Part 8 (1/2)
”The interpreter explained to us that the return-booular boo in its course Wonderful stories have been told of the use of this weapon in war,--how the black felloill launch it two or three hundred yards, and have it kill one or more of his eneht will convince any one that the two things together are impossible In order to return to the place whence it started, the boo in its way When it is used for killing round of its thrower
”Fro as a weapon in the hands of a good thrower is very dangerous It can be made to hit a un or a spear could not possibly reach hiaroo has fallen before it The skillful throithin reaching distance of a kangaroo or an emu, is as sure of his prey as a white man would be with a Winchester rifle”
Ned and Harry tried to learn fro was invented, and all they could get froht upon the subject by picking up a leaf of the gu it fall to the ground It gyrated and changed its course as it descended
Then he picked it up and threw it straight froain and returned towards hileaf, and especially a leaf of the guh all the tribes of Australian blacks, it is not likely to have been a recent invention
”I have read so was known to the ancient Egyptians, and that there is also so a tribe of Indians in Arizona
If it is true that the Egyptians of old ti, 'There is nothing new under the sun,'
but it seereatly superior to the Arizona one, as it can be projected very much further and with farwas evidently very well satisfied with his 's work, and he was certainly very liberally paid for his performances He invited our friends to take dinner with hih the youths were suspicious that the invitation was all a joke Anyhow, they did not accept it, as they thought that the s which were visible, would have no temptation either for the eye or the appetite
Harry heard the following story, which he duly entered in his notebook:--
”Once a lawyer undertook the defense of a black felloho had been arrested for stealing a gold watch The evidence holly circumstantial, as the stolen property had not been found, and the lawyer handled the case so well that the alleged thief was acquitted A few hours after the trial, the laas seated on the verandah of the principal hotel in the place, engaged in conversation with thecame the black fellow
”'Can I wear the watch now?' said the black, at the saistrate burst into a loud and hearty laugh The lawyer laughed, too, but his laughter had a very hollow sound, and then he shouted an einal”
Quite a little town had sprung up at the terminus of the railway, and Dr Whitney said it re the Pacific railways of the United States during the course of their construction
The comparison, he said, was favorable to the Australian town, as the inhabitants seemed far more orderly than did those of the transitory A the tiht, and the coroner was not called upon to perform his usual official duties
The ternified with the name of a creek, but no creek was visible Water was supplied by an artesian well, driven to a depth of eight hundred feet The water was slightly brackish but quite drinkable, and when it was made into tea or coffee the brackish flavor disappeared
Our friends returned to Adelaide by the way they had gone from it, and after a day or two more in the capital of South Australia, they took the train for Melbourne Ned made note of the fact that had been mentioned to him, that of all the money raised by taxation in South Australia, one fifth of it is used for educational purposes He further added that the sareatly to their credit Harry said he did not believe there was a State or city in the whole Ae proportion of the public money was spent for educational matters
The youths learned, in addition, that the schools throughout the colonies are, generally speaking, of excellent quality and the opportunities for higher education in acadees, universities, medical and scientific institutions, and si, are of the best class Nedsummary from the Education Act of South Australia:--
”Schools will be established where there is a certain nue, ill pay a moderate fee to the teachers; four pence for children under seven, and six pence for older children, per child, per week In addition to the fees, the teachers will be paid by the government from seventy-five pounds to two hundred pounds per annum
Schoolhouses will be provided, and all the necessary educational material Four and one half hours constitute the school day All children of school age are required to be under instruction until a certain standard is reached”
Provision is made for the free instruction of children whose parents can show that they are unable to pay for it, but fees can be enforced in all cases where inability to pay theislature for school buildings, teachers' salaries, etc, in order to efficiently aid in the developh and co
South Australia has a goodly nuher education, and it also has a university which is well attended The majority of those who can afford it send their children to private schools rather than to the govern, and no doubt correctly, that the educational facilities are greater in the private institutions than in the public ones
CHAPTER VII
ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE--THE RABBIT PEST--DANGEROUS EXOTICS
The distance from Adelaide to Melbourne is about six hundred miles Our friends found that the journey was hteen or twenty miles an hour For quite a distance out of Adelaide the train ascends an incline as far as Mount Lofty station, where the hill or mountain of that name is situated On the way up the last of the incline our friends watched with a great deal of interest the plains stretching out below the at their feet like a section of carpet laid off into ornamental squares Beyond Mount Lofty station the route descended into the valley of the Murray River, whose waters could be seen winding like a thread through the yellow soil
”This is the longest river in Australia, is it not?” queried Ned
”Yes,” replied the doctor, ”it is the longest and largest river, and, as you have already learned, it is the only one that rehout the year Its mouth is not many miles froh South Australia”
”I wonder they didn't establish the capital city at the mouth of the Murray,” reable stream, which they have not in the present location”