previously. Wholesale + tragedy was inevitable. The full moon brought bereavement to many parents, + for the sea overwhelmed the nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise + birds had laid their eggs above the limit of the highest tide. Others + screamed in protest against the cruelty of the sea, for eggs and fluffy + chicks do not surely represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several + fledglings were found half buried in sand and coral chips, some with + merely the head with bright and apprehensive eyes obtruding. Why were not + the whole of the parents of the colony prudent when in default the penalty + was inevitable? Five score were wise, five hundred were foolish, and the + natural increase from the second brood must have been seriously + diminished. Several of the parent birds had brooded over their eggs until + overwhelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide limit squatted + buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. Of one the tip of a wing only + protruded. It was alive, fostering unbroken eggs. + </p> + <p> + The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite tree—not + massive and tough, but a slim though tall Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets + of which are not notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, + beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise highly intelligent birds so + overstrain branches with groups of nests that “regrettable incidents” + cannot be averted? First there came to the ground a group of four, and + then twenty nests, all containing eggs or helpless young. By these and + similar mishaps during the season the colony suffered loss to the extent + of at least a hundred. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “But, like the martlet, + Builds in the weather on the outward wall + Even in the force and road of casualty.” + </pre> + <p> + How often, too, do we find nests in places absurdly wrong? Wonderfully and + skilfully constructed nests are attached to supports obviously weak, and + eggs are laid on the ground right in the track of man and less considerate + animals. Some birds seem to lay eggs and rear young solely that snakes may + not lack and suffer hunger, while how large a proportion of beautiful and + innocent creatures are destined to become prey to hawks? + </p> + <p> + Years ago scientific visitors to a coral islet found almost innumerable + sea birds and eggs. The multitude of birds and their prodigious fecundity + inspired the thought that the “rookery” for the whole breadth of the + Indian Ocean had been discovered. Investigations showed that the islet was + also the abiding-place of a certain species of lizard which subsisted + entirely on eggs. It was calculated that not one egg in several hundred + was hatched out; yet in spite of such an extraordinary natural check the + islet was enormously overpopulated. Thousands of birds every year laid + eggs for the maintenance of fat and pompous reptiles, without reflecting + that there were other and lizardless isles on which the vital function of + incubation might be performed without loss. Years after other men of + science sought the isle. Birds seemed to be as numerous as ever, but the + lizards had disappeared. Had the birds been wise enough to perceive that + the plague of lizards had been sent as reproof for overcrowding, or did + the lizards become victims to physical deterioration incident upon + gluttony and sloth? + </p> + <p> + “Into every instinctive act there is an intrusion of reasoned act.” No + doubt; but in the case of the terns—sea-frequenting and sea-loving—which + had not the wit to lay their eggs beyond the reach of spring tides, the + reasoning is the merest intrusion. Yet an instance of what seems to be the + reasoned act of a wasp may be cited. The insect had selected a dead log of + soft wood as a site for its egg-shaft. It was at a spot to which the + occupations of the season took me daily, so that the boring operations + were watched from beginning to end. The work was done rapidly and neatly, + and when all was ready for the deposit of the eggs the insect constructed + from papier-mache-like material a disc-shaped lid exactly fitting the + mouth of the excavation, to which it was attached on its upper edge by a + hinge. Then round and about the disc similar stuff was plastered, so as to + form an irregular splash, imitative of a bird's droppings to the-degree of + perfect deception. In the centre was the lid with the hinge, and + whensoever the insect visited its nursery the lid swung up, closing behind + it. On departure it fell into position. Unless the insect by its presence + betrayed its secret, the shrewdest observer at close quarters would have + been misled. + </p> + <p> + There are reasons for the belief that green tree-ants understand and + respect the laws of neutrality. There are several communities in the + mango-trees, and since some of the trees overhang the fence, the top wire + is used as a highway. When a gate is opened traffic is suspended. In a + minute or two of a busy day there will be considerable gatherings on the + latch-style, and if the intervening space is narrowed by the swing of the + gate the impatient insects begin to make a living bridge across the + perilous gap. At one particular gate, which is opened and shut many times + a day, it has been noticed that the ants never seem to resent + interruptions or to be vexed by them. If they happen to get on the hands + or fingers, they submit to be restored to the gate; but go to the + formicary on the mango-tree half a dozen yards away and offer a friendly + finger, and you will find dozens of pugnacious individuals ready to defend + their home. Do they recognise that they are but pilgrims of the fence, + enjoying certain rights on sufferance, that it is a path of peace on which + belligerents must not intrude, a neutral tract under the custody of the + law of nations, which ants, as well as men, must respect? Whatsoever the + reason, the deportment of the truculent ant on the highway is that of an + upholder of peace at any price. It is to be doubted if the animal world + holds more illustrious examples of heroism than a green tree-ants' nest. + Two or three individuals may be despised as long as their assaults are + confined to the less sensitive parts of the body; but let a huge colony up + among the branches of an orange-tree be disturbed, and the first army + corps instantly mobilised, and it will not be cowardly hastily to retreat. + So eager for the fray are the warriors, so well organised, so completely + devoted to the self-sacrificing duty of protecting the community, that two + distinct methods of advance and attack are exercised forthwith in the + midst of what appears to be calamitous confusion. Swarming on the + extremity of the branches among which the formicary is constructed, the + defenders, projecting their terminal segments as far into space as + possible, eject formic acid in the direction of the enemy. Like shrapnel + from machine guns, the liquid missile sweeps a considerable area. Against + the sunlight it appears as a continuous spray, and should one + infinitesimal drop descend into the eye the stoutest mortal will blink. + Attacks are made singly and in detachments. Heroes actually hurl + themselves from the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run along + the ground and, scaling his legs, inflict punishment on the first + convenient patch of unprotected skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in + a mass to the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes happens to + be successful, the observant man will retire with little of his dignity + remaining. + </p> + <p> + It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire tastes for the sweet + fruits which man cultivates. One of the honey-eaters, the diet of which + ranges from nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, as bitter + as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate for the thorough ripening of + bananas. While on the plant the fruit is not appreciated, but after the + bunch has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits are changing + colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly bunches were ripened in a + thatched building for the the most part open, and the bird got the very + best of the bunch. Now the process takes place where the bird has to + venture through wire-netting. It has no fear, entering without ceremony, + loudly complaining when inadvertently disturbed, and flying to other parts + of the house to express remonstrance when the supply is exhausted. + </p> + <p> + Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of observation of some birds + and increases the trustfulness of certain species towards human beings in + a region wherein they are held to have rights on equality with those of + their superiors in the animal world. For years, during the few weeks which + generally intervene between the disappearance of accustomed water reserves + and the beginning of the wet season, with its super-abundance, the + metallic starlings have been wont to obtain refreshment from a hollow far + up a huge tea-tree, the supply in which seemed to be inexhaustible. The + tyrant's plea, necessity, ordained the destruction of the never-failing + tree, and now the starlings descend by the hundred into the deep and shady + ravine whence water is pumped, and drink also from the cattle-trough and + bathe therein with noise and excitement of happy children on the beach. It + is quite within the mark to compute the starlings by the hundred. The + trough is edged nearly all day long by thirsty or dirty birds, while + scores sit round among the shrubs waiting turn and commenting on the + frolics and splashings of others in excitable tones. When, perhaps, there + are but a poor dozen or so round the trough, you may chance to see the + birds in attitudes more varied than those of Pliny's doves, and catch the + shadows of burnished necks darkening the water, as in that famous mosaic, + and even the glistening reflection of the red, jewel-like eyes. Other + birds, with far less assurance and shrill clamour than the lovely + starlings, visit the trough regularly and by the score. Two species of + honey-eaters are seldom unrepresented. The barred-shouldered dove, the + spangled drongo, the noisy pitta, the red-crowned fruit pigeon, the + pheasant-tailed pigeon, are less frequent visitors; and though the + purple-breasted fruit pigeon—the most magnificent of all—talks + to his mate in coarse gutturals from the trees above, he has not been seen + actually drinking. So shy and furtive a bird would choose his time for + refreshment when there is little likelihood of interruption. In the ravine + there are often metallic starlings by the dozen, and little green pigeons—for + those domiciled come and go at all hours of the day. Occasionally a + sulphur-crested cockatoo comes sailing down to the diminishing pool + through interwoven leafage noiselessly as a butterfly; but scrub fowls, + scared by the apparition in white, scamper off with a clatter, scattering + the dead leaves. In such narrow quarters, birds are under restraint, and + show anxiety and apprehension. There is no sport or play. They drink + quickly and with faculties strained, and flutter off excitedly on the + least alarm. Well may they be suspicious, for is not the cool spot + attractive to the sly enemy, the green snake, which conceals its presence + by faithful resemblance to the creepers among which it glides? Here, too, + come millions of industrious bees, and in the dusk the big pencil-tailed + water-rat, which the masterful dog kills with as little ceremony as he + does the bird-scaring snakes. + </p> + <p> + It was late for cockatoos to start on their daily flight to the mainland + from the big tree close to the twin palms half-way up the hill, and as + they flew hastily and in close company they scolded each other in + unmannerly terms. The language must have been vexing, for as they sped + along far above the passionless sea one jostled the other. It was just the + sort of action to provoke hungry, peevish birds to vindictiveness. That + which had been jostled turned on the offender with angry shrieking, and + instantly a clamorous fight was in progress. Claws became interlocked, and + they fell each with distended crest, like a gilt-edged cloudlet following + the setting sun. Shadow and substance met with a splash. The sea + momentarily swallowed the combatants. Then a yellow note of exclamation + appeared, and with laboured flutterings, using his enemy as a base, one + rose and struggled to the beach oaks. Frantic wing-beating showed that the + other bird was in serious difficulties. It was a hundred yards out, but + the enjoyment of a sunbath after a sea frolic enabled one to proceed to + the rescue without preliminaries. Half drowned and completely cowed, the + bird was now confronted by a more awful peril than that of the sea. A + bedraggled crest indicated horror at the steady approach of the enemy man, + whose presence stimulated the sodden bird to such extraordinary efforts + that it succeeded in rising and in making slow, low flight to the beach. + </p> + <p> + At dawn a bat flew into a spider's web spun during the night, the + extremities of the wings being so entangled that struggling was almost + impossible. A big spider pounced on it. Not a minute elapsed from the + entanglement until the bat was released, but the venom of the spider had + done its work. There was not a sign of life. The spider is dark grey in + colour, bloated of body, slothful, and of most retiring disposition. + Huddled up into almost spherical form, it lurks in dark places, which it + soon makes insanitary. In the open it crouches among dead leaves which + have gathered in the fork of a tree, and will construct a web which spans + the coconut avenue with its stays. From one aspect its rotund body invites + a good-humoured smile, for the marking exactly simulates the features of a + tabby cat, well fed, sleepy, and in placid mood. Venom of virulence to + kill a bat almost instantly would be severe enough to a human being. This + dirty, obese spider deserves little consideration at the hand of man. + </p> + <p> + A moonless, cloudless night. The little praam takes the ground in the bay + a few yards from the beach, and in the midst of a constellation of + “jelly-fishes” spherical in form and varying in size. The larger are so + many pale blue orbs floating lazily in a luminous mist, the only visible + manifestation of life being a delicate but rhythmical deepening of the + central hue. The wash of my wading seems not to affect them. I become + conscious of the sudden appearance and swift disappearance of lesser + spheres of startling brilliance. They emerge from nothingness, pause for a + moment, and shoot towards me with extraordinary impulse. Each is a mere + globule, resplendently blue. The tint intensifies as with accelerated + velocity the atom flies until of its own excessive energy it explodes with + a shell-like flash, leaving a sinuous trail of golden light. To burst into + sight, gather force, to flash and slowly vanish—such is the sum of + life of a speck of sea-jelly. To be the centre towards which scores of the + watery meteors gravitate, to witness their apparently spontaneous + beginning, their swift, brief, but ineffectual career and lingering end, + delights this night of darkness. How many of the race of man are there + whose post-mortem glory outshines life tenfold? + </p> + <p> + Beneath a slab of dead coral on the reef there was revealed one of those + primitive and curious marine animals which has no common name, but which + science recognises as SYNAPTA BESELLI. It is a relation of the + béche-de-mer, of snake-like form, with a group of gills differentiating + the head. Playing about it were three or four little fish which + immediately took advantage of the only remaining cover, the body of the + Synapta, snoodling beside it so artfully that they were quite concealed. + The protector did not appear to resent the close company of the fish, + which remained perfectly motionless. In a few seconds the Synapta began to + extrude its feathery gills, which had been partly retracted on + disturbance. I counted the gills, and while my forefinger indicated the + sixth, a little fish, not previously noticed, appeared at the focus and + edged off to the margin of the pool, now and again making decided efforts + to regain its sanctuary. It was about an inch long and a third deep, ruby + red, with pink undersides and pink, transparent fins. Three narrow bands + of silver edged with lavender extended across the shoulder. Life gave it + jewel-like lustre. The companionship between the slow and feeble Synapta, + one of the most primitive of sea things, and the brilliant, agile fish may + be another instance of commensalism. + </p> + <p> + No one who parades a coral reef can fail to be impressed by the various + means adopted by its weaker denizens to evade the consequences of + conspicuousness. Among the vast multitude of creatures, mostly hostile to + each other, few are more remarkable than the crabs, not only on account of + form and habit, but for care of themselves during the periodic casting of + their shells. They therefore represent an entertaining study and a + never-ending source of pleasure to the observer, who, as he happens on + some fantastic member of the family, wonders, remembering his Shakespeare, + what impossible matter will Nature make easy next. Dreamy little ripples + were laying on the strands sprays of seaweed, torn from the reef which was + not quite out of the influence of the easterly swell. The conditions were + ordinary, but one fragment made itself noticeable by slight, almost + undiscernible, but still distinctive efforts to regain the water, whence + it was separated by a few inches. Seaweed alone was visible as it rested + on the palm of the hand. Presently it moved hesitatingly and with infinite + slowness, and, being reversed, revealed itself as a “watery” crab under + living disguise. The specimen was sent to the Australian Museum, Sydney, + where it came under the hands of my friend Mr. Allan R. McCulloch, who + devotes himself to the phenomena of the sea; and since his references to + it are explicit and authoritative, they will be more acceptable than + generalities from an uninformed pen: “The crab you sent is the second + specimen known of ZEWA BANFIELDI, which I described from a dried specimen + received from you some years ago. Not only the species, but the genus + also, was unknown until you gave me the opportunity of describing this + interesting beast. It is one of the spider crabs, or Oxyrhynchus, most of + which have long horns projecting from the rostrum, and are more or less + thickly covered with stiff curled setae, to which seaweeds, sponges, and + other marine growths—selected according to the taste of the bearer—are + attached. When these crabs shed their shells, which they must do + periodically to allow of growth, they retire to a dark corner and draw + themselves out of a slit between the back and the abdomen, legs and all, + which must, I imagine, be a delicate and somewhat painful proceeding. + After emerging, they are, of course, quite soft, and the setae on the + carapace and legs are flexible. The crab then selects choice bits of weed + from its old shell and fastens them to itself by the setae, which soon + curl at the tips like the tendrils of a vine, and so hold them firmly. The + weeds and sponges, requiring no roots, but merely a secure base, readily + grow in their new position, and so cover their host with a sheltering + disguise, enabling it to sally forth in quest of fresh loves and other + adventures. I am sending the reprint with the original description and + figure, also a sketch of the crab with its weedy garments. Much of the + weed had become detached on its arrival here, which is, perhaps, + fortunate, since the sketch would otherwise have shown merely a cluster of + weeds.” It could be well wished that the specimen had retained the whole + of its floral cloak, for then the sketch would have shown its deceptive + qualities in perfection. Masquerading as a spray of seaweed, the crab + eludes its enemies, the mask being of such high order that even man, with + his perceptions, does not penetrate it unless he exercises his reasoning + faculties. Because he knows that a spray of seaweed is not endowed with + independent movement, when it does walk about he, at first, is as + incredulous as was Macbeth when told of that “moving grove” of Birman. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ETERNAL SUNSHINE + </h2> + <p> + “North Queensland is my country. I love it. I live in it. I would die for + it.”—DODD S. CLARKE. + </p> + <p> + To those who earnestly believe that a country exercises dominance over its + inhabitants, mental as well as physical, the present state of North + Queensland offers interesting problems. Save for a fast-disappearing + remnant, gone are the original occupiers of the land. The most listless, + the least thrifty of the old peoples, have given place to representatives + of the most adventurous, the most successful—men and women of + British blood, of progressive ideas, vaunting and independent spirit, but + with slight respect for the traditions of their race. Apt to regard their + own land as all-sufficient, to resent the incoming of strangers + (especially those of dark complexion), determined to exclude coloured + labour from tropical fields, while demanding higher and yet higher + recompense for work which in other equatorial regions is deemed to be + servile, on what grounds do they base the hope of adapting themselves to + their environment, of becoming children of the soil? + </p> + <p> + The genius of the race forbids degeneracy. Marked and sudden improvement + may be expected if examples drawn from the lower animals and certain + plants are applicable. Huxley laid it down that “the animals and plants of + the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in the + Southern Hemisphere as its own autochones, but are in many cases + absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. + Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabits a country is not + necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions.” + Australian aboriginals having given way before a race better fitted to + flourish, what will the future of the new race be? What ideal is at + present pursued? + </p> + <p> + To one who firmly upholds the theory of the evolution of Australian types, + and who thinks he perceives convincing evidence in support of his belief, + it seems likely that on the tropical coast, where the influence of the sun + is all-powerful, rainfall abundant, and vegetation prolific, the type will + not only be more rapidly developed, but that it will be pronounced in + bodily form, in tongue, and in temperament. One of the reasons compelling + towards such conclusion is the decided desire—nay, the ambition—on + the part of native-born Australians to do glad and seemly homage to the + sun. + </p> + <p> + If a traveller from distant and friendly lands were to accept as germs of + a type those who sport in the surf at fashionable watering-places, he + might infer from the display of brown backs and shoulders that Australia + had not escaped a smudge of aboriginal blood. But this ardently cultivated + tint is notoriously impermanent. Contradictory as it may be, the most + earnest advocates of the “White Australia” principle use more than the + average quantity of oil, which makes the skin to shine and embrown under + the influence of the much-loved sun. Do not their shoulders bear testimony + to the sun's wholesome salutations, and does not the too fair and + thin-skinned individual smart under his peeling and display envy against + the favoured ones who burn to the tint of old copper? Naturally, those who + have the most intense longing for a coloured skin, who persistently seek + to acquire it by exposure to the sun seconded by anointings, will prevail. + In the course of a few generations—it would be idle to say how many—the + type will be fixed and the unguent superfluous; in the meantime the use of + coco-nut oil has become one of the confirmed customs of the country, as in + Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific. + </p> + <p> + If “beauty born of murmuring sound” may enhance the charms of maidenhood, + is it too much to expect that sunburn, fervently desired, may not only + permanently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of the race? And + thus in years to come the white Australian may be of the past—transformed + physically by the supremacy of soil and sun, and improved in disposition + and character by economic observances as irrefutable as the laws of + Nature. The horses of out dry, stony uplands have already developed hoofs + in shape and texture well adapted to the country over which they roam, and + have become surer-footed and more active and durable. Conditions and + circumstances which in a few generations effect desirable changes in + horses will assuredly be influential in respect of the physique and + stamina and moralities of man. North Queensland will establish a type, + just as Tierra del Fuego did many centuries since, and the type will be + that which is best fitted to maintain itself. It will be brown of + complexion, hardy and alert. North Queensland is expansive and varied. It + comprises a marvellous range of geological phenomena, from which may be + expected remarkable variants. The sheep-grower of the treeless downs will + differ from the denizen of the steamy coast who supplies him with sugar + and bananas. The man from among the limestone bluffs may be in temperament + strange to the dweller on the black soil plains and to the individual who + lives among barren hills seamed with copper. Readers of English books and + magazines are familiar with the little prominence given to matters which + stand for good and worthiness and the stress laid on the seeming + disadvantages of life in tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may + contain a series of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying + information concerning country life in Canada. It is impossible not to + visualise the miles of wheat-fields, the imposing elevators, the railways + cutting across endless prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, + snowcapped as a stage effect merely. The pictures of chubby children and + buxom girls and sturdy boys tell of the healthfulness and invigorating + qualities of the climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada? + Would not the man who whispered of snow and ice be a renegade, a dastard, + a rebel? North Queenslanders do not attempt to belittle the reputation of + Canada as a field for the activities of the surplus population of the old + country. We are of the same blood and breed, and merely ask for a proper + understanding of our own good land. The comfort given to Canada is all in + the family, and an Empire which extends from pole to pole must needs + embrace differences of climate and productions. + </p> + <p> + Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of Empire? Here we bear + our share stripped to the buff, while Canada bustles under an equally + honourable but heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic + son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of North Queensland noon; + while the sweatful North Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous + ice of his far-away cousin. + </p> + <p> + The denizens of the different parts of the Empire quite understand one + another, and realise that to be great the Empire must disregard + temperatures as it does prickly heat and chilblains. Only the casual + visitor fails in this. + </p> + <p> + Sun Days are essential to the production of sugar and bananas and mangoes, + to say nothing of pineapples and other fruits of the tropics. When we are + called upon to endure extraordinary heat, we tell one another of the + penance and find excuse for extra drinks. But neither the heat nor the + comparison of personal experiences is of the injurious nature of some of + the refreshments. The weather is not compounded of excesses, but of means. + Is it not true that few countries in the wide world would be considered + fit for habitation by human beings if the character of the climate was + estimated by its extremes? + </p> + <p> + No North Queenslander will resent records of high temperatures. He will be + quite content to be shown enjoying and flourishing in the heat in which + sugar-cane thrives, for thereby is to be proved a fact theorists seem + unable to grasp—viz., that such is the soundness and virtue of the + British race that it adapts itself with equal success to the long, dark, + cold winter of Canada and the perpetual summer of North Queensland. Who is + to say that the Canadian in his thick woollens and furs is a healthier + subject, a worthier type, than the North Queenslander, stripped to the + waist in the full blaze of the sun, glorying in his own vigour, proud of + his magnificent heritage, and scornful of the opinions of those who have + never experienced that supreme zest of life unpurchasable outside the + tropic zone? + </p> + <p> + With intent to picturesquely demonstrate that soil will tell, some are + ready to assert that we owe Christianity to the horizontal limestone + formation of Palestine. Accepting the theory with whole-hearted + enthusiasm, and admitting that North Queensland comprehends tracts of + country not dissimilar from the Holy Land, mark what the future may have + in store for the race. Do you want old age?—Methuselah, Noah, Isaac. + Strong men?—Gosselin, Samson, Saul. Beautiful women?—Ruth, + Rebecca, Esther. Does not David, the man after God's own heart, appeal? + Was not Solomon, the wise, the glorious, the prolific, a superior type? + And, with all reverence be it said, was not the Founder of the Christian + religion a solar product? + </p> + <p> + Hotter lands beyond the bounds of Palestine gave to the world men and + women whose deeds and influence still astound and stimulate millions of + mankind—the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Pharaoh the Great, Moses the + leader, whom the Lord knew face to face, Joseph the organiser, Mahomet, + the benign Buddha, and all the sages, the poets, the historians, the + architects of the gorgeous East. May not those who elect to live in lands + of high temperature and who are strong in their faith cite apt and + illustrious precedents, and make bold to say that none has exercised more + influence on the minds and destinies of mankind than those born in the + lands of the Sun? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRAGRANCE AND FRUIT + </h2> + <p> + “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant + to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.”—Holy Writ. + </p> + <p> + While the remnant of the crop of citrus fruits still hangs on the trees, + after providing refreshing food for six months and more, the blooms which + promise next year's supplies decorate the branches. Is it not pleasing to + have such graceful promises before the burden of the passing season has + disposed of all its sweetness? Possibly these early flowers are destined + to produce fruit for the admiration of living things upon which the + gardener bestows anything but a welcome. It may come to maturity just + after the wet season, when flies and moths feast and corrupt in riot which + provokes to wrath. Inconsequent feeders, they probe the fruit and flit + away after a sip which does not absorb a thousandth part of its keen + juices, or they use a comely specimen in which to deposit eggs, which in + the course of Nature become grubs. All such infected fruit the trees + abandon until the ground is strewn with waste. Such disaster happens when + the air is favourable to the breeding of quivering gauze wings; but there + comes a time when the fruit suffers little or no ill, and then the heart + of the orchardist rejoices as does that of the fisher when the wind comes + up from the sea. Then does he accept fine promises in good faith, for it + has come to be the fashion for certain varieties of citrus fruits to + provide two crops, and the second, which ripens about the beginning of + August, the superior in size, appearances generally, and distinctly in + flavour. The fruit is just as juicy as that which ripens when the air is + saturated with the moisture of the wet season, while its fragrance almost + equals that of the snowy flowers whence it sprang. These facts hasten to + this conclusion—that the orange-grower has something beyond mere + money in compensation for his toil. Can it be called toil? Does he not for + the most part, after the first and essential preliminaries are of the + past, permit Nature to have her own wayward will with his dutiful trees? + Does he always and invariably cut out the dead wood which tells of much + too strenuous efforts on their part to justify their existence and his + care? Does he attempt to exterminate the pretty flies which send to the + ground a certain percentage, while yet the fruit is immature and bitter? + Does he let the light of the caressing sun into the hearts of his pet + trees by removing superfluous twigs? Well does he know that if he tended + them as he should their bounty to him would be much magnified. Yet does he + dream on, accepting that which comes, admiring leafage, bloom, and + fragrant fruit, and always postponing the day when substantial aid and + credit should be given. There is something to be said in favour of this + happy attitude towards good-natured trees. Should it not suffice to have + given them monopoly and choice? Many others, and some of far nobler + proportions, have been exterminated for their special benefit and + advantage. They have been grown from seed of most highly complimented + fruit; their infancy and youth have been nurtured and protected; each has + been assigned its proper place with due regard to the welfare of + neighbours; less promising vegetation has been summarily checked; the + first flowers have been sniffed with high delight, the first fruits + sampled with extravagant praise. Having bestowed upon trees care and + attention, while they were yet mere sprouts of tender green, and admired + their sturdy development, and approved their best efforts, is it not yours + to accept whatsoever they offer as reward and recompense for past labour + and present appreciation? + </p> + <p> + From the artistic standpoint the most admirable of all the citrus-trees is + the pomelo, which, however, lacks merit from the commercial side. The tree + grows more sedately than the orange or the mandarin, but on a grander + scale. The leaves are bigger, tougher, and the appendages on either side + of the stalk (which botanists call the stipules) more developed. The + blooms are greater, and endowed with a much richer perfume than the + orange; the fruit is huge and fragrant, though somewhat disappointing to + the individual who expects the sweetness of the mandarin; while, if the + views of the learned in such attributes are trustworthy it possesses + medicinal qualities which are foreign to its dainty, diminutive relative. + It would be mere affectation to refrain from these compliments to the + pomelo when the atmosphere is saturated with the perfume from lusty trees. + Certainly one has to wait patiently for many a long year ere his trees + greet him with white flowers which pour out perfume of rare density and + enrich him with golden fruit almost as big as footballs. From nine to + twelve years must elapse, but expectancy is not wholly measurable by the + arbitrariness of time. The true standard is the desire, tempered by the + patience of the custodian of the trees. + </p> + <p> + In August the pomeloes put on their most attractive appearances. The young + leaves of lively tint contrast with the almost sombre green of the older + foliage, and flowers in clusters give a most becoming adornment. Big and + beautiful as they are, scent is their most conspicuous feature. Even in + the open air it is rich almost to cloyness. It hangs about the tree while + the wind is still, and the slightest movement of the air wafts it hither + and thither. It stings sensitive folk with its intensity at close + quarters, but when diffused is fragrance of ethereal delight. All day long + birds frolic in the trees, some to cull the nectar, some to search for + insects attracted for like purpose, some to nibble and discard white + petals. All the moist soil beneath is strewn with snowy flakes, for at + night flying foxes blunder among the branches, destroying more blooms than + they eat. But why grumble? Birds which nip off petals and musty foxes + which brush down whole posies in their clumsiness are but positive checks + to overproduction. Do they not avert the unthankful task of carting away + dozens of barrow loads of superfluous fruit? Last night at dusk there was + a sensation of the coming of rain, though the air was still and the sky + clear. I paused under the trees to expand my lungs with their scented + breathings. A semi-intoxicated bird twittered drowsily among the branches, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “His happy good-night air, + Some blessed hope, whereof he knew, + And I was unaware.” + </pre> + <p> + Dozens of sphinx moths—big torpedo-shaped bodies carried by wings of + soft brown and dull red—floated about, sipping where and when and as + long as they liked. Sometimes the sphinx has almost an aggressive tone In + his flight—hasty, important, brooking no interference. Last night's + note was of supreme content. A rich and overflowing feast was spread and + the insects hovered over the posies and sipped and fluted like merry + roysterers, without a care or thought of the morrow. It was a love-feast, + for the still night seemed to invite the trees to give of their richest + and best; the psalm of the insects was audible, not to the distance whence + the perfume was dissipated, but for many a scented yard. The trees seemed + sanctified, and I stood bare-headed among them and gave my silent praise + for a delightsome experience. Expectancy and patience had been overpaid. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SCENE-SHIFTER + </h2> + <p> + “We are all going to the play or coming from it.”—DICKENS. + </p> + <p> + In a few hours came “the season's difference.” The scene-shifter worked + with almost magical haste, with silence, and with supreme effect. The + gloomy days and nights of misty hill-tops and damp hollows, where the + grass was sodden and the air dull and irresponsive to sound, gave way to + bright sunshine, cloudless skies, calm seas, echoing hills, and the tinge + of that which for lack of the ideal word we call “spring.” Spring does not + visit the tropical coast, where vegetation does not tolerate any period of + rest. When plants are not actually romping with excess of vital force, as + during the height of the wet season, they grow with the haste of summer. + And yet immediately on the dispersal of the mists of July the least + observance could not fail to recognise that a certain and elaborate change + had taken place. The mango-trees had been flowering for several weeks in a + trivial, half-hearted way, but when the sun sent its thrills down into the + moist soil the lemons and pomeloes began to sweeten the air; the + sunflower-tree displayed its golden crowns among huge soft leaves, and the + last blooms of belated wattles fell, showing that it is possible for + tributes representative of May and September to be paid on one and the + same date. + </p> + <p> + The scene-shifter came softly “as the small rain upon the tender herb,” + but with an orchestra of his own. Years of observation have shown that the + weather does control the habits of some birds—birds of distinct and + regular methods of life. Two such are common—the nutmeg pigeon and + the metallic starling. Both species leave this part of the North during + the third week of March, flying in flocks to regions nearer the equator. + For several weeks the starlings train themselves for the long Northern + flight and its perils, dashing with impetuous speed through the forest and + wheeling up into the sky until they disappear, to become visible again as + black dots hurtling through space when the sunlight plays on their glossy + feathers as the course of the flock is changed. With the rush of a wind of + small measure but immense velocity, the flock descends earthwards, among + and over the trees, perfecting itself by trials of endurance and intricate + alertness. The birds return during the first week in August, in small and + silent companies, to reoccupy favourite resorts in common. The nutmeg + pigeons are also of exact habit, the time for their return generally + coinciding with that of the starlings. This year (1916) both birds were + noticed just after the scene-shifter had swept the hills of mists, and now + other birds seem to have awakened to the conditions which the starlings + and the nutmegs brought with them from hotter lands. The swamp pheasants + are whooping and gurgling, and that semi-migratory fellow, the spangled + drongo—a flattering name, for he jangles but does not spangle—sits + on the slim branch of the Moreton Bay ash which held last year's nest and + chatters discordances in the very ears of his responsive mate. They will + start building a loose nest on the brittlest branch forthwith, and while + the lady sits on her three eggs he will screech defiances to the high + heavens and perform aerial gymnastics with delirious delight. + </p> + <p> + The sun-birds are searching the lemon blooms. The breast of the gay, + assertive little bird is far richer in tint than the brightest of the + lemons. A minute ago one perched on a ripe fruit as if to shame it by + contrast, and the fruit has since seemed a trifle dull of tint, and with + light-hearted inconsequence the pair are now probing narrow throats of + papaw flowers. The ground has been too much overgrown with grass and weeds + for the comfort of the little green pigeons which come strutting down the + paths for seeds and crumbs. Dry soil, which may be easily scanned and + scratched, is more to their liking, so they keep to the forest, where in + some places the undergrowth of wattles is so dense that the sun may not + visit the ground, and the bare places glitter with seed. + </p> + <p> + When rain was seriously deficient, proof was given that some proportion of + the wattle seeds eaten by pigeons are not digested. In the crevices of + logs supporting the water-trough, which proved to be a popular refreshment + spot of many species of birds, clamorous with thirst, seeds were + deposited, and when the rains came the trough was fringed and decorated + with pinnate leaves of sprouting wattles, some of which grew so strongly, + notwithstanding the absence of soil, save that which occurs from the slow + decay of seasoned bloodwood, that if summary measures had not been taken + the trough might have been embowered. The season seems to have been too + damp for the night-jars, though quite to the taste of all species of + pigeons. In the course of a few minutes the voice of the timid, tremulous, + barred-shouldered dove came from among the yellow-flowered hibiscus of the + beach, while the pheasant-tailed pigeon sounded its rich, dual note, the + red-crowned fruit pigeon tolled its mournful chime, and the guttural of + the magnificent fruit pigeon—often heard, but seldom seen—came + from the jungle close at hand. Not one of these birds was visible, nor was + the fluty-voiced shrike thrush, which answers every strange call and + mimics crude attempts to reproduce its varied notes. The blue kingfisher + is investigating the tumour made by white ants in the bloodwood wherein + the nest is annually excavated, and soon the chattering notes of the pair + will be heard. A week ago few signs of the approach of the scene-shifter + were discernible. He has come, and plants and birds respond to his genial + and becoming presence—plants with richer growth and more abundant + flowers, birds with the unreflecting gaiety of nuptial days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BEACH PLANTS + </h2> + <p> + “Remove the vegetable kingdom, or interrupt the flow of its unconscious + benefactions, and the whole higher life of the world ends.”—HENRY + DRUMMOND. + </p> + <p> + Strolling on the curving footway of broken shells and coral chips marking + the limit of the morning's tide, a vague attempt was made to catalogue the + plants which crowd each other on the verge of salt water, and so to make + comparison with that part of Australia the features of which provoked Adam + Lindsay Gordon to frame an adhesive phrase concerning bright scentless + blossoms and songless, bright birds. Excluding the acacias and eucalypts, + said to have given sameness to the scenes among which the exotic poet + ranged, a long list might be compiled; nor will the pleasant sounds of the + afternoon be set down in formal order to the vexing of his memory, for + possibly he never heard the whoop and gurgle of the swamp pheasant or the + blended voices of hundreds of nutmeg pigeons mellowed by half a mile of + still, warm air. + </p> + <p> + Nor may such unassuming vegetation as the grasses—at least a dozen + varieties—find place in an enumeration which appeals primarily on + the grounds of prominence, though it would not do to despise the soft and + pleasant carpet beneath the orderly row of Casuarinas which the tide + planted during the last big cyclone with gardener's art. The common name + for the trees—“she” (or “shea” oaks, as the late F. Manson Bailey + preferred)—mimics the sound of the wind among the branches, which + the slightest zephyr stirs and, the storm lashes into sea-like roar. The + bright green of the grasses sets off the dull green and bronze of the + steadfast harps of the beach. At certain seasons and in some lights, when + the sun is in the west, the minute scales at the joints of the slender, + pendulous branchlets shine like old gold, producing a theatrical effect + which, if not experienced before, startles and almost persuades to the + belief that the complaining trees have been decorated by one who “has + sought out many inventions.” But the slant of the sun alters, the light + fades, leaving them sombre in hue and whispering more and more discreetly + as the night calm settles over the scene. Such communicable trees should + stand together, commenting on passing events, booming in unison with the + cyclone, and mimicking the tenderest tones of the idlest wind. During a + storm, when the big waves crash on the beach and the Casuarinas are + tormented, the tumult is bewildering; but however loud their plaint, very + few suffer, though growing in loose sand; for the roots are widespread + and, like the trunk and main branches, tough, while the branchlets stream + before the wind. + </p> + <p> + Close behind the screen of Casuarinas is a magnificent specimen of a + wide-spreading shrub, in form a squat dome, which commemorates the name of + a French naturalist—TOURNEFORTIA ARGENTA. The leaves, crowded at the + ends of thick branchlets, are covered with soft, silky hairs of a silvery + cast, which reflect the sun's rays. It would be gross exaggeration to say + that the finely shaped shrub shines like silver, for the general hue of + the foliage is sage green, but that it has a silvery cast, which in + certain lights contrasts with the dull gold of its neighbours, is an + alluring fact which must not be strained. Moreover, the shrub covers an + almost perfect circle, about thirty feet in diameter, and since it is not + more than ten feet high, its form is as if Nature had designed the + creation of a circus of shadow, dense and cool, for the comfort of + mankind. + </p> + <p> + At high-water mark stands one of the Terminalias with big terminal light + green leaves, musty flowers, and purple fruit—gold, silver, and + purple in close array—while over the sand the goat-footed + convolvulus sends long, succulent shoots bearing huge pink flowers + complementary to the purple of the beach-pea (CANVALIA OBTUSIFOLIA). + </p> + <p> + Under the she-oaks young coral trees have sprung up, but the red flowers + are of the past, and so also have the gold and white of the Calophyllums + disappeared. But in the evening the breeze brings whiffs of a singular + savour, pleasant yet not sweet, which comes from the acre or two of native + hops a few yards back. The bruised leaves thereof give off anything but an + attractive odour, yet the faint natural exhalations from the plant are + sniffed eagerly and to the revivification of pleasant recollections. + </p> + <p> + Among a crowd of massive shrubs sprawls a plant of loose habit known as + CAESALPINA BONDUCELLA, the long clinging branches and the pods of which + are armed with hooked prickles. It is a plant of wide range, for the + bluish-grey seeds are said to be used in Arabia for necklets. In the idle + days of the past the blacks were wont to enclose a single seed in a + miniature basket woven of strips of cane for the amusement of infants—probably + the first of rattles. It has seized for support some of the branches of a + rare tree (CERBERA ODOLLAM) which bears long, glossy, lanceolate leaves, + large, pink-centred, white flowers, delicately fragrant, and compressed + oval fruit, brilliantly scarlet. The tempting appearance of the fruit is + all that may be said in its favour, for it is hard and bitter, and said to + be vicious in its effects on the human system; hence the generic title, + after the three-headed dog, guardian of the portals of the infernal + regions. + </p> + <p> + Grouped here and there are pale green, big-leaved shrubs (PREMNA + OBTUSIFOLIA,) bearing flowers and fruit calling to mind the elder of the + old country. The wood is deep yellow in colour, but apparently of no + practical use. + </p> + <p> + Another small tree, suggesting in its regular and well-balanced shape the + use of the pruning-knife, is GUETTARDIA SPECIOSA, the flowers of which are + white with a tinge of pink in the centre and highly fragrant. The fruit is + a hard, woody drupe, containing small seeds. TIMONIUS RUMPHII, belonging + to the same Family, but of more frequent occurrence, bears small white + flowers and globular fruit. The white, finely grained wood is said to + resemble English sycamore. Though harsh and flaky, the surface of the bark + seems to retain moisture, making it attractive to several species of fungi + and epiphytal ferns, the most conspicuous of the latter being the + stag's-horn. Few of the trees near the beach are free from such + encumbrances. + </p> + <p> + To unaccustomed eyes the Pandanus palm is chief among the noticeable + features of the flora of the coast of tropical Queensland. Two species are + represented on these accommodating sands, each suffering no ill, from + imbibing salt water, each exhibiting the peculiarity whence the genus + derives its common name—the screw palm, the arrangement of the long, + narrow, prickle-edged leaves displaying in the most regular and + demonstrative style the perfect spiral. The single stem of youth + frequently deteriorates and occasionally disappears altogether, + adventitious roots, descending from various heights, forming an elaborate + and sure and ever-developing support. The huge, bright orange-tinted fruit + of the species known as Odoratissimus is highly attractive in appearance, + and to the uninitiated offers pleasing hopes and delicious expectations. + It is, however, delusive, being constituted of woody drupes in close + clusters collected into a globular head, with meagre yellow pulp at the + base of each group, the pulp having an aromatic and unsatisfactory + flavour. Each drupe contains an oblong oval kernel, pleasant to the taste, + but so trivial in size as to be hardly worth the trouble of extraction + unless there is little else to occupy attention save the pangs of hunger. + These defects do not detract from the parade of the tree—picturesque, + singular, and replete with interest to the observer of the infinite + variety of the vegetation of the tropics. + </p> + <p> + The cockatoo apple (CAREYA AUSTRALIS), which has several useful qualities, + flourishes exceedingly. The ripe fruit, green and insipid, was wont to be + eaten by the blacks, bark from the branches was twisted into + fishing-lines, that of the roots used for poisoning fish, while the + leaves, heated over the fire until the oil exuded, were applied to bruised + and aching parts of the body. Extraordinary tenacity of life distinguished + the tree, the axe, fire, and poison failing under some circumstances to + vanquish it. + </p> + <p> + Another and closely related member of the same Family (Myrtaceae) is + BARRINGTONIA SPECIOSA, which, so far as local experience is to be trusted, + is restricted to the beaches, growing lustily in pure sand at the very + verge of high-water mark. The glossy leaves of this many-branched tree + often exceed a foot in length; the flowers, too, are large and singular in + style, the petals being comparatively insignificant, while the numerous + stamens attain a length of four inches and are of a lovely shade of red. + Like its relative, the cockatoo apple, the flowers of the Barringtonia + have a meaty smell, which seems to attract many species of insects. In + keeping with other characteristics, the fruit is large, consisting of a + thick, woody covering, as if Nature designed that the single seeds should + be adequately protected during a protracted oceanic drift. It is often + cast up on the sand, but the seed does not germinate as consistently as + that of the cannon-ball-tree; but when it does it rarely fails to become + established. + </p> + <p> + Two species of Ficus deserve to be mentioned, though this catalogue does + not claim to be exhaustive. FICUS FASCICULATA, as the title implies, bears + its inedible fruit in bundles, branches, trunk, and exposed roots, being + alike fertile, and is almost as retentive of life as the cockatoo apple. + Opposita is remarkable for varied form of foliage, referred to + particularly elsewhere, and for the sweetness of its fruit. + </p> + <p> + One of the loveliest and most remarkable plants of the beach is the + seacoast laburnum (SOPHORA TOMENTOSA), with its pinnate leaves of sage + green, hoary with silvery fur as soft as seal-skin, and bearing terminal + spikes of golden flowers with scent invoking slight comparison with + mignonette. The thick, silky leaves, the yellow flowers, and the strange + pods, are distinctive qualities, which atone for the absence of the + special sweetness of the garden favourite. The pods begin as slender, + silvery, dangling threads, which speedily lengthen and become constricted. + When the breeze flusters the shrubs, revealing the undersides of the + leaves at a reflective angle and shaking the tasselled pods, and the + splashes of gold sway hither and thither, the character of the shrub as + one of the most attractive ornaments of the beach is so truly displayed + that it might be likened to the tree of the sun described by Marco Polo—green + on one side, but white when perceived on the other. + </p> + <p> + This quality, however, is not special or peculiar. The brown kurrajong + (COMMERSONIA ECHINATA) exhibits it even more conspicuously, and, when the + dusty white flowers—displayed in almost horizontal planes—are + buffeted by the winds and the white undersides of the leaves are revealed, + the whole style of the tree is transformed as a demure damsel is by + tempestuous petticoats. + </p> + <p> + With the grey-green of the Sophora is often intertwined the leafless + creeper CASSYTHA FILIFORMIS, which in the days of the past the blacks were + wont to use with other beach plants in the composition of a crude seine + net. The long-reaching, white-flowered CLERODENDRON INERME and the tough, + sprawling BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA, with its small, harsh flowers, yellow as + buttercups but resembling a daisy in form, were also embodied in the net. + </p> + <p> + The Poonga oil-tree, the new and old leaves the colour of new copper, and + the mature the darkest of green, bears spikes of pale lavender flowers, + and makes a decided blotch among the light green succulent leaves of the + native cabbage (SCAEVOLA KOENIGII), with its strange white flowers and + milk-white fruit. All parts of the plant are said to be emetic. + </p> + <p> + Two varieties of VITEX TRIFOLIA, each bearing pretty lavender flowers, but + in other respects sharply contrasted, are among the commonest of denizens + of the beach. The one is a prostrate plant with sage-coloured and + sage-scented leaves; the other a shrub or small tree with light green + foliage, the underside of which is mealy-white, and flowers paler than + those of its lowly kin. Each is pretty, and the creeping variety (known in + Egypt as the “Hand of Mary”) decidedly one of the most eager lovers of the + sand, to which it keeps strictly. + </p> + <p> + Almost within reach from high water are representatives of a tall, + shining-leaved shrub known as MORINDA CITRIFOLIA, the flower-heads of + which merge into a berry which has a most disagreeable odour and a still + more objectionable flavour. It is related that when La Perouse was cast + away on one of the islands of the South Pacific, a native undertook to + ward off the pangs of hunger by converting the fruit into an edible dish. + But his manipulation seemed but to intensify original nauseousness, and + the brave Frenchman and his companions found semi-starvation more + endurable than the repugnant mess. + </p> + <p> + Magnificent representatives of the umbrella-tree (BRASSAIA ACTINOPHYLLA), + unique among the many novelties of the tropical coast, are massed in + groups or stand in solitary grace close to the sea. Queensland has a + monopoly over this handsome and remarkable tree, the genus to which it + belongs being limited to a single species occurring nowhere else in a + native state. Discovered by Banks and Solander at Cooktown in 1770, the + second record of its existence, it is believed, was made from specimens + obtained on this island by Macgillivray and Huxley in 1848. Possibly the + very trees which attracted their attention still crown their rayed and + glossy leaflets with long, radiating rods thickly set with red, stud-like + flowers. Such foliage and such flowers would appeal gloriously to an + enthusiastic botanist, and to so devoted, indefatigable, and successful a + searcher after the wonders and the higher truths of the world as Huxley. + </p> + <p> + Few of the ornaments of the beach are more noticeable than that known + commonly as the sunflower-tree and by the natives as Gingee (DIPLANTHERA + TETRAPHYLLA), with its big leaves, soft of surface when young, but harsh + and coarse at maturity. The golden flowers, grouped in huge heads, are + rich in nectar, attracting birds and butterflies by day and flying foxes + at night. The fruit, enclosed in a crisp capsule, is tough and leathery, + in shape a flattened oval, and is entirely covered with silken seeds lying + close and dense as the feathers of the grebe. When numbers of the capsules + open simultaneously, the seeds float earthwards like a silvery mantle or + stream before the wind like a veil. Rarely the capsule falls to the ground + complete, and then the parting of the valves reveals the fruit, in form + not unlike a small fish covered with glistening scales. The soft white + wood is generally condemned, but duly seasoned it becomes tough, and is + durable when not exposed to the weather. Like other quick-growing trees, + the Gin-gee takes no long time in arriving at maturity, and its life is + comparatively brief. Often big trees die from no apparent cause, and the + wood becoming dry and tindery, the limbs crash to the ground suddenly, and + in a few months the whole substance disappears in dust and mould. + </p> + <p> + Though the flowering season of the Calophyllum is of the past, the tree + which bestows on the beaches the deepest shade and is handsome in all its + parts must not be disregarded, for does it not, ever and anon, strive + after a higher purpose than the production of goodly leaves, white + flowers, and nuts “harsh and crude”? On rare occasions the external + covering of the nut turns yellow on the tree, and is then found to enclose + a thin envelope of pulp of aromatic and rather gratifying flavour. Such a + phenomenon seems to manifest inherent excellencies, a laudable effort + towards self-improvement, a plea for assistance on the part of some + approving and patient man, an indication of the lines on which he might + co-operate. The tree does not need gloss for its perfect leaves or + fragrance for its flowers, nor need the qualities of its pink wood of + wavering figure be extolled. With the exception of the stamens, all parts + of the inflorescence, inclusive of the long pedicles, are milk-white, and + the perfume is as sweet and refreshing as an English spring posy. Chemists + tell us that the oil from the kernels contains a green pigment which + changes to yellow on saponification, and that the resin is emetic and + purgative, and healing when applied as plaster. If botanical science can + develop the meritorious tendencies the fruit occasionally exhibits, the + Calophyllum would certainly rank as one of the most wonderful of all + tropical fruits. And may it not be wise to indulge the highest hopes when + it is borne in mind that at the head of the Family to which the + Calophyllum belongs stands that queen of fruits—the mangosteen? + Faith in the probable idealisation of the Calophyllum is justified by + reference to the “Prefatory and Other Notes” to the late F. M. Bailey's + great work, the “Comprehensive Catalogue of Queensland Plants,” where is + to be found these encouraging words: “When any particular plant is said to + furnish a useful fruit, it must not be imagined that the fruit equals the + apple, pear, or peach of the present day, but all so marked are superior + to the fruits known to our far-back forefathers.” + </p> + <p> + Two eucalypts—bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash (CORYMBOSA and + TESSELLARIS respectively)—and two acacias are represented, the + former developing into great trees of economic value, the latter being + comparatively short-lived and ornamental. The young shoots of Acacia + flavescens are covered as with golden fleece, and its globular flowers are + pale yellow. The wood resembles in tint and texture its ally, the + raspberry-jam wood of Western Australia, though lacking its significant + and remarkable aroma. ACACIA AULACOCARPA displays in pendant masses golden + tassels rich in fragrance. + </p> + <p> + The yellow-flowered hibiscus (cotton-tree) overhangs the tide, and the + small-leaved shrub the blacks name Tee-bee (WIKSTRAEMIA INDICA), the pink, + semi-transparent fruit of which is eaten in times of stress, springs from + pure sand. + </p> + <p> + A tall, almost branchless shrub (MACARANGA TANARIUS), the Toogantoogan of + the natives, grows in close clumps conducive to the production of light, + straight, slim stems used as fish-spears. The bark peels readily in long + strands, easily convertible into lines, and the sap from incised stems, + which crystallises with a reddish tint, is a fast cement. Huge + platter-shaped leaves are supported on long stalks from nearly the centre, + whence radiate prominent nerves of pale green. Some plants exhibit + leaf-stalks of ruby red, with central leaf-spot and nerves like in hue, + producing the most beautiful effect. If the growth of the plant could be + kept within bounds it would be gladly admitted as a garden shrub. The + stems and the base of the leaf-stalk are coated with, glaucous bloom, like + that of a ripe plum. The bloom, easily to be rubbed off, is said to derive + its title from that Glaucus who took part in the Trojan War and had the + simplicity, or the wisdom, to exchange his suit of golden armour for one + of iron. + </p> + <p> + The length of the beach thus casually examined is not more than a quarter + of a mile long, and no plant mentioned is more than a few yards from + high-water mark, the soil being almost pure sand. Imagine some three + square miles of country varied by hills and flats of rich soil, with + creeks and ravines, precipices and bluffs, dense jungle and thick forest, + hollows wherein water lodges in the wet season, and granite ridges, and + then endeavour to comprehend the botany of one small island of the + tropical coast! + </p> + <p> + To obtain demonstration of the vitalising and nourishing principles in + maritime sands under the effects of heat, light, and moisture, it is + necessary to retrace our steps and walk round the sandspit to the + transfigured and degenerate mouth of that once mangrove-creek known to the + blacks by a name signifying that a boy once tethered in it a sucking fish + (Remora). Obstructed by a bank, the creek is dead and dry save when the + floods of the wet season co-operate with high tides and effect a breach, + to be repaired on the cessation of the rains. No more than four years have + passed since the formation of the bank began. It is now a shrubbery made + by the incessant and tireless sea from materials hostile, insipid, and + loose-sand, shells, and coral debris, with pumice from some far-away + volcano. On this newly made, restricted strip one may peep and botanise + without restraint, discovering that though it does not offer conditions at + all favourable to the retention of moisture, plants of varied character + crowd each other for space and flourish as if drawing nutriment from rich + loam. + </p> + <p> + Several botanical Families are represented, the genera and species being: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Casuarina equisetifolia (she-oak) + Avicennia officinalis (white mangrove). + Clerodendron inerme. + Premna obtusifolia. + Vitex trifolia. + Vitex trifolia, var. obovata. + Carapa moluccensis (cannon-ball-tree). + Erylhrina indica (coral-tree). + Sophora tomentosa (sea-coast laburnum). + Pongamia glabra (poonga oil-tree). + Vigna luteola (yellow-flowered pea). + Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel). + Terminalia melanocarpa. + Ximenia americana (yellow plum). + Scoevola koenigii (native cabbage). + Hibiscus tiliaceus (cotton-tree). + Wikstroemia indica. Macaranga tanarius. + Euphorbia eremophilla (caustic bush). + Dodonaea viscosa (hop-bush). + Passiflora foetida (stinking passion fruit). + Ipomea pes caprae (goat-footed convolvulus). + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form A. + Ionidium suffruticosum, Form B (spade-flower). + Blainvillea latifolia. + Gnaphalium luteo-album (flannel-leaf or cud-weed). + Vernonia cinerea (erect, fluffy-seeded weed). + Remirea maritima (spiky sand-binder). + Cyperus decompositus (giant sedge). + Erigeron linifolius (cobbler's pegs or rag-weed). + Tribulus terrestris (caltrops). + Triumfetta procumbens (burr). + Salsola kali (prickly salt-wort). + Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale (pig's face). + Anthistria ciliata (kangaroo-grass). + Paspalum distichum (water couch-grass). + Zoysia pungens (coast couch-grass). + Lepturus repens (creeping wire-grass). + Panicum leucophaeum (pasture-grass). + Andropogon refractus (barbed wire-grass). + Tragus racemosus (burr-grass). + Eragrostis brownii, var. pubescens (love-grass). +</pre> + <p> + With the exception of some of the grasses and two noxious weeds, this + assemblage is representative of plants which grow just beyond the sweep of + the waves, and are prosperously at home nowhere else. One, the + cannonball-tree, is so highly specialised that its presence is but + temporary, for it endures but a single set of conditions—saline mud + and the shade of mangroves. The thick, leathery capsule contains several + irregularly shaped seeds, somewhat similar to Brazil nuts, but larger in + size and not to be reassembled readily after separation. When stranded, + germination is prompt, but the young plants, lacking essential conditions, + invariably perish. One of the trailers—the caltrops—has + trilobed, saw-edged leaves (harsh on both sides), yellow flowers of + unpleasant odour, and fruit which, perhaps, formed the model of the war + weapon of the time of the Crusaders. In whatever position it rests on the + ground it presents an array of spikes to the bare foot. Though all its + superficial qualities are graceless, it performs the admirable office of + binding sand, and thus prepares the way for benign and faultless + vegetation. + </p> + <p> + That his garden might not only be instructive but profitable to mankind, + Neptune heaved on to its verge three coco-nuts, the goose-barnacles on two + of which bore testimony to a long drift. That which retained the germ of + life fell into the hands of a visiting black boy, who split it open to + feast on the pithy and insipid “apple” within its shell at the base of the + sprout. This mischance ruined for the time being the prospect of a fine + effect; but the perseverance and prodigality of Neptune none may estimate. + He will certainly bring from distant domain another nut which may escape + the observation of the never-to-be-satisfied black boys until the young + plant itself has assimilated its concentrated food, and begins to spread + its glossy fronds in the face of the sun. In the meantime the garden + displays four weeds, two of the nature of pests, two of discomfort merely; + ornamental, scented, and flowering shrubs, and trees promising to be + conspicuous and picturesque, so that credit is to be divided—the sea + made the site, the adjacent land provided all the becoming plants. + </p> + <p> + What are the elements in this primitive spot which afford nutriment to + vegetation of such varied character? Probably there are few of the beaches + of islands within the Great Barrier Reef on which the majority of the + plants do not exist. It is typical, therefore, not of isolated experiments + on the part of Nature, but of conditions and processes repeated in + similitude wheresoever in the region raw sand heals the wounds inflicted + by the sea or the grumbling sea retreats before the sibilant, incessant + sand. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SHADOWS + </h2> + <p> + “The wish—that ages have not yet subdued—In man to have no + master save his mood.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BYRON. +</pre> + <p> + Before the coming of the obscuring grey of these wet-season days, when the + tranquil sea absorbed the lustrous blue of the sky, I discovered myself + day-dreaming for a blissful moment or two ere the crude anchor of the + flattie slipped slowly to the mud twelve feet below. The rough iron and + rusty chain cast curious crinkled shadows, and presently, as the iron sank + into the slate-coloured mud and the chain tightened, the shadow was single + but infirm. Light and the magic of the sea, which, though it takes its + ease, is forbidden absolute rest, transformed it until imagination created + similitude to a serpent in its natural element. Its half-concealed, + formless head was verified by a flake of rust just where a watchful eye + might have been, and the sun played upon it. + </p> + <p> + So here at last was the sea-serpent with alert eye and without end. It was + all so realistic and endowed with such benignity and such gentleness of + motion that I gazed at it with the gladness of a discoverer. In response + to a slight motion of the hand, the sea-serpent wriggled as though in + haste; but wriggle as it might the end never came. + </p> + <p> + The boat drifted back. The serpent became seriously elongated, but though + the beginning was now a grey blotch in the mud, the end was not. I might + beat up a little foam with the chain, and see below a giddy dance or at + least lively flourishes and swaying. Yet there was something lacking—the + end. But for that very commonplace default did there not here exist a very + good beginning for another romance of the sea? + </p> + <p> + The phantom, born of light and limpid salt water and iron into which rust + had deeply gnawed, gave zest to the pursuit of shadows. What is commoner + under the tropic sun? The boat was now over the sand of the steeply + shelving beach, where the water takes the tint of the chrysolite and + creatures of fairy lightness come into view. Often on still days small + sea-spiders sport under the lea of the boat, each of the eight legs + supported by a bubble. With astonishing nimbleness, the spider slips and + glides over the surface as a man in laborious snow-shoes over the snow. + Having basked in the sun and frolicked with its kind, the spider abandons + its pads, takes to its hairy bosom a bubble of air, and dives below. The + shadows, not the spiders alone, gave pleasing entertainment. Each vague + shadow and the eight bubble-shod feet formed a brooch-like ornament on the + yellow sand—a grey jewel surrounded by diamonds, for every bubble + acted as a lens concentrating the light. When the frail creatures darted + hither and thither—the majestic sun does not disdain to lend his + brilliance to the most prosaic of happenings—the shadows of the + bubbles became jewels or daylight lightnings. The hour was so restful, the + light so searching, that many of the spiders, long of leg and pearly-grey + of body, gathered about the boat, the shade of which seemed to be + grateful. A wave of the hand dispersed the gay assemblage, but in a few + seconds the playful creatures—not too easily to be deprived of their + place in the sun—reappeared from nowhere, and the beads and flashes + on the floor of old Ocean once more began to glitter. + </p> + <p> + Small, slim fish took shelter from the intense light. Some hung motionless + in the water; others nibbled daintily the green and lazy slime on the + batten at the bilge, their gently waving shadows being barely perceptible, + for their delicate, semi-transparent bodies absorbed but the merest + particle of the brightness of noonday. + </p> + <p> + The unnoticeable swing of the tide took the responsive boat out from the + beach, and again the serpent swayed sleepily. Down in the mud an organised + conflict was taking place between a tiny soft-bodied crab and four + molluscs which used whip-like tentacles with unceasing energy, while the + crab defended itself with ever-ready claws. Borne down by numbers, it sank + into the mud, the energy of the victors creating a tiny spiral of slush. A + huge stingray passed on its way, the edges of extended wings rippling + never so gently, its shadow half the size of the boat; and presently, with + ghostly glide, a dull-skinned shark came into view with motion so steady + and apparently effortless that it might have been a spectre. The pectoral + fins swayed listlessly. The swirl of the tail was as tender as a caress. + Passing the boat a few yards, it turned with a gracious sweep and nestled + in its shade, and, though motionless, it was wide awake. The eyes on each + end of the projecting extremities of the head blinked up at the boat. It + was comfortable, but suspicious. Was its conscience quite clear? The + hammer-head has not the reputation of being an active enemy of man. Why + should it be distrustful? This hammer-head would not sleep in the shadow, + so let it be made aware of the serpent. I took hold of the chain + cautiously, the shark watching, and with a quick turn of the wrist the + docile serpent lashed offensively. Then did the shark, frightened of a + shadow, flee with mud-stirring haste, like the wicked when no man + pursueth. + </p> + <p> + The hour of day-dreaming was past. I slip over the side of the boat to + roll and splash in tepid water limpid almost to invisibility, and to test + the wondrous buoyancy of the substantial part of man. Sit down, the lips + just awash, so that the accurately ballasted portion cushions on the + cleanly sand. Stretch out the legs so that the heels barely rest. Head + thrown back and arms extended, fill the lungs to their utmost capacity + with the placid, revivifying air, and you will find yourself so uplifted + that the heels alone gently touch the sand. At each inspiration almost + sufficient air is imbibed to float the whole bulk and machinery of the + body. And when the radiant air is all one's own, why be niggardly? Let it + be gulped greedily, strongly, wilfully, and let the smiling sea, + responding to the embraces of your widespread arms, salute your lips with + ripples. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “SMILING MORN” + </h2> + <p> + “The light of the morning, When the sun riseth, even a morning without + clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining + after rain.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Holy Writ. +</pre> + <p> + A cloudless sky, the long grass wet with the night's gentle shower, a thin + veil of mist on the hills, a glassy, steel-blue sea, the air saturated + with the essences from myriads of leaves and scented with the last whiffs + from the tea-trees and the primal blossoms of the wattles—such are + the features of this smiling morn. + </p> + <p> + A spangled drongo—ardent lover of light and free air—talkatively + announced the dawn long before its coming; the noisy pitta—bird of + the moist soil and leafy gloom—triumphs in three notes. For an hour + the scrub fowl have been violently noisy, but have retired to the recesses + of the jungle, whence comes an occasional chuckle of satisfaction or a + coarse, triumphant crow. The fasciated honey-eater has loudly called “with + a voice that seemed the very sound of happiness”; the leaden flycatcher, + often silent but seldom still, has twittered and whispered plaintively; + the sun-birds are playing gymnastics among the lemon blossoms, and the + centre of activity for butterflies is the red-flowered shrub bordering the + wavering path. + </p> + <p> + Since—sometimes wantonly, often thoughtlessly—man interferes + with plants, time out of mind the banqueting-table of the butterflies, is + it not a duty to provide substitutes for devastated natural vegetation? + When it is discovered that a plant, introduced to give satisfaction to the + lust of the eye, provides from year's end to year's end nectar as + unfailing as the widow's cruse of oil, is it not becoming to reproduce it + plentifully so that excited and virtuous insects may be encouraged to + return to former scenes? If not a duty, at least it is a source of + happiness, for the particular insects which revel in the nectar of the + perpetually flowering shrub are the two most gorgeous butterflies of the + land—pleasantly known as Ulysses and Cassandra. + </p> + <p> + Science changes its titles so frequently that unless the intellect is to + be increasingly burdened it is well to refuse to be divorced from the old + and often explicit and fulfilling names. Cassandra is the lovely green and + gold fly which dances in the air so delightfully when he woos his sober, + fluttering mate. That of gorgeous royal blue with black edging to the + wings and dandyish swallow-tails, which wanders far and wide and flies + high and swiftly, is Ulysses. + </p> + <p> + This glorious morn the ruddy shrub is as lively as a merry-go-round with + the feasting and antics of flitting gems, and there are others by the + dozen attentive to less seductive fare. For half an hour the courtship of + a perfect Ulysses has interfered with the staid ways of those not in + holiday humour. Unlike Cassandra, there is little in appearance to + distinguish the sexes, nor in the wooing does the dame exhibit staid + demeanour. The object of Ulysses' love is almost, if not quite, as + brilliantly decorated as himself. She is not, therefore, to be fascinated + by the display of blue no more lustrous than that of her own proud wings. + He may flit and toss about her, but she seems to take scanty notice of his + affected aerial limpings. Her raiment is just as brave, and she has + swallow-tails too. The wider black margin on her wings is no badge of + subserviency, but rather an additional charm inciting tremulous + fascination. She may soar over the mango-trees with ease as careless as + his, and slide down straight to the red flowers with like certainty. She + is not to be bewildered by his gyrations, nor thrilled by mock hostile + swoops. However sprightly his activities, she has a mood to correspond and + power to mimic. Indeed, is she not indifferent?—so much on an + equality with him that she might say: + </p> + <p> + “If thou thinkest I am too easily won, I'll frown and be perverse, and say + thee nay.” + </p> + <p> + Might she not say more at the moment, since her airs are those of + independence? Possibly she imagines hers to be the superior sex. Is she to + be distinguished from her wooer as she flits from him disdainfully? Can + she not imitate his most audacious feats? Ah! but for how long may she + restrain primal emotions? The blue-mantled dandy understands his art. His + wings beat with the passion of the dominant lover. He tosses himself + before her, impeding her flight until she imitates his antics. Tossing is + not the privilege of his sex. She exercises her right to toss, and the + pair toss in delightful but bewildering confusion, like jewels sent + skyward by a conjurer. And thus having established her rights if not her + equality, she consents to play the part Nature decrees, and the pair + tumble and toss over the mango-trees, while half a dozen others sip + contentedly the red flowers. + </p> + <p> + Many other winged creatures flit and glisten in the garden and down along + the grass-invaded path between the coco-nuts. Dragon-flies hover over the + moist spots, transparent wings carrying coral-red bodies, and two + sand-wasps pilot my steps, following the narrow ribbon of bare ground as a + fish the course of a shallow stream, buzzing ominously as if in warning of + some possible mischance. They are friends, and will in a moment swerve, + and boom back to the shafts they have excavated in sand as depositaries + for their eggs, and into which they will pack living caterpillars as fresh + food for their young. They dig with such deftness and vigour that the sand + is expelled in a continuous jet. When the mouth of the shaft, round to + exactness, is lumbered with soil, the insect emerges backward and shovels + away dog-like with its forelegs. Then it disappears again, until the + sand-jet has made another encumbering heap. + </p> + <p> + These alert and furiously resentful insects are endowed with + resourcefulness and “intelligence” in keeping with their physical + activities. One had foraged a caterpillar in bulk and weight beyond its + flight strength, and was, therefore, compelled to haul it along the + toilful earth. On the wing the wasp finds its home unhesitatingly. On the + unfamiliar ground it lost its bearings, and, moreover, the lumbering + caterpillar had to be tugged through a bewildering forest of grass stems, + among which it went astray. During a pause the wasp surveyed the scene, + and, locating the shaft, after stupendous exertions deposited its prey + conveniently thereto, to find itself confronted with a problem, since the + diameter of the caterpillar exceeded that of the shaft. It seemed to + reflect for a few moments, and then with feverish haste enlarged the + shaft. Another difficulty had then to be overcome. Was it possible to + force such a bulky and unwieldy body head first down—the habitual + way? The insect came to a rapid decision in the negative. Backing into the + shaft, it seized the caterpillar by the head and drew it down, presently + emerging, and how it managed to squeeze past so tight a plug is another of + the magics of the morn. Having butted with its highly competent head the + caterpillar well home, the wasp selected a neatly fitting stone as a wad, + and, filling the shaft with earth, strewed the surface with grass + fragments, to the artistic concealment of the site. + </p> + <p> + On the beach is another industrious winged miner which has not learned the + art of the rapid evacuation of the spoil, but follows the slower ways of + the crab, carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, and as it + backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is made. But it is a fussy + worker, so charged with nervous energy that its glittering wings quiver + even while down in the depths of its shaft, as you may assure yourself if + you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air makes competitive + noises. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ANCESTRAL SHADE + </h2> + <p> + “Time was when, settling on thy leaf, a fly Could shake thee to the root—and + time has been When tempests could not.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + COWPER. +</pre> + <p> + If it were possible to recall the spirits of the departed of this Isle to + solemn session and to exact from them expression of opinion as to the + central point of it, the popular, most comfortable and convenient + camping-place, there can be no question that the voice of the majority + would favour the curve of the bay rendered conspicuous by a bin-gum or + coral tree. Within a few yards of permanent fresh water, on sand blackened + by the mould of centuries of vegetation, close to an almost inextricable + forest merging into jungle, whence a great portion of the necessaries of + life were obtained, and but ten paces from the sea, the tree stood as a + landmark, not of soaring height, but of bulk and comeliness withal. + </p> + <p> + Generation after generation of careless coloured folk must have been born + and bred under its branches. When the soil became rank because of + continuous residence and insects of diabolical activity pestered its + occupants, the camp would shift to another site; but there existed proofs + that the bin-gum-tree localised the thoughts of those aimless, unstable + wanderers to whom a few bushes stuck in the sand as a screen from + prevailing winds represent the home of the hour and all that the word + signifies and embodies. Many a one was laid to rest beneath its spreading + branches, for it was the custom of the pre-white folk's days to swathe the + dead in frail strips of bark, knees to chin, and place the stiffened + corpse in a shallow pit in the humpy which had been in most recent + occupation. If the dead during life had possessed exceptional qualities, + burial rites would be ceremonious and prolonged. With tear and blood + stained faces (for the mourners enforced grief by laceration of the flesh) + incidents in the admirable career of the departed would be rehearsed in + pantomime. The enactment of scenes from the life of the hunter and fighter + might occupy hours. The art of the canoe or sword maker would be + graphically mimicked. The life of the woman found rehearsal from infancy + until she passed from the protection of her father into the arms of her + lover. If she had died childless, a protesting infant or an effigy in bark + would be placed on her shrunken bosom, so that she might not suffer the + reproach of matrons who had preceded her to the mysterious better country. + </p> + <p> + The ancestral shade was a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, and + the soil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree displayed its ruddy + flowers and gave of its best in nectar for birds and butterflies and + gauze-winged, ever-flitting creatures. + </p> + <p> + It was not a comfortable tree to climb, for its grey-green branches were + studded with wens each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. It + offered the hospitality of its shade to man, but little else, save flowers + to gladden his eyes, though it stood as a perpetual calendar, or rather + floral harbinger, of some of the most excellent things in life. At a + certain season its big, trilobed, hollow-stalked leaves changed from + bright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before the + last disappeared, flower-buds registered the date with almost almanac + exactitude. Then, as the rich red began to glow here and there, and + impatient small birds to assemble in anticipation of the annual feast, the + old inhabitants of the Isle would comfort one another with reminiscences + of the “Oo-goo-ju,” the nutmeg pigeon, which was wont to congregate in + such numbers that adjacent and easily accessible isles were whitened. + There would be plenty of eggs then, and in a few weeks squabs quiveringly, + helplessly fat. + </p> + <p> + It was a good tree, for it gave good tidings, and it centralised the + shelter of the Isle. Its blooms were delightfully, dashingly red, and they + lasted long—that is, if the camp—the soil rectified by sun and + rain—happened to be in residence, for then the sulphur-crested + cockatoos would be scared. Otherwise the profligate birds would sever the + heavy racemes of flower in their eagerness for honey until the ground + beneath glowed with a furnace-hued shadow. But there would be still plenty + for the gay sun-birds and the honey eaters, while the grey goshawk would + make the site of regular call, for the bibulous lesser birds could not + always be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent tea-trees. The hawk + would abide its time, and have occasion, after its kind, to be grateful + because of the tree and its seductive nectar which translated artless + little songsters into shrill-tongued roysterers, careless of the ills of + life, or at least less watchful for the presence of crafty enemies. Flying + foxes would swoop into the tree at sundown to squeak and gibber among its + repellent branches till dawn, when some, too full for flight, would hang + among the lower limbs all day, sleeping with eyes veiled by leathery + wings. + </p> + <p> + For many a long day the bin-gum tolerated no undergrowth. Despotic over + its territory, the shade was clean but for a carpet of ferns, and its + branches free from the embraces of orchids, save that which bears the + ghostly white flowers which set off its own of bold red. But as it passed + its maturity shrubs and saplings began to encroach, until it was the + centre of a circus of upstart vegetation, though still stretching big, + knotty limbs over the slim youths of yesterday. Anterior to this era a + neglected fire had scorched a portion of its trunk. Decay set in. A huge + cavity gradually appeared, betokening vital injuries. The soft though + tough wood does not patiently endure the annihilating fret of time. Far up + in a recess of this cavity a toy boomerang was found, placed there by some + provident but forgetful piccaninny. At the date of the discovery of the + missile the age of the resident blacks had passed away; but still the tree + stood, stout of limb, while the encompassing saplings shot up until + sun-seeking shoots caressed the branches and familiarised with the blooms, + as if taking credit for the seasonal gaiety of the patriarch. + </p> + <p> + In the prime of life the wood of the bin-gum is of pale straw colour with + a faint pinkish tinge, and tough though light. Sapless age makes it + tindery, and the decaying fibre descends in dust—glissades of dust + which form moraines within the hollow of the base. Then the end is not far + off. + </p> + <p> + The old tree might have been credited with premonition of its fate. + However fanciful to ascribe to it power of utterance, some phenomena, + perhaps associated with the dusty flux draining its vitals, gave it + distinct voice. On silent days it was often heard—a whispering, + whimpering sing-song, pitifully weak for so great a tree, but not without + appeal. Did it not suggest the sanctuary of some wood-nymph chanting never + so faint a death psalm—a monotone which the idlest zephyr might + still? + </p> + <p> + Disdaining to die while consenting to disappear, the great tree, proudly + green of head, did not fall headlong, like a giant, in its pride, but + subsided silently behind its leafy screen while all the winds were still, + and as one who passes away full of years and with untarnished conscience. + </p> + <p> + Though the saplings and shrubs which fought for its place decently conceal + its shattered relics, addressing glossy leaves to the face of the sun, is + it quite vain to expect that its graceful proportions—a true and + stately dome—will be transmitted to the most worthy of its + descendants? Or that they will escape for so long a term the many + mischances that befall soft-wooded trees? No; the bin-gum of the bay was + unique. Afar off its flowers assumed a bricky shade, which contrasted with + the sage-green background of huge and overtopping melaleucas, while but a + strip of creamy sand intervened between its low and spreading branches and + the shallow sea, with its varying tints of pale green and blue. So lovely + and conspicuous a feature is not to be reconstituted under a century. + </p> + <p> + If it be permitted to assume that trees are sentient, that each—since + it differs from all others in some material quality and condition—has + its individuality, and that one may stand out from the rest as a figure + and representative of its age, then was this old monarch which maintained + its red robes to the last an examplar of the race whose births, nuptials, + pastimes, deaths and burials it witnessed from the date when the good ship + ENDEAVOUR slowly plodded along the alien coast. The dust of the witness is + blending in common decay. A few months and not a trace will be + discoverable, and what is left of those who rested in its shade? In the + pages of history they will be unchronicled, for were not their lives less + beautiful than the life of a tree, and their renown no more durable? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + QUIET WATERS + </h2> + <p> + “Like playhouse scenes the shore slid past.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + KIPLING. +</pre> + <p> + Lovable as is the open sea when the spray drenches the scanty clothing of + the steersman and rains upon his lips salty salutation, yet is there rare + delightsomeness in reverse of the wet frolic. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes past the deck glistened in the sun as each rollicking billow + sent its herald over the bows, and here the surface of the river is almost + rippleless. Shallows and uncertainties perplex its union with the ocean. + Sombre green mangroves screen its muddy banks at full tide and trail + leathery leaves and the tips of spindly fruit on its placid surface. + Pendant roots and immersed branches create on each hand a continuous + scroll of wavering ridges and eddies bordered with the living tints of the + steadfast wall of leafage. The sun so burnishes the midstream ribbon that + the boat seems to float on an invisible element. Though the topmost leaves + of the mangroves fail to disclose any movement in the air, an unceasing + and inharmonious hum tells of the sea idly shouldering the orange-hued + sands outside. + </p> + <p> + The original inhabitants of the country knew the stream as Marang. None + call it so; but half stranded on the bank at the mouth lies a raft typical + of the past, and of the ease and resource with which those of the day are + wont to avail themselves of Nature's suggestions in the art of crossing + flooded waters. The name of the river has gone, but not that of the three + buoyant logs lashed together with strips of cane which with sullen lurch, + take the wash of the boat. The boys jerk their heads in the direction and + murmur “wur-gun,” and speculate on the last user. The day is young. For + the time being the best the ancient river has to show—the + quintessence of the season, superb October—shall be ours. The + cloudless sky is richly blue, lighter in shade than the shapely mountain + which seems to block the way miles ahead. The sun gives a taste of its + quality, not to fret or discomfort, but merely to add a slightly richer + tint to skin glowing with previous marks of his fervour and favour. + </p> + <p> + All the sounds of the little engine are maliciously exaggerated as the + boat forges ahead. The silent green river has become vociferous with + echoes, which snap and grunt, groan and hiss, in mockery of inevitable and + earnest doings. Out at sea the merry moods of the boat and hasty and + determined throbs of the engine are manifestations of something + accomplished in the overcoming of distance. Here it is all mere idle + fancy, while the echoes jeer. Surely the uncouth imps of the dimly-lit + jungles need not proclaim their spite with such exaggerated fuss. + </p> + <p> + With but little effort of imagination the boat becomes stationary on a + shining ribbon with strips of dark green on each side, and the banks glide + past with never so gentle undulations. The tide screens most of the mud on + which the many-rooted trees stand. Some are in full bloom, the + hawthorn-like flowers breathing perfume as from an orangery soliciting the + raids of millions of bees. Scents cling to the placid surface. It is as a + stream of scent, bounded and confined by changeful tints as the sun toys + with the shadows, and curve after curve, reach after reach, slip by. + Sometimes the chattering boat heads due east. South she knows too, and + then she bows her duty to the west, along reaches which run straight and + clean as a canal; and round hairpin bends she sweeps with disdainful air, + as if conscious of besoiling banks. + </p> + <p> + Gradually the monopolistic mangroves become more tolerant of the rights of + other vegetation. Tea-trees with white papery bark and pale yellow flowers + dripping with spirity nectar, the sunflower-tree with its masses of gold, + an occasional wattle, and slim palms mirror themselves, and here and there + compact jungle, with its entanglement of ponderous vines and smothering + creepers, shoulders away the salt-loving plants. Scents may vary as the + river's fringe; but only a delicate blend is recognised—the + breathings of honey-secreting flowers and of sapful plants free from all + uncleanliness. Many trees endure sadly the decoration of orchids in full + flower, some lovely to look on and deliciously scented. The snowy plumes + of one species sway gently, as if offering friendly greeting. A worthy + similitude to the lily of the valley clings to a decaying limb, and a + passing smudge of lustrous brown is but the reflection from a mass of the + commonest of the Dendrobiums which encumbers a long-suffering host. Where + forest trees and wattles guard the bank the water is of a different hue, + as if the face of the river had absorbed less of the actualities of the + sun. The screen of vegetation is not only higher, but it is varied and + impresses its individuality. Only during the pelting rains of the wet + season may this delightful stream be monotonous, for at intervals brief + and narrow vistas open out on patches of yellowing grass, and beyond lie + forest-clad hills. + </p> + <p> + All save the boat is wonderfully still. The birds are silent, for this is + the first hot day of the season, and they have retired to the patches of + jungle where shade and dimness afford relief from the sunlight spaces. For + many a mile a cormorant, lacking valour to double on its tracks, has fled + before the boat, settling out of sight ever and anon, only to be scared + further from its nest. A mangrove bittern sitting humpbacked on a root and + roused from its night thoughts has flown ahead, following the bends of the + stream until it crossed a familiar loop and so evaded incessant harrying. + </p> + <p> + No murmur of the sea is audible, though the water is as briny as at the + mouth. Mangroves still reinforce the muddy banks at intervals, and big + barramundi swirl aside to give the boat precedence in the narrow way. If + in no impetuous haste, one might drift with the tide up and down with but + little exertion except during periods of flood, which quickly rise and + quickly subside. Drifters become familiar with characteristics of the + stream unknown to those who hurry up and down in an echo-rousing + motor-boat. They see crocodiles basking on their sides, as many as seven + on a sunny morning in the cool season, and many curse them in De Quincey's + phrase as “miscreated gigantic vermin” because the rifle happens to be + unavailable. Crocodiles have their moods. Sometimes they are lazy and + indifferent and will not be disturbed though the boat may clink and + chatter as it passes, and the then easygoing man disposes of them. More + often the faculties of the crocodile are disappointingly acute. He is + visible for such a fragment of time that the authoritative man who has + promised sport looks foolish and tries to relieve the strain by the + relation of anecdotes in which circumstances have not been all in favour + of the illusive creature. He tells of the slumbering one which lay on a + mud-bank with its jaws distended, weary of the monotony of the mangroves, + and took but sleepy notice when upbraided for being a sluggard. And of + that other monstrous beast which, with eyelids like saucers and a bulk + which filled a narrow tributary of the river, floundered, splashed, and + flurried into deep water, while the awestruck individual with the rifle + was too astounded to fire a shot. He may tell, too, of another instance of + good luck on the part of the crocodile. How, drifting down silently with + the ebb, the black boy indicated the presence of game on a slide overhung + by a deep verandah of mud; how a shot was fired and a big log splashed + into the water and the little one remained bearing the bullet-wound, the + real having been too big and impressive for sight. + </p> + <p> + The day is well spent among strange plants. Here is a tall hibiscus with + coarse leaves, diversely lobed, and great pink, fragile flowers, each with + a blotch of maroon at the base and each containing a fat and lumbering bee + spangled with maroon-tinted pollen. A trailing eugenia bears dark red + flowers shaped like a mop, and a tiny white lily with petals and strangely + protuberant anthers scents the air as with honey and almonds. + </p> + <p> + The tide ebbs fast. All the country teems with entertainment, and the + river, cool in the dusk, and black, reflects the dead mangroves, white and + spectral, on its brink. + </p> + <p> + This breathless night the sea is as tetchy as petrol. Trailing fingers are + terminals which ignite living flames, and the propeller of the little boat + creates an avengeful commotion of light which trails far astern. Blobs of + light are cast off from her bows as she rounds the familiar sandspit and + glides to her moorings. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “THE LOWING HERD” + </h2> + <p> + “Your cattle, too—Allah made them; serviceable, dumb creatures; they + change the grass into milk; they come ranking home at evening time.”—CARLYLE. + </p> + <p> + Remote from the manners and the sights of the street, here are we secure + against most of the pains which come of the contemplation, casual or + intimate, of other folk's sufferings. No hooded ambulance moves + joltlessly, tended by enwrapt bearers, on pathless way; no formal + procession paces from the house of death to the long last home. Immune + from the associations which oft subdue the crowd, as well as from its too + exciting pleasures, and participating only indirectly in its inevitable + sorrows, yet we are occasionally forced to remember that troubles do come + to all that is flesh, and that keen is the grief attendant upon enforced + separations even among animals which cannot call reason to their solace. + Man cannot claim to be the sole proprietor of the luxury of woe, and may + he not draw edifying lessons from contemplating the transient sorrows of + his pets and domestic animals? Is he to confine his schooling on the + wholesome theme of the frailty of flesh solely to his own species? It is + not to be denied that animals lower in the scale than mankind have acute + sense of bereavement, though it is equally certain that in their case the + healing influences of time are more prompt and potent. + </p> + <p> + An illustration may be cited. Two favourite Irish terriers, in violation + of an all-precautionary training, molested a death adder, the emulation of + each inciting the other to recklessness. When the fray was over and the + wicked little serpent lay squirming in death, both dogs took joyful credit + on account of the feat. An hour after one began to froth at the lips, and + in another hour he lay dead. His son and companion, as well as rival in + all rat and lizard hunts, softly approached the body, lifting each foot + with almost solemn deliberation. He sniffed, and catching a whiff of the + scent of death, sat on his haunches, threw back his head, and in loud and + piercing tones lamented the tragedy until from very hoarseness he could + howl no longer. He stood the solitary spectator of the burial, and as the + soil was patted down tenderly, sniffed the spot, whimpered plaintively, + and followed with downcast mien. Unable to fathom the mystery of death, + yet fearful, if not resentful, he wandered about for days rebuking the + moon, or its dire influence, and hailing passing steamers with weak + whines. Time soon soothed the mental hurt. + </p> + <p> + Since I became a milker and tender of pet cows many instances have been + revealed of the patience and amiability of these inestimable beasts. The + man who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who employs stockmen by the + dozen, who sends off hundreds of fat, contented, happy, liberty-loving + oxen in droves to end their days in an unknown locality amid the clatter + and swish of machinery and with the fearful scents of blood and decaying + offal defiling the air, has few opportunities of studying the nicer + qualities of his possessions. He may be full of bullock lore and able to + recite sensational and entertaining stories illustrative of the ways of + the big mobs which tramp from native hills and downs to the city of the + thousand deaths. He knows, perhaps, something of the individualities of + his herds, and will tell how fat beasts form friendships, and how they + pine when separated. Then will he register his personal regrets, counting + in the measure for fat, for, refusing food, the animals fall away in + condition, so that the sorrows of two fat bullocks due to parting, + enforced by determined men on horseback, cracking whips and using violent + and threatening language, come home to the owner in terms of pounds, + shillings, and pence. + </p> + <p> + Here are few sordid considerations, for does not the full-fed and + contented herd supply generously milk and cream with no apprehensions of + the butcher? Perhaps on that account the sentiments of the sleek cows are + more tender. At least it has been noticed that when the time comes for the + flash young bulls to be banished, and they are transported, the mother's + grief is loud-voiced and prolonged. Under stress of departure and all the + novel excitement of a first experience of the motion of the sea, the fat + calf, which has rollicked in all that makes for good temper and ease and + comfort, becomes mute. Tears trickle from big, affrighted eyes, and the + head is turned wistfully when terms of comfort are uttered. He is of the + make of man and will not whimper. But the mother, on the discovery of her + bereavement, arouses the echoes of the hills with her calls. + </p> + <p> + Accustomed to the voices of the individuals of your herd, your ears are + also attuned to the significant tones of each—the low warning hum of + the mother to her safely hidden new-born, the imperative command to + obedience, the note of inquiry when the wandering offspring is out of + sight, the anxious call when it is absent from her side unaccountably, the + angry bellow when she thinks injury is being done. + </p> + <p> + The other day a lusty young bull which had been wont to treat me as a + chum, and perhaps as a slightly inferior animal, was reluctantly parted + from. His face displayed his emotions-astonishment, grief, resignation—and + once, and only once, did he permit himself to protest vocally. But for a + week his mother's sorrow has been insistent. Early on the morning + following, the banishment, she led off the rest of the herd in Indian + file, to search accustomed scenes. At times she hastened—perhaps she + heard in fancy the loved one's voice—but more often and with rare + persistency she shrewdly scrutinised every possible hiding-place, lowing + plaintively and with a coaxing, wistful tone. Frequently, attended by + silent, sympathising companions, she made frantic appeals to me, and then + there seemed to be a note as of upbraiding, if not accusation, in her + voice. Knowing her feelings, it was easy to interpret them, and her + doleful mood and loud yet melodious protests against the arbitrary usage + of man affected the wonted serenity of the Isle. + </p> + <p> + How many lusty, fat, sleek, good-humoured, straight-backed, frolicsome + calves had she reared, and when they had come to the age when a mother's + pride must be in the full, each in its turn had mysteriously disappeared. + Was this not a subject of moan? Why should she not tell her grief to the + responsive hills, and send it as far as her voice might carry over the + irresponsive sea? + </p> + <p> + Time soothes all such pangs. She calls now when she spies me in the + forest, still suspecting where responsibility rests, and mumbles as she + crops the succulent herbage. A few more days and her sturdy offspring will + be forgotten; but the recollection of her material woes excites the + thought that human beings, in guiding the destinies of domestic animals, + may not always be conscious of certain moral aspects of such incidents. + Are we justified in lacerating the feelings of those creatures, which have + become accustomed to our ways, which submit to our arbitrary authority + with wondrous patience, which depend on us in many ways, and which trust + us with unquestioning fidelity? + </p> + <p> + Against all precedent, the dairy herd was started with a bull. Though such + a beginning is not to be recommended as a general precept, it must be + confessed that in this particular instance developments proved its wisdom. + Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by society of his + kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank and friendly + manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite excursions in the + bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable of the frogs and the + boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his sportful moods, for + what would have proved pure frolic to him might have been fraught with + disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, he spent most of his + leisure moments in the paddock where poultry congregates, and where many + of the domestic rites are performed. He was at home, and he was a + gentleman, and did no one premeditated ill. Longing for something to play + with, he would make hostile demonstration against the wheelbarrow, but + that dull-hearted vehicle never responded except by ignominious collapse + at tenderest touch of horn. One evening, when all the good little chicks + had been put to bed for the night, the bull, impatient for play, + overturned two coops so suddenly that two of the inmates were crushed + flat. There was no sheltering mother to protest against such violation, + and so the adjoining coop was visited. But for once he went wrong in + strategy. The coop contained an exceptionally numerous family, the mother + of which richly deserved the name of “Scotty.” The coop was overturned + none too politely; the squeaking chicks vanished in the grass and remained + discreetly silent; the irate hen, with the valour of ignorance and all + feathers on end, flew in the face of the startled bull. Though a white + leghorn, she has fighting blood in her veins, and as she hurled herself—stuttering + with frantic exclamations—at the violator of her home, he backed + with a mirth-provoking look of surprise and dismay. He seemed to wish to + say that he regretted the intrusion, and would apologise and ask + permission to retire. The hen was not in the mood to accept apologies, + however seemly the cringing attitude of the bull. Making herself ever so + much bigger than Nature intended, she followed up her advantages, slapping + her enemy's face with widespread wings until he winced again, and clawing + with truly feminine extravagance and uncertainty of aim. The first round + was all to the credit of the hen, and the startled poultry cackled + derisively as the bull retreated. Sure of victory, the hen followed him + up, skipping, flapping, clawing, and scolding as only an irate hen in + transports of rage can. Still the bull backed. He was a gentleman, and + genuinely afraid of female tantrums. With half-shut eyes, he submitted to + the buffets of the wings, while encouraging remarks from friends and + companions further excited the delirious pugnacity of “Scotty.” Then it + seemed to dawn on him that honour was at stake. Gallantry forbade him to + do violence to a lady; honour forbade him to run away. What other recourse + was open? He must treat the whole episode as a joke. So, rubbing his + muzzle on the ground, he invited the hen to come on. She did so. There was + a splash of outspread feathers against his front and more clatter than + ever. He pawed the ground, jerking little clods over his shoulders, and, + lowering his head, menaced the hen with horns that could have tossed her + over the highest of the mango-trees. But there was a smile on his face the + while, and the spectators knew, though “Scotty” did not, that it was all a + joke. Again and again she flew in his face. Just as often he refused to + take her seriously, though all the pantomime of battle was displayed. She + cackled in impotent anger. He bellowed with gratification. Not a fowl in + the yard saw the joke, and all the little chicks in adjacent coops + strained their necks to watch the battle and their voices in shrill + comments. Having made not the slightest impression on the jovial little + bull, “Scotty” retired, feinting and scolding, while he, still blue mouldy + for a game, coaxed her by unmistakable gesticulation to one round more. + Twice during the night “Scotty” dispelled the silences with loud + exclamations of wrath and defiance. She was fighting her battle again in + her dreams, and though I was not there to see, I am very sure that the + gentle bull beguiled his wakeful moments with smiles. There are several + white hens in the yard, and whensoever one crosses his path the bull, who + does not pretend to discriminate, tosses his head with an interrogative + gesture. “Do you want to fight?” he says, and the hens flee—all + except “Scotty.” + </p> + <p> + The herd comprises a dainty little cow of most placid disposition. Nothing + disturbs her placidity, incites her to hurry, or bewilders her. Cure the + dove of its timidity and shrinking and you will have a good prototype of + Parilla, who, taking life easily and affably, is fat and amiable. When she + brought home her firstborn, mooing plaintively, he, big and fat for his + age, walked into the byre as a matter of course. Here was the first + evidence of heredity. It was patent that Fillo Billaroo was born with a + mind like that of his sweet-tempered mother. He earned his name because of + acute dissimilarity to the swiftlet which swoops about the cleared spaces, + never resting save in a dark and dirty cave. + </p> + <p> + Though, apparently, entirely unselfconscious, Fillo Billaroo at once + established himself as a superior sort of creature. He did not exact any + rights. They were conceded with all possible grace. He enjoys privileges + none other dares to imagine. When he has exhausted for the time being the + maternal source of refreshment, he visits other mothers, and with such a + pompous, patronising, good-humoured, thoroughly appreciative and yet + gentle way, that the absurd creatures are flattered. They realise he is + something quite out of the common, and give agreeably of their best. Thus + he has become a favourite, and he drinks so much and has become so fat + that he could not for a couple of weeks accompany his lazy-pacing mother + on her daily rounds, but would be planted in shade and coolness with + cautions against straying until called for late in the afternoon. Often + would Parilla forget the hiding-place, or rather pretend to, and beseech + in wistful tones for help in the search, and when it was successful the + greetings she bestowed displayed the bigness of her heart. + </p> + <p> + Once the little mother left Fillo Billaroo in charge of Lady Clare, a much + more experienced matron, who cannot bear to permit her frisky heifer out + of her sight for a moment unless safely planted, and then the treasure + must not be wandered from more than a hundred yards. Parilla went off for + the day. Late in the afternoon, Lady Clare with her heifer and Fillo + Billaroo were found far away from the mob and driven home. It had been + hot, and the big calf has an enormous appetite and apparently Lady Clare + had been coy. When he saw his mother and his mother saw him, he stooped + with uplifting nose, sniffing; she stopped feeding and begin to sniff. He + seemed to say to himself, “I do believe I know that little creature. Yes; + I am certain I must have met her before. She rather resembles my own + mother; but I have so many fond, kind, and obliging aunts that it is not + so very easy to make sure. She has a special look. Can I be mistaken? I + really hope not, for I am painfully hungry.” + </p> + <p> + In the meantime Parilla was saying to herself—you could see it all + plainly written in her big, round, bulging eyes, so full of inquiry, hope + and longing—! “The sight of that really fine fellow reminds me that + I, too, am a mother. He is a pretty fellow; I fancy that Fillo Billaroo is + not unlike him. I now recollect with dismay that I have not seen him since + morning, when Lady Clare condescended to look after him. And there's Lady + Clare! Oh! if she's mislaid Fillo Billaroo! But can that fine, beautiful + fellow be mine? I must inquire. Come!” And she moo'd, and Fillo Billaroo + murmured “Mum,” and they rushed to one another, and the look in Parilla's + face was that of perfect happiness. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BABBLING BEACHES + </h2> + <p> + “By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more pleasure may be + taken in small things than in great.”—Ruskin. + </p> + <p> + On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and the wind continuously + sweeps off the dry surface, and your ears detect the musical sound + accompanying the process—vague as the visible part of it is blurred + and misty—then it is that you are made aware of the agencies by + which time creates geographical differences. Precipitated at the apex of + the spit, the sand as it sinks tints the verge of the sea, while the + lighter spoil, leaves and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent + voyage. The current from the south pares the spit, preserving its + shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the fluent inner curve. The + dry wind, the current with its northerly set, and the ebb in conjunction, + push the spit to the north, and as the sand advances, vegetation + consolidates the work. Then comes the season of northerly winds, when the + apex of the spit is forced backwards and outwards into a brief but + graceful flourish, in the bight of which small boats may nestle, though + the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards away. Since the winds of + the north are less in duration and persistency than those from the south + and east, the tendency of the spit—in defiance of the yearly setback—is + to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees with bare, branchless limbs + become stranded, to dry and whiten in the sun and reinforce the sand, and + in their decay, with ever contributed seaweed, to make mould for + vegetation. The work of encroachment and consolidation is incessant and + strangely rapid, for vegetation never lacks pioneers of special character + to prepare the way for the less venturesome and less hardy. Often before + vegetation appears, coral chips, shells, small stones, and sharp gravel, + are concreted into platter-shaped masses which seem to become the base of + blocks of rough conglomerate, capable of resisting the attacks of the sea; + and a few yards back, where a mangrove-bordered creek once existed, the + mud and decayed fragments of wood have been transformed into a black, + cheesy substance which might be mistaken for soft coal. So do these + beaches lay bare their secrets. + </p> + <p> + When the mainland streams pour out their floods and the commingled volume + hurries north in a mud-tinted, sharply delimited current, and whole trees + are cast up on the beaches of far-away isles, vivid examples of the + dispersion of animate and inanimate things by purely natural means are + afforded. Weighty stones are found locked among roots which, as the wood + decays, are deposited on alien sands, thereafter to invite speculation as + to origin and means of transport. On one such raft voyaged a living + specimen of the white and black banded snake, one of the most singular of + the family, for Nature has bestowed on it a placid disposition, and + provided it with an unmischievous mouth and fangs so minute that, although + classed as venomous, it is not considered injurious to man. Though strange + and interesting, on the plea that the family is quite sufficiently + represented, the derelict was unwelcome, save as a living proof of the + practicability of natural transports. By what grace, indeed, could the + creature which earned the Almighty's bitter curse be accepted as “wilsam”—goods + of God's mercy driven ashore, no wreck or ship being visible? + </p> + <p> + This small bay never ceases the laying of tribute at one's feet. There are + seasons when the amount is less than at others; but how seldom are its + sands trodden without a display of the infinite variety of productions of + the ocean? When the mood of the sea is savage and the spoil from the reef + is flung in ridges among the vegetation of the shore—coral in blocks + and shattered masses, shells, seaweed, sponges, and other dead marine + animals and driftwood, heap on heap—days of enthusiastic toil might + be spent in sorting out the oversurplus of the secrets of the sea. But for + months together the beach maintains its cleanly orderliness, and during + these dreamy days the sea will tell of many a pretty treasure which the + sands will reveal in the face of the sun. + </p> + <p> + The most famous of botanists compiled a floral almanac; the months, and in + some cases the weeks, being associated with the development and flowering + of significant plants. So might it be possible to ascribe to particular + months the tokens with which the obliging sea bestrews the beaches. It is + not proposed herein to attempt any such design, which would involve + special knowledge of the science of conchology and the compilation of the + records of years of patient observation. A few examples of the material on + which the delightful work might be undertaken are given, so that the + wealth of one brief strip of beach may be taken as typical of a vast + stretch of calm waters within the Great Barrier Reef. + </p> + <p> + The ridges and furrows of the cyclone season, when the clean sand is + covered and stained with weed, dead and living molluscs, coral, leaves + carried from the hills by flooded streams, all fermenting in the heat, + tell that Christmas is past and March not yet over. Many a year passes + without such a storm as compels the groaning ocean to ravage its reefs. + Then the beaches, during the first three months are not particularly + fertile, nor are the shells to be found special or peculiar. In April many + specimens of the mollusc known as Tapes, of which there are several + species, are cast ashore, empty but fresh. In life the animal buries + itself in the mud at the edge of the sand, and some disturbance of natural + conditions, possibly due to the fresh water from flooded rivers, causes + seasonal mortality. The most conspicuous of the species is that known as + “literati,” because of the erratic scribblings decorating its valves. With + others of the genera, it is to be found cast away at other times of the + year, but the end of the wet season seems exceptionally direful. + </p> + <p> + April is confirmed, too, but transiently, by the presence of a frail + mollusc (HAMINAEA CYMBALUM) which is washed ashore attached to seaweed, + soon to disappear desiccated by the sun and ground to powder. The shell is + semi-transparent with a sandy tint, and in form not unlike that of a + common snail. As the weather becomes cooler, a thin, delicate bivalve + decorates high-water mark. It is one of the tellinas—semi-transparent, + lustrous, and fragile—which occurs in muddy sand, but why the + species should be more susceptible to the ills of life during a particular + season is not apparent. When the fates do conspire against its welfare + dozen of bright specimens may be picked up during a casual stroll, the + animal having disappeared. The epidemic the beach thus announced with pink + and glittering shells coincides with low night tides, which possibly leave + the inefficiently protected animals exposed to the attacks of uncustomary + enemies which thrive only when the muddy banks are exposed. The cause of + the exhibition of the relics is not of so much concern to the unlearned + observer as the relics themselves and the part they play in signifying the + progress of the season. If strong winds occur during the cool months, + among the wreaths of broken seaweed thrown on the beach may be found + unbroken and fresh specimens of a singularly beautiful and fragile + univalve known commonly and most appropriately as the “bubble shell” + (HYDATINA PHYSIS), which when alive is a most lovely object, its fine + spiral lines being black and faint yellow with faint purple edges, while + the mantle is fringed with light blue intermingled with pale yellow. In + some specimens the base colouring is fawn, the lines, of varying width, + being brown and “comely crinkled,” like the face of the pleasant old woman + of whom a poet wrote. Such a frail shell is subject to many mischances + before it reaches the beach, and a few hours of exposure to the sun + tarnishes its lustre. To obtain it in perfection the beach must be + patrolled every day during due season, and very rarely is the collector + rewarded by the discovery of unsullied specimens. + </p> + <p> + When the chill is out of the surface the spring-time of the sea begins. + Vegetable life is strenuous, so that one may chance to see a lazy turtle + bearing on its back a weedy garden. The water is alive. Miles of space are + belted with that plant to which Captain Cook applied a significant name, + likening it in its myriads to “sea sawdust.” Some dare call it “whale + spawn,” forgetful that the whale is not a fish. Others assert it to be + none other than the “coral insect,” which does not exist save in the minds + of those who write odes to such creatures: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ye build, ye build, but ye enter not in, + Like the tribes whom the desert devoured in their sin.” + </pre> + <p> + It consists of minute vegetation in bundles, to be individualised under a + strong microscope, though when countless billions drift on to the beaches + and die and become green and grey with corruption, the fumes are by no + means in proportion to the marvellous littleness of the individual plants. + Then we know by the organs of scent and sight that August has come. The + beaches are foul. The breakers roll in unbroken or with a muddy, froth, + for the scum acts as oil, calming even troubled water. + </p> + <p> + The Red Sea is said by some authorities to derive its title from the scum + formed by this plant (TRICHODESMIUM ERYTHRAEUM), which is strongly + impregnated with iodine. It emits a most disagreeable odour and exhales a + gas which affects the mucous membrane, causing in some individuals + sneezing and inflammation of the eyes. One amateur fisherman of + considerable experience and by no means susceptible to intangible + irritations, and not to be diverted from his sport by trifles, has + frequently been compelled to move from a favourite ground by a stream of + the scum drifting to his anchored boat. The fumes gave intense smartness + to the eyes, which were relieved by a gush of tears, but keen discomfort + recurred when the tears were wiped away. + </p> + <p> + Following the least desirable of marine phenomena is that which is known + as the “blanket weed,” which floats ashore in loathsome blobs, a hand's + breadth and more, the centre a grey, solidified slime, with a periphery of + long, dull green, slimy, shapeless fringes Individual plants coalesce on + the sand and, mingling with other weeds, cover respectable beaches with a + woolly, compact mass not unlike a rough, thick blanket, but teeming with + unpleasantnesses. Isolated plants cling to ropes, which become garlanded + with thickened slime, from which evil-smelling mud oozes. Offensive to man + afloat and ashore, the “blanket weed” is a luxury to mullet and garfish, + for during its period both may be seen in shoals skimming the surface of + the sea in abandonment of habitual shyness, and the stomachs of both are + found to be full of the greenish-grey slime. With the compliance of the + sun the impurity disappears, giving place to the graceful weed of vivid + green that attaches itself to dead and whitened shells and fingers of + coral covered at low water. Every flood-tide deposits a zone of shells + splashed with green, while the shallows glow as a field of rich pasturage. + In favourable situations, such as the upper part of a long immersed log, + coated to the water-line with goose barnacles, the plant grows long and + luxuriantly, falling on each side like a silken mantle. + </p> + <p> + One other season, ephemeral but universal, do the babbling but + truth-telling beaches record. No rocky cove, no smooth strand, no + rubbish-accumulating creek, no mangrove-fringed islet, no coral esplanade + white under the tropic sun, no sand-bank with crest of windshaken bush, is + free. It is Christmas. Christian and pagan alike tell it to the sea, and + the sea tells it to the beaches in—corks. + </p> + <p> + Though there are grounds for the belief that some molluscs are seasonal in + their appearances and disappearances, the majority are always with us, + though subject to many casualties. A few months since an epidemic broke + out among a certain species of sea urchins (Echinus), spherical animals + with shells thickly set with spines, keen and exceedingly brittle. The + beaches were strewn with thousands of the dead, no apparent exterior + injury having been suffered. The particular species afflicted gathers to + itself, seemingly as a disguise, but perhaps as ballast, the dead shells + of cockles, which are retained by the spines. It was noticed that the dead + were not encumbered. + </p> + <p> + A curious and one of the rarest of local shells is that known as the + elephant's tusk (DENTALIUM APTINUM). Pure white and slightly fluted + longitudinally, it typifies the marvellous extent of Nature's requirements + and her fertility in design. It is especially interesting to note that the + existence of the species in Australian waters has not hitherto been + recorded, the nearest known locality being the Moluccas. + </p> + <p> + The DRUPA RICINUS (so specifically called because of resemblance to the + prickly seeds of the castor-oil plant) has another feature almost unique—two + ivory-white projections in the mouth, singularly like a baby's teeth. In + the waters of Florida is a distinct curiosity in the form of an altogether + different mollusc which is commonly known as the “bleeding-tooth shell,” + the gory stains about the base of the tooth being highly significant. The + local example of the whimsicality of Nature owes its excellence to + absolute purity. No fond mother crooning to her first-born ever looked on + budding teeth more delightful in modelling and pearliness. + </p> + <p> + CHAMA LAXARUS belongs to the same family as the clams, the largest of + living molluscs, its specific title being an allusion to the tattered + raiment of the beggar of the most edifying of parables. Occasionally the + china-white upper valve is decorated with a broad streak of buff. Some of + the genera are attached to coral or rock indifferently by either valve, + and it is exceptional to find on the beach a perfect specimen—that + is, the valves united. Since on the reef the shells are frequently + protectively disguised with seaweed and other growth, it is only after the + violence of a cyclone that the amateur collector expects to be rewarded. + </p> + <p> + Unlike some others of the family, the cockscomb oyster, though not + objecting to the near-by presence of its kind, seems to hate a crowd. Half + a dozen may occupy separate areas on a rock, and solitary specimens lie + embedded and strongly anchored in the sand. A typical example may weigh + over seven pounds. So big and weighty a shell can scarcely be sensible of + its invariable burden of parasites and other encumbrances—but the + variety of such tenants never fails to excite curiosity. That which is + illustrated accommodated another oyster of delicate texture, a thorny clam + (which has the reputation of being poisonous), a mass of seaweed, a + serpentine mollusc, two species of coral—the red organ-pipe and a + mushroom—three burrowing crabs, besides a number of smaller animals, + fixed and mobile, in addition to the congregation of less obvious life + critical examination would undoubtedly have revealed. + </p> + <p> + Most species of univalves are wanderers, many bivalves are free, and + multivalves become fixed at an early stage of existence. The goose-necked + barnacle, with its five valves, comes in its myriads attached to derelict + coco-nuts, floating logs, and pumice-stone. The species owes its name to + the fabulous belief that it was the preliminary state of the barnacle + goose of the Arctic regions, the filaments representing the plumage and + the valves the wings. It has been found on shells, whales, turtles, and + marine snakes. + </p> + <p> + In the mud close to the edge of the beach sand one of the most singular of + marine animals exists, and often its empty, horny, flexible, + semi-transparent shell, always tinted green, may be found. It is known in + some works as LINGULA ANATINA, and by the natives of this Isle, by whom a + certain part of it is eaten, as “Mill-ar-ing.” A pinhole in the mud + indicates the presence of the animal, and the hungry black boy, thrusting + his hand with outspread fingers below it, closes the fingers and withdraws + anything but an inviting morsel. To the tongue-shaped shell is attached a + pedicle or stalk, attaining a length of ten inches, opaque and tough, + which is broken off, seared over the fire, and eaten with apparent relish. + It is remarkable that in localities in which this mollusc is found a + seaweed occurs similar in shape and size, the chief difference in + appearance being in the length of the stalk, which in the plant is thin + and membranous. + </p> + <p> + The Phorous, or carrier, otherwise the mineralogist, is remarkable for its + extraordinary habit of cementing to its exterior stones of irregular size, + and in some cases dead shells of other species, an office performed by the + use of an exceptionally long tongue. Its movements are said to be very + clumsy and erratic, as if its self-imposed burden was too cumbersome for + its strength. Personal observation fails to verify its staggering gait, + for dead specimens only have been found. The stones are, no doubt, + designedly acquired as a disguise and so represent another form of life + insurance. When stationary the mineralogist successfully baffles + observation; but some day, peradventure, in a moment of preoccupation, it + will reveal itself lurching along over the rough country it favours. How + few living things escape the “penalties of Adam.” Some bear sorrows, some + stones. + </p> + <p> + Among the fixed molluscs are what is known as the winged shells, to which + the “pearl oysters” belong. The name is apt, for the expanded valves are + not unlike the form of a bird in flight. The illustration shows a rare + species, several specimens of which were found attached to the + mooring-chain of a buoy by what is known as the “byssus,” a bunch of tough + fibres which passes through an hiatus in the margins of the valves. Like + the king's daughter of the Psalmist, PTERIA PEASEI is “all glorious + within,” the nacreous surface, margined with lustrous black, shining like + silver with a tinge of blue. + </p> + <p> + Only a very small proportion of the species of shells to be found on the + shore of this bay have been enumerated. In a work of general character a + complete commentary on any particular branch of natural science would be + out of place, nor is it competent for one who has but a trifling knowledge + of a special subject to deal with it in an enlightening manner. It would + be highly interesting to ascertain by study and observation why the + denizens of so many parts of the ocean meet in community in such a narrow + space, though it may not be very difficult to present a fairly + satisfactory theory for the continuous presence of many species by + reference to existing features and prevalent conditions. Within the area + of the bay the water varies in depth from a few feet to four fathoms, the + rise and fall of the tide being about two fathoms. The fringing coral reef + represents all stages of development and decay—live growth on the + outer edge, ever encroaching on the deeper water, and comprising many + varieties; dying masses on the shore-side, and a considerable extent of + dead and denuded relics lying in mud. There are also weedy patches, bare + sand-banks of limited extent, uncovered at low water, and muddy + depressions both in the deep and shallow portions and clean sand. Strong + currents race past the sand-spit and across the bay, carrying, no doubt, + continual supplies of spat from elsewhere to settle in quiet places. No + one who has lived on the margin of the tropic sea can be astounded at its + prolific life, though it may be a matter of unceasing wonder that along a + beach not more than four hundred yards in extent should be found shells + representative of species existing in nearly all the warm waters of the + world. + </p> + <p> + And there are other isles with other beaches. One may present a narrow + strip of soft sand, cringing and squeaking under foot, almost entirely + composed of finely ground coral and shells, among which polished fragments + of red coral are to the beach-comber as the “colours” the gold fossicker + may find in his dish—prospective of reward. They reinspire the like + fervour which leads to the discovery of mountains as well as microbes, for + may they not signify the existence within the bounds of the Great Barrier + Reef of the precious coral of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea? Above + such hopeful sands lies a band formed of stag's-horn coral, bleached + snow-white, each time lying at right angles to the sea, and higher up on + the strand are blocks and lumps of weather-stained coral among which + vegetation is springing. A few yards further back stands a group of + Pandanus palms, the van of the dense and intricate jungle covering rock + and ridge. + </p> + <p> + The shore of the sister islet may at the moment be but series of steeply + shelving banks of coral debris, to the base of the granite ramparts over + which the luxuriant foliage falls. + </p> + <p> + Each islet has its distinguishing features, each beach its budget of news + for ears attuned to “small measures,” each its display of seemly things—the + sweepings of the floor of the sea. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LOST ISLE + </h2> + <p> + “Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BROWNING. +</pre> + <p> + In a region of rare serenity it lay—a blue stud on a silver shield—aloof + from other lands—unmapped, untarnished, pure, gleaming in the dawn + of exultant day. + </p> + <p> + Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative, partly because of + remoteness from the taint of man-trodden land, mainly because, by right of + discovery, it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable than + such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, verdurous hills, sheltered + valleys, orange-tinted beaches, with the shadows of white headlands + staining the sea purple? + </p> + <p> + An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in the shape of a five-rayed + star, each ray irregularly serrated. Here was promise of many a landlocked + cove to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. Unsalted streams + wound among the foothills of the central mountain, whence a spire of + rose-red porphyry shot into the luminous sky from unbroken jungle, the + superficies of which were soft and brilliant as sodden moss. + </p> + <p> + Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, flower-bedecked + glades, with great trees and blossoming shrubs in scattered clumps and + patches, among which sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of deep + hidden streams. Others were merely precipitous depressions in the unbroken + mass of foliage, variegated with aspiring palms so slender of shaft that + their unceasing swaying in the still air seemed an act of unconscious + affectation for the display of huge bunches of gaudy fruit, seductive and + dulcet to the taste. Spider-webbed tree-ferns with furry, water-bespangled + trunks stood in crowded groves on the brink of spray-creating cascades and + along the margins of cool rivulets which murmured as they hurried to the + sea. + </p> + <p> + Water-dripping moss padded the lintels of grottos, before which dangled + translucent ferns of delicate form, yet so rich and intense with life that + crozier-tipped fronds took the hue of flowers—coral-red, + golden-bronze, and yellow; while golden dust clung to hairy undersides + like pollen to the thighs of hive-returning bees. Deep in perpetual shadow + lived a shy plant with heart-shaped leaves, so succulent and distended as + to resemble green capsules, and in association with each leaf was a single + semi-transparent fruit, pink with a central glow like the fire of opal, + but so frail that upon touch it resolved into a dewdrop which glistened, + trembled, and was gone in a moment. + </p> + <p> + In the full blaze, feather-foliaged trees crowned with gigantic red + blossoms offered as a sacrifice fruit which blushed before the insistent + gaze of the sun; while beneath this gay canopy vine and creeper and pliant + shrub wove an undergarment which screened the moist earth and created a + realm of subdued light in which all the flowers were pale of tint and + tremulously fragile, though of almost forbidding magnitude of form. + </p> + <p> + Birds of painted plumage and loud and sonorous note sang and fluttered + among the flowers and fruit with no ill thing to disturb them, no + dissonance to compel them to silence and fear. + </p> + <p> + Whithersoever I gazed, the lone and lovely Isle denoted a paradise of + unkempt vegetation, unfeared birds. No stump was there to betray the + passing of the devastating axe. No footprint except that of birds—erratic, + rectangular, scribbling—dented the sand. No human being had ever + visited those groves perfumed by orchids, gauzy as the wings of the + butterflies which poised over them and sipped the nectar stored in their + slender throats. + </p> + <p> + Each bay and inlet and cove differed in delightsomeness. Unsoiled, + weedless sand littered with shells floored this deep and sheltered nook, + where shadow and substance blended to the complete deceit of the closest + scrutiny. The next was as a garden of shrubs with living blossoms and + fruit in strange shapes and gaudy colours. Many of the subaqueous plants + expanded and retracted their blossoms harmoniously, as if to the strains + of music audible only to the mute denizens of the sea—a measured, + waving dance, fantastic and wondrously beautiful. Crystalline clearness + magnified the detail of the next, the portals of which were coral, dyed + extravagantly and variously according to the secret of the sea, with its + inexhaustible chemicals. Fish in unimaginable shapes, fantastic hues, and + sea-things harmless and educative to the sight, roamed the coral gardens, + retiring at will into sapphire-blue caverns or flashing in the clearness + with lightning speed and scarce visible effort. Cream and yellow, old + gold, blue, pink and lavender, the corals flourished in myriad shapes. + Anemones, large as plates, royal blue and greyish-green, and each + bristling with thousands of independent activities, embossed snow-white + blocks. + </p> + <p> + Opening out into an oval basin, the inlet was again constricted, the + bottle-neck entrance to a perfect haven being guarded by huge masses of + limestone, weathered grotesquely, from the crevices of which sprays of + peach-coloured orchids quivered, while the flora of land and sea + commingled on the lustrous surface. Beyond again, the inlet wound round + the base of it cliff vocal with the fugue of birds which flew from flowery + parapet to flowery parapet. + </p> + <p> + Gradually the cliffs retreated, leaving fair banks with shrubs and great + trees with branches pendulous over unbroken placidity, and there, on a + knoll, stood a palm, rigid and straight as a column, crowned with + shimmering fronds which shielded masses of nuts, brown and green, and + great sprays of straw-coloured infloresence. More palms beyond, thick-set; + and beyond again an avenue in perfect alignment, each tree perfect in + stately form, with one blotch of glorious purple—as high and compact + as a church—to block the diminished distance. + </p> + <p> + The boat drifted to the landing never touched by foot of man. Lost in + admiration of the imposing and manifold perfections of the Isle, eager to + wander at will among those enticing glades, and to make festival with + their genial gods, I stepped out—and into nothingness! + </p> + <p> + Can it be that never again shall be discovered in the Land of Dreams the + Lost Isle? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II.—THE PASSING FACE + </h2> + <h3> + THE CORROBOREE + </h3> + <p> + “No ceremony that to great ones 'longs.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Summoned, invited, children, men, women, and piccaninnies assembled to + participate in the duties and recreations of the moment. + </p> + <p> + Message-sticks had been carried into unfamiliar country by nervous boys. + One of the organisers at ease with his pen sent to his kin formal and + official invitations mingled with social and affectionate greetings. All + responded. + </p> + <p> + The beach sent its silent-footed contingents trailing along the yellow + sands, carrying in well-worn dilly-bags oysters and scraps of half-baked + fish smeared with smoke, and gritty. All their lives had they trudged + along the convenient margin of the sea, where the receding tide leaves a + firm, level, springy track. They were familiar with all its moods, and + took little heed of any. + </p> + <p> + The fame of a previous Parliament had spread far and wide, even to that + aspect of the Dividing Range which sends its waters to the great shallow + gulf to the west. Natives who, though living among the mountains but two + days' journey from the coast, had never seen the sea, hastened thither in + bee-line, passing through unknown but not unfriendly country. Though the + age of tribal feuds was past, special weapons of defence were carried, for + did not strange jungles teem with spectral denizens whom imagination + endowed with appalling shape, with cunning, and with rending ferocity? + Unmolested, the party arrived one evening, to gaze with mute astonishment + on the sea. It was almost as incomprehensible, and therefore almost as + fearsome, as the phantoms of the bush. Mysterious, vast beyond the range + of vision, here grumbling on the sand, there mingling with the sky, the + strangers peered at it through the screen of whimpering casuarinas and + trembled. The rustle of the subsiding north-easter made for fear. They + told one another that the big salt water was alive. It talked in austere + tones, while their own sleepy lagoons were silent and tame. Wonderingly, + they retreated to the jungle for the night, there to take counsel of the + long-shoremen. + </p> + <p> + “That b-i-g fella salt water, him talk all asame?” + </p> + <p> + “Yowi! Him sing out plenty. Mak'm b-i-g fella row!” + </p> + <p> + “That fella him walk about lika that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yowi! Him walk about. Quiet little bit. Sometime run about splash'm + water; mak'm boat capsize. Plenty men drown finis!” + </p> + <p> + The strangers shivered and longed to return to their cool hills; but the + long-shoremen beguiled them with descriptions of the fish and the crabs + and oysters the generous sea gave, and told that in the morning it would + be “quiet fella” and that they need not be afraid. + </p> + <p> + With taut-strung nerves, the highlanders approached the sea, which shone + in matutinal placidity. When the ripples wavered on the smooth sand and + ran in caressing ripples towards their feet, they started and shrunk. The + incomprehensible ocean was alive and much to be feared, for was it not so + big that no one could see where it ended? They sat and watched its + enticing gestures, and, gathering courage, stood tremulously while the + tide splashed their feet and retreated. The boldest walked in ankle-deep + and danced in daredevilry, and soon young and old were gambolling + uncouthly, tasting the sea's quality, shouting and splashing. None + ventured more than knee-deep; some crawled and wallowed in the wet sand, + too fearful to trust their lives to so big a thing which showed itself to + be alive by breathing and moving. The morning was spent in moist frolics, + and when the north-easter began to work up a little sea, which spoke in + menacing tones, the terrified strangers withdrew. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon the corroboree began, many of the participators + having spent hours in the assumption of the festive costume of the down of + sulphur-crested cockatoos plastered to the skin with grease and the blood. + It is not to be supposed that white down in the hands of experienced + dressers is incapable of variation in style. Several original designs + excited the approbation of spectators. The down was arranged in tufts + following the perpendiculars of the body from shoulder to shin, or in a + series of circles accurately spaced, or in intersecting spirals, while the + heads of all performers and combatants were converted into white mops. + </p> + <p> + And with the clapping of hollowed hands and the clicking of boomerangs the + function began. And having danced to their own satisfaction and the + delight of the crowd, the warriors with ostentation and bluster recited + private grievances and challenged those against whom they had real or + fancied wrongs to combat. Most of the noisy declamation was ill-founded. + The many had no grievances and no intentions of fighting, but out of the + shouting crowd stepped two big men who sought compensation for “another + Helen.” Though not lovely or winsome or an heiress, she sufficed as the + motive for an honourable and public strife, quite as sincere as many of + the scuffles without the walls of Troy. Spears and boomerangs were thrown + viciously and dodged and evaded skilfully until one of the men found a + boomerang sticking fast in his leg. The wound was decisive, and with much + hullabaloo the defeated warrior limped away, while the lady, whom + niggardly Nature had denied the grace of blushing, passively went to the + victor. + </p> + <p> + Among the strangers to the coast was an old man but a yard and a quarter + high, with unkempt, grisly beard, a head which needed not the + glorification of cockatoo's down, long, thin arms, huge hands, thick, + stump legs, and sprawling feet. No far-reaching crab of the reef just + showing its worn brown tusks off-shore was more grotesque of mien and + gait. To emphasise his malignant mood, he carried a huge boomerang, which + seemed to obey and embody his whims. It sprang from his powerful hands in + resolute and impetuous flight, whirred threateningly overhead, and + returned to foot, fluttering and purring, as if endowed with affection for + its unlovable master. None so mastered the missile; but for all his weird + influence over it, he was subject to the restraints of another weapon + which seldom left his hands. Is there not a spiritual law which imposes + checks on the bombastic tricks of crude and cultured alike, or was it by + force of gravity that the point of the dwarf's long and slender spear + dipped into the ground, punctuating mock martial struts with perverse + irregularity? Prodigious in his own estimation, his jibes and taunts were + almost as terrifying as the erratic flights of his boomerang; for the + dwarf was a privileged individual, the Thersites of the campaign, and with + one advantage over his prototype—he really wanted to fight. So he + swaggered, heeding not the reproving spear; he fumed; he mocked; for no + warrior affected to notice his vainglorious absurdities. He was as much in + earnest as those who fought on account of elemental love, and far more so + than any of the blusterers who talked big and looked small. He longed to + fight, and for money. + </p> + <p> + Each warrior was challenged individually, and when none responded he + railed against all for cowards and sent the boomerang hissing defiance + against the blue sky, to fall with mutter and thud at his feet. In his + rage the little man became hysterical, and the more he scolded the less + important, while the swaying spear emphasised increasing agitation, but + brought him neither humility nor jibe, for the race does not intentionally + relieve its drama with comedy. + </p> + <p> + No more influential personage was present than “Mooty,” the crafty, + determined, plausible philosopher—the sagest of the counsellors, the + most flowery of orators, the most weird of the wizards. Long before he had + established his reputation as a medicine-man. A settler had purchased some + cast-off goats in a distant town, and had employed a black boy of the + district as assistant drover, and the name of the boy was Tom. Since there + are many “Toms,” a distinguishing surname had to be bestowed, so “Goat” + was affixed, and as “Tom Goat” the stranger was known. Having no + sweetheart, he made love to several dusky dames, all of whom rejected him + because his absurd name made him a figure for fun. Rosey, wife of Jack, + was persistently courted, and scornfully she despised her wooer. That + individual, however, was not without malignant resource. Rosey complained + of a sore throat, and as she got worse her boy became similarly afflicted. + The faces and throats of both swelled alarmingly, so that Mooty, who had + the cases in hand, gave up hope. Both were resigned, when Mooty, to his + own horror and the dismay of everyone, caught the dread disease. + </p> + <p> + No such illness had ever been known in the district, and since it had not + only baffled Mooty's skill, but had irreverently seized him—the only + physician of credit and renown—its cause must be supernatural. Thus + did he reason, as he began occult investigations. Jack and Rosey lay in + their camp passively dying. Mooty prowled about, the sleeves of a + discarded shirt tied under his distended jaws. No physical origin for the + mysterious disease was found during the two days he devoted to methodic + search and secret rite. Then an anticipated discovery rewarded him and + made his name thrill among his race. To a condescending white man he told + of his skill in these terms: + </p> + <p> + “Two fella him close up finis. Me bin look out camp belonga two fella. + B'mbi me bin find'm little fella fork stick close up alonga groun'. Me + frait. My word, me bin pick'm up easy fella. Me look out longa little + fella hole. Me bin see hair, too much, belonga Tom Goat. That hair bin + mak'm two fella no good. Him mak'm me fella no good. Me catch'm that fella + hair along two fella stick. Tchuck'm along ribber. My word! That fella + hair no good! Him go phuff! Kill'm fish, too many. B'mbi me fella go + alonga camp. Me tell'm two fella, 'You no more mak'm die. Me bin find'm + that fella hair belonga Tom Goat.' B'mbi two fella him get up; him no more + die; he walk about.” + </p> + <p> + Exasperated by such impropriety, aghast at the consequences, Mooty—doctor + alike of laws, of science, and of medicine, and a man of imperative mood—sharpened + his tomahawk at the Chinaman's grindstone, theatrically testing its edge + with distorted thumb. Tom Goat disappeared as silently as last night's + dew, for Mooty does not hesitate to summarily administer his own judgment + when his professions are scorned, his family bewitched, his countenance + distorted with mumps. + </p> + <p> + With feasting and fighting, with dancing and storytelling, quarrelling and + reconciliations, the assemblage spent a happy week. Then the jungle + reabsorbed the nervous hillmen, and beach-combers straggled along the + yellow sands. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CANOE-MAKER + </h2> + <p> + “Last scene of all, . . . Is second childishness and mere oblivion.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + A tottering old man, frail alike in frame and mind, squats dying in an + alien camp. His teeth have almost disappeared, worn to the gums by the + mastication of food in which sand has been mingled in immoderate + proportion. All his life has been spent on the verge of the sea. He has + never known smooth food. Before he left his mother's breast grit was on + his lips, for in her sleep she snoodled naked in the sand. Hers was the + age of bark rugs or none, and was ever lord of the beach who shared with + his lady so rare a comfort? + </p> + <p> + Counterparts of Cassowary's babyhood are extant to this day—milk-bellied, + nose-neglected, fumbling-fingered toddlers, who smash with stones almost + beyond their strength infant oysters and gulp a mixture of squash and + sand. + </p> + <p> + As he grew up his food, seared on a fire on the beach, was always more or + less gritty. Possibly it would hardly have been relished if the accustomed + condiment had been absent. + </p> + <p> + For many a long year Cassowary was a sort of king in the locality of his + birth, though this rank brought him no isolation. Now he is without rank + and grim in his lonesomeness. True to the sentiments of his race, the men + and women who knew him when he was strong and lusty strive to make him + comfortable in his dotage; but he is repellent. His surliness does not vex + them. They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To strangers whom + Cassowary has never loved and would now assault with spear and + nulla-nulla, they apologise. + </p> + <p> + “Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up that fella finis.” + </p> + <p> + Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similar delusions have afflicted + notable men of the world, and even to this day are there not apprehensive + monarchs whose precautions are similar to those of the age-worn savage? He + imagines that he is regarded as a useless encumbrance, and that his + fellows would gladly hasten his departure to that country on the bourne of + which he painfully lingers. Suspicious of plots to rob him of the poor + vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard against poison, his special + dread. Rather than run risk he submits to semi-starvation, for the decayed + monarch of a narrow strip of shore has no servitor on whom to impose the + office of taster of his dishes. A stranger may of his goodwill offer a + tribute of tobacco. It is cast away with every manifestation of + indignation and haste. He is sure that the one solace of existence has + been drugged, and that if he indulges he must die. How marvellous the + self-denial! How many of us would purchase half an hour's existence such + as his at the cost of declining the one luxury of life! + </p> + <p> + Flour from his master's hands is served like the stranger's tobacco, + though he may not have tasted food for days; nor does he accept a portion + of the damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others eat. Then he + feeds reluctantly and with extreme caution, not to gratify the palate, but + to maintain life. + </p> + <p> + Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more vindictive and envious + foes than this helpless old savage who possesses nothing save a grimy + shirt and the fragments of a blanket? + </p> + <p> + Cassowary, an old man when I first met him, was of the sort which does not + make friends with white men. Silent, resolute, reserved, a man apart, he + disdained the race-shattering language his fellows hastened to acquire. + His pidgin English, limited to a few words, was almost as unintelligible + as his own rude tongue. Once I landed on the beach which was his favourite + resort, and as the anchor slipped into the sea, smoke puffed and drifted + from the camp and the lonesome man's dogs barked; but by the time the camp + was reached the smell of the fire had gone, and all tracks had been + obliterated as if by the efficient touch of the wind. The heat of the sand + at the entrance of the dome-shaped humpy revealed the site of the covered + embers, and the rest was silence. + </p> + <p> + At the back of the humpy, concealed by carelessly disposed bark and grass, + was a bark canoe which Cassowary, fisherman and oyster-eater, was never + without. In those days he deserved the reputation of being an unrivalled + maker of canoes which, during the first few weeks of their prime, were + sound, neat of appearance, quite seaworthy, though of small dimensions and + exceedingly light. Others might be expert fishermen and skilful in more + exacting sport of turtle and dugong catching, but all acknowledged his + special superiority. Though custom had made him a king, Nature had + designed him for a canoe-maker, while with that invincible irony with + which she rebukes the self-esteem and baffles the ambitions of mortals, + she discounted her gift by the bestowal of frank distrust of the sea. He + was so impelled to the exercise of the one talent that during youth and + manhood his chief occupation and never-ending delight lay therein. That + which his right hand had found to do he did with all his might, his frail + craft being the admiration of all, while the confidence with which others + managed them proved their quality. They toyed with the sea in its placid + moods, and were deferential in its ill-humour. But Cassowary never + ventured beyond easy hail from the shore, however urgent the occasion or + propitious the day. + </p> + <p> + Fear also restricted his wanderings in the bush, which kept him within + sound of the dreaded waves. He was an unaffected beach-comber. Neither the + food-bestowing sea nor the safe dry land was for him. + </p> + <p> + By instinct he seemed to be guided to the best trees for bark, generally + selecting “gulgong,” though others were equally pliant in his hands. Raw + from the tree, he would soak the single sheet in water, and while sodden + steam it over a smoky fire, and, as it softened, mould it with hand and + knee. Bringing the edges of the end designed for the stem into apposition, + using a device on the principle of the harness-maker's clamp, he sewed + them together with strips of freshly cut cane. Two stretchers gave to the + craft beam, and the necessary sheer and thwart-ship stays of twisted cane + stiffness. Gunwales of cane were sewn on, the stitches being cemented with + gum made plastic by frequent renderings over the fire on a flat stone, and + then the canoe was complete save for the hand-paddles, spoon-bowl-shaped + pieces of bark. + </p> + <p> + Each canoe sat well down by the stern when the fisherman knelt in it, + crouching forward like a jockey on the withers of his mount, and sending + it along by the alternate strokes. + </p> + <p> + Cassowary was wont to scan each new work with the tilted head of an + artist. All the stitches were regularly spaced, and since they were + burnished with smoke, the canoe became a study in brown, braided with + gold, representative of something more than a means towards earning a diet + of fish, and inevitable grit. It was neat and of harmonious colouring; + innocent of the least touch of finery; not a scratch expended on ornament. + All its lines, save those of the stretchers and stays which stood for + rigidity, were fluent. It was not made to model or measurement, but + developed under the maker's hard hands and tough fingers—a tribute + to his artistry and skill. On the water it was as blithe as a bubble. + </p> + <p> + Often had the wish to possess one of Cassowary's masterpieces arisen. He + scorned barter by abandoning his property whenever the interferer + appeared. When the camp was deserted while the boat was being brought to + anchor there was a strong temptation to take the canoe, leaving some + adequate reward. The self-denial is almost regretted, for the old man with + the thin white tuft on his chin, his shyness, his hatred of strangers, and + delusions of his decrepitude, are characteristic of an age soon to be of + the irrecoverable past. A canoe from such accomplished hands would have + represented a complimentary record of a race deficient in the elements of + history. + </p> + <p> + Several years have elapsed since Cassowary made his last canoe. He + acknowledged that his fingers had lost their cunning, but the fates + ordained that his ideas should blossom as his manipulatory skill withered + Gradually he became feeble in mind and body, and was wont to spend his + time crouched in a rough shelter dreaming prodigious dreams. He would wake + not only his fellows, but a pitying neighbour of other complexion, with + enthusiastic shouts announcing that a “big fella steamer” was whistling + out at sea; that it was his steamer; that it carried two bags of flour, + and tea and sugar and tobacco, and one “good fella trousis”; and he would + demand help in the landing of his merchandise. Worn with age, sleep would + soon again claim him, but never and anon his great cry, hailing the + phantom steamer with her beneficent cargo, would wake the poor and squalid + camp. + </p> + <p> + The time came when Cassowary could no longer obtain for himself the coarse + and trivial food essential to life, and he and another outcast, blind and + maimed, quartered themselves on the camp on the beach; arid in spite of + fretfulnesses and suspicions, their fellows administered to their wants. + Being brought face to face with facts, the State gave orders which meant + an old-age pension for the outcasts. The dole was liberal enough. The + mistake was that it came too late. + </p> + <p> + There was no reaction, as is oft the case with those who retire after the + bustling phase to live on the bounty of the State, for Cassowary and his + blind companion had never been strenuous workers or brain-compelling men. + The pension represented unexampled abundance. It was real, and yet it came + from a source almost as intangible as Cassowary's ship. Food and tobacco! + What more could the heart of a casual relic of such a race want? Actually + he wanted nothing more, save, peradventure, a blanket; but he dreamt he + did, and no earthly agent could diminish the festal extravagance of the + scenes among which he revelled, conducted by the enchanted sleep. + </p> + <p> + Cassowary had at last come to his kingdom. His time had always been his + own. The ready-to-hand food gave him leisure. His days were all dreams. + Weary of crouching over the fire before the opening of his humpy, he began + to wander in the flesh as he was wont to wander in mind. He was seen a + mile away from the cheerless camp, where his companions, with smoke-dried + eyes, lamented his absence. + </p> + <p> + Was he searching for a tree which might provide bark for yet another canoe—his + last work, a paragon? A few days passed and it became known that Cassowary + was missing. His shrunken body disordered a patch of buff sand just above + high water. + </p> + <p> + Had the desolate old man, in his fancy, made the best of all canoes, and + for once ventured out to sea? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TWO LADIES + </h2> + <p> + “To one, resolution; to another, a disposition to dance.” + </p> + <h3> + NELLY, THE SHREW. + </h3> + <p> + As the steamer from the South enters the bay, the traveller sees ahead the + fringe of houses on the low lands fronting the inlet where shipping finds + safe and convenient harbourage. To the left he may be introduced to a + strip of open beach between two low points of grey granite, back from + which are scattered groups of modest buildings and huts which form the + aboriginal settlement. The choice of the site for the settlement was + influenced by the character of the country. Although but a short distance + by sea from the port, it is isolated by its background of hard and + inhospitable hills patched with almost impenetrable jungle. Few consigned + there ever leave of their own motive, however earnest the longing may be. + The home-sick realise that escape is difficult and, if successful, futile, + for are not the police everywhere, and strong and compelling? Why + undertake the unknown perils of unknown hills—spiritual perils more + to be dreaded than physical—when capture and again banishment are + certain? + </p> + <p> + Nellie Oongle-bi, among whose matrimonial experiences was Tom, of this + Isle, and who since his death has gone from bad to worse, had been found + under the protection of a coloured alien, sadly degenerated and saturated + with opium. For her own salvation she was transported to the settlement + afar off, with its frontier of sea and background of repulsive hills. She + went, being in the clutches of a superior force, tractably enough, but + with none of her unconquerable love of country subdued. Nelly has nothing + of an attractive nature. She has a vixenish temper at times; is always on + the alert for fancied slights; is by no means cleanly, unless under + duress; and does not hesitate to foment subjects of quarrel. Few among her + relations and friends would mourn her exile. Even her own son, Jim, was + scoffingly indifferent. She was far from being so, but played her part + well, being obedient, quite tame, and ever observant. + </p> + <p> + She “sat down” at the settlement, and made friends with two or three of + the women there with whom she had previously been acquainted; but while + she talked with apparent resignation, she scanned the hills, especially + fixing in her mind a particular gully which leads up to a ridge promising + an outlook to the south, upon which her hopes were fixed. Soon after dark + on the second night she took to the bush, carrying a dilly-bag and a + blanket. She is now one of the population of a far-distant settlement, the + site of which happens to be within her own country. How she overcame the + distance without food, friends, or resources, has to be told, though not + altogether in her own language, for such would be unintelligible to the + ordinary reader. + </p> + <p> + She was determined to run away as soon as the steamer landed her, for that + part of the North was not her country, and she could not live anywhere + else. Besides, she was “sorry belonga that boy Jim.” During the first + night of her homeward pilgrimage she never ceased walking among rocks and + through the scrub, for she was fearful of being recaptured. Without pause + she clambered on until well into the next day, when she slept for a little + while. Then on again until dark. One big “mung-um” (mountain) stood in the + hopeful direction. Thitherwards she hastened, losing count of the days and + nights. Nelly has no conception of figures beyond one, two, and a great + many. The climbing of the mountain occupied many days. She was bewildered, + for she could not “catch'm that sal'water” which would lead her home. At + last from a spur of the mountain she saw the sea—“L-o-n-g way. Too + far. Me close up sing out.” Though she might cry, the sight of big salt + water beside which all her life had been spent was a joy and a stimulant. + Pushing and worming her way through the jungle, she encountered nothing + but birds, wallabies, and snakes. + </p> + <p> + Once she was startled by what seemed to be a worn narrow track. Advancing + cautiously along it, she came across a huge carpet snake coiled “all a + same rope alonga boat.” It was asleep where an opening in the roof of + vegetation made a patch of sunlight on the jungle floor, and she passed + by, treading noiselessly. For food she had the fruits of the jungle, + crude, harsh, and bitter. Food, indeed, was almost repugnant, for her + thoughts were concentrated on her country, so she hastened down towards + the now hidden sea. Far inland she heard its welcome noise—a + greeting and a call from home which made her forgetful of all weariness + and fret. + </p> + <p> + In course of time—a weak woman carrying a blanket and living on + innutritious foods does not struggle through jungle at any remarkable + speed—the foothills and then the low-lying country at the junction + of two rivers were reached. Here she took off her few and bedraggled + garments, and, making them into a bundle with her blanket and bag, waded + through swamps, eventually emerging on a sandy beach, which she intended + to follow until she regained her country, many a weary mile to the south. + Providence provided an easy means of crossing the estuary of the rivers—a + kindly white man, owner of a “little fella boat, little fella ingin.” To + him she told the story of her escape and her longing for her own country + and her own people, and was ferried across. Then she picked up a camp of + her race, the members of which, sympathising with her, accompanied her on + her way for a couple of days. One day she woke from her sleep on the edge + of the mangroves with her blanket sopping with blood which had flowed from + her mouth and nose during sleep. “Me bin sorry belonga that boy Jim. Me + bin sorry belonga country. That 'nother country no good belonga me. Me + think me die. Me walk alonga sandy beach. Some time alonga b-i-g fella + rock. Me close up tumble down altogether. Me tired. B'mbi catch'm + Liberfool Crik (Liverpool Creek). Plenty fella sit down. He bin sing out, + 'Hello! You come back from that place?' Me bin say 'Yes; that country no + good belonga me.'” + </p> + <p> + A month or so after Nelly was again found in the service of a coloured + alien, tugging away with another weak gin at what she calls a “two-fella + saw.” For her task of sleeper-cutting her reward would probably be a + handful of rice and a dose of opium per day. + </p> + <p> + Nelly is now at her leisure within a mile or so from the place of her + birth, hardly conscious of the feat represented by her solitary + pilgrimage. Occasionally she has the company of her tall and indifferent + boy. She enjoys the society of her relations, and indulges as oft as may + be in exhilarating misunderstandings with them. Without a vehement + squabble now and again life would be intolerably insipid. Anger, + accompanied by fluent abuse, is to her a kind of spiritual blood-letting + for the casement of her suddenly plethoric temperament. But such is of her + frailty. Proof of her strength of purpose, has it not been given? + </p> + <h3> + MARIA DANCES. + </h3> + <p> + In her youth Maria gave promise of a rare condition among coastal blacks—tendency + to width and breadth. As she grew in bulk she seemed, if not to decrease + in stature, at least to remain stationary. Thus it was that her figure + became perfect. + </p> + <p> + If there be one feature of animal physiology more adorable than aught else + in the eyes of the lords of the soil, it is fat—fat under any and + every circumstance. They admire it in animals of the chase, and the + paltry, greasy relics of a feast may be smeared over the body with + something of the pride and gratification derivable in other and cleaner + walks of life from perfumed powder, pink and white. + </p> + <p> + Being fat and shiny as a girl, Maria had keen and ardent lovers. She was + an adorable novelty. + </p> + <p> + Blacks do not gaze into the faces of their sweethearts. They have never + found chaste delight in the writing of woeful ballads to their mistress's + eyebrows, or to the glorification of their snubby and expansive noses. If + any of Maria's admirers had been lyrical, her buxom condition would have + been the theme of their idealisations. In time she became the mother of + children, still retaining that charming superiority of bulk which excited + the rage of sisters whose skins did not shine, whose flesh did not quiver + whensoever they walked, talked, or even smiled. + </p> + <p> + No marvel that her matrimonial experiences were the comment of the camp + and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have been + known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, + Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the + flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her the + belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the + stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not an + ounce of irresistible fascination of which to boast. + </p> + <p> + For some years the form of Maria had not waddled across accustomed scenes. + Quite unexpectedly it loomed up as large and buoyant as ever. The + light-hearted denizens of the camp had arranged an evening's + entertainment. The fires burned low, the sea babbled, making white-skirted + frolic on the hard level sand, and the piping voices of the honey-seeking + flying foxes among the tea-trees seemed to chide the parrots of the day + for having left so little refreshment in the blossoms. Behind a screen of + faded blankets the warriors of the camp were adorning themselves with + white clay and feathers and long, shaggy beards of bark, while the leader + of the orchestra began to tune his boomerang and fire-hardened sticks, and + his attendants to squat ready to drum on thighs and lap with hollowed hand + in time with his refrain and clicking music. The fires flared up, and the + band emerged with thumping step and emphatic grunts to illustrate the + ceremonious visit of strangers to a camp at which the nature of the + reception was in doubt. One individual, in chalk for the most part, + advanced, half nervously, half anxiously, to the musician, and modestly + retired, and advanced again and retired, until reassured, and then the + crowd came forward whirling and grunting, and, with high-waving arms in + unison and swaying bodies, gave token of happiness. + </p> + <p> + ACT II.—The master of ceremonies carried to the front a big and + rough sapling. The fires glowed again, the orchestra clicked and thumped, + and a single boy in an ancient red handkerchief and chalks danced into the + light, and, keeping time with the music, began in pantomime to fashion the + sapling into a sword, using a fictitious shell, with which he scraped off + imaginary bark. While absorbed in his work, his companions came from the + screen in haste, skipping round him and mimicking all his actions and + grunting in unison with him, while making the sand-ridge to quiver with + intensity of tread. Presently all flopped down on haunches in close + formation round the sword-maker, still maintaining rhythmical sway of body + and limb, and while some held the sapling, others toiled strenuously + towards the completion of a good and true weapon, the master of ceremonies + encouraging and exhorting the workers until nature could hold out no + longer, and they bounded to their feet and, with grunts and signs and with + bodies reeking with perspiration, whirled away into darkness. + </p> + <p> + ACT III.—Each of the noisy players came suddenly into the glare + carrying a rotund, compact bundle, and, squatting down, began with grunts + and sighs the great “coco-nut” act, obviously one of the masterpieces of + the corroboree. In perfect time the sham coco-nuts were beaten with hands + in lieu of sticks or tomahawks, while the accompaniment became faster and + faster. Ever and anon each, still rocking, would peer closely at his prize + to satisfy himself as to its quality, and forthwith continue the resonant + belabouring of the shell, until the meat therein was available with joyous + shout. + </p> + <p> + ACT IV.—Most of the accumulated bark and leaves having by this time + passed into flame and smoke, the attendants raided the nearest gunyah for + fresh supplies of material for illumination. The big fires lit up the + arena anew, and, marshalled by the conductor, the band rushed out of the + darkness uttering grunts which rang a change on the monotony of previous + vocal efforts. A masterpiece of composition, it conjured up the dimness of + the jungle and the smell of damp vegetation. All squatted in a double + ring, back to back. This formation was not strictly maintained, for each + individual made half turns to right and left alternately, simultaneously + scratching the sand with distended fingers and kicking vigorously until + the sand ascended in the smoke-tinged glow, heads bowing and ducking with + mechanical regularity, as the entertainers sought—and with + conspicuous success—to portray a community of scrub turkeys building + an incubating mound. + </p> + <p> + Then it was that the favourite and belle of the camp, the fascinating + creature whose magnificent condition bestowed privileges undreamt of by + other ladies, became conspicuous. Her costume had evidently been designed + for a lady not divinely tall, but considerably less of flesh than the + wearer. Maria did not actually overflow, though perilously near that + point. Surely buttons were never designed to resist such strain. Coloured + ladies generally sit meekly among the audience and chatter and maintain + the drum-beats, lacking which no corroboree could be successful. During + the intervals they may emboss pictures in the impressionable sand with + cunning forefinger and giggle, for the subjects are often quaint. Maria, + sure of her privileges, waddled out from the flame-obscuring dusk, turned + an ample back upon the double ring of boys, and played her part as one of + the giddy and industrious wild-fowls. Her fingers scratched the air and + her feet the dust with a realism not to be excelled by the most gifted of + the boys, while her half grunt, half chuckle, exactly imitative of the + social garrulity of the turkey, gave artistic finish to a scene which + would have been absolutely delusive if feathers had been in fashion. + Maria, a fleer at mere ponderosity, skipped and whisked from left to right + with fay-like airiness of foot until a thrill of delight went through the + camp. The frolicsome turkeys scratched and scattered leaves that were not, + and gobbled and clucked, until, panting and perspiring, all rose, and with + a simultaneous shout scampered for the screen, while the master of + ceremonies shouted “Finis!” The music ceased, the flames faded, and + substantial Maria dissolved in the gloom. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SOOSIE + </h2> + <p> + “No legend! Well, let us invent one.”—SCOTT. + </p> + <p> + A crinkled fist, fumbling and twisting, protruded from a rent in a + dilapidated dilly-bag. It had done so with infinite feebleness for many an + hour in unavailing protest against the woes and weight of life, for faint + scratch smeared with blood denoted the friction of tender skin against the + broken edges of the cane-made bag. + </p> + <p> + A scarcely audible, inhuman wail—pathetically staccato—told of + unceasing pain. Whomsoever the bag contained was enduring martyrdom. + </p> + <p> + “That fella, him no good. Close up finis. B'mbi me plant'm along scrub.” + </p> + <p> + Thus spoke the pleasant-faced gin who passed with the dilly-bag along a + narrow aisle of the jungle, intent upon ridding herself of a vexatious + encumbrance, and at the same time performing the rite of unrighteous + burial. + </p> + <p> + Squirming in dirt was a naked infant-black, foul, and but a few days old. + </p> + <p> + “Mother belonga that fella him dead—finis. That fella, him no good. + Him sing out all a time. More better tchuck'm away.” + </p> + <p> + Frail outcast—the very scum of a blacks' camp, its repulsiveness was + tragic. Dirt and odour sickened, yet its appeal was irresistible. That + universal language, a human cry, which everywhere and always quickened the + pulse, stirred pity to its depths. I seized the stained bag (it was a + desperate deed) and, breaking down its worn sides, displayed its contents—a + girl in all the infamy of neglect, starvation, and dirt—a panting + mummy reeking with offence. + </p> + <p> + Spreading out a handkerchief, I put the awful atom on it gingerly, while + the foster-mother reiterated her counsel to “tchuck'm alonga scrub.” + </p> + <p> + In the guise of a frail bundle at arm's-length was Soosie conducted to a + civilised home. + </p> + <p> + Dismay tempered with pity greeted her. + </p> + <p> + “How horrible! How dirty!” + </p> + <p> + “Is it really a little girl? It looks like a wild animal.” + </p> + <p> + “Do let me nurse it.” + </p> + <p> + Thus was crinkled-faced Soosie welcomed. + </p> + <p> + Many successive baths did she endure, faintly wailing, until dirt soaked + off and the wails ceased for the time being as Soosie sucked ravenously at + a tiny sugar-bag. + </p> + <p> + What a frail little life it was—feeble beyond expression, and ugly + with the ugliness of savagery. She wriggled and screwed up her skinny + features with inane ferocity. A motherless wallaby would have submitted to + human solace and ministrations with daintier mien; but the whole household + thrilled with excitement. Could the spluttering spark of life be made to + glow? That was the all-absorbing topic for days. Gradually some sort of a + human rotundity became manifest, and on the occasion of the bath it was + more and more apparent that instead of being impenetrably black the + skin-tint was a mingling of pale brown and pink; and as regular + nourishment began to be effective the features changed, losing their gross + animalism. + </p> + <p> + Just because of the waif's helplessness was repugnance to her conquered. + She had no other redeeming quality. In a certain sense she was fearsome; + she required unremitting attention and care; her whimpering fits, in + beast-like monotone, shook the nerve of the most patient of her + attendants. She was a charge to keep and foster, and the duty was + performed with devotion, which took little concern for self-sacrifice. + Before many months had passed Soosie had been transformed into a fat + roly-poly with a perpetual smile and gurgles of satisfaction, which even + vocalised sleep. + </p> + <p> + All this happened years ago. In infancy Soosie had been informally + adopted. She was now a bright, sensible, slender girl, whose full, melting + eyes pleaded for inevitable facial defects, and whose complexion was very + greatly at fault. She grew up more averse from the manners and moods of + her mother than those of us who better understand the differences of race. + To her a black was more abhorrent than a snake. She loathed the sight of + those who came about the place, and would not defile herself by touching + the cleanest—kind-hearted “Wethera,” who had so nearly interred her, + and to whom she was as a princess; “Wethera,” who was wont to say, “That + fella Tchoosie, too flash. Close up me bin tchuck'm away. Boss he bin + catch'm.” + </p> + <p> + Soosie evaded all possible reference to her kin, and when others spoke in + sympathetic terms would say: “How can you bear to think of those horrible + people who live in dirt and only half dressed in the bush? I love the + scrub, and but for them would like to wander in it all day. I dare not + while they are about, for some day one of them might touch me, and I would + never feel clean again.” + </p> + <p> + We often wondered at the irreconcilable attitude which Soosie (she was + always “Miss Soosie” to all but members of the household) adopted to her + own race, for she well understood where she had been born and the manner + of her salvation from imminent death. + </p> + <p> + Though no special training had been hers, none of the domestic arts were + unknown to her. She acquired them with ease and practised them with the + air of a dignified princess and neat-handed facility. While the other + children of the house stewed over lessons and rebelled against essential + tasks, to Soosie everything seemed to make for holiday. She read + voraciously, so that her application of English became so keen that she + was the first to detect verbal dissonances. She, the youngest of two girls + and a boy, would often correct their speech, not as a budding pedant, but + because her ears were delicately attuned to the music of the tongue and + could not, without offence, hearken to discords. She was an affected + prude. Her self-chosen style of dress, her pose, her disdainful airs, her + repugnance to coarse work, her inclination towards occupations and + pastimes which involved isolation, showed that self-consciousness ruled + her life. She lived within herself, and her life was gentle, contrasting + with the boisterous playfulness of her foster sisters and brother, upon + whose romps she smiled indulgently, but in which she never took part. In + her own estimation she was a girl quite out of the ordinary, and one to + whom the most honoured of guests must be polite, if not deferential. She + exacted little niceties of demeanour from all, her equals and inferiors, + for was she not treated as a daughter of the house? Often, however, in her + preoccupied moods would she assume an air of detachment and jealousy + towards the other children, for she could not but contrast herself with + them. They were white; she was pronouncedly of the despised race. How + wistfully would she scan the face of strangers! How teeming with + resentment against fate her inevitable conclusions! In all save features + she was white. Over her inheritance, the cruellest which fortune could + bestow, she was shudderingly horrified. Not all the longings of an + untainted mind could make her skin less tawny. Its stain was too deep to + be blanched by the most fervent of prayers. Her outlook on life, her + intensest wishes, were those of a white girl of more than decent + perceptions—of actual refinement, for they tended to the avoidance + of everything unpleasant and unsightly. In other respects, too, she was an + absolute variant from the type, for her sensitiveness to the pain of + others and of the lower animals amounted almost to a mania; for though she + had a girlish horror of blood, her eagerness to solace sufferings made her + so courageous that she became most apt and prompt in the administration of + first aid. Her big, startled eyes showed the sincerity of her feelings, + while her firm, slender fingers deftly applied bandages as she spoke in + soothing tones. + </p> + <p> + The soul of a white damsel was in habitation of the body of one whose + parents had been black and utterly degraded. In the days of old evil + spirits were believed to be capable of taking spiteful possession of the + bodies of the weak to work, in unseemlinesses and indecencies, for the + mischief of the soul. Here was a good and gentle spirit which strove + undemonstratively for the salvation of a being the circumstances of whose + birth bordered on the infernal. It was as if the baths of infancy had + purified the soul, while the permanence and perversity of blood triumphed + in feature and complexion. + </p> + <p> + While the other children of the house deserved and obtained love and + affection in full measure, towards Soosie were exhibited similar + sentiments, with, perhaps, more consideration, for was it not plain that + her life was a continual conflict—a conflict between body and soul—a + body self-abhorred, a soul which needed no purification? + </p> + <p> + A creek which had its source in a ravine of the huge mountain which + intercepted the rising sun and caused accustomed shadow an hour after the + illumination of the western hills, ran past the lonely little house, which + stood in a clearing the upright walls of which were on the sky-line + scalloped with fan-palms. For many years Soosie never ventured into the + jungle unaccompanied, yet she seemed to possess a sense of happenings + beyond the almost solid screen of vegetation. Primal instinct contended + against her affections and her love for a sheltered, clean life. Though + she had always avoided association with the children of the camp, and her + knowledge by imitation or precept was negative, yet was the bush an open + book to her. She knew when and where to look for birds'-nests. She knew at + a glance a venomous from a non-venomous snake, an edible from an inedible + nut. As a child her favourite head-dress was a squat, fat mantis, the + bright orange and yellow of which contrasted boldly with her fuzzy, coarse + hair; and when the insect palled as an ornament it would be frizzled and + slyly eaten. + </p> + <p> + Once as we strolled on the bank of the creek gazing at the lazy, + red-finned fish among the swaying weeds, her wandering eyes detected a + neat circular bore in the trunk of a huge silky oak. Having shrewdly + scrutinised the bark, she judged the tenant to be at home. With a portion + of one of the “feelers” of creeping palm stripped of all the prickles save + two, she probed the tunnel and, screwing the instrument triumphantly, + withdrew a huge white grub, which she ate forthwith; and then, with a + grimace, assumed an air of shame and contrition, for she had astonished + herself as well as others by an exhibition of untaught bush-craft and + ancestral appetite. + </p> + <p> + She more than once confessed in shamefaced terms to an almost + uncontrollable impulse to rush away to the mountain, that she might solace + herself with the solitude and food in plenty there; but that when she + conjured up the chance of meeting some “dreadful native” she thanked God + for home and loving companions. How frequent and how intense was this + unconfessed lust for the bush we knew not. + </p> + <p> + When Soosie was fourteen there came to the neighbourhood a hardy young + fellow who began to clear a small area of jungle land; for civilisation, + which had been marking time for nigh upon two decades, now marched slowly, + and to no throb of drum, in our direction. Times were changing, and in + some details less desirable conditions arose. The infinite privacy of the + bush suffered. The little clearing was no longer our own. Soosie's + demeanour became more reposeful. She had seemed to think that it might be + her fate, in common with others, to become a ward of the State at some + mission-station; but as settlement advanced, though still miles away, for + we were the furthest out, and no interfering guardian of the peace came to + enforce officialdom and insist upon obedience to the letter of the law, it + was comforting to reflect that this unofficial daughter might be permitted + to live out her life unhampered even by the goodwill expressed, in the + first stages, by the visit of a policeman. + </p> + <p> + Her presence was necessary, not only on account of her amiable disposition + and self-sacrificing ways, but for the actual load she bore of the duties + of a quiet home. We had failed, however, to take into calculation the + chances of another means of separation. There was now no disguising the + fact that our new neighbour, Dan, was casting sheep's eyes in Soosie's + direction, and to her evident dismay. It was of little avail to upbraid + him as to the unseemliness of attachment to a girl who, however civilised, + was of inferior race and despised colour. He frankly confessed that he + wanted a wife as a companion and helpmeet; that he could not hope, in + consideration of his own lowly birth and slender means and uphill task, to + induce a white girl to halve his loneliness. He had studied Soosie, and + was sure that she was his superior except in matter of colour. She was far + better schooled and had been used to softer life. + </p> + <p> + “What,” he asked, “don't you and the Missis and Miss Clare and Fan, and + Bob, here, love her? You couldn't help it; and you are not ashamed. You + treat her as your own child. It would be no sin for me to take her as my + own wife. If she'll have me I'll marry her before the best parson in the + North. What of her complexion? It's only a little more sunburnt than + mine.” + </p> + <p> + But Soosie was shy—more than shy. Her sensitiveness amounted to + physical repulsion. She declared that, though she liked Dan, she would + never marry. + </p> + <p> + “I do feel in my heart that I am nothing more than a black girl, and + almost a savage. What if some day the horrible part of me got stronger, + and I did go to the mountain by myself? I have heard you say that blood + will tell. Often I am frightened of myself, especially when the nights are + very still and I listen to the scrub hens chuckling and the flying foxes + squealing, and smell the scents of the scrub. It must be very nice to live + away from everybody in the very loneliest part of the big mountain, and to + feel at home with actually wild things.” + </p> + <p> + There was no affectation between us, so I said in comfort: “But my dear + girl, you are whiter at heart than many a girl born white. It is only your + skin that is dark. Perhaps if in a year or so you did marry Dan it would + be the best, for a good woman, no matter what her complexion, will always + earn respect. Society may not want you, but you would not want society; + and it will be very many years before society hampers life in this part of + the bush.” + </p> + <p> + Soosie thought for a few minutes, and then replied with delicate + discretion. “I can never marry Dan. Sooner or later he would despise me. + It might be all right while I was young, but—we—we—blacks + get old very soon. Fancy Dan having an old gin in his house; for he won't + be living in a one-roomed hut all his life!” + </p> + <p> + “You are spiteful against yourself, and that's not like you, Soosie.” + </p> + <p> + “I have my feelings. How else may I restrain them?” she petulantly + exclaimed. “He must never think of me. It might drive me to the mountain—just + to save him from me.” + </p> + <p> + Dan, good fellow, was discreet. He decided to play the laggard in love, + realising that any show of impetuosity might frighten Soosie. It came to + be understood that in time she might see the wisdom of accepting him, and + I, knowing both, and to whom mixed marriages are abhorrent, was convinced + that no girl could have been better qualified to fill the position of a + bushman's wife. Modest, clever, sympathetic, healthful, none of the stains + of the town had ever tarnished her mind. Her voice was that of a + well-schooled white girl, and all her perceptions coincided. If the wander + lust was to be suppressed for ever, it seemed to me that Soosie must + marry, and marry young. + </p> + <p> + While Soosie's demeanour was still the cause of earnest solicitude, a + perplexing complication arose. An old man of the camp whence she had been + discarded began to do his best to attract her attention. + </p> + <p> + Gifts of birds'-nests, eggs, ferns, orchids in flower, a cassowary chick, + neat dilly-bags, gay with crude Pigments, were brought to the house with + messages such as this: + </p> + <p> + “That fella 'Pad-oo-byer' he bin gib'em alonga 'Ky-ee-rah.'” + </p> + <p> + “Ky-ee-rah” (the evening star) had been proclaimed to be Soosie's totemic + name, and “Pad-oo-byer” we knew as “Duckbill,” because of a fancied + resemblance to a platypus. + </p> + <p> + The gifts were tearfully repudiated. They seemed to announce that Soosie, + was regarded by her mother's kin as one of themselves, notwithstanding her + civilised environment. + </p> + <p> + Though for the girl's sake, not on account of any personal repugnance or + despiteful attitude, the blacks had been kept at arm's length, I was on + good terms with all in the district, and took interest in their doings and + folk-lore. One of their primary beliefs was that children, black and + white, were actually the produce of the locality, belonging, not to chance + parents, but to the very land on which they were born. The germs of life, + they assumed, came from the soil; the soil assimilated all flesh after + death. Infants were but phases of the life with which the soil teemed. All + the neighbourhood belonged to the camp—the land and everything which + sprang from it, for they were the original possessors. It was their + country. They argued that such things as sweet potatoes, pumpkins and + mangoes, the very roses which adorned a sprawling bush, the richly tinted + crotons, the flaunting alamanda over the gateway, were, strictly speaking, + common property. So, too, over those children born on the place certain + proprietary rights were claimed. They were akin to them, alien to their + parents. Whites and blacks born in the same district must, according to + their ideas, be more closely related than folks whose birthplaces were + separated by distances beyond comprehension. + </p> + <p> + Such being the general opinion, fortified by undeviating oral tradition, + in Soosie's case the theory was ever so much the more arguable. She was + claimed, not alone on the grounds that she was a native of their own land, + but because, having been born in their own camp, she must be subject to + it. + </p> + <p> + Duckbill intercepted me on the edge of the clearing one morning especially + to propound the law of the land. + </p> + <p> + Soosie, he told in his pidgin English, had been given to him by her uncle. + She was to be his gin now that she was grown up. “More better you hunt + that fella. Him want sit down alonga camp.” + </p> + <p> + The bald proposition shook me, for I could not but see the logic of it + from Duckbill's standpoint. He was the “big man,” a wizard—ugly, + old, and villainously dirty. Here was the camp's husband for the coloured + girl with the white heart. The idea was revolting, and then and there I + resolved at whatever cost to save the girl from such degradation. + </p> + <p> + “Clear out!” I shouted, assuming frantic anger. “You fella chuck'm Soosie + away when she little fella piccaninny. That one belonga me now. Suppose + you fella kick'm up row big fella government come clear you fella out. No + more let you sit down longa this country.” + </p> + <p> + “Country belonga me. You no humbug. You bin catch'm that fella Tchoosie + l-o-n-g time. You bin make'm good fella. Belonga me now.” + </p> + <p> + The disgusting old fellow went on to explain that he intended to come up + to the house that evening. “You hunt'm that fella Tchoosie, me catch'm. No + good belonga you.” + </p> + <p> + I was to drive the gently nurtured girl out of the house so that this foul + creature might seize her as he would a struggling wallaby, and take her to + live a degraded life in the camp! Explanations and threats were of no + avail. Duckbill, who was unable to comprehend that he and others of the + camp had by abandonment forfeited all rights to Soosie and that she was + now a “white Mary,” made it plain that he would forcibly abduct her if I + would but give him the slight assistance of expulsion. Otherwise he would + catch her himself. + </p> + <p> + Threatening the camp with the presence of the “big fella government” if he + or any of them dared to interfere, I went off, while he shouted his orders + to “hunt that fella close up karrie badgin!” (sunset). + </p> + <p> + Forthwith the house was put in a state of semi-siege. Soosie, with tearful + eyes and tremulous hands, hysterically implored us to protect her from a + fate worse than death. A message brought Dan, who first disdained to take + Duckbill seriously. Told how Soosie had been wooed with gifts, and that + her maternal uncle had officiously bestowed her upon the gaunt, + ill-favoured king of the camp in accordance with tribal law, which + regarded her as a mere chattel at the disposal of the whim and fancy of + the nearest relative or at the demand of the most authoritative man, he + became concerned and installed himself as Soosie's special guardian. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes after sundown Duckbill appeared, quite unconscious of + offence against civilised customs, carrying a waddy with which to + administer an anodyne should his capture prove the least refractory. + Threats and scoldings were lost. He was incapable of comprehending why + there should be a moment's hesitation about the fulfilment of his + legitimate rights and demands. + </p> + <p> + Though protests were vain, the fact that Soosie did not show herself + imparted some glimmering of sense of the situation to him, and he wandered + off in the gloom grumbling “That fella too flash,” and frankly announcing + “B'mbi me catch'm.” + </p> + <p> + For weeks Soosie kept within doors, or if she ventured out was accompanied + by one or other well able and determined to protect her. Her nerves were + at acute tension; her life that of a hunted creature; for though she + thought her fate inevitable, she concentrated her mind on what seemed to + others pitiably weak and inconsequent schemes for the bafflement of + Duckbill. + </p> + <p> + Was it that some ineffaceable trait told her that the tribal law as + expounded by Duckbill was so wise that resistance to it was vain, and that + the trivial plans over which she worried were merely invented as a sort of + temporary palliative? She scorned the possibility of existence in the + camp, yet strove to contest it by the use of fantastical devices. She + urged that Dan and I should get some fearsome masks and rush the camp in + the gloom, at the same time setting off fireworks, and so create such + terrifying effects that none would venture near the spot again. With bated + breath, she even suggested that I should make a “death-bone” to be + employed for the secret ill of Duckbill; she thus exposed the dross of + hereditary superstition which rose to the surface during mental + ebullition. + </p> + <p> + It was quite in the nature of things that under stress such a nature + should break down. She nestled close to Dan, promising to be his + sweetheart on the condition that, rather than that Duckbill should take + her away, he would shoot her. If it came about that the dreadful black man + was himself driven off or disposed of by some other means and the country + made safe for her, then she would marry the man who had saved her, and she + hoped that she might never disgrace him. + </p> + <p> + Dan accepted the guardianship. His hut was two miles away and on the far + side of the river. He saw little of it for the next few weeks. + </p> + <p> + Duckbill and his friends, as we were well aware, knew of our plans for the + defeat of his proposed outrage. If Soosie could be ceremoniously married + to the faithful Dan, no black in the neighbourhood would endeavour to + molest her. Indeed, all, even to Duckbill, would be flattered and + demonstrative of pride in the alliance. + </p> + <p> + A fortnight later Duckbill again intercepted me. Since the previous verbal + encounter I had gone armed. He carried, somewhat ostentatiously, a + tomahawk and a couple of nulla-nullas. + </p> + <p> + “No good you keep'm that fella Tchoosie. Me bin look out plenty. That + fella belonga me. Suppose you no lat'm come, more worse b'mbi. Me want + mak'm that fella all asame black fella. You gib it Clare belonga Dan.” + </p> + <p> + My fingers twitched on the butt of the revolver. It was an ultimatum. That + which from other lips would have been resented as complacent insolence had + to be endured with apparent calmness. Threatening him with all the + consequences of a visit from the “big fella government,” I hurriedly left, + for I was not too sure of self-control. + </p> + <p> + A stricter watch than ever was maintained, for the least relaxation of + precautions might have involved results for which a lifetime of regrets + would not have atoned. Though of such a low type of the human race, the + North Queensland aboriginal possesses certain admirable characteristics. + His mind seldom swerves from a set purpose within view of attainment. He + may be rebuffed and disappointed, and may assume indifference to or + forgetfulness of his purpose; but in his heart he does not accept defeat + until an absolutely decisive blow is received. Invisible to us, the old + man persistently waited, and watched. The dogs frequently detected his + presence, if their eloquent alarms and their excursions were to be + credited. Though she continued to pit her wits against the secret + cunningness of the dreaded old man, Soosie was often preoccupied, seeming + to regard herself as one not primarily concerned. Her calmness was + preternatural, contrasting strangely with her previous petulant agitation + and tragic despair. She avoided Dan, while clinging with profuse + demonstrations of affection to her foster-sisters. + </p> + <p> + The reason for her change of policy and manner was revealed with + distressing suddenness. At daylight one morning the door of the room in + which she slept under lock and key was wide open, and on her quaintly + embellished table a primly written note: + </p> + <h3> + “DEAR MUM, + </h3> + <p> + “That horrible man who wants to take me away is right, and the Bible is + right. I belong to this country, and must go. I would rather die than go + to the camp; but I must know the big mountain. The dreadful people don't + go there. They are frightened of it; I love it. I shall live there by + myself till I die, and Dan will never be disgraced. You and Dada and Clare + and Fan and Bob have been all the world to me. You did your best to make + me white at heart; but since this trouble began I have thought and + thought, and found that the black in me smudges all the good out. Don't + try to come after me. I shall hide. I would be too much ashamed ever to + look at you again. Forget me, for I am nothing but an ungrateful little + savage. + </p> + <h3> + “SOOSIE.” + </h3> + <p> + In all haste Dan and I set out for the camp, a mile or so further in the + jungle. It was situated in a natural, symmetrical clearing, a circus + hemmed in by sullen vegetation, and upon which no plant save blady grass + ever invaded. + </p> + <p> + The camp was deserted. Save for a few still warm spots indicative of + artfully smothered fires, there were few signs to indicate recent + occupation. An hour's search revealed definite tracks leading east—to + the mountain. + </p> + <p> + No pains had been taken to baffle pursuers. Apparently the blacks had just + wandered off aimlessly in obedience to a whim of the moment. There was + nothing but conjecture to support the opinion that the decampment had + anything to do with the disappearance of Soosie. Probably the blacks were + aware, in advance of ourselves, that she had stolen away. If so, they + would inevitably get her, having, possibly, the advantage of hours of + start and being efficient in the art of tracking. Our plan was to hasten + so that we might, if fortune favoured, be in time to save the distracted + girl from the repulsive and obscene ceremonies to which she would be + subject if she fell into the hands of Duckbill. + </p> + <p> + An hour's walk brought us to the foothills of the mountain. The tracks + turned abruptly north, winding indeterminately as if no special object had + been in view. It might be that while the men of the camp had been intent + on following Soosie's tracks, the women and children had straggled after + as if the quest was of no special concern to them. + </p> + <p> + In the broken country well in to the base of the mountain all traces of + the exodus was lost, though bush instinct, supplemented by the actions of + the dogs, gave sense of its direction. Blundering down into a ravine where + blanched vegetation betokened complete seclusion from the sun, we + clambered up the opposing steep emerging from an entanglement of jungle on + a high and open ridge which commanded an unimpeded view to the west—a + scene of theatrical clarity with a single theatrical smear. From a hollow + far below slothful smoke filtered through the matted, sombre, + dew-bespangled foliage, rose a few feet, and drifted abruptly, dissolving + from diaphanous blue to nothingness. The resonant whooping of a swamp + pheasant, antiphonal to a bell-voiced, crimson-crowned fruit pigeon in a + giant fig-tree, the screeches of a sulphur-crested cockatoo as it tumbled + in the air, evading the swoops of a grey goshawk, materialised the peace + and the conflicts of a scene upon which no man had made mark. + </p> + <p> + The phantom trail of smoke betrayed the resting-place of the fugitives, + though all tracks on the uneasy earth had failed. Odours of the jungle + soothed my mind, contradicted the transaction of any unholy orgy, and gave + assurance that the men had unravelled Soosie's wanderings until she had + begun to ascend the mountain, and that, being then on strange and + terrifying ground, they had abandoned the search, returning to familiar + level country free from the excursions of dreaded spirits. + </p> + <p> + With light hearts we descended the ridge, and, plunging again into the + dimness of the jungle, struck as direct a route as possible for the + smoke-revealed camp. Crossing a narrow creek, we peered silently through + the screen of ferns and banana plants, where in a secluded glade were the + wanderers in happy festival. + </p> + <p> + Could any scene approach nearer the ideal? Men, women and children, mostly + unclad, talking and laughing in modulated tones, while amusing themselves + with trivial occupations and eating convenient food in the depths of the + jungle, sanctified by distance and scene and sound! Peace smiled, + propriety approved. They ate of the fruits of the earth. The + fern-embowered stream gave them to drink. No sign of the white man, with + his interfering and desolating ways, assailed the sight. It was as if the + mist of centuries had lifted, and for once time-soiled mortals were + permitted to gaze on a Garden of Eden free from danger and innocent of + sin. There was none here to make the quiet folk afraid or discontented. + </p> + <p> + As I stepped out, the scene changed with pantomimic celerity. We were in + the midst of a community of excitable and resentful people, who, viewing + us, if not with active hostility, at least with surprise and anger, seemed + embarrassed by guilty knowledge. None of the customary greetings welcomed + us. None offered other than scowls. + </p> + <p> + “Where Soosie?” I demanded in authoritative tones of a boy accustomed to + treat my slightest word with respect. + </p> + <p> + With averted face he sullenly said: “That fella Tchoosie he run away. He + go l-o-n-g way, alonga mountain!” + </p> + <p> + “Look here! You no humbug. Where Soosie sit down? Plenty row along white + man suppose Soosie no come back. That fella Soosie belonga Missis. Missis + very sorry. She bin make'm Soosie all asame white Mary.” + </p> + <p> + Still the face-averting boy reiterated: “That fella Soosie he bin go long + way—more far. You fella make'm Soosie no good.” + </p> + <p> + Others gathered round. Several carried weapons—nulla-nullas and + wooden swords—and assumed hostile attitudes. + </p> + <p> + Dan became uncontrollably excited, storming for the production of Soosie, + and being met with inconclusive statements and evasions. Being one who + knew no fear, who deemed his questions justifiable, who felt himself more + than a match for the whole camp, and was convinced that the blacks were in + possession of essential information, he urged the policy of chastising the + sullenness out of a couple of incommunicative boys. His attitude, and + mine, hitherto, towards the blacks had been of cheery good-nature tempered + with considerate authority. Present moroseness was novel, and he was eager + to sweep it away with a sturdy stick, and thus to demonstrate that when a + friendly white man visited a camp blacks should be deferential and alert + to assist his mission. + </p> + <p> + In the mood of the men tragedy was inevitable unless both of us kept cool. + What would be the ending of a fray between two white men and many armed + blacks, some of whom were aching under a prolonged, however inconsequent, + grievance against a white family? + </p> + <p> + “Look here, Dan. Leave those fellows alone,” I said firmly but quietly. + “There'll be sorrow for some if you begin a row.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care for a hundred blacks! I'd kick myself if I could not floor + half a dozen single-handed! Where that Soosie?” + </p> + <p> + To distract attention from Dan, I moved off a few yards. + </p> + <p> + “What you ki-ki?” I asked of Wethera, who gnawed with concentrated + satisfaction at a charred bone. “You ki-ki wallaby?” + </p> + <p> + “No wallaby! This one 'mandee' (hand) belonga Tchoosie!” + </p> + <p> + Scorched flesh and blackened bone had left their smear on the face of the + kindest cannibal of them all. On the fire was a foot with charred + ankle-bones; in a dilly-bag other fragments, but in Wethera's countenance + no consciousness of evil-doing. + </p> + <p> + “Come here!” I shouted. + </p> + <p> + The excited man strode to the spot. + </p> + <p> + “Soosie,” I said, in the calmest tones I could command, “has been + murdered. This is a cannibal feast!” + </p> + <p> + With a bound he upset the gin, who shrieked as she grovelled in the + embers. + </p> + <p> + “You wretches! You kill Soosie! I kill you!” + </p> + <p> + As he drew his revolver from his belt I seized his hand, and, restraining + him as best I could for a moment, spoke authoritative and soothing words, + and led him away weak and tremulous. + </p> + <p> + Not for many months—long after Dan had left the district—did + exact information as to the fate of the hapless girl reach our ears. + Wethera told of the tragedy. Duckbill had followed her tracks from the + house towards the mountain, had overtaken her, and, since she had fought + frenziedly, had “killed her alonga head little bit,” not intending to kill + her “dead, finis.” Carried to the camp, it had been found out that she was + actually dead. Then all had become stricken and run away. + </p> + <p> + By her obstinacy Soosie had offended tribal law. She had suffered. In the + necessitous jungle animal food is never wasted, be it beast, bird, or + reptile. + </p> + <p> + It had been an edifying sacrament, too, founded on immemorial truth, for + had it not been devoutly believed that Soosie's most excellent and potent + personality would remain with and glorify every participant? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BLUE SHIRT + </h2> + <p> + “A strong, untutored intellect, eyesight, heart; a strong, wild Man.”—CARLYLE. + </p> + <p> + Half a century ago, when hardy and adventurous men made laws unto + themselves, and their somewhat hasty and inconsiderate hands began to + sting the aboriginal population, there lived on this Isle a stalwart + native whose force of character constituted him a captain among his + fellows. + </p> + <p> + Possibly he was Tom's father. Before he passed away, Tom had often told + that his father was king of this realm and a man of parts. He it was who + harpooned a huge green turtle to the east. The game was so extraordinarily + strong that others hastened to his aid, for the capture was beyond the + capabilities of one man kneeling in a tucked-up sheet of bark. The whole + fleet of canoes barely succeeded in towing the massive and reluctant + creature to the nearest beach, and Tom was wont to tell that it took eight + strong men to turn it on its back. It was “kummaoried” on the sand, and + Tom oft pointed out the very spot as proof of the most famous feast within + the range of tradition. + </p> + <p> + Let it be accepted, then, that Blue Shirt was Tom's father, since history + is silent on the point, and none is left to question or authenticate it. + He was a big man, and his son was like him. He was fond of colours; so, + too, was his son. He was a fighter; his son's meritorious scars proved him + worthy of his blood. He was a man in authority and full of territorial + pride; his son's dominance was undoubted, for did he not chide the “big + fella gubbermen” on its audacity in disposing of his Island—his + country—even to a friendly white man? + </p> + <p> + Blue Shirt was the ruler and lawgiver of this Island when a barque strove + with a cyclone which eventually shattered her to pieces and scattered her + cargo of cedar-logs to the four winds. After the wreck a boat put out from + a not distant port on a beach-combing cruise. The boat was known as the + CAPTAIN COOK. About a hundred years before her namesake had reported that + he had seen about thirty natives, all unclad, on an adjacent islet. With + the captain was his mate, two other white men, a black boy, and a young + gin. Many derelict logs were seen and certain wreckage, which made the + boat's company inclined to the belief that some of the castaways might + have landed on Dunk Island. They steered hither, anchoring in the evening. + </p> + <p> + Early the next morning three stalwart black boys put off in canoes to the + CAPTAIN COOK, and, making friendly demonstrations, were invited on board. + Food was given them, and to the leader the captain presented a blue shirt. + No dweller of the Island had ever before possessed such a sumptuous and + glorious garment. Indeed, if the absolute truth must be told, no dweller + had dreamt of anything more desirable than an inadequate cloak laboriously + wrought from the inner bark of a fig-tree, raiment sanctioned by the first + of fashions. + </p> + <p> + Having made it known that they belonged to a neighbouring islet at the + moment unfriendly to the overbearing Dunk Island tribe, Blue Shirt and his + attendants mentioned that cedar-logs and other attractive flotsam + bestrewed the beaches, and volunteered to conduct the strangers to the + best places on the understanding that they, being alien and hostile, + should remain under the protection of the rifle-carrying white men. + </p> + <p> + The captain, two men, and the black boy, followed Blue Shirt ashore; but, + although he was conspicuously clad, could not find him or any other man. A + few old and casual women represented the hospitable inhabitants, while + Sabbath quietude brooded over the scene as they strolled along the yellow + beach. By chance one of the party glanced towards the spot where they had + landed, and saw half a dozen vigorous gins endeavouring to haul the boat + above tideway. + </p> + <p> + How excellent the strategy! + </p> + <p> + The designing but faint-hearted women fled when the white men charged for + the boat, which now was seen to be endowed with an incredible, uncanny + rocking movement of its own. Looking beneath, they saw a huge cripple + straining himself, Atlas-like, to heave it over. In spite of inferior + legs, his brawny shoulders had almost accomplished the feat when he was + unceremoniously interrupted. While he sprawled away, a mob of blacks + rushed suddenly from the cover of some rocks, the leader of the assailants + being Blue Shirt, who had painted his unclad parts martial red and white. + The strength of the party was guessed at thirty. An exact census was not + taken, for with spears and nulla-nullas and big swords, each warrior + having the protection of a shield, the treacherous band swept on the + deluded guests of their leader, whose hostile yells scandalised the meek + phrases and friendly signs of a short hour before. + </p> + <p> + The captain, poor, outwitted man, had laid his rifle beside the boat. It + was too late now to bring it into decisive action. Keeping close together, + the defenders warded off the first rush with whatever came to hand. The + rifle was recovered; but Blue Shirt, recognising that it represented + victory, struggled for it determinedly. A spear was thrown at close + quarters straight for the captain's neck, but one of the men deftly + twitched it off, a feat that so enraged the warriors that they made him + their special target, until at last one of their spears pierced his hand. + Being rough and thready, the black palm-point made an ugly wound; but the + resolute man drew it out, and, breaking the spear in twain, threw it into + the boat, and as he did so, another grazed his abdomen. While he was thus + defending himself against the spears and nulla-nullas of outrageous + fortune, the captain made wide, sweeping movements with the butt of his + rifle, and the other man and the boy, the boat being by this time afloat, + tugged at the oars. The attacking party followed, the captain making good + misuse of the rifle, the odd man and the boy occasionally perverting an + oar to wrongful but, at the crisis, effective purpose, while the wounded + suffered the hate of him who earns personal as well as racial animosity. + He sustained a cut on the head from a wooden sword, yet he fought on, + retaining his wits, while a kind Providence, and his own artfulness and + agility protected him from hurtling spears. + </p> + <p> + The cost of the little excursion was paid in wounds and bruises and, + eventually, putrefying sores, while the souls of all instantly mortified + under the sight of triumphant Blue Shirt jeering and gesticulating as only + an uncouth black dare, as he waved over his head a tomahawk he had + abstracted from the boat during the morning's pleasant entertainment. + </p> + <p> + No one of the poor, depraved representatives of the race has any knowledge + of the event in which Blue Shirt showed himself to be a successful + plotter, a bold strategist, an original tactician, and a brave fighter. + His son is dust. His grandson, though true in complexion, knows more about + engines than he does of wooden swords and how to use them. The zest of + life was with his ancestor, who during a long life had but one shirt. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FORGOTTEN DEAD + </h2> + <p> + “Of lonely folk cut off unseen.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + HOOD. +</pre> + <p> + A few months ago chance bestowed the opportunity of listening to the + conversation of one who for very many yearn has hung upon the skirts of + civilisation. A bushman of rare resourcefulness, wide knowledge of the dry + as well as the moist parts of North Queensland, a reader, and an acute and + accurate observer of natural phenomena, he has often entertained me with + the relation of episodes in his career which, though quite unsensational, + is of the material of which the history of the bush must be compiled. He + is now settled on a tidal creek, his nearest neighbours miles away. + Independent of the regular assistance of blacks in the cultivation of his + land, he is one of those who, while acknowledging no such thing as + comradeship, and who, true to his sentiments, keeps them at arm's-length, + has, albeit, acquired confidences rather unusual. + </p> + <p> + When his reading matter has become exhausted, he has sat night after night + for months together absorbing the lore of the camp. To him has been + disclosed many a well-guarded secret. Not unto every man who asks do the + blacks tell their thoughts or impart their legends. You may study them; + but they, too, are discreet students, who often keep their counsel while + seeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their ways and be wise as + they are wise. + </p> + <p> + My friend is one of those undemonstrative, self-contained men in whom some + of the coloured, cautious metaphysicians find a congenial soul. Therefore + is he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covert knowledge. + </p> + <p> + As we talked on the subject of the unexplained disappearances of men in + the bush of Australia, he told the incidents of the forgotten dead to + which these writings have special reference. I use my own words, so do not + bind myself to historic exactness. + </p> + <p> + He had been away earning his own living, for his estate, fruitful as it + is, did not then quite provide for his sustenance, markets being distant + and far from consistent. Returning, he found the blacks who had associated + themselves with his humble establishment had in the interval sought change + of scene. The land that he called his had belonged to their ancestors + centuries before Cook tied the ENDEAVOUR to that disputed and historic + tree, and was theirs when he had first intruded. His hut, his horses, his + implements, were much as he had left them. The camping-place of the blacks + appeared to have been unoccupied for some time. Such was in accordance + with usual happenings. Going about his lonesome work, he reflected that + his dusky acquaintances would return in their own good time, and being a + man of mental resource, the solitude was by no means irksome. + </p> + <p> + Within a fortnight they appeared unceremoniously, and, taking casual part + in the ordinary work, the affairs of the isolated estate went on as + smoothly as before. There was a stranger in the camp, a middle-aged man, + timorous, and knowing little of the ways of white men. Of him scarcely any + notice was taken. Yet in a few weeks it was evident that the stranger was + determined to make himself pleasant. Accordingly, the white man refrained + from advances, while for the love of mental exhilaration he pondered: + “That boy wants to tell me something. He shall tell me all he wants to in + his own way, while I will play the part of an indifferent auditor.” + </p> + <p> + That the stranger had some secret on his soul was apparent. My friend + resolved to receive that secret in the spirit of gracious condescension. + So played he his part, and line upon line, here a little and there a + little, the story was told. + </p> + <p> + Few of the tribe of the stranger had ever seen a white man. None had ever + visited the coast. All were myalls, living naked among the mountains in + gorges gloomy with jungle, and but rarely hunting on the foothills. One + day consternation and curiosity spread through the camp. Three strange men + with yellow faces and short black hair had been seen. They carried nothing + in their hands, and seemed frightened. Thus the nervous couriers of the + camp spoke. + </p> + <p> + Next morning the men took up the tracks, and, sneaking close up, followed, + alert and unseen, the unsuspecting visitors to their country. + </p> + <p> + Bewildered in the jungle, the queer-looking men wandered aimlessly, + moaning and wailing. They were lost. Suddenly the blacks appeared. Two of + the strangers, glad of the company of any sort of human beings, smiled and + gesticulated pleasantly, making it plain that they were hungry, tired, and + frightened, and, longing to get back to the coast, would bestow upon their + guides unheard-of blessings for safe-conduct thither. Strangely, the black + men accepted the trust. Four each took a hand of the confiding strangers, + and, pointing ahead and chattering, induced them to walk quickly in a + direction in which by signs they indicated the dwelling of a white man. + </p> + <p> + The third wanderer had run away, blundering through the jungle, and the + blacks had refrained from following him. Nodding gaily and jabbering + volubly, but with mutual intelligibility, hosts and guests paced along a + narrow track, each of the latter personally and firmly conducted by two of + his newly found and most attentive friends. Others of the tribe, “like + frightful fiends, did close beside them tread”; and while the escorts + lured the yellow men with comforting pantomime, the frightful fiends fell + on them suddenly with great wooden swords, killing them off-hand and on + the very verge of the camp. + </p> + <p> + Willingly hurrying to the place of execution, the murdered men had saved + the calculating blacks the trouble of carrying their carcasses. + </p> + <p> + Then four went back for the nervous escapee. He was safe, for the tracks + were as obvious to them as a plough furrow to a European. Crouching beside + a fallen, decaying tree, where bird's-nest ferns grew outrageously gross, + they found him; and they jeered. He screamed and shouted in unknown + tongue, while the brisk, stubby hair of his head stood on end. (My + friend's hair-brush was alluded to in graphic illustration.) They struck + him down, and, smashing in his head and seizing arms and legs, jogged back + to the camp. + </p> + <p> + And the festival lasted many days, though plenty made gluttons of them + all. + </p> + <p> + The forgotten dead were Javanese—deserters from a sugar-plantation; + for the tragedy happened long ago, when labour was being drawn from Java + and other oversupplied countries. Desertions were not uncommon, for the + sanguine men of the equator endure with less philosophy than others that + sickness of the heart which comes from love of one's native land when + absent from it. + </p> + <p> + From Java's seething millions were the nostalgic three ever missed? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EAGLES-NEST FLOAT + </h2> + <p> + “My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable weight.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ROBINSON CRUSOE. +</pre> + <p> + Those who study primitive races, applying their wisdom and learning to the + investigation of the origin of domestic and other implements and + contrivances, inform us that the first boat was probably a log, on which + the man sat astride, using a stick as a means of propulsion. In time the + idea of hollowing the log occurred, Nature undoubtedly presenting the + model and inviting the novice to squat inside. But what was the inhabitant + of a certain island in the Gulf of Carpentaria to do since Nature failed + to provide a tree big enough to possess the degree of buoyancy necessary + for his frail frame, when he wished to cross the narrow channel separating + him from a lesser island where turtle are plentiful and unsuspicious? + </p> + <p> + Being in status something above a wallaby—the largest animal other + than himself of his native land which, when hunted, occasionally swam + towards the opposite shore, he constructed one or other of two rafts or + floats, both derivable from Nature's models. One was in the form of an + eagle's nest, and not nearly so large as that in which some eaglets are + reared, made by interlacing branchlets of white mangrove until the mass + was sufficient to support his weight. With a double ended paddle rudely + shaped from the thin buttress roots of the red mangrove, and comic in the + crudeness and disproportion of its parts, he felt himself safe miles out + to sea. When he approached a passing vessel he presented the illusion, not + of walking, but of sitting on the water, for the float was almost + completely submerged. If it became necessary for his wife to attend him on + his marine excursions, she was towed behind, and used her own pedal power. + Possibly this primitive raft is the pathetic expression of man's first + struggle against the restrictions of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The other resource of the boatless islander was another description of + float, also retrogressive from the log; the idea not transmitted to him by + any high-minded bird, but forced upon his attention by elemental strife. + He would have seen that the wind and the waves occasionally tore from his + beaches Pandanus palms, and that the matted, fibrous roots thereof + floated. Pondering in his dim way, and being sadly an hungered and aware + that fat and lazy turtle were basking in the sighed-for shallows, he took + a bundle of buoyant roots and light sticks and lashed it securely at one + end with strips of bark. He then spread out the other end until it took + the shape of a fan, and weaved the strands loosely together with beach + trailers. His raft was complete. At least this description applies to that + in use to-day, which represents the highest stage to which the design has + been brought. + </p> + <p> + Under the influence of the peril-ignoring hunger, the hunter sat on the + float with legs extended frontally. Across his thighs crouched his + favourite dog, and behind him, her thin shanks outside his and her skinny + arms round his slim waist, sat, uncomfortable, his cowed wife—a + necessary part of his equipment. Can he be imagined half turning to his + deferential spouse, and saying: “My dear, in the words of Shakespeare, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “On such a full sea are we now afloat + And we must take the current when it serves + Or lose our'—turtle”? +</pre> + <p> + Is it not edifying, too, to reflect that the timid man, encouraged by the + object-lessons of Nature, given in pity of his simplicity, had contrived + the only rafts the resources of his island made possible? And does not the + fact that he had courage to cross the estranging deep thereon give graphic + proof of the inhospitality of his native soil? + </p> + <p> + Flat and generally of sad aspect, the country of the raftsman lies remote + and uncommended. The scented sandalwood is there, dwarfed, attenuated, + worthless. The most fragrant of the Pandanus palms is plentiful, the fruit + forming the chief part of the vegetable diet of the lean and stunted + inhabitants, who find difficulty in fashioning weapons with which to + obtain fish and turtle, the land failing to supply straight sticks of the + length needed for spears. Each has to be spliced. The islands are + expressed in the race they sustain—possibly the lowest of Australian + types. Does it not bespeak much to the credit of men and women who have + been used to the cities where the advantages of civilisation are at + command and its comforts available, that they should abandon the society + of kin and friends and isolate themselves in a drear and unfriendly tract + for the sake of a few coloured folk whose mental capacities are feeble and + whose habits are shockingly disgusting? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NATURE IN RETALIATION + </h2> + <p> + “Red in tooth and claw.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + TENNYSON. +</pre> + <p> + In a mangrove creek a shoal of barramundi had been bombed with dynamite. + Immediately after the explosion the white onlookers as well as the blacks + dived off-hand into the stream to secure the helpless fish. One of the + party seized a weighty and unconscious victim of the outrage, and to + retain it thrust his fist through the gills and found himself unable to + withdraw, and when the fish began to revive he realised that he was not + master. With a supreme effort he did manage to get his head above water to + gulp a mouthful of air, but the gallant fish promptly exerted itself, and + a deadly struggle took place on the muddy bottom. Once more the fish was + tugged to the surface, only to dive just as the man became conscious of + the applause of the interested spectators. When they came to the surface + again ill luck on the part of the fish had brought it into the shallows + caused by a ridge of rocks, and the man hauled his prize ashore, frankly + acknowledging that the happy chance of the rocks and not his own wits and + strength had given the victory into his hands. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion heartless dynamite was used in a creek, where had + assembled many blacks, who scrambled riotously in the muddy water for the + spoil, among which were several huge crabs, some dismembered by the force + of the explosion, some stunned, some merely agitated. Dilly Boy, the + biggest and the greediest of the crowd, acquired several fish and three or + four crabs, the largest of the latter of which seemed sound asleep. The + dynamite had ministered an anodyne from which, apparently, there would be + no awakening. It the boy disregarded, while he secured those which were + more or less active. Busily engaged, he was not aware that a crab when he + seems asleep may be merely plotting. This hero was hatching out a scheme + whereby it might be revenged for the outrage. It watched and deliberated, + and as the boy sat down grabbed him with ponderous and toothed pinchers on + that part of the body which is said to be most susceptible to insult. The + boy rose. Not half a plug of dynamite could have given more hearty + impulse, not all the clamour of a corroboree equal his yell of surprise + and anguish. He capered. The crab, which had not speculated on the caper, + and to avert summary divorce, locked its claws, now guaranteed to hold to + death and beyond it—to destruction. Astounded—indeed, + petrified—by the high antics of the boy, none of the spectators + could venture to his aid. They were fully engaged with unrestrained and + joyful hysteria. The more the boy yelled and cavorted, the more frantic + the fun. Blood trickled down the chocolate-coloured skin, but the valiant + crab held on. It was there for a definite purpose. The hour and the crab + had arrived. Vengeance for centuries of wrongs to the race and heroic + self-sacrifice animated brain and inspired the claw with the dynamics of + ten; while the afflicted victim imagined—he had no mirror to hold up + to Nature—that he was the sport of a lusty crocodile. + </p> + <p> + Amidst his shrieks he commanded the ministration of his wife. She ran to + meet him with a waddy. True to the limitations of her sex, though her + intentions were admirable and dutiful, the result was disastrous. The boy + got a paralysing blow on the small of the back, and flopped down. Up + jumped Dilly Boy, and the gin raced after him, murderously inclined to the + crab. Half her blows were misses and the other half seriously embarrassed + her husband, as his tumbles testified. She belaboured him impartially and + with perverted goodwill from shoulder to heel, for she aimed invariably at + the crab, and where is the woman who ever hit where she designed? The crab + was merely tickling; the faithful spouse, with the tenderest motives, was + cruelly beating her lord and master to disablement, and it can scarcely be + credited that the echo of his remarks has yet subsided. In his fervour the + boy made an exceptionally vicious threat against the gin, and in response + she missed him and hit the crab. Under such forceful compulsion the crab + parted with its claw. It was ponderous and toothed, be it remembered, and + well and truly locked, and retained its grip. The target being smaller, + the aims of the gin went more and more astray. The back of the boy, owing + to the incessant misses of the waddy, changed from brown to purple, and a + red ribbon wavered down his thigh. Still he ran, and the devoted gin + coursed after him with the energy of a half-back, the fury of a + disappointed politician, and the riot of three-dozen cockatoos scared from + a corn-field. Almost worn out, the boy sprang round, and, seizing the + waddy, began to chastise the gin, whose screams blended with his + unwholesome threats. But the claws held on—not like grim death; they + were grim death. Every second blow was directed aft—one blow + forward, which generally severely disagreed with the gin; one blow astern, + which afforded neither mental relief nor physical comfort. The gin fled + from the infuriated boy; the boy from the fearsome relic of the crab, and + called louder as he ran. When in full flight, the gin tripped over a + mangrove root, and, spread-eagled, fell. The boy came tumbling after, but + the remnants of the crab—the bony bud of a tail—stood erect + and firm. Then the pitying spectators seized Dilly Boy, and, holding him, + unlocked the pinchers. He rolled over—it was the only easeful + attitude—as he cursed all gins, crabs, and dynamiters with wondrous + fluency. And may the potency of those coloured curses rest upon the + latter! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “STAR RUN ABOUT” + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “It is the stars, + The stars above us, govern our conditions.” + + SHAKESPEARE. +</pre> + <p> + Primitive folk have ever looked up to the heavens for signs of good and + ill. Celestial appearances have fought for them terrestrial battles, or + have weakened their arms by prognostications of impending disaster. + </p> + <p> + Appeals have been made to passionless planets for justice against mundane + decrees, and when coincidences have been favourable the devout student of + the skies has loudly proclaimed them as proof of supernatural interest in + trivial, transient occurrences. In accordance with the degree of poetry in + the fibre of the people, so, in a certain degree, has the belief in + stellar influence been manifest. + </p> + <p> + The blacks of North Queensland, being, possibly, the least of the races in + a poetic sense, have but slight regard for the interference of the stars + in their poor little affairs, and in this respect are saner than many a + nation which has given abundant proof of wisdom. One of their beliefs is + that meteors are baleful, though under given conditions they derive from + such phenomena longed-for assurance. A meteor is described as “Star run + about.” “That fella no good; him kill'em man!” Yet in circumstances to be + mentioned they find in a meteor a sign that life has been restored to an + individual whom they have done to death. It is the opinion of men who have + studied the customs of the blacks that they—and to their honour be + it said—were never among themselves premeditated, gluttonous + cannibals. Human flesh was eaten, if not with solemnity, at least with + ceremony, for the belief exists to this day that the moral and physical + excellencies of the victim are assimilated by those who partake of his + flesh. + </p> + <p> + Reincarnation is prompt and practical, and unaccompanied by wasteful and + delusive hope. Herein lies the explanation of many a deliberate and + confessed killing, while to the meteor have the perpetrators looked for + absolution and remission of their sin. That which in the eyes of the white + man is regarded as an atrocious murder has not been, in their + semi-religious code, in any sense criminal, but a rite from which many if + not all the camp must inevitably benefit. + </p> + <p> + In one respect the killing of a boy is the highest compliment which may be + paid him, for it is proof that he has personal qualities which are the + envy and admiration of others, and for general welfare should be shared by + all. The boy who so dies is an unconscious patriot. This is proved + sufficiently by the fact that only what are considered to be the more + vitalising portions of the boy's body are eaten, whereas if gluttony were + the impulse of the deed the whole of the body would be consumed. + </p> + <p> + An illustrative incident has been told me by one who has gained the + confidence of the blacks, and to whom other facts connected with it were + personally known. Not many years ago a boy from from a distant locality + visited a certain district in company with his master. He was tall, well + favoured, a good rider, quite an athlete, an accomplished performer with + the mouth-organ and concertina; ready and persuasive of tongue. These + qualities provoked unaffected admiration; for the natives of the place are + undersized, ill-looking, and deficient generally in the arts of pleasing. + Before the master left, Caesar was persuaded by his envious + fellow-countrymen to remain with them to be flattered and courted. + </p> + <p> + To evade trouble, the whole camp took to the hills for a while. In the + meantime Caesar's master departed, thinking, no doubt, that the boy would + follow him to his own “more better country.” After several weeks the local + blacks returned, but Caesar was not of the party, and it did not occur to + any of the white residents to ask questions concerning him. In accordance + with the love of notoriety which affects humanity irrespective of + complexion, one of the boys began to boast of being as good as Caesar, and + to prove his contentions by aping the manners of his absent friend. It was + not long before he blurted out the secret by which he had become superfine—he + had participated with others in a cannibal rite after Caesar had been + good-naturedly killed. + </p> + <p> + Rumours of the tragedy came to the ears of the police. The ringleaders of + the assassins were arrested, and one at least endured a term of + imprisonment as punishment. Caesar had been lured away and killed because + he was a good fellow and strong, and because his murderers wanted to be + good and strong like him. Certain parts of his body were eaten, without + relish, but with fervent hope. A remarkable circumstance in connection + with the sacrifice and ceremonial rite for the general welfare is that the + perpetrators console and comfort themselves with the belief that should a + meteor appear it is a sign that the victim did not actually die, or if he + died under their hands, that he has come to life again. Those who were + concerned in the killing and who had partaken of the flesh sat together + for several evenings gazing with expectation into the sky. A meteor + flashed across it, and it was hailed as a sign that Caesar was alive and + had gone to his own country. The contrary evidence of relics of the dead + was waved away before the imperious and disinterested testimony of the + falling star. “No matter. That fella him no dead—finish. Him walk + about 'nother country. Him good fella. That fella star run about bin tell + 'em.” + </p> + <p> + They felt themselves to have benefited materially and spiritually by + participation in the rite, and were calm in their belief that the victim + was none the worse for the temporary misfortune from which he suffered. + </p> + <p> + In another locality a meteor signifies the death of an individual, and is + referred to as “Tee-go-binah.” When a death cannot be directly attributed + to it locally, the phenomenon is referred to with such rustic logic as + this: “Some fella dead alonga 'nother camp. Might be longa way.” The + ancients felt “the sweet influences of the Pleiades.” One of the two + intimacies of the blacks of North Queensland with stellar phenomena which + has come to my knowledge is associated with reincarnation after a deed of + blood. Their faith is as absolute, perhaps, as was that of the men of old. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BLACKS AS FISHERMEN + </h2> + <p> + “For I tell you, scholar, fishing is an art, or at least it is an art to + catch fish.”—IZAAK WALTON. + </p> + <p> + Along the coast of North Queensland evidence may still be obtained, though + it ever becomes more difficult to secure practical demonstration, of + several novel methods of killing fish in vogue among the blacks prior to + the advent of civilisation. In many parts, indeed, the presence of the + white man has swept away not only the use of decent, if trivial, pursuits + and handicrafts, but the knowledge also that they ever existed. + </p> + <p> + The few facts here presented are, with some slight reservations, drawn + from actual observation. No doubt the well-informed on such subjects will + have plenary reasons—if ever these lines are honoured by perusal of + the class—for the accusation that there is nothing in them having + the virtue of newness or novelty. But I am not a professor with a mind + like a warehouse, rich with the spoils of time, but a mere peddler, + conscious of the janglings of an ill-sorted, ill-packed knapsack of + unconsidered trifles. + </p> + <p> + Some pioneers know more about the acts of the past than the best informed + of the younger blacks, who look with wonder and unconstrained doubt when + shown articles similar to those which their grandfathers must have used + almost every day. + </p> + <p> + Though the blacks of the past had but casual knowledge of the cruel little + barb that the resourceful white fisherman finds essential to sport, and + had neither neat tackle, nor reels, nor creels; though they were denied + the solace of tobacco, and every other accessory, they were adepts at + fishing. They had at command a stock of accumulated lore so graphically + transmitted that the babe and suckling must have seemed to acquire it + almost intuitively. They knew much of the habits of fish. Their methods of + laying under tribute the harvest of the sea were so varied and + unconventional that when one expedient failed, others, equally free from + the ethics of sport, were available at the shortest notice. Fishing was + not a pastime, but a serious occupation in which nearly everyone was + proficient. + </p> + <p> + Times are changing; but still the mouths of smaller creeks are sometimes + dammed, save for certain sluices and by-washes where puzzling pockets are + set. Weirs formed by stakes driven into the sand and interwoven with twigs + guide incoming fish into ingenious traps, whence they are scooped up in + dilly-bags. Occasionally the whole camp, dogs and piccaninnies included, + take part in a raid upon the sea. Men in deeper water, women and boys and + girls forming wings at right angles to the beach, enclose a prescribed + area in the ever shifting, mobile fence. Certain of the men have huge + dilly-bags made of strips of lawyer-cane, and shaped like a ninepin with a + funnel for a head. The tactics of the party combine to drive the fish + towards the silent men having charge of the dilly-bags, who manipulate + what certainly has the appearance of being a very awkward utensil in the + water with great skill and alertness. Hurried to frenzy by the shouting + and splashing of the crowd, and the flurrying of the surface with bushes, + the fish dart hither and thither until most of them have found their way + into the bags, at the only spots where, for the time being, peace and + quietude prevail. At other times a somewhat similar design of basket is + used for trapping eels. + </p> + <p> + Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in shallow + water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the spear form the + weapons of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands of the Gulf of + Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is used, the blacks being so + expert that little is left to chance. + </p> + <p> + Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the yellamun, is common in + the neighbourhood of Dunk Island, it is not employed as an accessory in + the spearing of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a + combination of boomerang and wommera being the most popular form. This + dual-purpose weapon is merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is + fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of the spear. While on + this subject, it is interesting to note that, though the common form of + the implement for increasing the velocity and range of the spear is + generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its principle is + embodied in a contrivance which was used for a similar purpose in the New + Hebrides in Captain Cook's day. + </p> + <p> + Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of Tanna, Cook (“Voyages of + Captain Cook round the World,” vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in the + throwing of darts “they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of stiff + plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in one end and a knot in + the other. The eye is fixed on the forefinger of the right hand, and the + other end is hitched round the dart where it is nearly on an equipoise. + They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining finger, which serve + only to give direction, the velocity being communicated by the becket and + forefinger. The former flies off from the dart the instant its velocity + becomes greater than that of the hand, but it remains on the finger ready + to be used again.” + </p> + <p> + It is obvious that the Australian implement is much the more reliable and + effective. Cook mentions that with the dart the Tanna Islanders “are sure + of hitting a mark within the compass of the crown of a hat at a distance + of eight or ten yards; but at double that distance it is chance if they + hit a mark the size of a man's body, though they will throw the weapon + sixty or seventy yards.” Such a standard of marksmanship would be regarded + with contempt by the average black of North Queensland. The use of this + becket (introduced very many years ago by the Kanaka) is a fairly common + accomplishment among coastal blacks. + </p> + <p> + In shallow water, too, fish are chased until they become so exhausted and + nerve-shaken that they partially bury themselves in the sand, or endeavour + to elude observation by concealing themselves beneath stone or coral, or + by remaining passive among seaweed, trusting, no doubt, to protective + tints and assimilation with their surroundings. Few of these stratagems of + the fish are of avail when once a hungry black is on its track. The + science of war, we are bidden to believe, is not designed for the + slaughter of mankind, but so to impress the enemy with a demonstration of + overwhelming power, force, and majesty, that he may become mentally unable + or unwilling to offer resistance, because of its obvious futility. So it + is with the black in pursuit of a fish or turtle in shallow water. By + noise and bluster he works on the senses of the fish until it becomes + semi-paralysed. Then he proceeds callously to the killing, which, in the + case of fish, if his right hand is encumbered, he generally accomplishes + by a crunching bite into the back-bone at the shoulders. + </p> + <p> + At rare intervals the black varies his tactics by a night attack, which is + often highly demoralising. When the moon is on the other side of the + world, with spears and flaring torches of paper-bark, he rushes in a band + to raid the reef, to the dismay of startled and bewildered fish. + Substitute for the gurgling cadences of semi-submerged coral and muteness + and universal dimness instant noise and splashing, and dazzling lights + here and there and everywhere, and it is not to be considered strange that + the fish—tipsy with panic and confusion—fail to exercise their + habitual alertness. + </p> + <p> + At a certain season of the year—November and December in the + neighbourhood of Dunk Island—myriads of fish, about the size of a + sardine, appear in shoals, an acre or so in area, or encircle the islands + with a living, bluish-grey frill yards broad. The blacks bestow on this + godsend, popularly known as “sprats”—HARENGULA STEREOLEPIS (Ogilby)—the + name of “Oon-gnahr.” + </p> + <p> + How skilfully does Nature dovetail her designs! This great multitude of + fish appears when it is most needed. The terns (sea-swallows) are rearing + their families, and ever need fresh food in unstinted quantities. The + small fry come to an excited and enthusiastic market. Slim, silvery + kingfish, grey sharks, and blue bonito, harry the shoals, ripping through + them with steel-like flashes, and as the little fish ruffle the surface of + sea or emerge therefrom in living silvery spray, in frantic efforts to + escape, the terns take all they want, screaming with satisfaction. Then, + too, the blacks join in the work of destruction. When the frill of fish + lies limp on the beach, they fabricate a seine net, cheap, but admirably + suited for the purpose. Long strands of beach trailers and grass and + slender twigs are rolled and twisted up—apparently without the + slightest art—into a huge loose cable eight inches in diameter. The + men run out the cable into the water at right angles to the beach while + still the gins, with nervous haste, are adding to its length. If it + breaks, a few twists and pokes suffice to repair it. The men at the lead + curve in towards the beach, and the gins and piccaninnies wade out in line + to meet them. Gradually the cable, shocking in its frailty, is worked in, + enclosing a patch of the fish in a perilous coffer dam. Tumult and + commotion are almost as necessary contributories to the success of the + stratagem as is the cable. But before they realise what has happened, they + are in such close company that escape is impossible; dilly-bags are filled + in a single dip, and it may take half an hour to pick out those “meshed” + in the cable. It is all the work of a few minutes, and the haul often + amounts in quantity to a surfeit for the whole camp. + </p> + <p> + One of these rude seines which was overhauled was composed largely of the + long, leafless, twine-like branches of the leafless parasite CASSYTHA + FILIFORMIS (which the blacks term “Bungoonno”), IPOMEA PESCAPRAE + (“Koree”), Blady-grass (“Jin-dagi”), and the tough sprawling branches of + BLAINVILLEA LATIFOLIA (“Gallan-jarrah”), the whole being reinforced with + withes of CLERODENDRON IMERME (“Missim”), all of which plants grow on the + verge of the sea. + </p> + <p> + Vast as is the congregation of small fry, it gradually fritters away, + martyred to fish, flesh, and fowl. By the time the little terns are thrown + upon their own resources the violet frill of the sweet islands is frayed + and ragged, and drifts loosely in shabby remnants. + </p> + <p> + For large fish—groper, the giant perch, king, bonito, rhoombah, + sweet-lips, parrot-fish, sea-mullet, and the sting-rays (brown and grey)—a + harpoon and long line are used. When iron is not available a point is made + of one of the black palms, the barb being strapped on with fibre, the + binding being made impervious to water by a liberal coating of a + pitch-like substance prepared from the resinous gum of the arral-tree + (EVODIA ACCEDENS). + </p> + <p> + The point is eight or ten inches long, the barbless end being swathed in + fibre so that it may fit easily into the socket of the eight or ten feet + shaft. A long line is tied to a point above the swathing, and, being drawn + taut along the shaft, is secured to the end by a series of clove-hitches. + When the fish is struck the point is drawn from the socket, while the + shaft acts as a cheek on, and an indicator of, its course when just below + the surface. Such harpoons and lines are also used for the capture of + dugong and turtle, the line being made of the inner bark (the bast layer) + of one of the fig-trees, and is of two strands only. Occasionally the + HIBISCUS TILLIACEUS is laid under tribute for ropes and lines, which, + however, are not considered as durable as those from the fig. Nets, set + and hand, are also made with twine from the fig or hibiscus. + </p> + <p> + When, at low spring tides, the coral reef is uncovered, small rock-cod, + slim eels, parrot-fish, perch, soles, the lovely blue-spotted sting-ray, + catfish, flathead, etc., are poked out unceremoniously with spears or + sharp-pointed sticks from labyrinthine mazes, or from the concealment + afforded by the flabby folds and fringes of the skeleton-less coral + (ALCYONARIA), or from among the weeds and stones—a kind of + additional sense leading the black to the discovery of fish in places that + a white man would never dream of investigating. At this opportune time, + too, huge, defiantly armed and brilliantly coloured crayfish are exposed + to capture. A statement was published recently that this was the speediest + of all marine animals. The assertion is much to be questioned, but there + can be no doubt that the crayfish is a wonderful sprinter. Familiar with + its lack of staying power, blacks race after it uproariously as it flees + face to foe, all the graduated blades of its turbine apparatus beating + under high pressure. Two or three rushes and the crayfish pauses, and then + the agile black breaks its long, exquisitely sensitive and brittle + antennae, deprived of which it becomes less capable of taking care of + itself; or it may find its gorgeous armour-plates smashed with a stone or + penetrated by a spear. For the most part, however, the crayfish lurks in + coral caves, sweeping a considerable frontal radius with ever-shifting + antennae—not in pride or conceit of their beautiful tints and + wonderful mechanism, but with a pitiful apprehension of danger, for the + admirers of the creature are many and ever so much in earnest—the + earnestness of unceasing voracity. + </p> + <p> + Having a decided partiality for eels, the blacks of North Queensland have + devised several means of capture, one of which does not call for the + exercise of the least skill on the part of the individual whose longing + for the dainty becomes imperative. His placid perseverance, too, is of no + avail, unless luck favours. Wading in a shallow, mangrove-bordered creek, + he blindly probes the bottom with a six-feet length of fencing wire, the + modern substitute for the black palm spear. Frequently he trifles thus + with coy Fortune for hours, an inch or so separating each prod; and again, + in a spasm of indignant impatience, he stabs determinedly into the mud at + random. Non-success does not make shipwreck of his faith in the existence + of the much-desired food in the black mud, for as far back as his own + experience and the camp's traditions go, substantial reason for that faith + has been plentifully revealed. He returns to the monotonous occupation + until an unlucky eel is impaled, and then it is given no chance of escape. + </p> + <p> + Pushing his spear a couple of feet through, the boy grips the prize with + both hands, or bends the wire into the form of a hook. Fortune may + continue to smile, and the boy takes several during the afternoon. + </p> + <p> + Many boys enhance the charms of solitude by ingeniously tricking eels, + Nature presenting them with an efficient engine of deceit and destruction, + so designed that neither the agitations of art nor the invention of + science could much improve it. About two feet of the thong or lorum of one + of the creeping palms (CALAMUS OBSTRUENS) is all that is necessary. These + lora are armed with definitely spaced whorls of recurved hooks, keen as + needles, true as steel, about one-eighth of an inch long. Three or four of + the whorls are removed to provide an unfretful but firm grip. The + pot-holes and shallow pools and gullies and trickling creeks are populated + by nervous, yet inquisitive, semi-transparent prawns, upon which eels + liberally diet. So silent and steady of movement is the boy that even the + alert prawns are unaware of, or become accustomed to, his presence; and + what is there to warn the eel, enjoying its comfort among the dead leaves + in the gloomiest corner of the pool, of danger? Could any but a black boy + detect the difference between the brown sodden leaves and the half-inch of + body which the eel has unwittingly exposed? The “pig-gee” (as some term + the lorum) is used with almost surgical delicacy of touch to hook away two + or three of the leaves. Then it is placed parallel to whatever increased + length has thus been made visible, and with a decisive twitch the eel is + torn from its retreat and killed off-hand. + </p> + <p> + Even the shy, long-armed little prawns (PALAEMON AUSTRALIS) do not escape + special means for their destruction. A pliant rod about four feet long is + improvised from the midrib of the creeping palm before mentioned, to the + end of which is fastened a slender thread of the same material, split off + by using the nails of the thumb and second finger. This strand, which is + about four inches long, is delicately noosed. Standing a few feet away + from the water-hole, the black so manipulates the line that the noose + encircles the tail of the prawn, which, making a retrogressive dart upon + alarm, finds itself fatally snared. The prawns are not, as a rule, eaten, + being reserved for bait. + </p> + <p> + In creeks and lagoons thin, hollow logs are submerged. Eels naturally seek + such refuges, and in due course the boy dives, and, sealing the ends with + his hands, brings log and eel to land. Dr. W. E. Roth mentions that + crayfish and a certain fish resembling the rock-cod are similarly + captured, and remarks that the log is lifted at an angle, with one hand + closing the lower aperture, in which position it is brought to and held + above the surface, when the water trickles out between the fingers of the + sealing hand. + </p> + <p> + Yet another method (analogous to “bobbing”) is practised for securing + eels. Huge worms, found under decaying logs, are threaded by means of a + needle formed of a thin strip of cane on a line from ten to twelve feet + long until several feet of bait are available. The line is merely doubled, + the ends made fast to a stout pole, and the loop dangled in the water. The + boy fishes patiently, nor does he strike at the first nibble, but permits + the eel to swallow slowly what might be considered an undue proportion of + the bait, when it is landed and compelled to disgorge for the benefit of + the next comer. + </p> + <p> + Among coastal blacks—all of whom may be said to be fishermen—some + are ardent devotees to the sea. Others of the same camp restrict + themselves to unsensational creeks and lagoons. The frog in the well knows + nothing of the salt sea, and its aboriginal prototype contents himself + with milder and generally less remunerative kind of sport than that in + which his bolder cousins revel. Such a man, however, may possess aquatic + lore of which the other is admittedly ignorant, and be apt in devices + towards which the attitude of the salt-water man is adverse, if not + contemptuous. The fresh-water man is skilful in the use of a net shaped + something like the secondary wings of a certain species of moth, and + expanding and closing similarly. It is made of fine twine (one-inch mesh), + preferably from the bark of one of the fig-trees or the brown kurrajong, + tightly stretched on two pieces of lawyer-cane each bent to form the half + of an irregular ellipse. This net (“moorgaroo”) is manipulated by two men + working in concert, principally for the capture of eels. They do not wait + for the eel to come to them, but by shrewd scrutiny discover its + whereabouts under the bank of the creek or among the weeds and roots. Then + one silent man holds the net widespread, or adroitly dodges it into + intercepting positions, while the other beats the luckless fish in its + direction with more or less fluster. The persistency with which the creeks + are patrolled by men with spears, netted and poisoned, invites one to + marvel that any fish escape, and yet once again quite a haul is made. + </p> + <p> + That great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, once in his life made a joke and + confessed to it, with apologies for its littleness. Lunching at a tavern + in the Isle of Wight, he asked: “Oh, is not this a very large chop for + such a small island?” Similarly, I have been astonished at the apparent + disproportion between the size of the eel and the insignificance of the + creek whence the exultant black has hauled it. + </p> + <p> + An instance of the poor part which the slimmest eel plays when pitted + against the Smartness and resourcefulness of the black may be related. A + large eel, in a moment of indiscretion, showed itself in a fairly deep + creek. Bewailing the absence of his wing-net, or “moorgaroo,” the boy + hunted the elusive fish hither and thither with cunning determination. At + last it disappeared under a log. In most of his activities the black boy + sniffs at conventions. Hastily stripping, the boy dived and when he + reappeared the eel was vainly squirming in one of the legs of his trousers + which had been knotted below the knee. + </p> + <p> + Another boy, a stranger, brought with him traditions which he successfully + materialised in favour of the employment of several light darts instead of + a single heavy spear for fishing. The subject was frequently debated, but + none of the camp adopted George's theories. His favourite weapons were the + dried stems of an all too common weed, which generally grows straight and + true. Into the thick end he would insert a four-inch length of No. 10 + fencing wire, sharpened to a delicate point, and with a battery of eight + or ten of these he would sally forth. His bag averaged high. Often he + treated me to practical demonstrations of the success of his methods. A + big flathead reposed in two feet of water, half buried in the sand. George + had one of his darts fast in a twinkling, and the fish flashed away, the + tip indicating its movement. In a few minutes the hapless flathead was + carrying no less than six darts, and as such a handicap was absurd it + abandoned the race for life. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion he struck a big sting-ray so full of his impish darts + that it resembled an animated pincushion of monstrous proportions. It, + too, realised the futility of kicking against so many pricks. On the other + hand, Tom, with his heavy shaft and barbed point, relied on a single + weapon. It seldom failed, for his right arm was strong and disciplined to + a nicety. + </p> + <p> + On a shallow tidal creek a settler had made a corduroy crossing of the + fibrous trunks of the Pandanus palms, which the blacks of the + neighbourhood turned to account in the capture of fish. A few frail + sticks, artlessly interwoven with grass, formed a primitive weir at the + down-stream end of the crossing. Fish which went up with the tide + frequently found themselves stranded on the way down, for the water passed + freely between the palm-tree trunks without affording them right of way, + and the rude weir often stopped for ever belated bream, mullet, and + barramundi. This simple trap, though it does not appear to be put into use + on the coast generally, seems almost to indicate an instinctive knowledge + of a studied design described to me by an observant friend who has + travelled into many an odd nook and corner of Queensland. On a deep but + narrow tributary of the Georgina River a permanent trap on a large scale + was wont to be maintained. A tree had been felled across the stream so + that each end of the trunk was supported by the respective bank. Straight + stakes were driven firmly into the bed of the creek as closely together as + possible, the heads resting against the horizontal tree-trunk. This + palisading formed the base of an embankment of packed grass and rubbish, + sufficiently tight to raise the level of the stream about three feet. In + the middle of the embankment, and about one foot below water-level, a hole + about one foot square had been cut. A platform about ten feet long by + three feet wide, having a fall of about one foot and formed of a number of + straight saplings laid parallel with the stream, and supported by a couple + of transverse bearers on four stout forked sticks, received the escape + from the sluice. At the lower end of the platform was a rough weir of + twisted grass, which was continued up each side for about half its length. + Water passed with little hindrance through the platform, while jew-fish, + yellow-tail, and bream, were retained in considerable numbers. + </p> + <p> + Many years have elapsed—peradventure centuries—since the + blacks of Missionary Bay, Hinchinbrook Island, built a weir of blocks and + boulders of granite which oysters cemented here and there. On the fulness + of spring tides fish frolicked over and among the boulders. Those which + delayed their exit found themselves in an enclosed pool which at certain + seasons of the year runs dry. To this day the sea continues to pay + tribute, though the blacks of the locality have passed away, and there is + none but the red-backed sea-eagle or the heavy-flighted osprey and a rare + and casual white man, to receive it. Among the few emblems of the + vanishing race, this persistent weir-taking toll of the fish month after + month, year after Year, for the benefit of successive generations of + eagles and ospreys, appeals vividly to the imagination. + </p> + <h3> + HOOKS. + </h3> + <p> + From what can be ascertained at this late date, pearl shell hooks were + very sure and killing, but seem to have been used principally for smaller + fish—whiting, perch, bream, flathead, etc.—the occurrence of + large hooks being exceedingly rare. Mullet (if tradition is to be + credited) were seldom caught by hook and line, but were speared among the + mangroves at high tide—a practice which prevails to this day. The + Dunk Island examples have a resemblance to one of the forms of pearl-shell + hooks used by the Tahitians in Captain Cook's day. + </p> + <p> + Tortoise-shell hooks capable of holding large kingfish and fair sized + sharks are common among the natives of Darnley Island, Torres Straits. + During the process of cutting and paring the hooks to the size and design + required, the shell is frequently immersed in boiling water, which + temporarily overcomes its inherent toughness. Incidentally, it may be + pointed out that the evidence derivable from these fish-hooks does not + afford proof of Papuan influence on the mind of the Australian aboriginal, + except at the extreme north of Cape York Peninsula and a few miles down + the eastern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This default seems the more + remarkable in face of the fact that outrigger canoes, doubtless of Papuan + or Malayan origin, were known as far south as the Johnstone River. + </p> + <p> + To say that the coastal blacks of North Queensland had no knowledge of the + use of barbed hooks is misleading. In sheer desperation, when the supply + of pearl-shell hooks was exhausted, they were wont to attach bait to their + harpoon-points, and they used such unpropitious means successfully, and + occasionally made a miniature hook by tying a sharp spur to a thin, + straight stick. Recent proof has been obtained of the use of the lorum of + one of the creeping palms, from which all the spurs save three at the + thicker end were scraped off. With the knowledge of the efficacy of the + barb under extraordinary circumstances, is it not the more remarkable that + they failed to employ it systematically? Dr. W. E. Roth describes + crescentic hooks of coco-nut shell and wooden hooks with bone barb, and + also barbs improvised from one of the spines of the catfish. He also + mentions as “the most primitive form of hook” the dried tendril of HUGONIA + JENKENSII (“pattel-pattel” of the Dunk Island blacks). To anyone familiar + with the crescent pearl-shell hooks, the use of the singular tendrils of + the Hugonia would immediately be suggested; but my observation, inquiries, + and opinion do not support the theory. The shape of the tendril is all + that can be said in its favour. It is neither sharp nor tough enough for + actual use. + </p> + <p> + With these barbless hooks the bait was not impaled, but strapped on with + shreds of bark. + </p> + <h3> + NARCOTICS AND POISONS. + </h3> + <p> + It is said of the great Mogul Emperor Babur that he boasted of being able + to make fish drunk so that he might haul them in shoals, and when + “Carathis” pronounced her “barbarous incantations” the fish with one + accord thrust forth their heads from the water. Is it generally known that + the North Queensland blacks also are expert in the use of narcotics and + indifferent to the ethics of sport? The most commonly used of the fish + poisons on the coast of North Queensland is likewise employed by the + natives of Zambesi Land for a similar purpose. The plant is known + botanically as “Derris.” Two varieties, “scandens” and “uligijiosa,” are + known in this State. The aboriginal titles vary in different localities, + but “Paggarra” will suit the present purpose. Some blacks are so + offensively civilised that they know the plant by the name of “Wild + Dynamite.” Possibly it owes its popularity among fish poisons to the fact + that it is the handiest of all. It trails over the rocks, just out of + touch of high-water mark, but not beyond the reach of the spray of surges. + With roots investigating inclement crevices, and salt air damping its + leaves, the plant flourishes, and flowers prettily in graceful racemes. In + the semi-obscurity of the crevices the flowers put on a tinge of pink, + literally blushing unseen. The heartless blacks tear up the plant, + branches, leaves, flowers and all, coarsely bundle them together, and, + wading into an enclosed pool where fish are observed, beat the mass (after + dipping it into the water and while held in the left hand) with a + nulla-nulla. The action is repeated until the bark and leaves are + macerated, and then the bundle is thrown into the pool. In a few minutes + the fish rise to the surface, gasping and making extraordinary efforts to + get out of the infected water. Death ensues rapidly, but the fish are + quite wholesome as food. + </p> + <p> + Another of the vegetable poisons is known as “Raroo” (CAREYA AUSTRALIS). + The bark at the base of the trunk and of the roots contains an effective + principle, which is released in a somewhat similar fashion to that + employed with “Paggarra.” + </p> + <p> + The fruit of the handsome, shrubby tree known botanically as DIOSPYROS + HEBECARPA is also a most effective fish poison. It is oval-shaped, red + when ripe, and, as the name implies, covered with soft, fine hair. For all + its lofty title and attractive appearance, the fruit is deceptive, for it + bites and blisters the lips and tongue like caustic, and on being bruised + and thrown into a pool on the reef, all fish are killed outright. + </p> + <p> + A different and, for a black, singularly complicated process is employed + for the extraction of the noxious principle residing in the plant known as + “Koie-yan” (FARADAYA SPLENDIDA). This is one of the most rampant and + ambitious of the many vines of the jungle. + </p> + <p> + It combines exceeding vigour with rare gracefulness. The leaves are a + light glossy green, ovate, and often a foot long, while the flowers are + pure white (resembling slightly the azalea, but free from its fragility), + large, and with an elusive scent, sweet and yet indefinite. The fruit, + smooth and of porcelain whiteness, varies in size and shape, and is said + to be edible, though blacks ignore it. A large marble and an undersized + hen's egg may dangle together, or in company with others, from the topmost + branches of some tall tree, which has acted as host to the clinging vine. + The handsome but inconsiderate plant is turned from its purpose of lending + fictitious and fugitive charms to quite commonplace but passive trees to + the office of stupefying uncomplaining fish. But the element which holds + such deadly enmity to the sense of the fish is not obtainable by the + simple primary means successful with other plants. Indeed, the process is + quite elaborate, and goes to prove that the Australian aboriginal has to + his credit as a chemist the results of successful original research, and + that he is also a herbalist from whom it is no condescension to learn. In + this detail, at any rate, he is distinctly an accomplished person. + Portions of the vine are cut into foot lengths; the outer layer of bark is + removed and rejected, the middle layer alone being preserved. This is + carefully scraped off and made up into shapely little piles on fresh green + leaves. One might imagine that a black boy preparing the deadly “Koie-yan” + was really playing at chemist's shop with neat-handed scrupulousness. When + a sufficiency is obtained it is rubbed on to stones previously heated by + fire. The stones then being thrown into a creek or a little lagoon left by + the receding tide, the poison becomes disseminated, with fatal effect to + all fish and other marine animals. + </p> + <p> + It is pointed out, however, by Dr. Hamlyn-Harris that the nature of the + active principle of the “Koie yan” does not permit of elaboration by such + means. The heating of the shredded bark would, therefore, appear to fall + into line with the gibberish of ancient alchemists. It would bewilder the + uninitiated without enhancing results. + </p> + <p> + Many other plants supply the means of killing small fish wholesale, or of + reducing them to palsied cripples. The three described are fairly common, + and have, therefore, been selected to point a moral. Poisoning fish is a + poor sort of sport, perhaps, but there are two classes of fishermen—the + hungry and the artistic. The latter use flimsy tackle and complicated + gear, and play the game, giving the victims to their wiles a sporting + chance. Though not the only representative of the hungry class, the black + boy generally fishes on an empty stomach, and his demeanour coincides. No + slobbering sentiment affects him. Yet he is not so cruel as the mean white + who throws a plug of dynamite into the river while the fish are enjoying + their crowded hour, though he will with as little taint upon his + conscience poison a pool full of fish as drag with hooked stick a + reluctant crab piecemeal from its burrow among the mangrove roots. But + then he is responding to the appeals of a clamant and not over-particular + stomach, while your dynamitard is occasionally a well-fed barbarian with a + queasy palate. + </p> + <h3> + FLY-FISHING. + </h3> + <p> + The neatest and most artistic method by which the blacks kill fish + necessitates the employment of a particular species of spider known to the + learned as NEPHILA MACULATA PISCATORUM. This spider was discovered on Dunk + Island by Macgillivray, the naturalist of the expedition of H.M.S. + RATTLESNAKE in 1848. It has a large ovate abdomen of olive-green + bespangled with golden dust; black thorax, with coral-red mandibles; and + long, slender legs, glossy black, and tricked out at the joints with + golden touches. A fine creature, gentle and stately in demeanour, it spins + a large web, strong enough to hold the biggest of beetles and other + insects, and, to harmonise with the superior air of the manufacturer, the + gossamer is of golden-green. The great spider at the focus of the + resplendent web is a frequent and conspicuous ornament to the edges of the + jungle, and having no fear, and no indocility of temper, it undergoes the + ordeal of admiration with an assumption of disdainful coquettism. The + local name of this comely creature is “Karan-jamara.” Shameless + polyandrist, she maintains several consorts—from three to five seems + to be the average number—and they, semi-transparent, feeble, meek, + subdued little fellows, maintain precarious isolated existences in the + outskirts of the web. + </p> + <p> + Though my own experience is negative, direct incontrovertible evidence is + extant to the effect that birds often meet their fate by blundering into + the web, to be devoured by the nimble and gaily decorated owner. I have + frequently seen karan-jamara disposing of hard-shelled beetles as big in + bulk as some birds, and the strongest of butterflies, once entangled, is + powerless. The long-legged spider leaps on the struggling prey and stills + its beating wings with one pinch of powerful red mandibles. March flies + form the most frequent diet. One has been observed to dispose of fourteen + of the great stupid flies in a single evening, and if the flies could + reason they might, while whimpering because of the existence of such + voracious spiders, acknowledge that they design their webs in a very + perplexing and masterly manner. + </p> + <p> + In pursuance of inquiries—the results of which are herein recorded—a + casual black boy, a stranger to these parts, and therefore unfamiliar with + the local name and the special purpose to which the spider is put, was + cross-examined. At first he failed to recognise the photograph, but when + it was explained by the pointed allusion to a living Maltese-cross spider + close at hand, a gleam of intelligence brightened his bewildered face, and + he delivered a self-satisfied dissertation on the order Arachnida that is + worth quoting: + </p> + <p> + “That fella Oo-boo-boo. That fella mammy belonga 'nother fella altogether. + You no savee, come close up—that fella ply way. You no savee, come + close up, that fella no good; that fella vite.” + </p> + <p> + And the boy looked gravely sagacious and smiled the wide, wise smile + betokening proud superiority of information. Had Macgillivray but known + that the “Oo-boo-boo” was the parent of all the many species, and that it + belongs to the discreetly valorous class that “vites” and flies away, and + lives to “vite” another day, he might have achieved renown of a more + popular kind than is the reward of the unromantic naturalist who discovers + merely a superior spider. + </p> + <p> + This spider is used on some of the rivers as a lure, virtues almost + irresistible being ascribed to it. Experiments in salt water, though not + absolutely negative in their results, have not afforded any specially + exciting sport; but possibly the fascination of the lure is more efficient + in fresh than in salt water, and is influential over the habitual caution + throughout a certain species of fish only. The trick is worked in the + following manner: + </p> + <p> + The angler takes a light, thin switch and entangles one end in the web, + which, by dexterous waving action, is converted (without being touched + with the fingers) into a strand about two feet long. The spider is secured + and squashed, and the end of the line moistened in the juices of the body, + some of the fragments of which are reserved for bait, and also to be + thrown into the water as a preliminary charm. These buoyant titbits + attract shoals of small fish, among which the line, with its extract of + spider, is delicately trailed; a fish rises to the lure, the gossamer + becomes entangled in its teeth, and it is landed by a brisk yet easy + movement of the wrist. A great angler recently said that throwing a fly is + an act of feeling or instinct rather than reason. So the black boy with a + careless flourish fills his dilly-bag, while he smiles at the serious + attempts of the white man to imitate his skill. + </p> + <p> + Owing to the brevity and the frailness of the line, the catch is limited + to fish under the recognised standard as to size. Tests prove that the + breaking strain of the line is nearly three-quarters of a pound, but the + weight of the individual is of no great consideration, since numbers are + caught quickly. The gossamer is singularly sticky. The viscid substance + with which it is coated is not readily dissolvable in water; indeed, water + seems to have the effect of hardening it, so that the line' wears longer + than might be expected. Piquant morsels of the spider are entangled in the + frayed end of the line as its original potency becomes non-effective. + </p> + <p> + A friend for whose edification this novel method was demonstrated thus + writes it: + </p> + <p> + “It did not take the boy long to get ready. They simply broke a switch + about three feet long and attached a portion of the web about six inches + long to the end; squeezed out on to a leaf the fluid internals of the + spider, into which they dipped the end of the line, started a rather + melodious chant, and put the line in shallow water. I was only a few feet + away and could see no fish at first, but they came very soon. They were + very small, about one and a half inches long. They fasten their teeth in + the web, and are lifted out quite slowly. Some require to be pulled off + the line after being landed. I watched for about ten minutes, during which + time seventeen were caught.” + </p> + <p> + Sir William Macgreggor, ex-Governor of Queensland, has described the + Papuan art of fishing by means of kites, the lure being a tassel of the + web of a spider of the Nephila species. No doubt the blacks here made an + independent and original discovery, and in their simplicity applied it in + a different, but none the less effective, style from that of the advanced + Papuan. + </p> + <p> + Thus, to use the web and the fragments of a spider for fly-fishing is + certainly meting out poetic justice to the spider on account of the many + ensnared flies; and the black angler never pauses to reflect whether the + comminuted remains of a spider can possibly be construed into a fair fly. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART III—MISCELLANEA + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PEARLS + </h2> + <h3> + WHAT IS A PEARL? + </h3> + <p> + What is a pearl? The substance of a sensation—the consolidation of + discomfort on the part of an oyster or other nacre-secreting mollusc. It + is a globular deposit of carbonate of lime, with a very small proportion + of water, generally enclosing a trifle which is its cause and core and, so + to speak, is a waste product of the body's chemistry. In the restricted, + scientific sense, “true pearls are bodies consisting of calcareous + material with an organic basis.” Similar bodies having cores of sand + grains or other foreign substance are known as “blisters.” + </p> + <p> + Science, which peers and probes into the innermost affairs of oysters, and + speaks of them in terms of uneasy familiarity, asserts that pearls are + frequently caused by a parasite to which they are subject. + </p> + <p> + It would ill become one who has no scientific pretensions to suggest other + definitions, though he may claim to be among the few who have been + privileged to observe a pearl in the making, or, rather, to watch Nature's + finishing touches. + </p> + <p> + In the case of the oyster the radical home cure for the living irritant or + insoluble substance which had gained entrance between its valves is an + encasement of pearl-film. If this encasement is globular or pear-shaped, + or takes the form of a button and is lucid, lustrous, flawless, and of + large size, it may be of almost inestimable worth. + </p> + <p> + Does the proud beauty who glories in the possession of a pearl condescend + to imagine that she flaunts on her bosom just so many tombs containing the + dust of the germs of a parasite? Does she not rather love to think of the + gems as emblems of almost celestial purity, and to dwell on the fable of + the Persians rather than the audacious modern fact? + </p> + <p> + Addison has set the fable in imperishable gold: A drop of water fell out + of a cloud into the sea, and finding herself lost in such immensity of + fluid matter, broke out into the following reflection: “Alas! What an + inconsiderable creature am I in this prodigious ocean of waters; my + existence is of no concern to the universe; I am reduced to a kind of + nothing, and am less than the least of the works of God.” It so happened + that an oyster which lay in the neighbourhood chanced to gape and swallow + it up in the midst of this its humble soliloquy. The drop, says the fable, + lay a great while hardening in the shell, until by degrees it was ripened + into a pearl, which, falling into the hands of a diver after a long series + of adventures, is at present that famous pearl which is affixed on the top + of the Persian diadem. + </p> + <p> + Though one may count his pearls by the score, the hoard may be valueless. + Upon such examples entertaining, if not valuable, experiments may be made + without affectation or giving hostages to fortune. In all the little + deformed specimens thus dissected the core has been found to consist of a + foreign substance, generally what seemed under a microscope of limited + power a speck of dirt. The heart of one was a blob of mud, which gave off + a most baleful vapour. This was the result of the house-cleaning of a + common, edible rock oyster, and the pearl, dirty green and lustreless, + merely a thin casket, for the noisome mud had not solidified. The care + with which the impurity had been rendered innocuous demonstrated the + correct ideas of the oyster on sanitation. No doubt the germ of the + special form of tape-worm which troubles oysters, irritates to + pearl-making, and passes through other transformations in other hosts, and + completes its cycle in the body of a shark, would be too minute for + inexpert detection. The fact that molluscs do intern foreign and obnoxious + substances is testimony to their decency and love of cleanliness, and so + may the pearl be still accepted as the embodiment of purity. Though all + its little soul be dirt, the pearl is pure, and but for the dirt or the + germ of a filthy ailment it would not be pearl. + </p> + <p> + So many molluscs produce pearls that it would be absurd for the great + oyster family to set up exclusive rights. They do not, for your oyster is + ever humble even when tenanted with a rivalless pearl. On the coast of + North Queensland, within the Great Barrier Reef, pinnas of at least two + species are among the producing agents, which, covering a wide range, seem + to meet in two distinct genera, far apart in appearance and habit. There + is the frail, flat, translucent “window-shell” (Placuna), the valves of + which fit so closely that the poor little inhabitant is squeezed to a + wafer, a film, a fragment of muscle. Yet in some localities nearly every + individual has a pearl, pretty in tint, but too minute to be of value. An + allied species is common on the coast of China, where the pearls are + collected for export to India, to be reduced to lime by calcination for + the use of luxurious betel-nut chewers. These almost microscopic pearls + are also burnt in the mouths of the dead who have been influential and + wealthy. + </p> + <p> + Coal-black pearls occur in one of the pinnas, the interior of which is + sooty, shot with iridescent purple, and since the pearl, whether produced + by oyster, mussel, pinna, or window-shell, is generally more brilliant + than the containing shell, that of the black pinna, with the high lights + of its environment concentrated, may be a gem of surpassing novelty and + beauty. But the habitual product of this pinna is small, dull, mud-tinted + or brown, and of no value whatever. Another of the genera grows “seed” of + excellent lustre, corresponding with the azure brightness of the shell. + </p> + <p> + The chief source of orient pearls on the coast of North Queensland is the + gold-lip mother-of-pearl PINCTADA MAXIMA, while the black lip PINCTADA + MARGARITIFERA occasionally yields fine and flawless specimens of a silvery + lustre. One which is still lovingly remembered was of pale blue and + wonderfully lighted. The commonest of the giant clams TRIDACNA GIGAS + sometimes betrays evidence of past internal trouble by the presence of a + concretion of porcelain whiteness and of porcellaneous texture, but such + are not to be described as pearls and to be prized as rarities only. + </p> + <p> + That some huge molluscs produced pearls before man, with his faculty for + admiration, came on the scene is proved by their existence as fossils in + chalk. Hemispherical specimens have been found on the inner surface of a + shell which has no living representative—viz., the Inoceramus (some + of which attained a length of two feet)—and spherical ones of the + same prismatical structure occur detached in the chalk. It were curious to + let the imagination run over the fact that the hosts of these uncommended + gems died ages before the advent of man. The best of modern prizes may be + puny in comparison with those which caused distress to the giant molluscs + of the age when the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and Pterodactylus were + the aristocrats of the animal world. Such gems have gone for ever, and + even during this age of insatiable and adventurous search man does not + secure a tithe of the ocean's tribute, for, since a pearl is a source of + discomfort to its host, the unceasing effort of the animal is towards + expulsion. The greatest and possibly the most magnificent are cast out as + rubbish on the ocean floor, or are retained within the valves when the + animal dies of old age. + </p> + <p> + So-called pearls have been found in elephants' tusks and semi-adherent to + the bones of fish, and concretions—hard, smooth, and round, and of + the flat hue of skimmed milk—in coconuts and in the cavities of + bamboos; but in the production of the real gem neither oyster nor mussel + nor pinna need fear the rivalry of anything on the earth's surface. The + pearl belongs to the sea. + </p> + <p> + Completely spherical pearls can be formed only loose in the mantle or soft + parts of the body of the animal; but intrusions incite a deposit of nacre + in the form of a projection on the interior, which projection, often a + mere bubble, but sometimes semi-detached, may take the shape and + dimensions of the foreign substance. Or an inoffensive mollusc may be + goaded by the piercing of its shell from the exterior to create that for + which men venture into the depths of the sea. If a pearl-secreting oyster + be inherently robust, its defence against assault from without may consist + of the strengthening of the interior at the point of attack by deposits of + nacre. Thus, a slight protuberance arises which becomes the base of a + blister or button or the starting-point of a pear-shaped gem. Many a + lovely gem is, therefore, nothing more than the imperishable record of + aggression on the part of a flabby sponge on a resourceful oyster. + Occasionally valuable pearls are found within huge blisters. Such pearls + originate, no doubt, in the ordinary way, but, becoming an intolerable + nuisance on account of increasing size, are confined in nacre. + </p> + <p> + One of the accompanying illustrations shows the fate which befell an + infant chiton upon intrusion on a small black-lip oyster, and + coincidentally the origin of a blister. The chiton family being notorious + for stolidity, the infant could not have realised the risks of its + trespass until the strait-jacket made its retirement impossible. The nacre + has reproduced the details of the chiton's exterior with the fidelity of a + casting, and further reveals the fact that it was alive when entombed, for + its struggles to escape are solidified. + </p> + <p> + This deliberate act of the oyster may not stand comparison with the stone + of Pyrrhus's ring, which had the figure of Apollo and the nine Muses in + the veins of it produced by the spontaneous handiwork of Nature without + any help from art. The marvellous stone belonged to the fabulous past; the + imprisoned chiton to the prosaic present. + </p> + <p> + Another illustration is that of an accumulation of nacre which has assumed + accidental resemblance to a miniature shark. It was found in a gold-lip + pearl shell in Torres Straits. The like quantity in globular shape would + represent a pearl of great value. + </p> + <h3> + A PEARL IN THE MAKING. + </h3> + <p> + On a calm and luminous day I waded, disrobed, in shallow water as limpid + as the fictitious stream which legend says King Solomon improvised at the + foot of his throne when the Queen of Sheba attended his court. Lifting her + robes—for she imagined the crossing of the water to be a ceremonial + device—the gorgeous Queen displayed her shapely calves. The water + resting on the verge of the lovely Isle was as delusively clear, but was + not deceptive. + </p> + <p> + It revealed living coral, good to avoid by the barefooted; clams with + patterned mantles of various tints—grey, slate-blue, sea-green, + brown, and buff; anemones in many shapes, some like spikes of lavender, + and irritant and repellent to the touch; some platter-shaped and + cobalt-blue; some as living vases with the opalescent tints of Venetian + glass, which, abhorring the hand of man, retreat into the sand until only + an inconspicuous fringe of neutral tint is visible. Sea-slugs in almost + endless form and variety of hue, and many other strange sea things, were + among the inhabitants of the reef—a closely packed arena of + never-ceasing slaughter. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of a clump of brown seaweed, which had fallen apart like the + neatly dressed hair of a woman, was a black streak, signifying the gape of + a wedge-shaped mollusc known as a pinna. The gape was about as long as the + parting of a woman's hair and about thrice as wide. As I crouched to note + the functions of the animal, my shadow intervened and the caution of the + creature was roused, the valves closing so that no sign of the presence of + the shell was distinguishable among the slightly wavering, minute + particles of alga. Changing my position, so that the pinna might not be + deprived of its share of the rays of the sun, the valves soon furtively + opened. A slight movement on my part and they closed again, without having + revealed any hidden charms. + </p> + <p> + After a few minutes, a certain confidence being established between us, + the pinna emerged from its retirement, in so far as such creatures are + permitted by Nature. The mantle of this particular species is shown as a + delicate fringe of lace in old gold and black. It ripples along the upper + edges of the confining valves, which are intensely black with a pearly + lustre. The pretty movements of the mantle—like the swinging of the + skirts of a well-apparelled damsel—attracted admiration, and on + peering into the shell a glimpse of something precious was obtained. + </p> + <p> + Tossed and twirled about just below the old gold fringe was a black pearl + about the size of a pea. The prize was safe. Without risk of loss it could + be watched in its unceasing revolutions. It seemed as if the animal, with + automatic perseverance, attempted to eject the incubus, the weight of + which kept it about an inch below the aperture of the valves. Such motion + would naturally tend to perfection. Whatsoever its lustre, it would + certainly be a sphere. Besides, it was a pearl in the making. As long as + it remained within the pinna and it could not be voluntarily rejected, its + size would inevitably increase. It was the rolling stone to which time and + the secretions of the animal would add weight and, peradventure, beauty. + </p> + <p> + Was mortal ever before privileged to watch over the growth of a black + pearl? The activities of the mantle, a blending of enticing colour and + poetic motion, were slow, free, and light-attracting. The ancients + believed that some pearls were constituted by flashes of lightning playing + on bubbles within the oyster. A relative of the family here seemed to be + wooing the tropic sun of its beams, if not to vitalise, at least to + burnish its treasure. + </p> + <p> + Close scrutiny showed that the pearl was not absolutely free. It was + enclosed in a transparent membrane, the merest film, which confined it to + a particular position in the mantle, while it seemed to possess + independent actions—vertical and revolutionary. Perhaps the rays of + light which fell unequally on it through the water created the illusion of + revolutions, but it is certain that the pearl seemed to be playing a game + of hide-and-seek. + </p> + <p> + Was it possible for human nature to deny itself so easily gotten and + pretty a prize? I confess, though the possibility of the pearl increasing + in size and loveliness was obvious, that the fact that pinnas are subject + to ills, chances, and mishaps, was also recognised. Left to be slowly + tossed about, the pearl would become greater; but size, though an + important feature, is not the only desirable quality. And while it grew + might not another barefooted beach-comber discover it? Or might not one of + the many unintelligent admirers of the pinna itself find entrance by + drilling or by the violent crushing of the valves, and, ignoring the + treasure, destroy the organs and the substance by and from which it was + being delicately elaborated? Suppose, I argued, I remove the gaping shell, + I shall no longer be able to enjoy the rare, the unique pleasure of + presiding over the gradual perfection of a pearl, an aesthetic advantage + to which I alone had been made free. Could present possession of a little + sphere of carbonate of lime, polished and sooty black, compensate for the + continuance of the chaste joy of watching one of the most covert and + intimate processes of Nature? Balancing the immediate material gain + against the inevitable moral loss, I was almost persuaded to self-denial, + when, with a sudden impulse, begot of the consciousness of rightful + acquisition, the pinna was forcibly yet carefully drawn out of the sand in + which it was deeply embedded and in which it was anchored by toughened + byssus. Directly the valves were prised apart the pearl fell into my hand. + Never before had I seen one so loosely retained within its shell. + Generally, in the case of the pinna, pearls are embedded in the muscles or + soft parts, and are not primarily discernible, but have to be sought for + by passing the “meat” through the fingers. On this occasion all previous + experience had been set at naught, so that it might seem that the prize + had been presented by the animal as its perfect and most opulent work. + </p> + <h3> + STRANGE PEARLS. + </h3> + <p> + The engaging theory of the ancients that pearls were made of glutinous + dewdrops condensed by the sun's heat does not take into account the fact + that some of the rarest, though not the most valuable, have assumed + contrary and fantastic shape. Fish, crabs, and marine insects have proved + a common origin of pearly developments while they have been regarded by + some as almost miraculous conceptions on the part of the afflicted + mollusc. + </p> + <p> + Hamed of Jeddah, the stubby Arab who deals in fish and oysters, and who + professes to have groped over in his youth a considerable extent of the + Red Sea for coral and pearls, relates many experiences in which the + popular gem takes pride of place. Oriental that he is, he loves + exaggeration, and while lending a propitious car to the stories in which + he enshrines his prime, when he could dive deep and long, and when the + precious red coral was “thick” and every shell contained a pearl, it is + discreet to disregard obvious breaks and bulges along the prim path of + truth. The very crudeness of his embellishments invests with kind of comic + relief some of his fables, which end invariably with insipid uniformity. + All the pearls which have slipped through Hamed's rough hands have been + valued at five hundred pounds, never more or less. It is not for me to rub + the gilt off the innocent inventions of the emotional Arab, but merely to + relate one of his time-beguiling tales, and one which, probably, is of + clean-cut truth. + </p> + <p> + A huge gold-lip, found four fathoms deep, where the sea grass sways + indolently long, contained a tinted pearl like: + </p> + <p> + “That fella sitting down along a tree and sing out along night time.” + </p> + <p> + “Flying fox?” I guessed grimly. + </p> + <p> + “No!” snapped Hamed indignantly. “'Nother fella.” + </p> + <p> + “That bird which says 'chump, chump, chump?'” I meekly asked. + </p> + <p> + Again Hamed sneered ironically. “No bird. No bird carn get along oyster. + Little fella-green like leaf. Sing out 'Ko-rog, ko-rog, ko-rog!'” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Frog!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Like frog. Me call him 'ghouk' along my country. That fella inside + gold-lip. One inch long. Leg, hand, mouth, eyes all asame. I bin get five + hundred pounds for that fella.” + </p> + <p> + Azure pearls in the similitude of tiny fish can be vouched for by people + far more careful of their facts than Hamed—fish which have intruded + themselves on the oysters and have been encased in nacre. Probably the + rarity which fell into Hamed's hands was the pearly presentment of a + crustacean, for marine frogs are infinitely rarer than pearls. Several + molluscs admit tenants, one particular species a rotund crab; but in the + case in point the wrong mansion was entered and, so to speak, the obtruder + was transformed. + </p> + <p> + A common and neat industry in China is the production of fraudulent + pearls, pretty and in accordance with submitted design, in which the + co-operation of the obedient but frail mussel is necessary. If a round + pearl is desired, a naked shot is introduced between the valves so much to + the discomfort of the animal that it proceeds to cover it decently with + layer after layer of pearl-film, the bulk of which depends upon the length + of life granted to the mussel. Sometimes little josses are stamped out in + thin uncorrosive metal, which, being presented to the mussel, are + faithfully modelled, the thrifty Chinese obtaining in course of time + quaint pearly gods—as potent as the best—without money and + without price. + </p> + <p> + Not so long as a quarter of a century ago a spirit-bottle full of pearls—buttons, + blisters, and chips of all sorts, sizes, and shapes—was purchased in + North Queensland by one who had but the crudest ideas as to the value of + such gems. The vendor was a whity-brown man, thin, and thinly clad in + cotton. The complexion of the buyer was ruddier than the cherry, for the + tropic sun had beamed ardently on his peachy Scotch skin, proclaiming him + a new-chum, a bright and shining new-chum. Because he was new he was alert + to the value of money. Had he not come, as all new-chums do, to Tom + Tiddler's ground to pick up gold and silver? Hence, when the hatless, + spare, whity-brown man in soiled cotton offered for sale the odd-shaped + beads in a besmeared whisky-bottle for five pounds, his national trait + expressed itself in a scoff. + </p> + <p> + The whity-brown man's seriousness, his confidentiality, his keen desire to + sell, his mysticism and misty English, the ruddy young man interpreted as + manifestations of the arts and wiles by means of which innocent strangers + from far away lands are tempted into bankruptcy bargains. The seller, + anxious to dispossess himself of ill-gotten gains prejudicial to his love + of liberty, pursued the Scotch youth almost tearfully, until the bottle + changed hands, but at a considerable reduction on the price originally + demanded. Shortly after a friend enlightened the youth as to the probable + value of the collection, and gave him some cheap advice, especially on the + desirableness of secrecy. The youth accepted the advice so literally that + the story ends. No one ever knew how, when, where, and for what + consideration, he disposed of his embarrassments. Fresh from the land of + his birth, and with the text of Burns's poetic letter in his mind, he kept + that something to himself. + </p> + <p> + The days of such sensational deals are past. The primal crop has long + since been harvested. Science is now bidden to stimulate the docile + oyster, for the rage for pearls is as the rage of the heathen. Is it not + the wish of every woman, old and young, to possess pearls? And while + subject man, flushed with hope, ventures to the “utmost port, washed by + the furthest sea,” for such merchandise at the caprice of woman, Science + plods sedately after man, beguiling him with the hope of some less risky + and laborious means of acquiring the gems, while at the same time she + soothes the irrepressible passion of every damsel with strings of artistic + counterfeits manufactured from the scales of silvery fish, and as pleasant + to glance at as many an orient. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards say that a paper cigarette, a glass of water, and the kiss + of a pretty girl, will sustain a man for a day without eating. But what is + a man to do who has no tobacco, only stale water, who is separated from + the nearest girl by seventy miles of perilous seas forlorn, and whose + appetite sickens at the sight of the coarse fare of a béche-de-mer boat? + There is but one resource for such a martyr. He must do “a perisher.” That + is precisely what the master of a lonely boat in an odd angle of the Coral + Sea was doing when a joyful sail appeared—a dove-like messenger from + civilisation and shops. It was a pitiable famine. No one had had a smoke + for a week. The black boys had broken up their nicotine-saturated clay + pipes and masticated them to pulp, and still treasured the quids, while + the “Boss” pondered cigars during the day and dreamt them at night. But + relief was at hand. The master of the strange craft, though well stocked, + was not disposed to be generous, until tempted by the sight of a lovely + yellow pearl, about the size of a small marble and of satiny lustre—sweet + to look upon, sweeter still to possess. Aware of the other man's agonising + needs, he drove a hard bargain, and the gem became his at the cost of a + box of tobacco. He hugged himself for joy, and after a decent lapse, + during which he acted the part of the virtuous who had relieved another's + necessities out of sheer goodwill (for the pearl was only a curio, was it + not?), he set sail for the nearest port. + </p> + <p> + Certain that fortune had at last beamed upon him, he laid up his lugger, + wound up his affairs, and hurried off to Sydney, secretly, to dispose of + his prize first-hand. An expert weighed the treasure, scrutinised it + shrewdly through a microscope, and handed it back with a casual remark + that it was a pretty curio, but that its market value was about half a + crown. “It has been exposed to great heat, and may crumble to pieces at a + change of temperature. Get me one like that uncooked and I'll give you + twelve hundred pounds.” + </p> + <p> + Some time after, the grasping man discovered that the pearl had been found + in the “meat” of a “helmet” shell which had been roasted by a hungry and + tobaccoless boy. + </p> + <p> + Without appearing to suggest anything beyond a trifling blemish in this + story, replete as it is with edifying illustrations of the frailties of + human nature, it would be well to remember that the helmet shell (CASSIS + FLAMMEA) is not nacreous and could not therefore produce a true pearl, but + merely g porcellaneous concretion, which, however, might possess a most + attractive tint, possibly pale salmon or orange. Such a gem might be + valuable. + </p> + <p> + Great pearls are not generally found on shallow reefs. He who would search + for them systematically must dive, and if he does not possess the proper + costume and accessories his trips below are but brief, and not always + profitable. When a diver boasts that he can remain under water two or + three minutes—and the boast is very common—he has gauged his + endurance by his sensations, not by the clock. Once an expert was timed, a + coloured gentleman who had great repute among his companions, all capable + divers. He made a special and supreme effort, and though the watch + recorded barely seventy seconds, he was much distressed. Recovery was, + however, speedy; of ten subsequent minutes he spent more than half out of + sight. It is not argued that human beings cannot remain voluntarily under + water more than seventy seconds, but the feat is so rare that those who + accomplish it are not usually pearl-divers. + </p> + <p> + The natives of some parts of Borneo declare that the valves of the oysters + containing the largest pearls are always open, and that by peering into + the water the pearls may be seen. They tell a story of a gigantic pearl + which was thus discovered by the men of old and actually brought while + within the oyster into a canoe, but had slipped from the fingers of a + careless holder into deep water. + </p> + <p> + Spencer St. John, author of “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” had + among his friends a chief who ventured most of his possessions in a + pearling cruise. Disaster attended the enterprise, but without subduing + his faith in luck; mortgaging everything, even to his wife and child, he + went out to woo fortune again. His slave-boy was preparing to dive one day + when he started back, touched his master's hand, and with signs of great + emotion pointed into the water. The chief looked, and there, seven fathoms + below, lay an oyster with an enormous pearl distinctly visible. Without a + moment's reflection he plunged in, and, diving with skill and speed, + reached the shell before it closed, his fingers being caught between the + valves. He quickly rose to the surface, and was helped into the boat by + his anxious follower. Upon the oyster being forced open, a pearl, + unsurpassed in size and of extraordinary beauty, was revealed. Returning + to his native village, the chief sold all his smaller pearls, and having + redeemed his wife and child, set sail for Manila, where lived an English + friend who advanced him money, to whom he said: “Take this pearl, clear + off my debt, give me what you like in return. I shall be satisfied.” The + author adds: “The merchant took the pearl, gave him what he considered its + value—at all events enough to make Sulu ring with his generosity—and + sent the pearl to China; but what became of it afterwards I could never + distinctly trace; but I learned that a pearl in Bengal called 'The + Mermaid' originally came from China, and as the one found in Sulu was said + to be shaped like a woman's bust, it is probably the same.” + </p> + <p> + Possibly the golden age of the pearl is passing as the golden age of the + reptile has passed, for can it not be imagined that, in those far-back + days when oysters attained a length of two feet and better deserved the + title of Tridacna (three bites) than the present clams, pearls of + corresponding magnificence of size were produced? Or are robust pearlless + oysters to be accepted as the type of the strong era, and small oysters + and pearls merely as signs of degeneracy? The largest of modern pearls + measured two inches long by a circumference of four inches and weighed + eighteen hundred grains. The containing shell may have been big only in + comparison with its contemporaries. A very small man has been known to be + afflicted with a disproportioned goitre, and there are some who argue that + the goitre may be but the prototype of the pearl. + </p> + <p> + Is fact or fable to claim the most glorious of pearl stories? Some verily + believe that Cleopatra did quaff the costliest beverage the world has ever + known. The incident is so faithful to the character of “that rare + Egyptian” that all sober record shall not discount delight in its + transcendent sumptuousness. Though the pearl may have been worth eighty + thousand pounds of our money, though Cleopatra was gay, though her + extravagance was impious, she was a glorious woman, and she had at least + one glorious, if nauseating, drink. The pearl decoction was merely an + episode in her policy, which was to fascinate Antony—Antony who had + called her to account for having aided his enemies in their war against + him. And what was an eighty thousand pound bauble in the high affairs of + State? “She was at the age when a woman's beauty is at its prime, and she + was also of the best judgment. So she furnished herself with a world of + gifts, stores of gold and silver, and of riches and other sumptuous + ornaments as is credible she might bring from so great a house and from so + wealthy and rich a realm as Egypt. But yet she carried nothing with her + wherein she trusted more than herself, and in the charms and enchantment + of her surpassing beauty and grace.” + </p> + <p> + And then the supper following the magnificent pageant! Anything less than + an eighty thousand pound pearl would have been an anti-climax, a mean and + clumsy culmination of a “gaudy night.” That soul-delighting gem which + vanished in foam told of a superb Cleopatra's “calm felicity and power.” + </p> + <p> + Some say that, the jewel—cast away so majestically was one of a pair + which Cleopatra wore as ear-rings, and that when Antony restrained his + hostess from a repetition of the draught, she presented the now matchless + pearl to him. Another version implies that the ear-ring had been + originally one monster pearl, which Cleopatra had caused to be sawn in two + to gratify her lust for unique and lavish ornament. + </p> + <p> + It is said, too, that the pearl was dissolved in wine. By a simple + practical test and at the sacrifice of a small quantity of baroque, proof + was obtained that ordinary culinary vinegar is a solvent of pearls. The + experiment also yielded these notable conclusions—that either the + wine of Cleopatra's age was much more corrosive than the vinegar of ours, + or that the costly beverage was prepared beforehand, or that the stately + banquet was long-drawn-out while the inestimable gem spluttered and + simmered in the goblet. The dissolution of such a large pearl must have + been slow, and the product far from nice, but it was one of the effects by + which a sovereign woman conquered the “most courteous lord” of his day. + </p> + <p> + A curious superstition prevails in some parts of the East Indies, it being + believed that if gold and pearls are placed by themselves in a packet they + will certainly decrease in quantity or number, and in the end totally + disappear; but, if a few grains of rice are added, the treasure is safe. + Rice is thought not only to preserve the original number of pearls, but to + actually cause increase. + </p> + <p> + Tarnished pearls are occasionally submitted to the process of “skinning”—the + removal with fine steel files under a magnifying glass of the outer + 'layer, on the chance of the existence of a better underneath. The + ancients treated lustreless gems differently, placing them before doves, + under the belief that they could be polished by being pecked and played + with by the gentle birds. + </p> + <p> + In some respects pearls are superior to all other gems. They are + emblematic of serenity, and serenity is often power in the highest + manifestation. None ever said an unkind word of pearls; no dubious legend + clings to them, making the timid afraid. They come to us perfectly + fashioned. No coarse handiwork has touched them, no soulless machine + ground them to conventional pattern. The last diamond may be, the last + pearl never, until the sea gives up more than its dead, its very being. + Pearls may begin and end in foam; but the beginning is now and always, and + the ending rare, for the Cleopatras are gone. Emblems of purity, + refinement, and peace, they are truly the gems for woman. Queenly or + demure, they become her, and she bestows on them a quality hard to define, + but singularly sweet and acceptable. Gold and precious stones may occupy + billions of years in the making, or may be the product of— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The war of elements, + The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds.” + </pre> + <p> + Once we find these hard, cold things and take hold of and seize them, we + know that we have, to use a homely simile, eaten our cake. The supply of + pearls is continuous, and under the control of the cruel ingenuity of man + they grow to an ordinary size in less than a decade. + </p> + <p> + Many years ago an opinion was expressed that the increasing knowledge 'of + the mollusc and its habits would enable man literally to sow the sea with + pearls as he sows a field with grain, and that the harvest would be + certain. Under natural conditions not one oyster in a hundred is troubled + with a pearl, and not one pearl in the hundred is of any real value. It is + demanded that unsuspecting oysters shall be inflicted with a kind of + plague, so that there shall be not one but several pearls in every + suffering individual, and in the greater number chance will contrive a + larger proportion of orients. Every oyster has its potentialities; Science + seeks to convert potentialities into certainties. + </p> + <h3> + PEARLS AND HIGH TRAGEDY. + </h3> + <p> + Such merchandise has ever provoked the spirit of adventure in hardy, + healthy men, and pearls have claimed the lives of the best among them. The + health and figure of the friend who beguiled many an evening were + sacrificed to the lustrous gem so prized of women. A model of stalwart + manhood of the Viking strain, he died early, worn out with the stress with + which he sought the most serene of personal adornments. There may have + been some slight exaggeration in the popular belief that he had walked + along the bottom of the sea from one end of the Great Barrier Reef to the + other, a stretch of over one thousand miles; but that he had accomplished + more than that distance in the aggregate of his submarine wanderings may + be quite credible. Probably there was no human being who possessed such + intimate knowledge of the character of the ocean floor within the living + bounds of the Great Barrier; and since he was silent, reserved, and + self-contained to all save friends of long standing, was never guilty of + boasting, and ever reluctant to tell of his adventures, the world is + little the wiser from his work, though at the best time of his life most + of his days were spent under water in fairyland-like scenes. It may seem + absurd to associate fairyland with the depths of the sea; but the shy + explorer of many a coral grove has been heard to say that the scenes + fulfilled his ideals of what the realms of the fairies might be like. + </p> + <p> + Pearl-divers are more susceptible to the charms of wayward Fortune than + those who have not realised the thrill of expectancy with which a huge + goldlip, encrusted with coral and swathed with seaweed, is seized. It may + contain a gem worth a king's ransom, or but an animal which, though it may + be crossed in love, is not engaging in appearance or in any feature or + quality commendable. There is the chance; and it appeals to most rational + men. Secretive Fortune lures on, promising the bubble pearl 'and + proffering that which satisfieth not, until the stress and perils of the + avocation tell on the enthusiast, who finds himself not exuberant as wont; + that Fortune has been tricking him; that in the pursuit of pearls Chance + is oft repellent; and that the prize which seemed impossible to avoid has + eluded the most devoted seekers. + </p> + <p> + It may be that my captain did not seek his pearls with zeal beyond that + which is common to the calling the world over; but that his enthusiasm + beguiled him into remote and odd parts of the Barrier, that he became + familiar with rare scenes (denied to all save submarine adventurers in + tropical waters), that he was oft in peril of his life, and that he could + pause in the midst of strenuous, nerve-racking work to watch the + never-ceasing hostilities of the denizens of the sea, may not be + questioned. + </p> + <p> + Not long before he passed away he told of one of his adventures in a few + hurried words, after the manner of one who loves not to dwell on personal + reminiscences, save as a text for the rectification of popular error in + respect of sensational happenings. The story is here repeated, for it + throws light on an incident which sent one ship of warfare on dubious + patrol, and reveals the manner of the men who sought pearls in the old + days. + </p> + <p> + “Have you found that pearl?” he asked smilingly; for we had often talked + of the possibility of being rewarded with a fortune-bestowing gem. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed, I have; and a real beauty. I very much doubt if you, for all + your experience, ever saw such perfect shape and fine lustre. Here is an + instance of the perversity of Chance. You, tied up in a rubber bag, rake + the floor of the Barrier, fighting sharks and being hustled by turtle, and + never find anything out of the way. I stroll about the beaches, and see + what Fortune bestows!” + </p> + <p> + The size of a small marble, it lay swathed in white wadding. Minute + furrows sculptured the surface in radiating lines from pole to pole, + enhancing rare radiance. + </p> + <p> + The captain took the little casket in his hand that he might gloat over + the treasure, as, his eyes shining, he said: + </p> + <p> + “You lucky fellow! Where did you get it? I never saw a finer pearl, and I + have seen a few in my days. Fair numbers have passed through my hands; but—you + fraud!” + </p> + <p> + He lifted it, revealing a counterfeit, which had once ornamented a hatpin. + </p> + <p> + In good-humour he settled down on a lounge and gradually drifted into + reminiscences. + </p> + <p> + “About two years before what I am going to tell you happened, I heard of a + patch of shell off an island Sud-Est way; I kept the tip to myself, + determined to work the spot on my own account if ever I got the chance. I + waited till I saved a few pounds, and, taking in a mate, fitted out a + craft, and with a crew of very fair boys sailed away. I found the spot all + right; but—my usual luck—someone had been there before me. + Strange to say, the spot was by no means worked out, though it was fairly + good ground and easy working, and the shell large. We did good business + for a while, until one day I got a proper start. The life-line fouled on + something, and I found that it had taken a turn round the bowsprit of a + wreck. I got on top pretty quick, and, having had a talk with my mate, + went down again. Very soon I knew the boat. It was the ——, and + she had belonged to a man I had known very well. The strange part about + the business was that the boat had been burned. Her deck was gone; she had + burned to the water's edge and had sunk, and there she rested on her keel. + I knew that the owner had left port some months before on a secret cruise. + Someone must have given him the tip, too. He was well known and liked, and + generally did good business. My mate and I talked over the business. We + wanted to clean up that patch, so decided to remain a few days longer + before clearing out to report. I was convinced that murder had been + committed-that the natives of the island had massacred the party and had + sunk the lugger. + </p> + <p> + “While I was below next day an urgent message came down. I bobbed up + pretty quickly. A boat was sneaking out from the beach, apparently with + the plan of cutting us off from our lugger, which was anchored some + distance off, with only a couple of boys on board. You bet, we got up + steam pretty quickly. When we got on board we reached for our rifles, and + then felt safe. + </p> + <p> + “The boat was then making straight for us, and it appeared to be crowded + with darkies. We had been off the island for four days, and had not seen + the sight of a native. I knew there were plenty, and the fact that they + had kept away had made me a bit suspicious. As the boat came along I was + sure they meant mischief, and was determined, no matter how friendly they + wanted to be, not to let one of the beggars on deck. + </p> + <p> + “About half a mile away we saw one of them, who appeared to be a bit + lighter in colour than the rest, stand up in the bow and wave a kind of + message. He kept one arm going like a semaphore. Then we saw that he + carried under the other arm a basket—a peace-offering of yams and + fruit, no doubt. He had only a shirt on, and still he kept his right arm + working. When he got within hailing distance, the man in the bows shouted + my name. He was a brawny chap. I thought to myself that if it came to a + row I would pot him first, for he was ringleader. + </p> + <p> + “All the rest were naked. His scanty uniform marked him out. Probably he + got that shirt from the owner of the sunken lugger. I wetted my lips with + my tongue as I thought it might be my duty to wipe him out. Then my name + was shouted out again, and, recognising the voice, I discovered the man in + the shirt to be a well-known character who goes under the name of ——. + </p> + <p> + “I've got something nice for you, captain! Don't look so nasty with that + rifle to an old friend!' + </p> + <p> + “Still keeping our rifles ready, we let the boat come alongside and the + tinted man passed up the basket, It was native-made, and all the top was + covered with green leaves. Thinking of fresh yams and fruit, I pulled off + the leaves, and there—poof!—the head of a man-an old man who + must have died a violent death about two days before. + </p> + <p> + “The man in the shirt laughed loud and long at the disgust in my face, + and, coming on board, soon told of the tragedy of which the awful head was + a symbol of retaliation. + </p> + <p> + “The owner of the sunken lugger had fitted her out with unusual care. His + crew consisted of natives of the island off which we were lying. As a + special inducement to one of the boys, whose name was Massai, he had + promised a rifle, but designedly withheld the gift until towards the end + of the term of agreement. Massai had persistently begged for the rifle, + and it having become necessary for the Boss' to take a trip to the port, + he had definitely, promised to bring it with him. Again he designedly + forgot. Massai became morose. Things went on calmly enough until one day, + when the mate was below, the 'Boss' was suddenly thrown overboard. As he + floundered on the surface one of the boys struck at him with a tomahawk, + and then he must have realised that his life was at stake. + </p> + <p> + “Diving until well clear of the boat, he swam off to the lugger, about a + quarter of a mile away. As his master came up, Massai leaned over the + side, his master's rifle in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “'Don't shoot me, Massai,' he shouted. 'I give you good rifle belonga + yourself.' + </p> + <p> + “Massai shouted back, 'Me catch 'em plenty riple! You no good!' and fired. + The bullet splashed over the man's head. The next struck him fair in the + forehead, and he sank. + </p> + <p> + “In the meantime Massai's confederates were sporting with the diver, + hauling him up to the surface, pumping sufficient air to keep him alive, + shutting it off until he must have been nearly suffocated, reviving him + with fresh supplies, and with joy prolonging life until the fun of the + thing ceased; then they had cut the pipe so that he might drown. + </p> + <p> + “The lugger having been ransacked, she was fired, and she had sunk at her + anchorage. + </p> + <p> + “A few days after the man with the shirt arrived at the island, and since + these simple children of Nature cannot keep their doings to themselves, he + very soon was made a confidant, learning the whole details of the tragedy + by pidgin English and expressive pantomime, and obtaining as proof the + coat of the reckless man who had made a promise to Massai which, possibly, + he had never intended to fulfil. The plot of the revenge and murder had + been hatched out ashore at the instigation of Massai's mother. + </p> + <p> + “Fortified with full information, he sailed away to a neighbouring port, + where he exhibited the coat of the murdered 'Boss.' Being impressed, the + official representing the majesty of the law gave some vague commission to + the man, who now wears other clothes than a shirt, and he sailed away for + ports unknown. + </p> + <p> + “Interpreting his commission to make further inquiries very broadly, he + appeared off the island, and received a cordial welcome, for he was 'Hail + fellow well met' with the inhabitants of many a remote isle. He made + himself very friendly, and the frank natives rather gloried than otherwise + in the recitation of evidence which condemned them. + </p> + <p> + “Then he made plans for unauthorised punishment. Having disarmed suspicion—just + as the boat's crew had done in the case of his friend—he waited, and + one dark night surrounded the village with a well-armed, hostile force. + These Papuan villages are fortified in a certain sense. Some of the exits + are set with traps and spring spears, and none but those in the secret + dares venture along a track when the village has been made secure for the + night. + </p> + <p> + “The man with the shirt posted his forces so that the exits were + commanded, and waited for dawn, his instructions being that no + demonstration was to be made until he gave the signal. Before the designed + time a shot was fired, and the conscience-stricken community fled, all + save one old man and infant, who met their fate. + </p> + <p> + “The village was spoiled and fired, and thus retributive justice done to + those who had wantonly murdered two white men and destroyed their + property. + </p> + <p> + “Once again,” said the captain, “my luck was out. Goodness knows! There + might have been a big pearl in that patch. We didn't wait to find it!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE + </h2> + <p> + “Surely, then, it interests us to know the lot of other animal creatures. + However far below us, they are still the sole created things which share + with us the capability of pleasure and the susceptibility to pain.”—HUXLEY. + </p> + <p> + It may be edifying to confess a particular interest in man's first + enemy-not such interest as the man of science displays when he seeks to + add to the knowledge of the world, but a kind of social concern. None of + us is likely to forget that on the authority of Holy Writ the serpent + became familiar with mankind very shortly after his appearance on earth, + and whispered injurious secrets into guileless ears. Ever since the scene + in the Garden of Eden, war between man and the serpent has prevailed, and + now, if we are to credit the sayings of the wise, the end of all reptiles, + if not actually in view, cannot be long postponed. Is it not mete, + therefore, to take fair opportunity of studying the characteristics and + qualities of an animal, closely associated with us by fable and in fact, + which is doomed to extinction by the ruthless strides of civilisation, + which is regarded by some as cleanly and decent, and by others as + repulsive and direful? Plain, unromantic, unsensational statements make + for the acquirement of knowledge illustrative of the habits and faculties + of the creature against which the hand of the average man is raised with a + mixture of wrath, vengeance, and fear. + </p> + <p> + By study and observation one may come to understand the higher principles + of Nature, and so learn how to withstand influences inimical to his + interests without upsetting laws which tend to his welfare. + </p> + <p> + Occasionally quite casual happenings and bare and slight matters of fact + show that those who study natural history first-hand acquire information + not to be obtained from authoritative works. Let one instance concerning + the varied diet of the death adder be quoted, since it confounds the + experience of one of the most learned men in Australia on the subject. On + the beach just at high-water mark, beneath an overhanging shrub, several + birds sounded an alarm, notifying by peculiar and persistent screeching + the presence of an enemy. After a few minutes' search, for the strained + attitudes of the birds indicated the direction, a death adder was seen + gliding among thickly strewn brown leaves with a limp bird between its + jaws. It was quickly killed, and then the bird, a dusky honey-cater, was + seen to be dead. Dusky honey-eaters generally spend their days among the + topmost sprays of flowering trees and shrubs, while death adders + habitually seek the seclusion of the shadiest places on the surface of the + soil. In this case the adder was small, so small that it seemed to be a + vain if not impossible feat for it to swallow the bird. + </p> + <p> + Hitherto the food of the adder had been deemed to be frogs, lizards, + beetles, and such game of the ground. Was it curiosity which brought the + sun-loving bird within reach of the shade-loving snake? Upon the incident + being referred to Mr. Dudley Le Souef, who has quite an uneasy familiarity + with Australian snakes, dating from the days of ardent youth, when he was + wont to carry some species about with him in his pockets, that authority + wrote: “I did not know that death adders ever killed birds; I did not + think they were active enough, their usual prey being frogs, lizards, etc. + The honey-eater must have been taken unawares.” + </p> + <p> + Though scientifically regarded as “the most dangerous and probably the + most deadly” of Australian snakes, the death adder has to its credit many + everyday proofs to the contrary: so many, indeed, that some are inclined + to class it as comparatively harmless, the reasons for such opinion being—(1) + the small size of the creature, reducing the risks of its being interfered + with inadvertently; (2) its amiability; (3) the fact that unless the + sensitive membrane at the end of the tail, to which the curved spine is + the culminating-point, is trodden on or otherwise insulted, the chances + are that there will be, no active resentment. While adopting all + precautions, accepting no risks, and being very eager to reduce the number + by all and every possible means, it is well to avoid overexcitement; for + though the reptilian age is passing away, those who live in the bush are + too often reminded that snakes are still numerous, and some of them + decidedly vicious. + </p> + <p> + To disappoint the snake and at the same time to discredit its reputation, + calmness on the part of the individual who may happen to be bitten is + counselled. He should behave as a neighbour who one dark night stepped off + his verandah barefooted on to nearly cleared land. As he strode along the + scarcely distinguishable track, he trod on something other than a + half-burnt stick. Almost instantaneously the Scripture was fulfilled—the + serpent had bruised the man's heel. Now, this man has been in many + strange, not to say fear-provoking, situations, and has listened to more + than one close call without spoiling the occasion by anticipatory and + hideous outcry. He does not smoke or drink whisky or give way to any + nerve-affecting habit. He lives within hearing of the soothing lullaby of + the sea. When his heel was gripped he did not jump or offend the air with + unmanly plaint and ineffectual clamour, or otherwise fluster his heart + with pernicious apprehension. With calm deliberation he put his hand into + his pocket and drew forth—no! not a razor-edged knife, with which to + slash the region of the punctures, but a box of matches, so that the scene + might temporarily be surveyed. He saw, not the expected death adder, not a + deadly copper head, not the venomous black which flattens and distends the + neck like a cobra when its passions are roused, not the great red + pugnacious beast which has been known to kill off-hand a big horse, but a + shame-faced carpet snake, which, though innocent and inoffensive, will, + like the worm, turn if rudely trodden on. The snake was quite ready to + apologise for impulsive and graceless misbehaviour; but it seemed + fascinated by the sudden light—how little of brightness bewilders + such lovers of darkness—and maintained its repentant attitude until + the sacred law was finally vindicated by the fatal bruising of its head. + </p> + <p> + Many years ago a locality a few miles away suffered from a raid by bush + rats, which congregated in great numbers. Similar plagues have often been + recorded from the western downs; but the coastal visitation was singular, + for it was associated with death adders, which seemed to be on good terms + with the rats. One of the settlers was growing sweet-potatoes on a fairly + large scale for pig food, the plough being used for the harvesting of the + crop. Seldom was a furrow run for the full length of the field without + turning up both adders and rats. Suddenly the rats migrated, and then the + death adders disappeared, few of either being seen for a decade, when the + association between them was again sensationally illustrated. The daughter + of a settler rose at dawn, and with others ran off to the vegetable garden + for salads for breakfast. While she was looking for a seemly cucumber, a + rat was disturbed, and almost immediately after she was bitten by a death + adder which had lain inert at the very spot whence the rat had fled. The + child recovered, while the deceptive snake, which will not submit to have + its tail saluted even by the airiest of treads, was killed. Not only have + we here another proof of the non-fatal character of the bite of an adder, + but a singular instance of association between an adder and a rat. Why and + for what purpose does this apparent amicability exist? + </p> + <p> + Sometimes mankind is startled by the unexpected appearance of a snake. + Will credit be given to an almost magic disappearance? Those who hearken + to the voices of birds learn to discriminate between the language of + content and happiness and love and that of dismay and terror. A number of + loud and pleasant-noted fasciating honey-eaters suddenly changed their + tune to that indicative of fear. They were, gathered on a thick-leaved + tree on the edge of the jungle in a crude circle, with heads pointing to a + common centre. It was simplicity to conclude that a snake was present, but + not at all easy to see it, for the flustered birds began to change their + manoeuvres directly help was at hand. Eventually a thin brown snake was + seen doubled up and apparently sound asleep among the branchlets The gun + was called for, and two others hastened to the scene, each of whom + distinctly saw the snake. When the shot was fired, a peephole was made + through dense leafage just where the snake had reposed, but with the + report it had 'disappeared. Fragments of twigs and leaves came to Mother + Earth, but even a smart black tracker failed to find a trace of the snake, + though the force of the explosion must have carried portions out into the + open. The point of this artless narrative is that the black boy formed the + firm opinion that that which he and two others had concluded to be a snake + must have been “'Nother kind. Him no good. Close up 'debil-debil!'” To him + a visible snake was quite commonplace; but one that vanished under the + impulse of a charge of shot represented a mystery which called for caution + and hasty departure, and the boy strode away with the suggestion of hot + bricks below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material only, + returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered off with—was it?—a + note of thankfulness. + </p> + <p> + The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it is automatic, regard + for its own comfort and well-being—it cannot be induced to tie + itself into a knot. It is in mind that once in the old country a very long + and very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed and forgot the + primal instinct of the family, and paid for its absent-mindedness with its + life. But the ordinary snake under extraordinary conditions, whatsoever + its length, is most careful to disentangle itself even when knots are + designed for the special purpose of embarrassing it. Though the head of a + snake be battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, the lithe body + will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to disregard the great law. + However tight the corner into which it may squeeze or narrow the quarters + into which it may be driven, and though head and tail may be close + together and in the midst of a complication of coils, and the twisting and + writhing may appear to be without method, yet the snake emerges a triumph + of single purpose. + </p> + <p> + A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch specimen, and truth bids + me say that the snake did not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest of + eggs six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited to a snake, + and it being calculated that the meal would suffice for several days, no + particular zeal was displayed in tracing out the thief. Experience has + taught that snakes do not wander very far when good and nutritious food is + to be obtained by intrusion on the cosy quarters of a pet hen., Three days + were permitted to pass, and then in the nest a rat trap was placed baited + with two eggs, the door being secured with wire. The bait proved to be + irresistible and the trap effective. In the morning the trap was crowded + with snake, which had thrust its head between the wires, swallowed the + eggs, and was a prisoner until they were dissolved by the processes of + digestion or the door was unbolted. The natural process was not complete + when the discovery was made, but the snake had managed to make itself as + comfortable as possible in its temporary habitation. The trap seemed + almost suffocatingly full, and when the occupant thrust its head and more + than half its length between the bars, only to be checked by the + hard-hearted eggs, it was thought that possibly, in its confusion, the + snake might entangle itself; but invariably it retired into the trap + without putting itself into any false position. It was killed, the + executioner justly reflecting that a snake has mental limitations. Nothing + could induce it to tie itself into a knot, and yet, wilfully and with its + eyes open, it had entered a trap from which there was no possibility of + escape until in the course of nature it had digested the bait. + </p> + <p> + Is it generally known that a snake does everything with its eyes open—that + it is denied the privilege of closing its eyes? Such is the indisputable + fact. 'But without presuming to trespass on the preserves of men of + science, the belief may be expressed that some species, if not in + possession of a movable eyelid, have some means of suspending the faculty + of sight. Indeed, there is evidence in support of the view that one + species has a membranous eyelid similar to, but slighter than, that of a + bird. It is not to be doubted that another reptile—the green turtle—is + thus endowed, and that the “winking membrane” is found in many animals at + the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye. This membrane is + represented in animals by a rudiment only. In the eyes of human beings the + small reddish patch in the corner corresponds to the winking membrane—indeed, + is the vestige of it. In monkeys, and in most mammals below them, there is + present in this vestige a small piece of cartilage, and this is found + occasionally in man. In white races it is very rare, occurring, as far as + observations have shown, in less than one per cent. Recent investigations + by Dr. Paul Bartels show that in twenty-five South African natives whom he + had examined it occurred in twelve. Another investigation found it five + times in twenty-five Japanese. It is curious to find that vestige more + common in certain races, as it shows that in this small point they are + less advanced than the white race. + </p> + <p> + This quotation from a forgotten source supplies important links in the + chain of evidence in favour of the theory that certain species of snakes + may have the winking muscle, which exists in marine reptiles and is + present in some human beings. Apart from theory, it has been my + good-fortune to see a sleeping snake the eyes of which were obscured by a + greyish film, giving it the appearance of being “wall-eyed.” Being + satisfied that it was blind, for it betrayed no uneasiness at a + threatening demonstration, a determination was made to preserve it for + critical examination. As soon as the snake was touched the cloudy veils + were withdrawn, and the eyes flashed with the fire of malignity. It + appeared to be spiteful because it had been caught napping. The specimen + was not preserved, although it was bottled. + </p> + <p> + The blacks of this district are more nervous about adders than any other + snake, with the exception of that known to them as the “Wat-tam” + (pronounce the “a” as in cat), and believed to belong to the same genus as + the brown snake. This is a large snake, reddish-brown in colour, the + underside, for about half the length, being bright orange, the tint + gradually subsiding to pale yellow towards the tail. Post-mortem + examination of the first specimen detected on this Island cleared up a + bush tragedy. A nest had been built in a conspicuous spot by a pair of + shrike thrushes, which the blacks, according to locality, know as + “Moorgoody” and “Too-dring.” The birds are the sweetest-voiced of all + natives, and become wondrous tame and confiding. After the big spotted and + blotched eggs were hatched, the hen would perch on the side of the nest + within a foot of admirers, accepting compliments with tilted head and + bright and twinkling eyes. One night the brood disappeared, and desperate + things were held in store if ever a snake were found in the neighbourhood. + Two days after, the alert dog gave tongue, his language demanding urgency + and extreme caution. Within twenty yards of the site of the violated nest + he was found “setting” at a big snake, which had raised the forepart of + its body and appeared to be concentrating its strength and agility on one + fatal and perfidious spring. But the faithful dog was watchful too, and + agile, as he crouched fearlessly across the track of man's first enemy, + with its crafty pose and glittering eyes. The black boys stood afar off, + for the “Wat-tam” is so arrogant and pugnacious that it does not hesitate + to attack a man, invariably with fatal results if great vigilance be not + exercised—at least, such is their belief. Science, however, shows + that though the snake has poison fangs, they are located so far back in + the jaws as to be practically ineffective. Its fierce demeanour is + probably, therefore, assumed for the purposes of intimidation. The gun + speedily put the wicked-looking snake out of action, and a bulge in the + body indicated the site of the last meal—the confiding thrush and + her fledgeless brood. The incident illustrates another favourite theory—viz., + that venomous snakes have a specific, distinctive odour, which warns + animals likely to be attacked of their presence. The dog kills green tree, + ordinary whip snakes, and the black, white-bellied species fond of + reposing in the mounds of scrub hens, without ceremony and with all the + zest and enthusiasm of a good sport; but in the case of venomous species + so far he has not failed to call for help, but if assistance be delayed he + takes the law into his own hands. + </p> + <p> + Be it far from me to cast doubt on the truth of that which follows. The + record is found in “Memoirs of the Queensland Museum,” vol. ii., page 43: + “Although the scientific worker is hopelessly handicapped by the vividly + imaginative journalist when snake stories are told, yet occasionally there + are noticed incidents startling enough in their way. During the cooler + months a young and lithe DIEMENIA PSAMMOPHIS, Schleg, popularly known as a + 'whip snake,' usually retired under a piece of bark placed in its case, + and it was only to be tempted out on warm and sunny days. On one occasion + a small skink lizard was introduced, and the snake commenced a lively + chase. The lizard ran under the bark, and on reaching the other side + scampered back over the top, closely pursued by the snake. Again the + lizard entered the bark tunnel, through which the tail of the snake was + rapidly disappearing, making a spurt to keep up with the main body. The + snake darted for the lizard, missed it, and then seized its own retreating + tail about two inches from the tip. With characteristic pertinacity it + held on, and apparently the classic episode of a snake swallowing itself + was to be attempted. It was not until the snake was taken, out of the case + and forcibly handled that it let go, there being apparently no distinction + to the ophidian palate between its own flesh and that of its favourite + lizard.” The only comment that an unversed student of Nature may presume + to make on this incident is that, possibly, the snake retained its tail + because it could not do otherwise. Are not the jaws and teeth of some + snakes so constructed, that the privilege of rejection is denied? The + interests alike of science and the speculative world demanded that in the + circumstances Nature should not have been balked. Why deprive the serpent + of having its own blundering way with its own tail? + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that man does directly benefit by the conflicts which + rage continuously between living things lower in the scale of life than + himself; but the common slaughter is at times so cruel and so inexplicable + that it is not given the average intellect to discover good and sufficient + cause, though he may observe the more obvious habits and appetites of + frogs and snakes. The former oft implore aid against the attacks of green + tree snakes and of a big light brown lizard, fond of sleeping in hollow + logs, and since one does not understand from the beseeching tones of the + frog whether it is being molested by the universal enemy or not, he often + hastens to the rescue, laboriously cuts down to the scene, to find, + instead of a snake, a lizard, perhaps more useful in the harmony of Nature + than a frog, and certainly more endearing, since it possesses the habit of + silence. Unless the frog is past recovery it has become a practice to + scare the lizard, and to suggest to the frog the sanctuary of another + hollow. + </p> + <p> + But frogs are not always considerate of other and gayer creatures. A + friend who possessed a pet canary noticed that one morning in the cage of + his pet there sat a panting frog, blinking in the sunlight. Thinking that + the intruder had entered the cage to assuage his thirst, he did not eject + it. It was the habit of the canary to hail the smiling morn with cheerful + carol. In a few minutes unaccustomed silence prevailed, and then it was + noticed that the frog was distended to a degree which must have caused it + infinite satisfaction, while the canary had vanished. The conclusion was + obvious and damning. Being accustomed to post mortems, my friend settled + the point forthwith, the warm canary being revealed, with but slightly + disarrayed feathers. + </p> + <p> + A further illustration of the capacious and criminal appetite of the frog + may be quoted. The wet season had been generous and prolonged, the crop of + frogs prolific. The verge of a lagoon was crowded with active and lusty + creatures, belonging, if colour was to be accepted as evidence, to + different species, in fairly equal numbers. A casual glance inspired the + thought that the occasion was nothing more than a vast assembly of greys + and greens enjoying the pastime which boys imitate. All round were leaping + frogs engaged in contests—greys against greens. Suspecting no evil + intent, it was interesting thus to note the derivation of the game we have + all played in sportful youth; but closer inspection proved that, instead + of a friendly tournament on the grand scale, the rival frogs were + indulging in shocking cannibalism. A grey frog would approach a green, + when each would appear to become fascinated by the appearance of the + other. Thus would they squat for several minutes, contemplating each + other's proportions and perfections. Then both would leap high with mouths + agape, and that which timed the feat to the best advantage, or had the + widest gape, seized the less fortunate, and slowly and with much straining + and little apparent joy swallowed it. Often the rivals would not meet in + mid air, and the lapse provided the delusion of innocent play. There were + hundreds of examples of absorption of the least fit by the fittest to + survive, and the chronicling of the cannibal feast would be incomplete if + a singular detail were unrelated. The participators seemed of like size. + Complexion alone varied and foppish discrimination was exercised, for + since dog does not in a general way eat dog, greys did not eat greys or + greens greens. With unswerving decision, greys swallowed greens and greens + greys, and extreme corpulency was the inevitable result. Does this not + smack of the snake story? It certainly does, but it has the virtue of + being unexaggerated, and why shrink from the telling of the plain truth? + </p> + <p> + An unwitnessed tragedy may be told in a very few words. About twenty-five + feet above high-water mark was the shaft of a white sand-crab. The site + was not common, for the crabs are in the habit of burrowing well within + the range of the tide. For two or three days—for the spot was at the + back of the boat-shed and under daily observation—the alert creature + was oft disturbed by my coming and going. One morning it remained + motionless on the verge of its retreat. It seemed to be on guard, and as a + companionable feeling had been aroused, I was careful as I passed not to + unduly affright it. The statuesque position being abnormally retained, I + stooped down, to find the crab dead, with the froth still on the + complicated lips, while beside it was a huge wolf spider, “tremendous + still in death,” with head crushed to pulp. One may theorise that the + spider invaded the crab's burrow and was promptly evicted; a fight took + place for possession of the retreat, resulting in untoned tragedy. Venom + and ponderous weapon each had done its work. Each participant had been + victorious, each a victim. + </p> + <p> + A still more singular bush conflict was witnessed by a friend. He heard, + and not without concern, the pleading of a frog from the assaults of an + enemy, but having far too many of them about the premises decided on + noninterference, thinking that the hungry snake would soon silence the + clamour. But the cries becoming shriller and more piteous, he + investigated, finding among the leaves of a creeper on the verandah a + large green Mantis—religiosa, too—voraciously making a meal + off the hind-leg of a little green frog, which it grasped firmly. Almost + the whole of the flesh of the limb had been eaten, and the observer was of + opinion from the rapacity of the insect that there would have been little + left of the screaming frog if he had not interfered. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BUSH TRACK + </h2> + <p> + “They trade with Nature and the earth—a trade by which all that + breathe upon the earth live.”—RALEIGH. + </p> + <p> + It has no beginning. It ends—who shall say where Every high tide + smooths away the footprints of those who use it now, just as it did the + erratic tramplings of the host of the past. In those free, unregulated + days piccaninnies sprawled and scampered hard, glistening beach; young men + and girls there; men lazed and fought on its convenient spaces; women + wandered on the serious business of food-getting. The camps stood a pace + or two above high-water mark in the meagre shelter of sighing casuarinas, + and were often changed, for there were six miles of gently curving, + ripple-embroidered shore on which to rest. To this day most of the traffic + is regulated by the tide. High water drives the wayfarer to the loose, + impeding sand, over which the great convolvulus sends its tireless + tentacles, to be thrown back twisted and burnt by salt surges. + </p> + <p> + The ebb discovers a broad space, firm and wellnigh unimpresslonable. The + barefooted traveller may walk for miles and be trackless, so tough and + elastic the moist sand. It is not an officious thoroughfare, made formal + and precise by coarse hands working to plans correct to a hair, but + subject to economic deviations of some soulless contractor. It was not + laid with the foundation of the earth, and compacted by heat and stress. + It is still in the making, and sand, coral, and shell-grit ground to + pollen-like fineness and certain chemicals from the reef outside are among + its component parts. One other element invokes perpetual thanksgiving—the + flaked mica, which glistens delusively with hues of silver and gold, and + gives to the tide-swept track that singular pliancy which resists the + stamp of passing generations. + </p> + <p> + Midway between high and low water is a zone sensible to the airiest tread, + being fitted for such temporary effect by a mechanical operation. Millions + of the smallest of crabs, sand-tinted, delicate, apprehensive and alert, + possess this area, working out their destiny by digging circular shafts. + Obedient agents in the execution of the imperative ordinances of Nature, + they have the quality of compacting the almost fluid spoil and carrying it + to the surface in pellets complementary to the size of the individual, and + such pellets retain their rotundity. They are scattered about, not without + design, as may be seen if the industrious workers are closely observed, + and in such profusion that the feet of the user of a crab-infested zone + must press them flat. Then it is that the track becomes visible as far as + the eyes reach. But the incoming wavelets, babbling in unison, dissolve + the myriads of laboriously lifted pellets, effacing the record of the + passing of man. As the tides ebb, the crabs begin their work again, + preparing for the next-coming wayfarer. There is something almost + incomprehensively great in the tireless activities of the nervous crabs, + for not only do they carry compacted sand from their burrows, but they + seem to spend odd moments in forming similar globes from material gathered + from the surface. Digging, furrowing the surface in stellate patterns, + moulding pellets which to the tenderest ripple are but the plaything of a + moment, so are the lives of the shy crustaceans spent. What may be the + motive for the perpetual labour, as useless, apparently, as the rolling of + Sisyphus's stone? For part of the year the beach is the resort of the + red-necked sandpiper, which has an enormous appetite for the small, live + things of the sea's margin. To bewilder the birds and so reduce the risk + to life, Nature imposes the task upon the crabs of forming replicas of + themselves not readily distinguishable in size and tint, which represent + labour unconsciously expended as life insurance, and serve the subsidiary + purpose of detecting the passing of man. + </p> + <p> + What material has been left by the wayside for the history, not to be + altogether despised because of its rusticity, of the unstable ways of one + of the ancient peoples of the world, now few in numbers, forgetful of the + past, estranged from the customs of their fathers, and dying without + mourners and without records? Search the sites of camps the track passes, + and there is naught to tell of the manner of those who recently occupied + them save a tomahawk or a rare domestic implement of stone, and such + stones do not preach thrilling but distinctive sermons. Why hurry along + this pleasant way? Is not the one domestic appliance of the long-deserted + camps worthy of passing notice? There it rests, half buried in the sand—a + worn stone, with two others complementary to it to be had for the + searching. It is meet that the most primitive of mills should be examined, + and that one of the several and slow processes by which a poisonous, + repugnant, and intractable nut was wont to be converted into food should + be cited to the credit of the economic forethought of the most thriftless + of people. + </p> + <p> + On adjacent flats and slopes grow survivals from one of the most ancient + of all plants—a Cycad, that botanical paradox, combining some of the + characteristics of the lie palm and of the pine with the appearance of a + tree-fern, while being of distinctive order, which flourished during the + age when the Iguanodon and the Polacanthus and other monstrous and + ungainly reptiles roamed the land. + </p> + <p> + Let us rest awhile reviewing the earlier operations by which its nuts were + rendered innocuous, and while the ghosts of the past make and bake their + bread. + </p> + <p> + The fresh nuts of the plant (CYCAS MEDIA) known as Kim-alo, were roasted, + and while hot bruised between two stones, the upper (Ookara) a sphere + flattened at the poles into which the use of ages wore thumb and finger + indentations, the nether (Diban) flat with a saucerlike depression. + Fragments of the husks were carefully eliminated. The coarse meal was put + into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight fall, from the + lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native ginger, conducted + a gentle stream. Two days were sufficient to leach the poisonous + principle; but if the initial process of roasting the nuts was omitted—as + in some districts—the meal was submitted to the purification of + water for as long as two months, when it would be tasteless. It was then + ground on the nether stone by the Moo-ki (almost a perfect sphere), used + with a rotary action, until reduced to flour-like fineness, when it was + made into flat or sausage-shaped cakes, wrapped in green leaves and baked. + The intractability of the Cycad is such that if cattle eat the leaves they + die or become permanently afflicted with a disease of the nature of + rickets. To the human palate the fresh nuts-are inflammatory, and are said + to cause intense pain ending with death. That the blacks discovered the + means of converting such a substance into desirable food proves that they + were often enterprisingly, daringly hungry. + </p> + <p> + Let us push on, there is far to go. Chance rather than principle, it has + been said, turned the paths of old England into roads. Here may be studied + the germ of the primal path worn by the tread of the least reflective and + least mobile of human beings, the causes of its erratic course, and the + transitions by which, with amendments due to the irrefutable facts of + topography, it becomes formal and authoritative—a highway for the + usurping race. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the shore, one branch of the track crosses the high-water fold, + follows the bend of a mangrove creek, through which it Makes a muddy ford, + and is firmly impressed through forest country where every tree is + orchid-encumbered, and where the eager soil produces its own varieties. It + wriggles up and along a ridge, with the glaucous spathes of grass trees + standing like spears on each hand, and where wattle and tough she-oaks + grow leanly out of hard soil, thickly strewn with buckshot gravel, + rust-coloured. + </p> + <p> + Soon it descends into a low valley and through a belt of fan-palms and + jungle bordering an ever-flowering stream the banks of which are knee-deep + in fat, rich loam. Huge tea-trees stand in the water, where the fibrous + roots are matted like peat. + </p> + <p> + Out of the moist coolness the track abruptly ascends to a pleasant forest, + and thence drops almost imperceptibly to tea-tree flats intersected by + Pandanus creeks, which bulge here and there into sedge-margined lagoons. + In this “devil-devil” country it is barely the width of the foot, and it + wanders sinuously like the trail of a lazy snake. Sometimes it is barely + more discernible than such a trail, and again in the soft places it + broadens and deepens, for the man with boots has taken the place of the + original soft-footed traveller, and horses and cattle are ever fond of the + short-cuts which their owners design. + </p> + <p> + Here a distinct branch is made towards a river, across which Nature, the + first of bridge-builders, many a generation ago afforded an easy, dry + passage by throwing down a huge tree. It spans from bank to bank, and the + wood is worn to slippery smoothness by the passing of shoeless feet. + Thence it leads through forest and jungle and mangrove belts to another + river, and away south. + </p> + <p> + The western branch keeps to forest and jungle, following, generally, the + ridges, for in the wet season the grass lands are flooded, when the track + is but a silvery grey ribbon on a carpet of green. With careless + indecision it trends west, with here an angle and there a curve, dipping + and twisting, crossing gullies and creeping up slopes. The men whose feet + made it in ancient days knew all the landmarks. Mostly it keeps to sound + ground, albeit its wanderings perpetuate wayward impulses. + </p> + <p> + Imagination may follow the blacks of bygone days as they swung past, a + fallen tree; where sportful youths wandered a few yards to throw + grass-tree spears at white-ants' nests on bloodwood-trees; where they + turned aside for a drink from the palm creek. Possibly the track deviated + to follow the run of a scrub turkey, or because the boys knew of a scrub + hen's mound, where the rich pink eggs were raked out by the gins. It was + gin's work to overhaul the mounds; the boys did not like to do the digging + with their hands, for often little snakes bedded themselves in the warm + compost—snakes, though they bite not to the death, make one's hands + big and sore. Why incur any risk when there was a well-disciplined woman + to take it? There was a turn off (which was officially followed) leading + to a huge tree where in the hollow bees had hived; and another straggled + up the creek to the pool where eels secrete themselves in the moist, + decaying leaves. + </p> + <p> + Six or seven miles from the beach, where the scarcely discernible crabs, + with persistency as eternal as the sea, are strewing the way with millions + of tell-tale pellets, the track, skirting swamps, following the bends of a + river, passing through forest and jungle, is lost in vagueness and + indecision. + </p> + <p> + When it was ordained that roads should be defined in the interests of + settlers, it was natural that the original track as it then existed—broadened + and amended and bridged by the good bushmen who had used it for practical + purposes—should be followed. On the plan the formal road runs a + strangely erratic course, for in many places it is faithful to the + footpad. Some of the zigzags of the long past, some of its elbows and + angles, its stringent lines and curves, have been copied and confirmed, + for the bush track is one of the fundamental things, bearing the stamp of + Nature, and no more to be obliterated by the trivialities of art than is + the sand of the shore and the illimitable crabs. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LITTLE BROWN MAN + </h2> + <p> + “Care, that troubles all the world, was forgotten in his composition.”—CHARLES + LAMB. + </p> + <p> + If you chance to visit the Chief Protector of Aborigines on board his + yacht the MELBIDIR, one of the first to greet you, be you an old + acquaintance or a stranger, may be “Jimmy,” the cook. + </p> + <p> + He is a little brown man who wears blue shoes, which are also socks, and a + perpetual smile. The shoes, which are of some soft material, have a + separate compartment for the great-toe, and hook down the heel. The Chief + Protector has a similar pair of combination shoes—a gift from + “Jimmy”—and is given to smiling; but he does not pretend to compete + with his cook in that quality. “Jimmy's” smile is almost a fixture. It is + set, yet not professional. It is the smile of a happy man, and of one who + is a diplomat as well as a ship's cook. His customary costume is of + holland. When on duty he wears an exaggerated bib, and “Jimmy” without his + bib would be as little conceivable as “Jimmy” without his smile. He may + discard it when he puts on his sky-blue pyjamas for the night, but that he + smiles in his sleep is sure. The honourable wrinkles on his mahogany-hued + face forbid him to relax the appearance of unceasing good-humour, and who + would suggest that his serenity is artificial? + </p> + <p> + When he takes a hand with the whole of the ship's company to get up sail + or hoist the dinghy on board, he whistles as well as smiles, and then the + black boys laugh, and life on the trim ship is more buoyant than ever. He + goes down into the doll's-house galley backwards, smiling. Now, it is no + smiling matter to be jambed up against a hot stove on a hot day when the + seas run high and the yacht digs her crescent nose into the blue and + washes her own decks with Neptune's suds. But “Jimmy” will bob up again in + due season with a plate of hot cakes or, perhaps, even cool cakes—and + the smile. He has been smiling to the oven, which is inclined to + gymnastics, only it is restrained by effectual bolts. “Jimmy” is a + gymnast, and his free great-toes enable him to cook under circumstances + and conditions which others not so equipped would profane. + </p> + <p> + Smiles are his antidote for all injurious mental ferments, and how many + diseases of the mind are there which are not to be alleviated by such apt + physic? + </p> + <p> + It has been said that “Jimmy” is a diplomat. He certainly is. The MELBIDIR + had run within hailing distance of another yacht, the owner and commander + of which is an old friend of the Protector and “Jimmy.” When we did hail, + a silvery head and a sunburnt pair of shoulders popped up from below, and + with a comprehensive wave of sunburnt arms—the red type—vanished. + Soon the same head and the same shoulders, decently but loosely clad in + blue and followed by the rest of the hearty body, emerged, and in a few + minutes friends were gripping each other's hands and talking furiously + about a particular island, pilots, pearls, and Torres Straits “Jimmy” + passed, and the florid man in blue said, nudging his friend, “I seem to + know that boy.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you do,” replied the Protector; “that's 'Jimmy' from T. I.” + </p> + <p> + When “Jimmy” next appeared he had a jug of water in his hand and a bigger + smile than ever. + </p> + <p> + “Well, 'Jimmy,' you haven't forgotten me?” suggested the big man in blue. + </p> + <p> + “No. You capitain! My word, you young fellow now!” + </p> + <p> + And we all laughed, for though the years had been tender to the man in + blue, still, they had come and gone by the decade since the previous + meeting. “Jimmy's” smiles became vocal. Professional diplomats use the + great gift of speech, it is said, to delude the enemies of their country. + “Jimmy's” adroit compliment was the more delicate in that it was not + official and he cannot possess an enemy. + </p> + <p> + When he puckers his lips to whistle, “Jimmy's” smiles are singularly + infectious. The Protector's yacht is not a missionary, but merely, as her + name signifies, a messenger; but the Protector does not forbid the hymnal. + “Jimmy” has one, and as he studies the pious poems, for he reads fluently, + whistles appropriately. While we lolled on deck, familiar tunes wooed my + wandering thoughts. “Jesu, Lover of my Soul,” came line after line, verse + after verse, precisely, though the tone was soft. Was the black boy thus + accompanying his work at the pump? No; for the strokes were not in time, + and the boy occasionally chatted with his chum. I asked, and was told that + “'Jimmy' mak'm good fellow corroboree.” Presently he came up—smiling, + and with the last notes of “Abide with Me” on his lips. Then I questioned + him, and for a space we discussed our favourite hymns and hummed them, or + rather I did, for “Jimmy” was too shy to do more than nod in time before a + stranger. He confided, almost in a whisper, that when he was alone he + learned the words of the hymns, and afterwards picked up the tunes. Is it + not pretty to think of the wrinkled Japanese in bunk beside the hot and + clamorous engine conning hymnal—a trifle blotched with grease here + and there—and whistling softly those endearing tunes on which so + many of us were brought up? + </p> + <p> + Long may “Jimmy” cook and wear blue shoes a modestly supplicate “For those + in Peril on the Sea”! That he may smile to the last would be a superfluous + prayer. He cannot do else. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + UP AND AWAY + </h2> + <p> + “Man is the merriest species of creation; all above and below him are + serious.”—ADDISON. + </p> + <p> + “Let's up and away, Bill,” said Breezy Jim, as he started to his feet. + “I'm dog tired of this game. We're just working for tucker for the boys + and nothing—not even a smoke—for ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be in such a flurry. We might drop on a patch yet. I vote we stay + for another week. The anchorage is all right, and the season's young. The + little bit of fish we've got ain't too stinking. It'll pay expenses.” + Placid and patient, the half-caste Solomon Islander, Billy Boolah, kept + cheek on his impetuous partner, whose restless disposition forbade him to + continue long in one stay unless circumstances were essentially + favourable. + </p> + <p> + Certainly fish were not too plentiful, but the aboriginal crew worked + well, and were lighthearted almost to a fault. They had had no credit to + pledge for the season's stores. They had merely to pick up inert and + unresisting béche-de-mer from among the coral five fathoms down, where the + deceptive sea looked no more than ten feet deep under the squalid + flatties; to smoke and jabber in idle moments; to eat and to sleep, and to + listen to Mammerroo's version of the opening phrases of “The Last Rose of + Summer” on a mouth-organ worn with inveterate usage to the bold brass. The + tune was not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was ever more in + earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, unwritten air than the black + boy who wore little else than his own unwashed complexion and a strip of + red Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with all the fervour + of his simple soul, and though it said him nay, still did he hope and woo. + Out of his scanty earnings he bought mouth-organs by the dozen, for he + believed that owing to some defect on the part of such instruments the + tune was impossible save to one. Would he ever obtain that prize? The + organ which could play that tune as he had once heard it when his boss + took him to a concert at Cairns had to be discovered, and to earn money to + buy it Mammerroo shipped on these detestable béche-de-mer cruises. In the + meantime he would play with all his energies and with endless repetition + the halting, nerve-disturbing notes he knew to be incorrect. + </p> + <p> + “That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten mouth-organs at Cooktown, and + he hasn't got the one that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like 'The + Last Rose of Summer'? Why, you can hear those fish of yours humming! What + with hardly any fish, the stink of the whole boat, and that maddening + mouth-organ, I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and marry a mermaid. + Let's chuck it.” + </p> + <p> + “It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man when he gets nasty temper + he gets bad breath. That tune it's little bit close up. He can play right + up to the 'left blooming alone' sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “He's taken four months to get up to the 'left blooming alone'! At that + rate it will be years before he gets to the finish. I'll be mad if he + stays on this hooker another month. I'll chuck the three of them—organ, + boy, and tune—overboard.” + </p> + <p> + “If you make yourself a fool like that, no more work from that boy. Don't + be a fool and spoil this game. We're out till November. Let's make the + best of it.” + </p> + <p> + It was not clean work. The reek of the fish-raw, cooked, smoked, and + drying in the sun-saturated everything, even the damper. The brown, + shrivelled things were scattered in orderly profusion wherever the sun + could catch them to top them off prior to bagging. The bitter, eye-searing + smoke from the red mangrove fire in the hold, where the meagre catch of + yesterday was lying on a couple of trays, stung the nostrils. The odour + was as interminable as the half-accomplished tune, and Breezy Bill + writhed. He was not new to the game, but bad luck had been the portion of + the ship from the start, and small things irritated him, rasping his far + from sensitive soul. + </p> + <p> + “I think you are going to catch fever, Jim. That's what's the matter with + you. At the mission I used to read about that bird you call the + brain-fever bird. It just keeps on whistling the same old thing, and white + men go mad. That 'Last Rose of Summer,' it's got hold of you. Don't be a + fool! It's only a good tune half done. It won't kill anybody—at any + rate, a tough old shell-back like you!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bother! Stinks and rotten 'Last Rose of Summer' are driving me mad. I + could stand lots of both if we were doing well. They might be forty + overproof and played by forty bands, and every darned piccolo of them out + of tune, if only we were making money. Come, let's up stick and away. We + can't do worse and we might do better on that bit of 'reef Mammerroo talks + about. Here, Mammerroo, stop that blasted corroboree! Come and tell us + where that little fella reef sit down.” + </p> + <p> + Mammerroo shuffled down to the hatchway covering and traced a chart of the + locality with a grimy forefinger. + </p> + <p> + “That fella reef sit down 'nother side Red Hill alongside mainlan'. No + deep water. Plenty mangrove—my word full up pigeon. Reef him little + fella. Full up tit fish, calla-calla, mainlan' black. Fill'um up boat. + Take'm alonga Thors'dilan'. Come back. Fill'm up one time more. Too much. + Full up.” + </p> + <p> + “The same old yarn. I've been all over that ground. There's no reef there, + and if there had been it would have been found and skinned years ago,” + said dogmatic Billy, with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “I see,” said Jim; “the season's over as far as you are concerned. You can + go where you like. I'm sick of it now.” + </p> + <h3> + TROPIC DAYS + </h3> + <p> + The next morning saw the NAUTILUS scudding before a strong south-east + breeze, Jim, true to his name, sulky as a toad-fish. The good wind harped + on the rigging as Mammerroo tirelessly lagged after the ever evasive tune. + Jim heard him not. Billy, in a rage, was inclined to bundle the boy and + his battered instrument overboard, for he saw in the race north nothing + but a waste of time. + </p> + <p> + Three days later the NAUTILUS anchored to the north of Red Hill under the + lee of a low mangrove island uproarious with nutmeg pigeons. + </p> + <p> + All hands turned out to prospect, with Mammerroo as pilot. He was not long + in locating the reef—a forgotten and neglected patch that teemed + with fish. Béche-de-mer lay in shallow water, thick and big, by the ton.. + The reef, with its clear sandy patches, seemed to be the gathering-ground, + the metropolis, the parliament of the curious creature which makes feeble + eddies with its distended gills, moves with infinite and mysterious + deliberation, and which, though it may be two feet long and three inches + thick, can pass through a half-inch space, constricting its bulging body + during the progress. + </p> + <p> + The mangroves of the islet provided the best of fuels for the preservative + smoke. The fortnightly steamer passed not so very far out, so that it + would be possible to send away a couple of tons at a time without leaving + the locality or suspending work for more than an hour or two. + </p> + <p> + With cheerfulness and enthusiastic haste all started to work. No + irritating odour, no vexing tune, was perceptible or audible. Boys brought + in such quantities of fish that the mates could hardly cook and cure them. + Money was being coined, and the making of money begat dreams. Seamen do + not invariably build castles in the air. They devise aerial fleets. They + build bigger, better, and faster boats to sail on bluer seas into more + prosperous and happy havens than belong to this too substantial world. + Each sketches out the boat of his desire, and fits her with wondrous + comfort and conveniences. He glances, approving head thrown back, up her + tall, tapering, well-oiled masts, silver-topped with golden trucks. He + paints her in rival colours, rigs her with silken sails, names her after a + sweetheart, and sails away to lands fairer than any of the isles of the + Pacific—those isles of dreams where in coral groves the gold-lip is + embarrassed with pearls of ineffable lustre and of excessive size. + </p> + <p> + As they day-dreamed they gathered in actual riches, for the lazy fish were + big and almost overlying each other in their crowded spaces. + </p> + <p> + Never was there a happier béche-de-mer cruise, for the prospects of good + wages soon and a quick return to accustomed camps overladen with the + spoils of the Cooktown stores made each boy as joyful as a cherub and as + industrious as a scrub hen. Mammerroo saw visions of mouth-organs, one of + which was sure to contain the coveted tune. Little deaf Antony thought of + tobacco unlimited, a silver-mounted pipe, and plenty of unforbidden rum. + Indeed, most of the boys contented themselves with these ingredients to + fill the cup of happiness. But big lazy Johnnie's fancy went to a small + jockey's cap of red and yellow, to be worn with a football jersey of + orange and green in stripes, and blue trousers. This gorgeous costume was + to compensate for present pains and humiliation, for he had nothing but a + scanty and dirty loin-cloth, a necklace of grass beads, and a chip of + lustrous black-lip pearl-shell stuck in one ear. As they worked they let + their fancies range, and thus was the toil eased and the bags of dried + fish safely stowed in the hold. With twenty-eight bags in prime condition, + the NAULITUS sailed out to intercept the steamer—the LAVA KAVA. The + honest stuff was sent off to the agent at the Island post, and back the + stout little vessel went to the reef. + </p> + <p> + “As good as a gold-mine,” said Breezy Jim, who every day became breezier, + so that he threatened to develop into a gale of good humour. + </p> + <p> + “Better than splitting coco-nuts at the Mission Station,” said Billy + Boolah. + </p> + <p> + “Do you ever feel like chucking Mammerroo overboard now?” + </p> + <p> + Another fortnight saw another big load on the way to the agents. Mammerroo + poured out his soul in fervency over the limping phrases of his besetting + tune, and even Boisterous Jim applauded his persistency. + </p> + <p> + “That boy will catch 'The Last Rose of Summer' some day if the mouth-organ + market holds out. I'll give him the best to be got in Cooktown, and I'm + bothered if I don't teach him the tune!” + </p> + <p> + Late one afternoon a strange sail came into view. Slowly the big cutter + made for the anchorage, for the wind, busy elsewhere, could spare only a + few idle puffs for her business. + </p> + <p> + “That's a dago, I bet,” said Bill. “And I know who it is! Why, it's that + humbug, Black Charley!” + </p> + <p> + “We'll have to be pretty spry, or he'll have some of this patch. We'll + head him off, and ship what we've got to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + A flattie slid over the side of the cutter and plopped into the water, and + Black Charley, with a couple of downcast boys, came alongside the + NAUTILUS. + </p> + <p> + “Hullo, Bill! Hullo, Jim! How's yous getting on? Yous drop on good place. + I see yous boys picking up fish like a hen picking up corn.” + </p> + <p> + “Not much,” replied Jim. “It was pretty thick, but it was only a small + patch, and we've pretty well cleaned it up. Sent away half a dozen bags, + mostly mainlan' black. Too close in to be much good.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I suppose you'se no objection to me anchoring here for a bit and + 'seeing what I can do with the leavings?” said Black Charley. + </p> + <p> + “We found the patch, and it's too small for two boats. We'd be better + friends if you cleared off and left it to us,” replied Jim. “But if you're + up to dirty tricks stay where you are. We don't want sneaks on board this + craft.” + </p> + <p> + “It's no good being nasty. All the fish on the Barrier don't belong to + yous. I got a ton and more on board now, and I'm going to run out with it + to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “So are we. Come on board and have a drink” + </p> + <p> + It was late in the afternoon when the smoke of the LAVA KAVA showed + south-east. Both boats were waiting as she slowed down in her course, and + while they made fast transhipment began. Then she steamed slowly ahead. + </p> + <p> + “Better send you'se boys back with the NAUTILUS,” suggested Black Charley, + “and me and my mate will take yous back when we've had a drink and a bit + to eat. It's a long time since I've had a decent feed, and Captain + Andrews, he won't mind.” + </p> + <p> + Breezy Jim and Bill agreeing, the NAUTILUS cast off, with instructions to + anchor at the old spot and to work until the bosses returned. + </p> + <p> + There was more than one drink as the steamer forged ahead, with Black + Charley's cutter romping and curtseying behind. Then tea-time came, and + the captain asked his guests to remain. Black Charley had had so many + refreshments that he was scarcely fit company for the saloon, so he + offered his excuses and they were accepted with politely veiled relief. + </p> + <p> + The mates told of their bad luck down at the Barnards and the Palms; how + they had been driven away by the unmusical black boy in desperate pursuit + of “The Last Rose of Summer,” and of their great stroke of luck on the + reef of which he had told. + </p> + <p> + “There's plenty more fish on it yet. We'll be troubling you to stop for a + couple of months yet.” + </p> + <p> + “You won't be making a very early start to-morrow if we jerk your boat + much further,” remarked Captain Andrews, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” urged Bill. “We'll hunt up Charley and cut away back.” + </p> + <p> + The well-contented partners strolled on deck, anticipating a very tipsy + Charley, whom neither steward nor bo'sun could discover. + </p> + <p> + The sun had just set. A bewildering blank astern excited a wide and + comprehensive survey, and there in the blue-grey of the south-east Black + Charley's big white-winged cutter was fast fading from view. + </p> + <p> + When the partners got back to the reef, via Thursday Island and Cooktown, + a fortnight later, the boys were there, looking somewhat jaded. The + NAUTILUS was as trim as ever, for which the owners were sufficiently + thankful; but cute Black Charley, working both crews day and night like + galley slaves, had mopped up the patch as clean as the floor of a hospital + ward. + </p> + <p> + “We've bin had proper, Bill, old fellow. Let's up and away for Cooktown. + Mammerroo moans for that mouth-organ!” + </p> + <p> + And the Christian in Billy Boolah smiled as he hummed “Left blooming + Alone.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING” + </h2> + <p> + “Whence has the man the balm that brightens all?” + </p> + <h3> + BROWNING. + </h3> + <p> + Though not popular, perhaps Tsing Hi was the best known of his + contemporaries on the tableland through which the Palmer River wanders a + hundred miles from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Short, slimly made as a + fourteen-year-old boy, nimble, fussy, plausible, he stood out from among + his countrymen as one having authority, while he posed among the Europeans + as a kind of diplomatic agent, explaining away misunderstandings, + conciliating grievances, and generally comporting himself as the chartered + representative of the horde of yellow new-chums which invaded the most + sensational of all Australian goldfields. He appeared to have cousins + among every fresh shipload from China, as well as among the hundreds who + ferreted in the gullies. There was not a white man, from the Police + Magistrate to Frank Deester's off-sider, with whom he was not on terms of + easy familiarity. + </p> + <p> + Had he not often confidentially consulted the Warden when a cousin had + blundered into the hands of the police, embarrassing that flustered + official with torrents of half intelligible speech, the purport of which + generally was to flout the proceedings with evidence of indubitable alibi? + All this he translated to his countrymen as proof of personal influence + with court authorities, and, what was more to the point, made them pay for + it. + </p> + <p> + No case in which a Chinaman was concerned as the accused, or plaintiff, or + disinterested witness, but Tsing Hi took, if not an official, an officious + part. Every new-comer from the Flowery Land passed through his hands. He + knew what personal property each possessed, and the value of the gold of + the lucky departing ones. That he prospered exceedingly was evident. The + fact was expressed in his costume. Beyond the court fees as interpreter, + the merry, chirping little fellow had really no lawful, visible means of + support. Yet he glistened and gleamed with emblems of riches. He was a + dandy from the soles of his shiny elastic-side boots to the crown of his + jaunty hard-hitter. Across a yellow waistcoat hung a very aggressive + chain, from which dangled a huge masonic jewel in gold-and-blue enamel, + and the frequently consulted watch—a big, bold-faced lever—ticked + with snappy determination. Tsing Hi had much more to live up to than the + huge watch, the chain, and the emblem; but they seemed to constitute + special and peculiar insignia. They were always to the front. He was one + of the men of his day and scene—to be admired, feared, and to be + conciliated by his fellow-countrymen all along the traffic-torn road. + </p> + <p> + The dust from that tortuous road rose in an earth adhering cloud from out + which honest, clean-souled men came like pain-distorted spectres, wearing + grey tear stained masks with pink-rimmed eyeholes and mud edged mouths. + But the dust was less distressing than that which Tsing Hi threw in the + eyes of bewildered mankind by this burst and gusts of speech. + </p> + <p> + In the heyday of his fame and prosperity Tsing Hi disappeared. His + absences were customary, for did he not flit here, there, and everywhere? + The police were not troubled to make inquiries. They knew where he was, + and the reason for his sudden retirement from accustomed scenes. The next + day all Byerstown knew also. + </p> + <p> + Tsing Hi, within the rough-hewn walls of the lock-up, was sad and silent. + He had been arrested for gold-stealing. + </p> + <p> + It was a clear case. Hundreds of complaints had been made. Dozens of + suspects had been shadowed, until a quick-witted detective intuitively + fastened the responsibility on the court interpreter, who, on the instant + of arrest, had become dumb. + </p> + <p> + The ransacking of his hut revealed a magazine of riches, the earthen floor + beneath the bunk being honeycombed with pits containing easily portable + but valuable property. In a jam-tin were several nuggets, among them the + very specimen which Bill Haddon had given to Mrs. Sinclair, landlady of + the Carriers' Arms—a plane of crystal from which rose a wonderfully + true pyramid of gold. It had been admired by hundreds, and could be sworn + to by everyone who had seen it. There was the white sapphire, with a + tell-tale flaw running down the middle, which had been found in the + hopperings at Revolver Point (where fighting Cameron made his pile) by Sam + Kickford, and likewise bestowed on Mrs. Sinclair as a “curio,” and because + that bounteous lady had mothered the unlucky Sam and nursed him through + the fever which took him to the very gates of a filthy hell. Dozens could + swear to it, but ever so many more were capable of bearing witness against + Tsing Hi on account of the specimen which Sam's mate, who had died of the + fever, had given to Mrs. Sinclair, having picked it out from the face of + his drive. It was a slug of rough gold in the shape of a tiny canoe, with + an upright splinter of white quartz at each end. Sam's mate had intended + it for a girl down at Ballarat, and she eventually got it—an emblem + of what might have been. Dozens of fancy slugs were brought to light, in + addition to two hundred ounces of fine gold against which no one could + make good claim. + </p> + <p> + Another tin held six rings, two of decidedly suspicious metal, the others + genuine and with good stones. A fine pearl was wrapped in a fragment of + silk. A pale green jade amulet, with three sets of. Chinese toilet + contrivances—ear-cleaners, tongue-scrapers, back-scratchers—in + ivory, were in a box with two rolls of gold-embroidered silk illustrated + with weirdly indecent scenes. Three gold watches wrapped in silk + handkerchiefs were stuffed into a ginger-jar. The sordid hut was a mine of + wealth, and the buzzing town became furious. It had accepted Tsing Hi as a + character, but not as a bad one. Being deceived, it swerved from tolerance + to righteous indignation and absolute wrath. The quaking thief, not too + comfortable, for the bloodwood slabs seemed too frail a partition against + the virtuous anger of the crowd, was condemned forthwith. + </p> + <p> + All the identifiable gold and other property was handed over to those who + successfully established claims, and Tsing Hi, limp and dejected, passed + into the custody of Tim Mullane for escort to Cooktown. + </p> + <p> + Tim was rough and raw, teeming with good-nature and blessed with a brogue + as thick as the soles of the massive boots made for him by his cousin + Terence at misty Ballinrobe. The once perky Tsing Hi slunk alongside the + far-striding Tim, and Tim looked down at him and was half ashamed of such + a “wee scrap of a Chinkee” as his first prisoner. + </p> + <p> + “Come away wid ye, me little fella—come away. Doan give me trouble, + and ye'll fin' me gintle wid ye. Thry to maake a fool af me, and be the + Holy Saints ye'll have occasion to be sorrowful.” And he picked Tsing Hi + up with one hand and set him down again with as big a jolt as such a + fag-end of humanity could expect to produce. Tsing Hi remained meek. The + crowd was unanimously against him. Big Tim might jolt him again and again + rather than he would take the risk of venturing among his recent friends, + for tales of his thieving, his acceptance of bribes, and imposition of + levies, were coming in so fast and thick that the crowd would have + relished adding something on its own account. + </p> + <p> + Before daylight next morning Tim left with his disconsolate captive, who + wore handcuffs and was manacled to the “D's” in the saddle of the horse + which he bestrode manifestly ill at case. In front of him was a huge swag + containing the unidentifiable gold, three watches, three rings, silk + stuffs, three pairs of elastic-side boots., several pairs of puce-coloured + socks, flash neckties, four hats, three suits of clothes, and other + clothing., All this was his own, to be handed over at the expiration of + the sentence. Tim merely held the inventory. There was some sort of + gratification for ill-doing, for the swag contained a fortune. He savagely + reflected that six months would soon pass. He would then vanish from + “Qee'lan,” to enjoy himself for the rest of his days. The sadness which + had stagnated during the past week began to dissolve. He sought to make a + friend of his escort. + </p> + <p> + “I tink we cam' harp way to-ni', Tim.” + </p> + <p> + “Shut up, you implicating tadpole! Wasn't I ordhered to hold convarse wid + me prisoner? Spake win Ye're spoke ter and be civil, Or I'll jolt the + teeth troo your hat!” + </p> + <p> + Tim jogged on, and the led horse bearing Tsing Hi jogged after. Tsing Hi + bumped until he was fain to lean heavily on his precious swag, trying to + discover by sensation an' unbruised part of his body on which to jolt. + </p> + <p> + “Hi! hi!” he shouted. “Horsey, him no goo'! You l'me walk!” + </p> + <p> + Tim whistled and jogged. Tsing Hi jolted and whimpered. The hot miles + wriggled slowly past. Dust lay a foot deep on the track. It was a windless + day. Tsing Hi, gripping with fearful intensity his swag, could not lift a + finger to wipe the stains which stood for many tears and coursed down his + cheeks in tiny rivulets, making puddles on his cramped hands. He, the + dandy, smothered in dust, weeping, sore in every bone, blistered and + scalded, pondered over his petty sins, moaned continuously, and longed for + the hard floor of the gaol. + </p> + <p> + He, a disciple of Confucius, found no present relief in the tags of the + master's philosophy that he could call to mind. Tears made him a grim + spectacle. The beautiful yellow waistcoat was indistinguishable beneath + dirt and dust. His carefully tended queue shook out in disordered loops, + and finally dangled, dust-soiled, behind. His trousers worked and wrinkled + up to the knees, chafed his unaccustomed skin, and still Tim in a cloud of + dust jogged on singing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Until that day, plase God, I'll shtick + To the wearin' o' the green.” + </pre> + <p> + It was a poor little prisoner, but his first and his own, and Tim was + elated, and when a true Irishman is happy he becomes poetically patriotic. + But happy though he undoubtedly was, even Tim was not sorry when the + chance came of stretching his legs and incidentally sluicing down the + dust. The halfway house looked cool and clean to him. In fact it was + neither. It must have appeared a celestial scene to moaning Tsing Hi. The + rough upright slabs (once rich yellow, now dingy) promised some sort of + refuge from the dust, and the narrow strip of verandah a thin slice of + shade. The mound of broken bottles at the rear betokened the drinks of the + past, while the mind dwelt lovingly on those of the present. Three panting + goats, all aslant, but tressed themselves determinedly against the end of + the house, and two boys, long since dust immune, occasionally hunted the + goats into the sun and away among the ant-hills. But when Tsing Hi slid + from the horse and into the shade, he felt like a saint in bliss. They + gave him water, and he wailed until Tim silenced him with threats of jolts + and locked the manacles round the middle post. + </p> + <p> + Tim sighed profoundly as he scented beer. “I do belave I'm dhry, Jerry. + Give's a long un. I've swallowed mud by the bucket. Give the wee little + divil outside a pannikin o' tay. Maybe it'll revoive, him!” + </p> + <p> + Tim drank long and well. + </p> + <p> + “I've heard about the case,” Jerry said, as he filled the thick glass a + third time. “Fancy the little beggar, an' him commin' and goin' as flash + as ye make 'ern, and pickin' and thavin' all the time. Maybe he got the + ear-rings the missis is after missin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Nawthin' o' the sort's in the swag we took with the raskil.” + </p> + <p> + A bit of dinner in the back room waited, for Jerry believed in keeping + well in with the force. Tim fed heartily, and, in spite of dust, heat, and + the chatter of the children, dozed, to wake with a start. + </p> + <p> + “Me sowl to glory! It's aslape I've bin! Let's hav' a look at the little + fella and be off.” + </p> + <p> + The horses stood limply, as much out of the shade as in, the big swag + leaned against the wall, the handcuffs lay half buried in the dust, but + Tsing Hi had vanished. + </p> + <p> + “Me sowl to glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! In + the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' 'em + like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of darbies like + the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a horse-collar, and + the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' hope! I'm the ruined + man, I am!” + </p> + <p> + “Off after him,” advised Jerry. “There's his tracks.” + </p> + <p> + “Just none o' your blasted interfarances! Lave 'm to me. He's away back to + hell, an' I'll folly him! How much does I owe yer, Jerry!” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing at all, sure, Tim. 'Tis little ye've had, and yer welcome as + posies in May, though it's little we see of 'em here. And good luck. Shall + I tell him away, back to look out V' + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing and be damned to yer! Keep your mout closed and lave me to do + the bizinis me own road,” shouted Tim as he disappeared in the dust, led + horse, swag and all. + </p> + <p> + A mile and a half back and a bit off the road lay the narrow, sheltered + flat between two forbiddingly barren ridges which Hu Dra, the gardener, + had converted into an oasis. Thin-leaved tea-trees fringed the little dam + whence the industrious fellow hauled water for his vegetables. + Drought-stricken, broad, blue-leaved, scented ironbarks stood in envious + array on the steep sides of the ridges, and grass-trees, blackened at the + butts, struggled with loose boulders for foothold. The muddy water which + the forethought of Hu Dra had conserved created the green patch which + insulted the aridity of the ridge. He was a proud and happy man, a + follower of the healing Buddha, a new-churn with scarce a word of English, + and a gardener. He had a way with vegetables. They prospered under his + hands, and he also prospered, for next to gold, vegetables were highly + prized in that dry, almost verdureless country. Just now he swayed along + with a pair of heavy baskets slung on a bamboo all the way from Wu Shu, as + the pilgrim under his load of sin, and as he swayed he sang in a weak + falsetto a ditty which sounded like— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam mo pen shih shih chia + Man tan lai lei tsun fo; + Hu fa chu t'ien p'u sa, + An fu ssu, Li she tzn.” + </pre> + <p> + His baskets, each screened with languid gum-leaves, held the week's output + of his garden, representing in money value at least two pounds. It wag not + likely to yield half as much, for, being a new-chum, he was fair game, and + it was considered smart to impose on his good-nature. He also paid through + an agent a weekly levy to Tsing Hi, which he understood purchased the + tolerance, if not goodwill, under all and every circumstance of the + dreaded police and the populace generally. It was a tax; but Hu Dra was + patient under such exactions, as all his ancestors had been. They were + unavoidable, inevitable, a part of the mystery of life, and consequently + to be endured, if not with complacency, at least without murmur. His + profits for the week might total one pound, a princely sum considering the + scene and circumstances of his birth and upbringing in far Li-Chiang, + where his father had reared a large family in a shed over a sewer, and had + never possessed property or estate worth more than five shillings. Soon, + if this money-making business continued to thrive, he would return + thither. He might—for had he not been reared to the art of living in + such places?—resume the sewer habit; but with three hundred pounds + in good English gold what sewer in Li-Chiang could not be transformed into + Paradise? + </p> + <p> + One basket contained a huge fruit which he understood his white customers + to term “plonkn”; with it was a broad-bladed knife, with which he would + slice off slabs according to demand. That one item might bring him in more + money than his revered father's fortune. Wrapped in day-dreams, he hummed + again his chant, dwelling on the refrain with lyrical gladness— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Li she tzu.” + </pre> + <p> + Perhaps it was the name of the maiden he proposed to ask to share his + fortune and his portion of the sewer, and so he repeated— + </p> + <p> + —-“Li she t——!” + </p> + <p> + A big, strong, authoritative hand had gripped him by the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + He screamed. The baskets sat down plump. + </p> + <p> + “Come away wid ye! I've cotched yer! I'll tache ye to escape from lawful + custody!” + </p> + <p> + “No savee! No savee!” screamed Hu Dra. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tache ye, thin V' shouted Tim, and Hu Dra reeled under the severity + of the first lesson—a back-hander across the face. + </p> + <p> + “Wha' for?” asked Hu Dra, still staggering. + </p> + <p> + “Come on! You know wha' for! I'll stan' none o' yer wha' for's!” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra clung to the basket-stick threateningly. + </p> + <p> + “Fwhat! Resisting the pollis in the execution of dooty. Me bhoy, ye're a + new-chum or yer niver wad be so bould. It is sarious bizinis.” The stick + flew out of Hu Dra's hands, and, as if by magic, he found his hands + clamped in iron bands, which pinched his wrists excruciatingly. + </p> + <p> + He yelled with vexation, fear, and pain. + </p> + <p> + “Ye can holler as much as ye have the moind ter. Be jabers, the next + haythen Chinkee that gits out of the darbies I clap on'm 'll be a + slippery, slathery eel, and meself after fergittin' to maake a knot in his + taale! Come quiet, me good haythen, and I'll dale aisy wid yer.” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra securely manacled to a scented gum, Tim dealt with the baskets, + capsizing the contents and belabouring them with the bamboo until they + looked as if they had been the playthings of a baboon. Hu Dra watched the + foundation of his fortune vanish. He wailed. + </p> + <p> + “Come away, me bhoy! I arrest ye, Tsing Hi, fer escaping from lawful + custody. Ye may be charged also with resisting the pollis in the execution + of dooty. It's a sarious charge. If ye come quiet I'll maake it aisy fer + ye. If ye maake it a haard job for me, be gorra I'll inuake ye sorryful!” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra gathered that it was a case of mistaken identity. He endeavoured to + explain that he was Hu Dra, and not Tsing Hi. Tim curtly informed him that + he was none other than Tsing Hi, that he had been convicted of stealing + gold, and while on the way to Cooktown had wilfully and with malice + aforethought escaped from legal custody. He would be taken to Cooktown at + once. Hu Dra understood but little of the harangue, but being a pious + Buddhist, having once climbed the Holy Mountain to gain merit, and being + in the hands of a strong man armed, he accepted the fate of the moment. + Meekly he followed Tim to the spot where the horses had been left, and was + hoisted into the saddle and manacled. It was all a dreadful mystery, but + he was sage enough to accept hard facts. + </p> + <p> + “Me Hu Dra,” he explained over and over again, in vain repetition. + </p> + <p> + “Ye're Tsing Hi, I tell yer. Ye're Tsing Hi in the name of Her Majesty. + Haven't I arrested ye as sich?” + </p> + <p> + “Me Hu Dra,” reiterated the captive as they jogged on. “Me come Coo'tow' + one yar.” + </p> + <p> + “Shut yer mout! Didn't I tell yer before that ye're Tsing Hi? Didn't yer + wilfully and knowingly escaape from me whin I was having a bite to ate, + and I had yer tied to the post at the shanty back beyant there! Naw, I'll + hear no more of yer Hu Rahin'. Kape a civil tongue betune yer taath, or, + be gorra, worse 'll happen yer.” + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra was patient. He thought of his pilgrimage long ago to the top of + Mount Omei. Was this the reward he had gained? + </p> + <p> + He solaced his soul by murmuring the pious invocation which all pilgrims + to the Sacred Mount have perpetually on their lips—“Om mane padme + om!” + </p> + <p> + Torn from his secluded garden and happy and profitable toil, bruised and + manacled, bundled on to a fear-provoking horse, hurried off he knew not + whither, through a drought-stricken land under a searing sun, the road + reeking with dust—what a plight for a devout Buddhist, who had + sought to avert calamity and prolong life by the ascent of the chill mount + where, alone in all the world, is revealed the “Glory of Buddha.” + </p> + <p> + Mystic that he was, he found sure comfort in pious meditations. Present + pains of body and mind vanished as with half-shut eyes he drifted into the + chill realm where he hearkened to chants of priests, the tinkling of the + temple bells, the fervent response of hundreds of pilgrims as meek as + himself—“Om mane padme om!” + </p> + <p> + Such was the potency of the mechanical repetition of the all-healing words + that Tim presently found himself echoing them, and brought himself up with + a jerk. + </p> + <p> + “It's all haythen rubbish and cussing. The pore fule's daft wid the hate + and the dust and the welt I give him. Shure it's the way I have to be + sorry for the crature.” + </p> + <p> + Like the refrain of an infectious song, the musical phrase would not be + banished from Tim's mind and lips, and so the tough, rough Irishman and + the gentle exile from the Flowery Land went on their way, scarce conscious + of the grimy miles, both dreamingly hailing the jewel in the lotus. + </p> + <p> + Three days later the travel-stained pair arrived at Cooktown, where Hu Dra—henceforth + to be known officially and authoritatively, and in spite of all protest, + as Tsing Hi—was duly consigned to the custody of the lock-up keeper, + to await escort to the town where his sentence was to be served. + </p> + <p> + “He's that quare in his hid,” Tim informed Jock Egan, who now had charge. + “He's bin Tsing Hi-in and Hu Rah-in' and Paddy Om-in' (d'ye know the maan, + Jock?) all along the thrack till it's fair fascinated I am. And barrin' + him bein' the very thafe o' the wurrld, it's a poor honest body he be. + Shure it's little enough truble he give me, and me all alone be meself. + An' the swag of him! Glory be to God, I dunno but it's wort five hundred + pounds if it's wort a sint! Yirra! but it's weery I am. It's little slape + I've had. Shure the whole beesely thrack be lousy wid shnaakes; and show + me the man as cud slape shweet wid maybe four of the varmint all + ascroodging and squaaking nath his blanket!” + </p> + <p> + “It's quare in yer head yerself,” ye're exclaimed Jock. “Be off to bed wid + ye. If the sargint gets ye a-talkin' like that, he'll be afther thinkin' + ye're in dhrink.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, me sowl to glory; he'll jist be thinkin' fwhat I'm wishful for. + It's that farefull dhry up there on the Palmer I could dhrain a bucket.” + </p> + <p> + “Get to bed, yer fool! Ye're talkin' that wild, ye'll have no care for + yerself. It's meself that'll git the good woman beyant there to git ye a + cup o' biling hot tay.” + </p> + <p> + With that Jock got him out, with papers all in order. + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra had disappeared from the tableland as suddenly but not as' + tracklessly as a phantom. Lonely men in their tents and three or four + mothers of families in their slab humpies looked out vainly for him for + three days, anticipating necessary vegetables, and, being disappointed, + slandered him courageously, while they found consolation in the reflection + that if he ever came his round again they would distress and vex him by + withholding payments for the vegetables of the past. Not a customer but + owed him something. His country men gave notice of his disappearance to + the police, and black-trackers off-hand told a graphic and obvious story. + Hu Dra had begun his weekly round when he had been attacked by myalls. + They had capsized his baskets and wantonly battered them to pieces. For + him had been reserved the customary fate. He had been hustled off to the + gorges contiguous to Hell's Gates, to be killed and eaten in peace and + comfort. His hut, his cherished garden were forthwith occupied and tended + by another of the race-claiming cousinship. The newcomer even demanded + payment of debts owing to his unfortunate relation, but the whole + population sniffed with such vigour that the claim was not persisted in. + Once a Chinaman had left the district unceremoniously, more especially at + the forcible persuasion of flesh-hungry blacks, his dues lapsed by + unanimous consent. He became merely a fragrant remembrance. It is so + still, and the virtue is as virile as the odour of musk. + </p> + <p> + To himself Hu Dra was always so. Be his official and authoritative title + for the time being what it might, he was determined not to sacrifice his + identity. + </p> + <p> + The gaoler found him a docile and obedient creature with an abiding + affection for plants, which sprang up under his hands like magic. Within + two months corners of the desert yard began to blossom, to bear cucumbers + and radishes, and to be fragrant with shallots. + </p> + <p> + The pride of the gentle gardener lay in a few plants of zinnias close to a + dripping tap. In bright red, gold, and white, he accepted them as + substitutes for the sacred lotus, and prison flowers never flaunted more + freely. As innocent as they, he deftly, tirelessly trained each plant, + caressed each opening bud, cherished it as if it were a jewel, and found + surcease of the pangs of exile, easement for the restraints upon liberty, + and blissful consolation. Tendance upon the garden under the strait shadow + of wall was to him, not a duty, not a pastime, but a ritual. The captive + was happy, for here was the end of his pilgrimage. + </p> + <p> + Exemplary conduct, combined with the art with which he forced salads from + the boorish soils, found him favour and earned privileges and concessions. + </p> + <p> + Hu Dra kept no count of the passing months. What was time to a + contemplative Buddhist whose being was permeated with the hope of release + from delusions and sorrow and of attaining final sanctification? + </p> + <p> + One morning he was summarily marched into the presence of the big + loud-voiced man whose orders were obeyed with instant smartness, who told + him, to his amazement and despair, that he must depart with his property. + The seals of a sack were broken before him, and its contents displayed and + duly accounted for—a sleeping-mat, a small red blanket, the + elastic-side boots, two scrolls of sinfully painted silk, a hard round hat + stuffed with gaudy handkerchiefs, three watches and varied jewellery in a + ginger-jar, the quaintly carved toilet devices, the jam-tin full of + nuggets, and a chamois-leather bag delusively heavy with fine gold. + </p> + <p> + The same authority which had ordered his affairs ever since he had been + torn from the burnt hills now commanded him to begone. + </p> + <p> + For nigh upon two years he had dwelt passively in dream-land. This was but + another wonderment entrancingly agreeable. Without endeavouring to + elucidate the incomprehensible, he accepted the gifts of the gods, and + asked for a yellow zinnia. It was a reality, a guarantee, an assurance. + </p> + <p> + Good, though gruff, the gaoler was wont to say that his departing guest + gazed on the flower with almost religious fervour and mumbled over it a + prayer; and the gaoler's insight was true, for in comparison with a + flower, the masonic emblem, the pride of Tsing Hi's life was to Hu Dra but + tinsel. + </p> + <p> + It passed all understanding., + </p> + <p> + Hastening to escape from the land of bewilderment and easily gotten + riches, Hu Dra-the quietest, the happiest, the wealthiest of a great + company of his fellows boarded a steamer for Hong-Kong. + </p> + <p> + Many a long year after, Tim, who had blossomed into a sub-inspector, had + retired on pension, and had lost most of his brogue in the process, + confided in me the whole story. + </p> + <p> + “You see, my friend, it was either the sack or Chinkee for me. I got the + Chinkee. There were plenty of 'em!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TIME'S FINGER + </h2> + <p> + “The more cleer and the more shynynge that Fortune is, the more brutil and + the sooner breketh she.”—CHAUCER. + </p> + <p> + High up on the auspicious shoulder of the Island mountain stands the + Sentinel, a coarse, truncated pinnacle of granite, roughened and wrinkled + by the toll of the moist breezes, alternating with the scorching flames of + the sun. It overlooks the league-long sweep of the treacherous bay, with + its soft and smothering sands, the string of islets of the Yacka Eebah + group, while Bli and Coobie lie close under foot, set in a swirling sea. + </p> + <p> + One aspect of the Sentinel commands all the map-like detail of Pun-nul + Bay, with its labyrinthian creeks among a flat density of mangroves, like + lustrous, uncertain byways in a sombre field, erratic of shape, + magnificent of proportion. Beyond are many islets—dark blue on a + lighter plain. In the distance, on the other hand, islands and islets + trail away until lost in the vague blending of sea and sky; and for a + background is all Australia. In front alone does the Sentinel peer over + uninterrupted space, and not always, for at times patches of white + filigree mark the outliers of the Great Barrier Reef. + </p> + <p> + Looking up from Pun-nul Bay before sunrise, the base of the Sentinel 'was + swathed in white—night's rumpled draperies not yet tossed aside. As + the east glowed it stained the mist pink, and so warmed it that it parted + into patches of luminous fluff which floated up and dissolved into + crystalline air, and the great lumbering rock stood naked and bold in the + sunshine. + </p> + <p> + Then it was that the apex of a splintered peak beyond the Sentinel + glittered, and that Chutter-murra Wylo, the one survivor of the truculent + natives, told once more of the wonderful stone for which many had + ventured, which had caused the disappearance of several, which decoyed man + and beast, and stored their bones close to the awful hole whence issued + the smoke which made the rain, and the dread lightning, and the thunder. + </p> + <p> + None ever ventured there now; but sometimes in the early morning the stone + twinkled for a moment like a malignant sprite, watchful all night, but + abashed yet impudent to the authoritative sun. + </p> + <p> + Chutter-murra Wylo had so often indicated the exact locality of the stone, + and had described its dire influence with such sincerity that, when it + twinkled, a resolution which had been long in the back of my mind became + wilful and imperative. He said that it was “on top, along oo-nang-mugil”—a + gloomy place among rocks—and that the old men of the country had + been wont to say that this particular “oo-nang-mugil” was the favourite + resort of the “debil-debil,” the to whose arrogance and awful deeds the + bones of man and beast bore terrifying testimony. + </p> + <p> + Between the Sentinel and a spur to the south is a narrow ravine, from + which in the rainy season mist rises like jets of steam, and this was the + very spot whence the lightning and thunder ranged when the “debil-debil” + lifted the mighty stone which blocked the entrance to the cave of the + winds. All about was fantastic ground, peopled by evil spirits who + resented the intrusion of human beings and inflicted upon trespassers + peculiar punishments. Ill befell everyone who invaded that remote, almost + inaccessible, uninviting region, at the very centre of which the alluring + stone glittered. Of those who rashly determined to gaze at the prodigy at + close quarters, some never returned. Those who did come back were vexed + with burning and smarting pains; they suffered illnesses; their skin broke + out into blotches; they became old and enfeebled prematurely and all, + whether they survived for a few irritating weeks or a few sad years, wore + to the end a startled, awe-struck air. “That fella no more sit down quiet; + him frait all time,” Wylo explained. And the stone was good to look at. + Sometimes it was white like water; sometimes blue, like the sea; sometimes + red, like “carrie-wy-in-gin” (sunrise). Sometimes it shook, and then it + became so bright that the eyes were dazzled. The star-like stone had been + on the rock for all time, protected by distance and mystery. Was it not, + indeed, the eye of the “debil-debil” who had custody of the lightning and + thunder imps, and could it not be elevated or depressed like the eye of a + sand-crab? No intruder had ever escaped its vigil or the consequences of + his temerity. + </p> + <p> + We were camped under the lee of a low sand-dune, the top of which + commanded Pun-nul Bay. As the wind swayed its scalp-lock of twisted + shrubs, the dune quivered, and rivulets of singing sand, almost as fluid + and as unstable as water, trickled down, for it was one of the + rubbish-heaps of the sea, over the brink of which waste was unceasingly + shot. + </p> + <p> + The maze of mangroves whence weird hoots and bubbling cries and sharp + clicks came at night, the stealthy sand marching over the land, the barren + slopes of the mountain, and the misshapen rock, gave one's thoughts a + twist in the direction of the vague and mysterious. Wylo's continual + harping on the wonderful stone renewed the old longing for adventure. He + had seen it from a safe distance, but from the present aspect only the + indecorous glint at sunrise was visible. + </p> + <p> + The stone was a crystallised fact, but why had the blacks invested it with + such ill omen? Here was a worthy quest—a beautiful if not precious + crystal betokening the actual presence of a wary demon guardant over the + mouldering skeletons of Wylo's forefathers! What quest could be more + sensational or likely to be so famously rewarded? + </p> + <p> + Wylo was prepared to climb the mountain to the base of the Sentinel, but + no higher. Secrets hidden from his intemperate, insistent gaze must surely + be inconsequent. Once and for all, the legend of the crystal might be + disposed of at the cost of two or three hours' climbing. I would bring it + back to prove to Wylo that no irreverent “debil-debil” would ever again + blink at the sun from that particular spot. As for the skeletons, they + were, without doubt, as mythical as the evil spirit, and in any case a few + old bones were not to scare me from venturing to the boldly obvious summit + of the mountain. + </p> + <p> + Wylo went wellnigh naked, carrying a day's provisions and the rifle. I, + too, was lightly clad, but wore thick-soled boots, freely studded, and + with a tomahawk felt efficiently armed. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the entanglement of the beach scrub the way was open, though rough, + with granite boulders half hidden among rampant blady grass. The country + was decidedly hostile to the climber, though far from actually forbidding, + and with Wylo in the lead—for I held myself in reserve for the final + clamber up the ravine, to which the ascent to the base of the Sentinel was + merely a prelude—the pace was respectable and sure. Closer + acquaintance forced a certain sort of respect for the Sentinel, which was + more massive, more venerable and time-worn than could be imagined from + afar off, while all the scene below seemed softer and smoother and more + fairyland-like than in reality. + </p> + <p> + Having indicated what he deemed to be the direct route, and firmly + resolving to take no risks by peering into the domain of the + “debil-debil,” Wylo sat in the shadow of a huge boulder whence he could + command a view of the entrance to the rock-bestrewn gorge. Not more than + eight hundred feet separated the spot from the summit of the peak. A + couple of hours at most and I would be down again, and, semi-seriously, I + counselled Wylo to stop where he was until late in the afternoon, and if I + had not then appeared to return to the camp, where he was to remain for a + couple of days, when he would be at liberty to make his way to the head of + the mangrove creek where the boat was anchored, with the design of + bringing help to kill the “debil-debil” that detained me in his clutches. + He was not too cheerful in his parting injunctions. “No good you fight'm + that fella. Suppose he catch'm you, he kill you one time—finis. No + good me come back. Me clear out quick!” + </p> + <p> + In all seriousness he undertook to “sit down” for two days, and finally + imparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the “debil-debil,” + and either curb him or throw him out from his lair “with wondrous + potency.” Up the gorge I would find a prickly bush, from which I was to + cut a leafy branch as a frontal shield. Then, when the fiend swooped upon + me, its long arms and pliant hands, furnished with needle-like nails, + would become embarrassed by the “nails,” of the branch, and while it + howled and danced I could “kill'm alonga leg” with the tomahawk. I was to + be careful not to look up, for the eye of the “debil-debil” was so bright + and hot that it burnt up mortal sight, leaving the intruder a blind and + hopeless victim. + </p> + <p> + Discreetly valorous, Wylo was quite enthusiastic, anxious, indeed, that + the quest should be accomplished by an audacious white man and at no risk + to himself. Therefore did I accept his counsel gravely, and in parting + promised to bring down one of the hands of the long-standing terror of the + mountain as proof that I had exacted the last penalty for many demonic + deeds. + </p> + <p> + Thus, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through a + perplexity of shrubs growing among loosely packed stones, thankful for + strong boots and hands toughened by the sun. Overhanging trees and shrubs + almost converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a greenish + light wrought changeful patterns on the gloomy rocks, and ferns of sombre + green with unfolding fronds of ruddy brown occupied crannies and crowned + rocks favoured by drips. No sound of animal life came to my cars, but an + ever-increasing current of air was perceptible as the walls closed in and + became almost precipitous. + </p> + <p> + The narrow footway was swept bare of loose stones and vegetable rubbish, + save where the wet-season torrents had scooped out basins, or where a + ledge of resisting rock made a wet-season water fall. Such places had to + be discreetly scaled, for the rock was worn to polished smoothness and + hand and foot holds were few and far between. Aerial roots, thin as + whipcord, hung from the branches of trees crowding on the brink of the + ravine, and with tasselled terminals sopped up moisture. A melancholy, + humming monotone pervaded the ravine, seeming to increase in remonstrance + and warning the higher I ascended. Wylo had told of the noise like a + steamer's whistle a long way off. His local knowledge was being + authenticated at every step. Such a sound was almost uncouth in such a + locality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, was the + predicted bush with keen prickles thickset on limber branches. Half + amused, I climbed to the spot, and, clinging precariously to the principal + stem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, slipped several + yards down the smooth floor. It was not worth recovering, but a certain + half-humorous sense of obedience to the black boy's cautions induced me to + return for it; and as I trimmed off some of the prickles that it might be + grasped comfortably, a stone clattered down, bouncing on the rock almost + at my feet. + </p> + <p> + A substantial mystery! What invisible agency had given this hard fact its + force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a discordant crow dissipated + doubt-the stone had been dislodged by an industrious scrub fowl raking on + the brink of the ravine. A sense of fellowship with the harsh-voiced bird + manifested itself. A transient sensation of relief—I had not been + conscious of the least mental depression—followed the thought that + in and about the ravine there were other living things besides myself and + snakes. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally bruised just now, + had been the only sign of life, and it had been as dull-coloured and + almost as inert as the rock on which it lay—an emblem of death at + home in this almost lifeless seclusion. Dwelling with amusement on Wylo's + suggested precautions, I bore the branch before me as I climbed a steep + face, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and as cautious + and suspicious as a black boy. On the lip of what seemed to be a hollow a + fig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing roots of which made the final stages + of the ascent easy and safe. Briskly hauling myself up, I stepped over the + edge of the depression, and the solid rock lapsed and slid underfoot. + </p> + <p> + In a flash the head of a python arose, and with gaping jaws struck as the + branch fell from my hand.' In a moment I had whipped the tomahawk from my + belt and slashed at the body of the snake squirming at my feet, as, + baffled for a moment by the falling branch, it gathered itself for a + second attack. + </p> + <p> + Few of the enemies of man are more easily disabled than a snake. Always + zealous in obedience to the Biblical law, it is honest to confess to a + decided preference for elbow-room when engaged in its actual fulfilment. + This was a fight with man's first enemy in close and awkward quarters—a + precipice behind, walls of rock in front and at either hand. Three times + my length, strong enough to constrict to death a giant, wily enough to + seek the cover of the matted roots of the tree, several points were in + favour of the snake. My first wild haphazard stroke, which had merely + scored its flesh, seemed to have roused its vindictiveness. Once in those + coils, the chances of victory would be remote indeed. + </p> + <p> + Part of the python's still gliding length was within reach, while (the + forepart resting on a branch) the head was but slightly higher than mine, + though beyond the radius of the tomahawk. + </p> + <p> + The bulging head drew slowly back, as the snake released sufficient of its + length to encompass me. The yellow, blinkless eyes, with knife-edge + pupils, flashed with the hate of agelong feud as I edged against the wall. + My arm was free. The lust of battle tightened every nerve. Neither + flashing eyes nor strangulating length made for fear. The hitherto + all-conquering snake, lord and master of the ravine, bade defiance, + joining issue with the craft of its kind. + </p> + <p> + Slowly the pendant portion increased as the subtle beast seemed to + concentrate all its energies on one triumphant, invincible effort. + </p> + <p> + Anticipating the fateful instant, I slashed with all my force at the + portion of the body within reach, ducking simultaneously. Shooting over + me, the head of the enemy struck the rock with brain-bemuddling impact. + For once the serpent had been foiled. With jaws awry, the head swung + limply, like a ceasing pendulum. One blow with the back of the tomahawk + established the right of man to wander at will among the rough and secret + places of the mountain. + </p> + <p> + Still did the swaying reptile cling with a single coil round the figtree's + branch, while chill blood dripped and splashed among the intertwined and + snake-like roots. A sudden tug brought the body down a squirming mass. + With rough-shod heel, I fulfilled the letter of the law, bruising the + battered head, and then were revealed the bosses by which, with the tail, + the snake had sustained its dead weight. + </p> + <p> + Was this the “debil-debil” which had scared so many from the quest—a + python which any man might kill in the open without running any risk, and + which a black boy, with time on his hands, would joy to eat? Yet I own + that I was somewhat flustered, and not a little tired and bruised and + angry, because such an impediment had had to be cleared from the track. + Was there not cause for indignation? Why should a gormandising serpent, + full to repletion, lie slothfully across a highway open to all, to the + checking of a holiday-making mortal in lawful pursuit of a demon-protected + crystal? Let me once more vindictively stamp on its head. + </p> + <p> + But which way? Here was a dead and unscalable wall to right and left and + in front, and all in deep shadow. I estimated that another one hundred + feet would take me to the mountain-top, whence it would be possible to + survey the scene in relation to the bejewelled rock. Descent was the only + practicable preliminary towards further ascent. Utilising the interlacing + roots of the fig-tree, the way down was easy enough, and, choosing the + left wall of the ravine, I began a perilous climb out of gloom into + sunshine, upon a conglomeration of immense granite boulders, over which + the Sentinel cast a shadow. This shadow indicated that the ascent had + occupied at least three hours, and in my self-complacency I had calculated + to beard the “debil-debil” in his den, dislodge the crystal, and be back + at the camp gloating over the escapade to open-eyed Wylo in less time. + </p> + <p> + Though a night was to be spent in the haunt of the evil spirit, yet would + I proceed. I found not one but many “oo-nang-mugils,” lowering caves and + clefts in which scores of fearsome “debil-debils” might lurk, but which, + as far as a vigilant mortal could detect, were given over to innocent bats + and those sun-loving swiftlets which rear their young in nests adherent to + rocks in dusky places. + </p> + <p> + Over and beneath boulders, squirming through bolt-holes and up flue-like + openings, bruised and with bleeding hands, at last the top was reached, + harsh with granite, and there to the right, on a gigantic splintered + boulder which seemed to block the end of the ravine and to peer down into + the blue bay below, was the crystal glinting in sunshine. It was not more + than fifty yards away, and, easeful of mind, I sat down to munch a piece + of damper. Close by a patch of vivid green moss indicated the existence of + moisture and the further possibility of water. Sure enough, twenty yards + down spongy moss and fern spread over a lip of rocks, and from dangling + tufts and drooping fronds water dripped in melodious splashes into a + shallow depression, and overflowed in a fan-shaped film. The facets and + apex of the crystal reflected harsh brightness as unsullied as the + moss-filtered, unstable drips which gathered second by second and were + gone. How like those drips, how unlike the scarred, time-chastened rock, + that steadfast slip of light which since the dawn of creation had flashed + messages across the unresponsive sea. + </p> + <p> + From a ledge in which ferns and orchids grew in careless profusion—bird's-nest + fern and polypodium and white-flowering orchid—the crystal might be + reached by a little manoeuvring. But why hurry? Every minor crevice was + embossed with spongy moss, from which sprang modest little flowers, a + flower of mountaintops alone, lacking a familiar name, but which in its + dainty form and rich mauve is none the less precious. While all the rest + of the way had been barren or gloomy, here was brave sunshine and space, a + jewel-like crystal, and moss and ferns and flowers, and calm and cool + serenity which' bespoke remoteness from the “debil-debil” and all his + works, and from the noisy cave of the winds. Magic there was in plenty-the + air tingled with it—that exhilarating, mind-expanding silence of + mountain-tops which is the most thrilling magic of all. + </p> + <p> + Leisurely glances at the mass of granite from which the crystal shone + showed that from the ferny ledge it would be beyond reach, and that unless + care was exercised in the dislodgment it might fall among a confusion of + boulders far below and be lost for ever. My plan was of to build a + buttress of loose stone on which to stand to tap it with the tomahawk. + Like a miniature railway cutting, the ledge ran out on the face of the + rock, so that standing upon it one looked down into the ravine; but it was + broad enough to afford safe and even convenient footing. + </p> + <p> + As a final preliminary to the beginning of operations, I clambered up on + to the ledge. Ferns grew among decaying vegetable matter in masses + difficult to push through. Polypodiums with brown, oak-leaf like, + infantile fronds clung tightly to the rocks with furry fingers, and the + birds'-nests were big enough to conceal a man. A broad and comfortable + path it was, leading directly under the crystal, and with haste and + confidence I pushed along, smiling inwardly at “shynynge” fortune, to be + in another moment dismayed by her “brutilness.” The earth sank under me. I + shot into an acute fissure with ferns and dust piled overhead! + </p> + <p> + Gasping and coughing, I cleared away the smothering rubbish, to find + myself a fixture—jambed fast between walls of granite. Deceptive + ferns had masked the crevice. I had walked along a treacherous track until + at a weak spot it had given way as the gallows' trap beneath the feet of a + murderer. + </p> + <p> + Light came from ahead, too. There the lancehead-shaped fissure opened on + the ravine, whence it was flushed with cool air. + </p> + <p> + Was ever mortal in such a plight? A drop of eight from the spacious top of + the mountain had lodged me a prisoner in the narrowest of cells. Dismayed + but not despairing, I struggled frantically, working with shoulder and + arms against the walls of granite. The right foot was firmly fixed, while + a sensation of easiness was perceptible with regard to the left. Gently + yet firmly, and fearful lest the slight grain of comfort might be + fraudulent, I felt the weight of my body on the left foot, while + scrutinising in detail the horrible trap into which the crystal bait had + lured me. + </p> + <p> + There, a few feet below and further towards the ravine, was the skull of a + human being, and still further down, where space was more confined, other + bones were fixtures. There was a weird fascination about the skull, for at + noon it would receive the benediction of the sun, and the diurnal glare + into the secrets of the crevice had made a patch of white desert in an + oasis of grey mould. The bones below, green and earthly with age, lay in + disorder and confusion—poor fragments of the framework of man and + harmless beasts, sharing a common fate. + </p> + <p> + Though fast a prisoner, nothing to live on but hope and fresh air, a sense + of relief, somehow, sometime, established itself in my mind. Most of the + significant features of the adventure had been faithfully foretold by Wylo—the + prickly bush, the snake (archetype of the fiend), the mocking delusive + stone, the stored bones of man and beast-all as he had described. He must + have known more than he had voluntarily told, and assuredly would he + come', when he would coo-ee, and I would shout for very joy. In the + meantime would I possess my soul in patience and conserve all the strength + of my lungs and power of endurance. + </p> + <p> + Just beyond the platform of ferns a splash of lovely tints illuminated the + edge of the time-recording shadow—the solar spectrum produced by the + prism which had beckoned from afar. Was there no escape from the wizardry + of the crystal? No hope of evading comparison of its beauty and permanence + with the muddy and fleeting passions of mankind? Yet how fruitless its + functions—to glorify for aeons the intractable rock, and to leave it + ever unstained! For once in all the centuries may not a human hand be + interposed between those ineffectual flames and the surly rock? Cannot + even that small measure of space be overcome? + </p> + <p> + A few inches from the tips of my outstretched fingers were the prismatic + tints with which the crystal daily registered the decline of the day; but + not for all my striving and all my wit could I get within reach. They were + as remote as the creating sun! + </p> + <p> + The narrowness of the cleft forbade effort to reach down so that I might + unlace my boots. There wan but one chance of deliverance—the coming + of Wylo. And would he, agitated by superstitious awe, dare to venture into + the haunt of the evil spirit when he began to realise that I, too, had + fallen into the clutches he so much dreaded? Yet he must come! Of what + special impiety had I been guilty that so rare and terrible a fate should + have been reserved for me. He must come! + </p> + <p> + Yes. Listen! I hear his coo-ee far below! He is making his way up the + ravine! And with, all my vocal power I coo-eed and yelled. But the + muffling rocks stifled all noise at lips. Listen! Yes! The sound again—merely + the mellow cadences of a swamp pheasant whooping among the blady grass. + </p> + <p> + Wylo dared not venture to the very door of the cave of the winds. I was + alone with my fate! Could I master it? + </p> + <p> + The clean-cut shadow crept up the rock, and with it the colour splash + receded. As I gazed it glittered and was gone. It would not be visible + again until the next afternoon. Would I be here to watch it illuminate the + rock once more? Could I contain myself until then, and perhaps after, and + for day after day, until the last? And were my bones to be added to the + secret horde mouldering within a few feet of the mountain-top? A few feet + of nothingness—mere empty space—separated me from lost and + lovely liberty, and with frantic hands I strove against the hard face of + the rock, and cried aloud in agonising protest. + </p> + <p> + The old rock had disregarded similar protests and supplications, and had + endured like infantile pushings! Call, and who shall listen? Push and + shove and fight, and what availed it? + </p> + <p> + In my delirium I cursed and blasphemed, and “full of shriekynge was that + sory place.” + </p> + <p> + Darkness followed brief twilight, and up the ravine came the murmuring I + had heard below—a sobbing sound which at first affrighted and then + soothed, for it could be nothing but the echo of the sea on the curving + beach below; and in its comfort that lulled all ineffectual clamour, and + eventually to fretful but frightful sleep. Always I awoke panting with + thirst, stiff and strained, and with unmanly cries of fear and pain on my + lips, while the chaste stars danced across the narrow slit as I strove to + stem the turbid stream of despondency. + </p> + <p> + About midnight a singular peacefulness possessed me, overcoming me in + spite of myself. Feverish impatience and resistance seemed futile, and in + my resignation I began to realise that to avert cramp and disablement from + cold—for a chill, moist breeze from the ravine played continuously + on me—some sort of exercise must be undertaken. + </p> + <p> + My left foot was certainly not so compressed as the right. Though it could + not be raised, it was possible to move it ever so slightly forwards and + backwards. Might it not be possible, by never-ceasing friction, to so + abrade the edges of the sole of the boot that it might be reduced to such + dimension as would permit it to be raised? + </p> + <p> + With all the force of my mind concentrated on the one idea, I began to + work in a passion of patience. At first the play of the boot was hardly to + be registered; but hour after hour of ceaseless and calculated effort not + only counterbalanced mental tension and imparted some degree of warmth to + my body, but so amended the shape of the boot that it began to move with + some degree of freedom. The more easy the fit, the more cautious and calm + I became. + </p> + <p> + No insipid monotony pervaded the remote, cold crevice. The operation was + lubricated with hope. Once every heart-beat—for I kept strict tally, + as further mental relaxation—my boot rubbed against the rock, and + each rub wore away minute particles of leather. As time passed and the + work became still easier, it became more engrossing, until calmness gave + way, and every nerve thrilled with excitement, and I was convinced that I + would win a joyful passage from this narrow strait by dint of the resolute + continuation of the simplest of processes. + </p> + <p> + But the long night was not to end with such placid and entertaining + occupation. Absorbed in it, sternly waving off all sense of weariness or + despair, I was staggered and stunned by the fall, among an avalanche of + fern debris, of a heavy living body on my head and shoulders—a + grunting, struggling thing which kicked and scratched. + </p> + <p> + With a despairing shriek, 'all my vibrant nerves collapsed, as in the + darkness and confusion I fought against infernal odds. For one appalling + instant I was convinced of the reality of Wylo's most diresome fact, and + did furiously believe that I was actually entrapped in the stronghold of a + demon at that moment, intent upon tearing me limb from limb. The most + fantastic and horrific of nightmares was actually materialised. + </p> + <p> + But at that instant a familiar odour sluiced away all mystery. This + struggling thing, from the shock of which my very soul still trembled, was + but a fellow-victim—a wallaby which, feeding along the ledge, had + happened on the trap made by my fall. + </p> + <p> + In a flash of remorseless energy, I seized the panting body, felt for the + throat, and, expelling pity from my heart, gripped until all was still. + How precious and comforting it was! And once again all my powers of will + and muscle were centred on a single design and action as with machine-like + rhythm the boot wore itself against the rock. Disengaged from every other + theme, my mind dwelt on the one steady, inevitable purpose. Rub! Rub! Rub! + And I fancied I saw leathern dust fall like filings from iron down deeper + into the crevice. Before dawn the boot was working freely, and with one + arm on the compressed body of the wallaby to case my weight, rest was + possible. The plan for the disengagement of the right foot, painfully + rigid and cold, was perfect in theory. Would it hold in practice? When the + left was free I would, by friction of the iron studs In the sole, wear + away the laces of the engaged boot so that the foot might be withdrawn. + </p> + <p> + But physical weakness became imperious. The distraction of cramped and + bruised flesh had to be withstood the while the constancy of the function + was maintained. Continual comfort came from the dead body of the ill-fated + wallaby—a sort of fellowship, and a feeling that with its + co-operation the contest between living flesh and blood and the inert + force of the mountain was not altogether one-sided. Light was certainly + cheerful, but the crevice filled with mist which distilled on the rock, + and a chill current of air benumbed my aching limbs. + </p> + <p> + Under the pressure of fierce determination the task persisted, until, + quite unexpectedly as it seemed, the boot was free; and then, shoving and + squeezing the wallaby as a cushion for my right arm, the sole of the left + boot began to rasp away at the instep of the right. In such a constrained + position the operation, which could be persevered in by fits and starts + only, was exasperatingly slow. The sun sopped up the morning mist and + boldly explored the crevice, revealing the marvellous precision of the + space between the walls. No work of art could be more regular. The sheer + simplicity of the trap made it the more effectual. The sunlight showed, + too, that the fissure was the skylight of a cave which opened out on the + ravine. Dry boulders were strewn about fifty feet below, while ahead I + could catch a glimpse of a narrow ribbon of blue sea. This provoking sight + of unattainable water aggravated thirst almost beyond endurance. + Throughout the night had my longing increased, but now the pangs were + extreme. The most gratifying of all drinks—cool, fern-filtered, + flower-decorated water, water dripping in iridescent spangles from green + moss soft as velvet—splashed incessantly into a hollow out there a + few yards away in the free space of the mountain. Here, manacled with + “adamant eterne,” in an agony of impatience I quaffed the + thirst-stimulating draught of unsatisfied longing as I strove fitfully to + wear away the stubborn strips of leather which held me in bondage. In a + doze or dream the action went on. Startled, I awoke to find myself + pommelling with inane savagery the poor crumpled body of the wallaby, and + to the realisation that the imprisoned foot was loose in the boot. + </p> + <p> + A luxurious stupor took possession of my mind. I was at liberty to work + out of the crevice knees and shoulders; yet an impalpable force detained + me. It was not that I was not master of my fate, but that out there in the + glare of the sun was patient water, dripping for the refreshment and + cleansing of my grimy lips. So enchanting a thought was not to be abruptly + ended. Was it not deliciously dreamy to hold myself in suspense awhile, to + linger over anticipated sweetness and prolong blest gratifications + indefinitely? + </p> + <p> + Strange drowsiness and peace bewitched the sunlit chink. Why should I + struggle more? Could I not, in fancy, hearken to the measured splash of + the drops from the sodden moss? Could anything be more consoling than this + cushion to my bruised and aching arms? Ease and sloth were sweet indeed. I + was free, but not at large. The amazing adaptability of the human mind had + reconciled me in a few suffering hours to this confined space. Verily do I + believe that the overcoming of this subtle anodyne demanded the + expenditure of more vital force than the sum of all the long-sustained + automatic exertion by which I had won physical release. + </p> + <p> + One supreme mental tug and the baneful torpor was dispelled, and with + stiffened legs and bruised hand@ I began to screw myself up to the free + air cautiously and painfully; and there, in a beam of light from the + crystal, was the slow-dripping flower-bedizened water-celestial nectar to + parched lips. + </p> + <p> + Hours after I awoke as from a dream. Far below a column of smoke showed + that Wylo still watched. My first act was to send up a responsive signal. + In a fit of petty passion I flung the toil-worn boot into the ravine, and + began the descent by way of the spur to the west. + </p> + <p> + Wylo seemed scared by the sight of the staggering and tattered scarecrow, + barefooted, and stained with blood and dirt, who stumbled into the camp at + dusk, too weary to talk, almost too spent to eat; and to this day he is + convinced that I was actually detained by the “debil-debil,” whom I had + overcome by some means of which wonder-working white men alone have the + secret. + </p> + <p> + After two days' rest I climbed the mountain again, blocked the fissure + with loose stones, and built a buttress, standing upon which I tapped the + crystal gently with the tomahawk. It quivered. A shaft of rainbow tints + dazzled my sight. I tapped again. As I touched it it third time, the + fragile finger with which the gaunt old rock had scorned the plodding + centuries vanished in a splutter of spangles! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SOUL WITHIN THE STONE + </h2> + <p> + “These ghosts of the living and of the dead assuredly illustrate in a + striking manner the mysterious workings of the human mind, and the + unsuspected influence of soul on soul.”—PRODMORE. + </p> + <p> + Not more than a hundred yards from its mud-besmeared mouth the convenient + mangroves disappear and the little creek assumes becoming airs. Huge + tea-trees, with cushiony bark, straddle it, and ferns grow strongly in all + its nooks and bends. When the big trees blossom in watery yellow, + yellow-eared honey-eaters, blue-bibbed sun-birds, and screeching parrots + in accordant colours, assemble joyously, for the aroma, as of burnt honey, + spreads far and wide, bidding all, butterflies and jewel-backed beetles + which buzz and hum, to the feast, until the aerial anthem is harmonic to + the rustle of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The sturdy feet of the trees stand in black peat, through which the water + from the wholesome hills oozes and dribbles, and the russet stain from + discarded leaves is on their white bases. Russet, too, is the surface of + the ever moist soil. Some element in the water derived from pacted roots + of palm and fern tinctures whatsoever in it lies, so that the bottoms of + the shallow, erratic pools are thick with russet slime. All above is + bright and pure, and the water which flows over the slime-smudged roots + limpid and refreshing. If you cut into the bark of the tea-tree you will + find water in beads and trickles, water which sparkles with purity and has + a slightly saline taste. The bare roots alone suffer defilement. + </p> + <p> + Many a tall tea-tree stands sentinel on the margin of the creek, and there + are groves of slim palms with narrow truncated leaves—palms which + creep and sprawl over vegetation of independent character, and palm& + which coquette with the sun with huge fans. Orchid& display sprays of + yellowish-green flowers, which contribute a decided savour to the medley + of scents, and palm-like Cycads meander from the low bank out Into the + forest. + </p> + <p> + But there is one tree which, if not superior to the rest in broadness of + base, height, fairness of bark, and fullness of bloom, has especial + endowment. It stands at the spot where generation after generation of the + original owners of the soil has crossed the creek, wearing a waving path + upon which ferns ever encroach and which every flood amends. In a recess + in its massive roots reposes “Kidjo-bang,” the restless stone—a + boulder, man's-head size, stained with a rim of sober brown. + </p> + <p> + This is its accustomed scat. It roves the locality, returning, + swallow-like, to the close-fitting hollow of the root. The embraces of the + root are sometimes so strong that the dingy stone may not be moved. But + the floods of the wet season maintain an unceasing cataract to its + dislodgment, and then, according to the legends of the blacks, it begins + to “walk about.” It may rest a month just out of reach of the disturbing + water among the ferns. It has been known to appear mysteriously on the + sandy beach two hundred yards away, to which spot it is said to travel by + way of the grass lands, avoiding the slur of the muddy creek. + </p> + <p> + Whether it seeks change of scene beyond the ripple of dead leaves and + spoil of the flood, or whether it ventures out on to the open beach, where + the breezes from the Pacific play upon it, the round white stone returns, + independent of the agency of man, to the sanctuary which time, + ever-flowing water, and the hospitable roots of the tree, have combined to + afford. It is there this day. Should it be taken to one or other of the + blue islands in the broad bay, sooner or later it will be discovered + nestling cosily in the grotto in which the dyed slime smears it as with + pale blood. + </p> + <p> + To the ordinary investigator of the whimsicalities of “Kidj-o-bang” the + blacks betray no secret, though they would verify, with what to them is + proof positive, that it does on occasion appear in unexpected places and + unaccountably reoccupies its cell. Discreetly pursue the subject and + peradventure you may be told precisely why the stone may not always rest + in the one spot in the whole world which it fits as a kernel its shell. It + has been, they assert, associated with an evil deed of which it is now the + emblem. Among the many the mysteries of “Kidj-o-bang” dwell with the past, + though it is still associated with the ceremonies of the bestowal of + totemic names on the children of a certain father. + </p> + <p> + More than one legend concerning it is extant, and the young fellows of the + present day frankly scoff at them all, while the old men believe each + other's versions and repeat them with bated breath. They cannot discredit + stories which were accepted as established facts when they were young, + which no one then ever dreamed of doubting, and which provide a + comfortably satisfactory account for otherwise perplexing incidents. + </p> + <p> + Musing on the spot, the legend of the roving stone usurped my thoughts. + The trivial and uncertain notions of the black boy who was the first to + tell it, and by theatrical gestures to illustrate its verities, became + more and more indistinct. The soothsayers of the long past had been + forbidden by Nature to doubt that which was the lore of the camp. Was it + that Nature re-asserted her influence—that the essences of the + scene, subtle and pervasive, had recurred, creating a receptive spirit, so + deep a religion of assent that shadow and substance intermingled to my + bewilderment? I was permitted to be a sensitive percipient in the midst of + the ashes of shiftless folk who had passed away, catching but a casual and + deceptive glimpse of the coming of the desolating white man. + </p> + <p> + Piln-goi, the black boy, had wandered up the creek. A thrilling silence + prevailed. Stooping down, I laved my hands in the softly flowing water, + idly intent on lifting the stone. The tawny slime defeated irresolute + efforts, and my slipping hands bestowed a baptismal splash. + </p> + <p> + Instantly I became conscious of a strange presence, and, glancing over my + shoulder, saw an unfamiliar black boy lurking behind a glistening-fronded + Cycad. + </p> + <p> + The whole scene had undergone wishful transformation. The white-barked + trees, purified of smears from the sooty fingers of fire, stood out in + splendid contrast to a richer, thicker, a flowery undergrowth. Tall fern + trees spread green cobwebs to entrap sunbeams. The Cycad under which the + boy crouched was slim-shaped, and its foliage resembled that of one of the + most beautiful of ferns, with languorous, dolorous fronds, while it was + crowned with a huge fruit of golden-brown. All the scene had been + wondrously transfigured. Time's treacheries had been defeated. A + garden-like age had been restored. The sword-leaved orchid dangled + yard-long sprays of brilliant yellow flowers, which saturated the air with + delicate perfume. Fearless birds fluttered among and hovered over the + pendant blooms, whistling and calling. Water-rats sported in the + lily-bespangled stream, and a platypus basked, on the bank. + </p> + <p> + From the strained and expectant attitude of the boy, it was apparent that + he was hunting. He stepped cautiously out of cover, and, using a wommera + of dark wood with oval clutches of white shell, threw a spear into the + long grass. A kangaroo, mad with fear and pain, staggered forward, knowing + not whence fate had struck it, and, lurching helplessly, sank among the + ferns on the margin of the water. Ignoring my presence the boy, having + completed the hunter's office with a blow from a nulla-nulla, called in a + thin, shrill voice: + </p> + <p> + “Yano-lee!” (We go this way). + </p> + <p> + In a few seconds a young girl of his own race stepped through the leafy + screen. She cast casual glances at the dead kangaroo, and without saying a + word to her companion came to the pool, stooped down beside me, and drank + eagerly and noisily, using a scoop improvised from a leaf. Her back + glistened with perspiration, and her coarse, fuzzy, uncleanly hair ceased + in tufts on her neck. It was a slim and shapely little figure. The plumes + of the orchid, golden and syrupy, swayed over her heedless head and seemed + to caress it. Her eyes, round, large, and brimful of the bewildering + eagerness of youth, relieved the unobtrusive expansiveness of her nose and + almost atoned for her savage lips. Though almost touching me, the most + shy, wild creature of the bush seemed unconscious of my presence. She was + in fact and deed: + </p> + <p> + “We have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible.” I was the phantom—invisible, + intangible. The pair beside, the unembarrassed realities. + </p> + <p> + Do phantoms reflect? That privilege was mine. Let memory treasure every + detail of the scene, every vestige of its incidents. + </p> + <p> + “Kidj-o-bang” had vanished. There was its cell. A full and stainless + stream, in a gurgling cataract, sparkled over the big root, while high + among the blossoms birds clambered incessantly for nectar. + </p> + <p> + The primitive pair were at home, but not at case, In this Garden of Eden. + They spoke in mumbling tones, of which I could catch but stray phrases, + though I listened eagerly. Presently the girl took up two dry sticks, and, + using one as a drill between the palms of her hands, essayed to make a + fire. + </p> + <p> + The boy imperatively intervened. “Poo-nee imba!” (No fire). + </p> + <p> + The girl started up, and instantly both slid into the jungle as silently + and as tracklessly as snakes. + </p> + <p> + The dead kangaroo, the expectant phantom (gifted for the time being with a + faculty more subtle than any moral sense), remained alone among the birds + and the orchids, while shy pencil-tailed water-rats began to sniff and + peer among the sedges. So enthralling was the scene that time passed + insensibly. The sun was overhead when the pair reappeared noiselessly. + Smears of shell and grit betrayed an intervening meal of oysters. Swarms + of green ants, in a scramble for food, almost obscured the blood-stains on + the fur of the kangaroo, and, brushing them away, the boy made and + enlarged with his fingers an opening in the body, and having torn out the + heart, liver, and kidneys, made a fire, scarce a hand's-breadth wide and + smokeless, on which the meat was singed prior to being munched with grim + deliberation. They ate largely, some of the flesh from the hind quarters + being also eaten, scrap by scrap. + </p> + <p> + Were they fugitives? Tall and strong, the boy was as alert and suspicious + as a dingo. Every sense was strained. He seemed intent upon subduing the + very noises in his head as he slowly crushed his food and gulped. + </p> + <p> + A forlorn cry, half appeal, half gurgle, filtered through the leafage as + from the beach, and on the instant the jungle had soundlessly absorbed the + affrighted pair. The handful of fire and the mutilated kangaroo remained + as the only evidences of the handiwork of man. + </p> + <p> + What of the intruder? The cry was almost too weird to be human. Again it + thrilled through the leafage, a trifle stronger, and seemed to convey a + threat commingled with a prayer for succour. + </p> + <p> + The scene held me. I was powerless, but not indifferent; capable of sight, + incapable of action or utterance. Something in the tone of the voice told + of a member of my own race in sore distress. Yet I could not respond to + his appeal or move to his aid. + </p> + <p> + Half an hour of intense silence passed, and then a lusty shout startled + the air. Surely, I thought, the wayfarer who makes such outcry in this + unpeopled wilderness is an uncouth fellow who has lost his way and thinks + to dialogue with echoes for relief of loneliness. Presently the cracking + of branchlets and a rumble of discontented phrases told of someone + blundering along through the mangroves. Accustomed to the gentle sounds + and the delicious silence of the jungle, the clumsy noises irritated while + preparing me for the sight of the intruder—a big, aggressive, + weather-scored man, his only clothing a pair of short pants of canvas, + stained with wear and stiff and whitened with frost like sea-salt. The + ocean had but an hour ago cast him like its scum on the beach. + </p> + <p> + He burst on the scene to plunge his broken lips into the water at my feet. + Like the natives, he drank long and noisily, and when his thirst was + allayed called to an imaginary mate—“Pietro, Pietro!” cursed freely + when no answer came, and whimpered like a babe. + </p> + <p> + Huge of body, strong of limb, bully and brute stamped on his coarse + features, yet did his dread of loneliness piteously overcome him. His bald + pate, hung about with scant reddish ringlets, had been roasted by the + tropic sun until it glowed, and eyes and nose strove for supremacy of + inflammation. An unkempt moustache did not hide teeth of disreputable + tint; chin and jowl were covered with a fortnight's growth of streaky + hair. + </p> + <p> + Turning from the water, he saw the dismembered kangaroo, and, seizing one + of the legs, tore the flesh from the bones and with ravenous greed began + an uncleanly feast. The impure drank of the pure water and gulped the + strong flesh until his gorged stomach swelled cask-shape, and then he + slept as noisily as he had eaten and drank. + </p> + <p> + A leathern belt, cracked and whitened, furrowed his distended girth, and + as he lay stretched with the sun scrutinising his face, flies and + mosquitoes and carnivorous green ants feasted on his blood at will. Each + leaden-tinted, lean fly revelled until it assumed similitude to a + colouring grape, some “reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken men”; + bloated mosquitoes and green ants, commingling, made a living mosaic on + the skin of the unconscious man. What could the assaults and stings of + myriads of insects avail against fatigue so formidable? + </p> + <p> + But a decree had gone forth that the sleeper should wake, and who is man + that he should flout imperious commands? The merciless sun insisted. The + strong man fidgeted under the persistent blaze. Perspiration poured from + his skin; he snarled; his eyelids twitched and quivered; the veins of neck + and forehead throbbed ominously. The sun does not tolerate disobedience. A + thin trickle of blood issued from the grimy nose, and with a snort the man + awoke, his flame-red eye% swilled with enforced tears. Dazedly he plunged + his head into the water and drank greedily, and, sitting up, spat sullenly + and with signs of disgust and contempt. What comfort could cold water + afford so repleted a stomach? + </p> + <p> + Having disdainfully spurned the remnants of the kangaroo, he sat head + between knees, grumbling against fate. To him the fruitful and pleasant + land was disconsolate. A castaway, he had drifted on to its welcome + shores, and all that it could offer was loneliness, cold water, the raw + flesh of a strange animal, and denial of the solace of sleep. Out of the + depths of his misery and dejection he called imperatively on his God, and + taking from the lining of his belt a thumb-sized purse, of netted silver, + displayed a glorious pearl, which he held aloft, and with an admixture of + supplication and imprecation proffered it to the Most High as grudging + ransom from a God-abandoned country. + </p> + <p> + Who is there that delights not in the susceptible purity of pearls? The + gem which symbolises virginal placidity was like to be contaminated by the + coarse handling of the fretful, bargaining castaway. + </p> + <p> + Did I lean forward acquisitively to accept it from the noisome fingers, + reluctant that so serene a prize should be retained in so coarse a + setting? + </p> + <p> + The man started, for the votive offering had vanished, and blasphemous + lamentations and curses against the Supreme Being, whom he abused for + defrauding him of fortune by trickery, shocked the quietude. Then a spasm + of religious fervour jerked him to his knees as he patronised the Almighty + for having accepted a pledge for safe-conduct from death-like solitude. + After transports of impious piety, as uncouth and boisterous as his + struggles through the labyrinth of mangroves to the purifying water, he + sat bareheaded in the sun. + </p> + <p> + Steamy heat distilled strong aromatic odours from the myriad leaves; + languid flowers gave copiously and of the best of their fragrance; ferns + and lotus did obeisance to high noon. The birds had ceased to whistle, and + the droning of bees gave to the upper air slumbering rhythm of its own. + </p> + <p> + Again the intruder slept. Again the sun commanded and he woke raging. + Standing, he cursed both loud and long, eyes protuberant, face purpling + under the strain of vindictive oaths. + </p> + <p> + What an unflattering contrast to the unclad natives who had dominated yet + blended with the scene-the girl the prototype of a swaying palm, the boy + that of a tough young bloodwood beside the creek, among the topmost + branches of which a crimson-flowered mistletoe made a splash of colour in + harmony with the single red feather from the wing of a black cockatoo + which the soft-tongued youth had entangled in his hair. + </p> + <p> + This gross, profane, sun-smitten, sea-rejected herald of civilisation, + disowned by his fellows, disinherited of the world, defiled the spot, and + his voice created an inaugural discord. + </p> + <p> + With arms uplifted, he muttered ineffectual curses against his fellows, + upbraided his saints, and defied his deity. But while his lips frothed + with the passion of a stuttering tongue, the provoked but just genius of + the spot passed sentence, and swiftly and silently the messengers of Death + came. Four slender spear& penetrated his shaggy chest, as with a &cream + which ended lit a gulp he splashed back into the water. His struggles and + splutterings soon ceased. Silence resumed its fascination. + </p> + <p> + Blood welled from the mouth and nose and spear wounds, which the eager + water carried off in wavy, independent streams, while the dead face + whitened. + </p> + <p> + Many minutes elapsed before a dozen white-eyed natives cautiously oozed + through the Jungle, stimulating each other's nervousness by reassuring + gestures. Certain that the trespasser on their dominion was incapable of + mischief, they began to chatter, showing fidgety interest in the body, + which they touched and poked fearsomely with spears. + </p> + <p> + Dead eyes stared unblinkingly at the sun through a curtain of water, which + had already cleaned them of heat and passion, and wisps of red hair + drifted over the forehead. + </p> + <p> + The untimely yelp of a dingo some few yards in the jungle inspired a + similar response from one of the men, and without shyness or reserve the + boy and girl joined the throng, and all began to talk excitedly. Some of + the men assumed threatening attitudes towards the girl, who stood + submissively, while the boy talked in a rage of excitement. He had chosen + his mate, and would not, even on pain of summary death, abandon her. + </p> + <p> + So trivial an incident as the love affairs of boy and girl could not + compare with the phenomenon in the water. The crisis was momentary. + Amazement was pictured in every face, and not a man but subjected the + bleeding body to gross contempt and what passed among them for ridicule. + They mimicked the high stomach as they stood, as the dead man had stood, + with arms aloft in rebellion against his lot, and fell back, as he had + fallen, screaming, to kick and wallow on the ground. Here was plot and + matter for ludicrous corroboree, the first rehearsal of which took place + on the scene. + </p> + <p> + Soon curiosity took possession of the unstable actors. The belt was + removed, and on the purse being fumbled with, several small pearls fell + out. They were disregarded; but the strong man of the party looped the + belt about his own inadequate waist, the girl hid the purse (which had + been passed from hand to hand) in her hair, while the men tore the bone + buttons from the pants and fitted them into their ears as they strutted + foppishly. + </p> + <p> + The dead eyes stared defiantly up into the sky, the face whitened, and the + stains of blood seemed to settle on it. + </p> + <p> + A harsh sound came as an electric shock, and I heard as from afar off + Piln-goi shout: + </p> + <p> + “You bin sleep long time, boss! Big low water. We fella look out + pearl-shell!” + </p> + <p> + The scene had resumed everyday aspects. The sun concentrated its rays on + my head through a rift in the jungle, and the stone, stained dull red, lay + in its cell, while rootlets fringed with tawny slime wavered over it. + </p> + <p> + Had soul communed with soul on that illusive borderland we range in + dreams, the emblem of a deed of blood eloquent to reveal its secret? And + now that the tale is told, will it cease from bewildering the simple old + men of the soil who with one hand grapple the magical past and with the + other the realities of the present? + </p> + <p> + Piln-goi's impatience drew me from the spot and out on to the reef laid + bare by the ebb. The beguiling pearl still eludes him, but memory holds a + rarer treasure than all the fecund sea contains. + </p> + <p> + End + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tropic Days, by E. J. 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