Volume II Part 6 (2/2)
The men, who understood enough of what he was saying to know that he thought these natives had never seen Europeans, became extremely uneasy and begged me to allow them to fire a gun as a signal to them: ”For if we are so near Perth as you suppose, Sir,” they said to me, ”these natives will come to us.” Kaiber hereupon told me that the instant the gun was fired he should run away. This was rather too ridiculous a threat when the coward was afraid to move five yards from us; I therefore ordered a gun to be fired, and then, telling the men to remain steady and prepared in case of accident, I walked off towards the natives, Kaiber, in the meanwhile, sitting on his haunches under cover, muttering to himself, ”The swan, the big head, the stone forehead;” and, as these denunciations reached me, I could not, even in all my misery, forbear smiling at them.
DISCOVERED TO BE FRIENDS.
The natives no sooner heard the gun and saw me approaching than they came running to me. Presently Kaiber called out to me, ”Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey, nadjoo watto, nginnee yalga nginnow,” ”Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey, I am going to them; you sit here a little;” and he then, with his long thin ungainly legs, bounded by me like a deer. ”Imbat, friend,” I heard him cry out, as a young man came running up to him. I grew giddy; I knew Imbat by name, and felt a.s.sured that at all events the lives of a great portion of my party were safe. In a few minutes Kaiber had given an outline of our adventures and present state. Fearing such mischances as had really happened to me, I had, previously to my departure to the north, done my utmost to cultivate the friends.h.i.+p of the northern natives; and most of them, even to the distance of sixty or seventy miles from Perth in that direction, had received presents from me. My name was well known amongst them as a tried friend, although indeed my common denomination was ”Wokeley brudder,” or Oakley's brother; for, from my giving them flour, they concluded that I was a relation of the baker of that name at Perth.
HOSPITABLE RECEPTION BY THEM.
The women were soon called up, bark baskets of frogs opened for us, by-yu nuts roasted, and as a special delicacy I obtained a small fresh-water tortoise. ”Now, friend, sleep whilst I cook,” said Imbat, and lighting a fire he made me lie down and try to slumber whilst he roasted some frogs and the turtle for me. I was not over-well pleased at the skill he chose to exhibit in his cookery, for he thereby delayed me for a longer time than was agreeable, but we were all soon regaling on this native fare.
Anxious questions were put by the men as to their distance from Perth, and the natives all told them they would see it the next morning, ”whilst the sun was still small;” and on further enquiry it turned out that a kangaroo hunter of the name of Porley was at a hut distant only seven miles from us, and according to the account of the natives he had a supply of provisions with him. As soon therefore as I had a little recruited my strength I started on with Imbat to the hut, leaving the men to follow in company with the other natives as rapidly as their strength would allow them. Imbat carried my gun and everything but a book or two and my papers, which, being precious doc.u.ments, I had never trusted out of my own possession, however heavy my labours and misfortunes had been.
He moved merrily along, trying to win me from my moody thoughts by relating all the news of the settlement both as concerned the Europeans and natives; for like all other idle people the natives are great gossips and really love a little scandal. Worn out from fatigue, I was rather petulant and ill-tempered, but Imbat talked on unmindful of this, or only laughed at me, and jeered me for it.
IMBAT'S NOTIONS.
My intentions in going on were to have everything prepared for the men on their arrival at the hut; but when I reached it I found it deserted, the owner having returned to Perth. I however lit a fire and laid down, Imbat again beginning to cook, and then chattering: ”What for do you who have plenty to eat and much money walk so far away in the bush?” I felt amazingly annoyed at this question and therefore did not answer him. ”You are thin,” said he, ”your shanks are long, your belly is small, you had plenty to eat at home, why did you not stop there?” I was vexed at his personalities, besides which it is impossible to make a native understand our love of travel. I therefore replied, ”Imbat, you comprehend nothing, you know nothing.” ”I know nothing!” answered he; ”I know how to keep myself fat; the young women look at me and say, Imbat is very handsome, he is fat. They will look at you and say, He not good, long legs, what do you know? where is your fat? what for do you know so much if you can't keep fat? I know how to stay at home and not to walk too far in the bush.
Where is your fat?” ”You know how to talk; long tongue;” was my reply; upon which Imbat, forgetting his anger, burst into a roar of laughter, and saying, ”and I know how to make you fat,” began stuffing me with frogs, barde, and by-yu nuts. The rest of the party arrived just before nightfall, and, searching the hut, found a paper of tea, and an old tin pot in which they cooked some, and then eating frogs, etc., for their supper, we all laid down to sleep, and in the silence of the night I rendered fervent thanks to my Maker who had again brought us so near the haven where we would be.”
OPINIONS OF THE MEN REGARDING THE FATE OF OUR OTHER PARTY.
April 21.
It had rained all night but we had been a little sheltered by the hut; though from the state of anxiety we were in sleep did not visit our eyes.
This was the first time since I had been out that I had slept so near the men as to be able to overhear their conversation; but the rain forced us all to seek the shelter of the same little hut, and I thus gathered the different stories that they narrated to one another. Their speculations and conjectures naturally ran upon our absent comrades; some imagined that they were within a day or two's march of us, but another party held firmly to the opinion that we should never see them more.
SUPERSt.i.tIONS OF MY MEN.
They could give no apparently satisfactory reason for holding this opinion, and, as there was evidently some deep mystery connected with it, I kept on pressing my servant Coles in order to induce him to tell me whence it arose. At last it came out that Mr. Walker had had a dream, when we were on the sh.o.r.es of Shark Bay and before we had commenced our return home, that some dreadful misfortune had befallen us and that Mr.
Smith, Thomas Ruston, and he himself, were endeavouring to make the Isle of France in a boat, when Mr. Smith died, and the remaining two had eaten his body. Mr. Walker had, with the utmost imprudence, related this dream to some of the men, and they, with that superst.i.tion which is so common amongst sailors and Englishmen of the lower orders, had attached a great degree of importance to it; many circ.u.mstances which had hitherto been unexplained to me now flashed upon my mind; poor Mr. Smith had been very ill at the time Mr. Walker had related this inauspicious dream, and at that period an extraordinary degree of despondency had crept over him, so much so that some of the men imagined he had become deranged. When also we were working our way down the eastern coast of Shark Bay in the boats others of the party had got into a very desponding state, one of whom, Henry Woods, had even gone so far as to tell me when I remonstrated with him on this point that he knew that the greater part of us wore doomed, and that our lives were worth nothing.
My anxiety for those I had left behind me now increased, and about an hour and a half before daylight I started for Perth with Imbat, leaving the others to follow as rapidly as they could, and telling them that I would have food ready for them at Williams's cottage, who was the settler living farthest north from Perth. In about an hour and a half I reached Williams's hut, which I entered, and found his wife and another woman at breakfast.
I had often got a drink of milk at this cottage when I had before been at Perth, and I flattered myself that Mrs. Williams would recollect me; little calculating how strangely want and suffering had changed my appearance. The two women only stared with the utmost surprise and said, ”Why, Magic, what's the matter with you?” (They alluded to a crazy Malay who used to visit the outsettler's houses, and who had somehow or the other acquired the nickname of Magic.) I was rather hurt at my reception and said, ”I am not Magic;” at this they both burst into a roar of laughter and Mrs. Williams said, ”Well, then, my good man, who are you?”
”One who is almost starved,” was my reply. ”Will you take this then,”
said my hostess, handing me a cup of tea she was raising to her lips.
”With all my heart and soul, and G.o.d reward you for it,” was my answer, and I swallowed the delicious draught. Imbat, who had been to search for Williams, now came in and explained who I was; in a few minutes more I was seated at a comfortable breakfast; water was put on to boil, and by the time the things were prepared the rest of the party came up.
ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT PERTH. NOT RECOGNIZED BY MY FRIENDS.
I now washed and made myself as clean as possible. I could obtain no conveyance to take us on to Perth and therefore started to walk in with Imbat, leaving the others to complete their breakfast; but I soon found myself dreadfully ill from having eaten too profusely; still I pushed on as well as I could, and in about an hour and a half reached the house of my friend, L. Samson, Esquire. He could not believe it was me whom he beheld, but having convinced himself of the fact he made me swallow about a tea-spoonful of brandy, and, recruited by this, I was sufficiently recovered to wait upon His Excellency the Governor in order to have immediate steps taken to send off a party in search of my missing comrades.
The Governor could scarcely credit his sight when he beheld the miserable object that stood before him; but in this as in all other instances in which I have known him the goodness of his heart shone conspicuous; not only was every kindness shown me but immediate steps were taken to forward a.s.sistance to those who were still in the bush. Having thus far performed my duty I retired to press a bed once more, having for nearly three consecutive months slept in the open air, on the ground just at the spot where my day's hards.h.i.+p had terminated. So changed was I that those of my friends who had heard of my arrival and were coming to congratulate me pa.s.sed me in the street, whilst others to whom I went up and held out my hand drew back in horror and said, ”I beg your pardon, who are you?”
Ere I was in bed the remainder of the men who were journeying with me arrived, and it had thus pleased Providence to conduct six of us through great suffering and want to the termination of our miseries.
CHAPTER 5. FROM WATER PEAK TO PERTH.
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