Part 7 (2/2)

No doubt had the blacks ever learned that it was all done for effect on my part, the result would have been very serious; but I kneas pretty secure because of the abnor them

The women, as I have before hinted, are treated in a horribly cruel ed from our standpoint; but in reality they know not what cruelty is, because they are absolutely ignorant of kindness They are the beasts of burden, to be felled to the earth with a bludgeon when they err in some trivial respect; and when camp is moved each woman carries virtually the whole household and the entire worldly belongings of the fa a load consisting of one or two children and a quantity of rindstones, stone hatchets, sewing-bones, ya of the ca practically unencumbered, save only for their elaborate shi+eld, three spears (never more), and a stone tomahawk stuck in their belt of woven opossu of tobacco, but their principal recreation and relaxation fro of their eapons, which is a very important part of their daily life They will even fell a whole tree, as has already been explained, to le spear shaft As to the shi+eld, the elaborate carving upon it corresponds closely with the prowess of the owner; and the ains, theon his shi+eld Honour prevents undue pretence

But we have wandered away froirls play with their brothers and participate in their fights until they are perhaps ten years of age They are then expected to accompany their mothers on the daily excursions in search of roots When the little girls are first taken out by their mothers they are instructed in the use of the ya up out of the earth The stick used by the woirl novices use a short one about fifteen inches in length Each woman, as I have said elsewhere, is also provided with a reed basket or net, in which to hold the roots, this being usually woven out of strings of prepared bark; or, failing that, native flax or palm straw

But the unfortunate wife occasionally makes the acquaintance of the heavy yam-stick in a very unpleasant, not to say serious, manner Of course, there are domestic rows We will suppose that the husband has lately paid a great aer wives--a circureat offence to one of the older women This wife, when she has an opportunity and is alone with her husband, co of quite her own co she weaves all the abuse which long experience tells her will lash her husband up to boiling-point The later stanzas co a nation of real warriors to live a cowards, whose hearts, livers, and other vital organs are not at all up to the standard of her people

The epithets are carefully arranged up a scale until they reach _bandy- legged_--an utterly unpardonable insult But there is, beyond this, one other unpublishable remark, which causes the husband to take up the yaer with one tremendous blohich is frequently so serious as to disable her for many days The other women at once see to their sister, who has incurred the wrath of her lord, and rub her wounds eird arded as quite an ordinary affair; and after the sufferer is able to get about again she bears her husband not the slightest ill-feeling You see, she has had her say and paid for it

The girls, as they grow up, are taught to cook according to the native fashi+on, and are also required to build ovens in the earth or sand; enerally help their th theit is very peculiar First of all, the wooes and picks out the tit-bits for himself, and then sits down to eat them off a small sheet of bark More often, however, he si his meal, the wives and children are collected behind at a respectful distance, awaiting their own share Then, as the warrior eats, he literally hurls certain oddments over his shoulder, which are pro It sometimes happens, however, that a favourite child--a boy invariably, never a girl (it is the girls who are eaten by the parents whenever there are any superfluous children to be got rid of)--will approach his father and be fed with choice reat man's ”plate”

Each tribe has its own particular country over which it roams at pleasure, and the boundaries are defined by trees, hillocks, mountains, rocks, creeks, and water-holes And froet their names Outside the tribal boundary--which often incloses a vast area--the blacks never go, except on a friendly visit to a neighbouring cas punishable with death, and even if any wo for food in another country she is seized and punished I will tell you later on how even Yamba ”put her foot” in it in this way

The blacks areatribe never escapes their vigilance, even though he succeeds in returning to his own people without being actually captured So assiduously do these blacks study the footprints of people they know and are friendly with, that they can tell at once whether the trespasser is an eneer, a punitive expedition is at once organised against his tribe

Gradually I came to think that each man's track must have an individuality about it quite as reated by Galton and Bertillon The blacks could even tell a s about him, solely from his tracks--how, it is of course impossible for me to say I have often known my blacks to follow a man's track _over hard rocks_, where even a disturbed leaf proved an infallible clue, yielding a perfectly miraculous amount of information They will knohether a leaf has been turned over by the wind or by huency!

But to continue my narrative Ya her people, and so, with the assistance of other women, she built me a substantial beehive-shaped hut, fully twenty feet in diah She pointed out toI could possibly wish for, and that I reat man indeed in the country if only I would take a prominent part in the affairs of the tribe She also e, that if I wished I ht take untothe sole token of greatness a these people You see they had to be fed, and that ith Nevertheless, I pined for civilisation, and never let a day go by without scanning the bay and the open sea for a passing sail The natives told me they had seen shi+ps at various times, and that attempts had even been made to reach them in catamarans, but without success, so far out at sea were the vessels passing

Gradually, about nine e Gulf home, there came a time when life becae of soo mad I was on the very best of ter was repulsive to an to loathe the food, and the horrible cruelty to the women frequently sickened me Whenever I saw one of these poor patient creatures felled, bleeding, to the earth, I felt erous nervous excitee the brutal assailant as a murderous enemy Each tis At length the spirit of unrest grew so strong that I determined to try a short trip inland in a direction I had never hitherto atte-out, round Cape Londonderry, and then go south a the beautiful islands down past Ad my residence on the Cape, and where I had found food and water abundant; nueous vegetation Yaly consented to accompany me, and one day I set off on the sea onceher net full of odds and ends, and I with my bow and arrows, tomahawk, and stiletto; the two latter carried inthe islands, for my natives told th we started off in our dug-out, the sea being perfectly calenerally with us After several days' paddling we got into a narrow passage between a long elevated island and the main, and from there found our way into an inlet, at the head of which appeared ed rocks These rocks were, ins, which were protected fros I found represented men chiefly My own contributions consisted of life-size sketches ofhair, and also reproduced hted, and the rock s; in fact, there were indications on all sides that the place was frequently used by the natives as a caround A considerable quantity of bark lay strewn about the ground in sheets, whichThis was the first time I had known the black-fellows to use any material in this way I also came across traces of a feast--such as ee heaps, bones of anily well stocked with fish; and here I saw large crayfish for the first ti This inlet ue Sound, a little to the south of Admiralty Gulf

We stayed a couple of days in this beautiful spot, and then pushed down south again, always keeping close under shelter of the islands on account of our frail craft The seas through which we paddled were studded with innumerable islands, soe and grass We landed on several of these, and on one--it h cairn or mound of stones erected on the most prominent point Yamba told me that this structure was not the work of a native She explained that the stones were laid too regularly A closer examination convinced me that the cairn had been built by some European--possibly a castaway--and that at one tinal to passing shi+ps Food was very plentiful on this island, roots and yareat abundance Rock wallabies were also plentiful

After leaving this island we continued our journey south, paddling only during the day, and alith the tide, and spending the night on land

By the hilst a the islands, I cans of civilisation, in the form of a lower mast of a shi+p, and a deck-house, a wicker-basket, empty brandy cases, and other flotsam and jetsam, which, I supposed, had co been absent froe Gulf, two or three e bay, which I no to be King's Sound I had come across many tribes of natives on my way down Some I met were on the islands on which we landed, and others on the mainland Most of these black-fellows knewbeen present at the great whale feast The natives at King's Sound recognised ave me a hearty invitation to stay with them at their camp This I consented to do, andthe coast on the look-out for passing vessels, so that I nals when one was in sight Not long after this cah

One of the chiefs told me quite casually that at another tribe, some days' journey away, the chief had TWO WHITE WIVES They had, he went on to explain, a skin and hair exactly like my own; but in spite of even this assurance, after the first shock of amazement I felt confident that the captives were Malays The news of their presence a the coast of King's Sound My informant had never actually _seen_ the white women, but he was absolutely certain of their existence He added that the captives had been seized after a fight with so catao and see for myself what manner of women they were The canoe was beached well above the reach of the tides at Cone Bay, and then, accoion of the encampment towards which I now directed my steps lies between the Lennard River and the Fitzroy The exact spot, as near as I can fix it on the chart, is a place called Derby, at the head of King's Sound As we advanced the country beca it in every direction Farther on, however, it developed into a rich, low-lying, park-like region, ater in abundance To the north-west appeared elevated ranges I came across many fine specimens of the bottle tree

The blacks enca had the news forwarded to thenals

The camp described by unyahs, or break-winds, hs, and I at once presented my ”card”--the ubiquite passport stick; which never left s This stick was sent to the chief, who immediately manifested tokens of friendshi+p towards me

Unfortunately, however, he spoke an entirely different dialect froe I explained to him that I wished to stay with him for a few ”sleeps” (hand held to the side of the head, with fingers for numbers), and partake of his hospitality To this he readily consented

Now, I knew enough of the custo them, they would on request providemy stay,--entirely as a matter of cerehtin an immediate demand for the thite women--if they existed You see, I wanted an intervieith the them away I confess I was consumed with an intense curiosity to learn their history--even to see thereat world now so remote in reater part of the day with the chief, for any man who manifests a desire for wo, when the fact ofthe tribe had become more extensively known, and their curiosity aroused by the stories that Yareat _corroboree_, which lasted nearly the whole of the night As I was sitting near a big fire, joining in the chanting and festivities, Yamba noiselessly stole to my side, and whispered in my ear that _she had found the thite women_

I re the, Yalish,” because this ould have conveyed nothing to her; and she also told me that the prisoners were in a dreadful state ofto native custom, were the absolute property of the chief He was seated not very far away from me, and was certainly one of thecreatures I have ever coh, and of rather a lighter complexion than his fellows,--almost like a Malay The top of his head receded in a very curious enerally protruded like an alligator's, and gave him a truly diabolical appearance I confess a thrill of horror passed through irls were in the clutches of this , and that the o were filling my mind with some fantastic delusion For a s of their prosaic British relatives, could they only have knohat had beco and more fearful than any ever conceived by the writer of fiction Of course, my readers will understand that much detail about the fate of these poor creatures must be suppressed for obvious reasons

But should any existing relatives turn up, I shall be only too happy to place at their disposal all the information I possess