Part 18 (2/2)

Various figs, ranging in size froe red currant to a tennis-ball, and in colour froreen to red, purple and black, sweet and generally ar-oo”), although ”close up all bone”; but the Davidsonian plum, plentiful on the mainland, would be absent

The scape of the ELETTARIA SCOTTIANA, oozing viscid nectar,with toh nuts of the ”Moo-jee” (TERMINALIA MELANOCARPA), and the drupes of the ”Can-kee”

(PANDanus AQUATICUS) to extract the narroeet kernels, and sipping the while cordial coruin”), acidulous and nippy, the e in after-dinner stories and reins and piccaninnies drink heartily of water sweetened with sugar-bag (honey-comb), and chew the seeds contained in the china-blue pericarp of the native ginger--”Ool-pun” (ALPINIA CAERULA)

Many vegetable foods would still be unenumerated, and there would be numerous shell-fish--periwinkles, cockles, mussels, scallops, dolphins, besides crabs On rare occasions a scrub fowl (the blacks had no reliablethat wary bird, and when fortune favoured, it was an instance of bad luck on its part), with pigeons, carpet snakes, and sea-birds' eggs ent search revealed the location on the island of two art galleries, or rather independent studios, where there are exhibited works of distinct character Tradition points to the existence of a third, the discovery of which gives zest to each exploratory expedition

Possibly it inal exploits in the realms of fancy, and so confirm the opinion that the black artists were not ed to different schools, each having his ownhis talent free and untranated the Lower Studio is on the eastern slope, and is only to be approached fro a tiresole, and a descent a a confusion of rocks and boulders It is situated about a couple of hundred feet above sea-level, quite hidden in the leafy wilderness which covers that aspect of the island froe Unless the spot was indicated, one h I had made frequent inquiries, its existence wasconsidered insignificant colories of which had frequently been descanted upon Taking the sea-route, there is a natural harbour available, just capacious enough for a ses, a dense and tangled scrub ”whereto the clie of such aids as aerial roots, slirowths of the so called native ginger, begins the steep ascent Where the rock does not ee from the surface, the black soil is loose and kept in perpetual cultivation by scrub fowl, the wonder being that earth reposes at such an angle But for interlacing and matted roots all must slide down to the sea

A few minutes' exertion lands one at the portal of the studio, which is of the lean-to order of architecture, a granite boulder having one fairly vertical face being overshadowed by a rees

Here originally there were five exhibits Two have weathered away alness, some faint streaks and blotches of red earth, in whichThose subjects that are readily decipherable are mutilated after the style of certain much-prized antiques

Of those which have successfully withstood the ravages of time, two apparently represent lizards, and the third see with a rudiht possibly build upon this einal is indeed and in fact the ical venture those who e of ued that the picture reveals an act of unconscious cerebration--an instinctive knowledge of ancestors with tails?

However that may be, the unconscious artist took further artless liberties with the human form divine He had been at pains, too, to smooth down the face of the rock for the reception of the unshaded daubs of terra-cotta, using peradventure the flat stone upon which he ont to bruise the hot and biting roots of the aroid (COLOCASIA MACRORRHIZA) which formed part of his diet The utensil lies there at the entrance where he left it; the plants grow in profusion close by a the rocks; but of the artist there is no record, save the crude and grotesque figures in fading red on the grey granite

Most of the central figure is clearly discernible; but parts of the outline have becoures once had black heads--the only attempts at the introduction of a second colour--but no traces of the black heads are now visible They must have succuo

In one case, fact seeestions of a red head--and a red-headed black is as rare as a black with a tail; but the traces are so extreue and indeterminate as to render any attempt at restoration hopeless But does not this obscurity and partial dismemberment lend an air of antiquity, e frescoes?

Of quite a different order are the works in the Upper Studio at the sign of the White Stripe This lies close to the backbone of the island, in the heart of a bewildering jule Circumstantial accounts of the treasures there to be seen had deterh the traditions of the blacks were strengthened by a mild sort of enthusiasht service towards revealing the precise locality None of the living res All trusted to the saying of ”old ht ends founded on the unverified testieneration; but beingbeco that which had not been seen by white folks, nor, indeed, by any living person, I also trusted and persevered

From shi+ps that pass to the East e rock, so sharply defined and accurate in alignuide to , for the floor of the ocean is streith patches of coral, and the rocks are singularly forbidding, save on cal the blacks asserted that the paintings were on a rock below the disjointed precipice on the top of the ridge n was found to be due to the bleaching of the rock face by the drainage fro's horn fern Possessed of this infor run to be trustworthy, several exploratory trips were undertaken To reach the locality from Brammo Bay, one must cross the middle of the backbone of the island, and descend some little distance on the Pacific slope

I scaled and scralooed with ferns and orchids, squeezed through narrow tunnels, and groped in dark recesses without finding any evidence of prehistoric art Blacks do not care to venture into places where twilight always reigns, though they are curious to learn the experiences and sensations of other explorers of the glooreat granite rock, which on three previous excursions had been overlooked, the paintings were discovered In their execution the artist must have lain on his back, for the ”cave” does not perht in it, except towards the wide and expansive front, and the subjects are on the ceiling, which is fairly flat The floor, thick with a fine brown dust ranite, and dimpled with hundreds of pitfalls of the ant-lion, slopes upward It is cool, and a dry, secure spot Not even the torrential rains of many decades of wet seasons have da the dust of ages; when sitting back to ad, he necessarily imprints patterns which are the replicas of thosethe anonymous dead

The sea laves the hot rocks 600 feet below, and booobbles in the cool crevices; but up here the outlook is obscured by rocks and giant trees, and an artistic soul, longing for soratify itself in accordance with its lights--crude though they were Here, at the entrance, lie a couple of charred sticks, significant of the last fire of the artist, which so On the very doorstep is a disc of pearl-shell, the discarded beginning of a fish-hook These relics give to the scene a pathetic interest As I looked at theave a discordant, echoing croak, which started the sulky and suspicious black boy who attended ht; while a scrub fowl, scratching for its living overhead, dislodged a chip of granite which went clicking down the rocks ”Tom,” at the instant, felt that the spirit of the departed wasand the activity of a bird, resentone

But we had come far on a toilsoh a transient feeling of reluctance to disturb the sole the fervid praises of the treasures by those who had not seen them, a sense of disappointment when they came to be examined was inevitable They are not to be classed in any standard beyond that displayed on early school-slates; but imperfect as they are, they possess a certain symmetry and proportion, and the facts that they are where they are, and that the artist--dead and forgotten--had no light or leading, and was in other respects probably one of the s, are sufficient to lend to the drawings an interest as absorbing (though of a nature quite apart) as that hich the average individual contemplates the stiff works of inal art refers to sinificant title Apparently the rock surface was slightly sn follows the ridges and hollows--the subjects being worked in, in dry earth of a chalky nature, dull red in colour Animated nature and still life have been studied and reproduced The turtle is true, and the most conspicuous and sharply-defined study the least convincing It resembles those fantastic interwoven shapes that some men in fits of abstraction or idleness sketch on their own blotting-pads, and which signify nothing

Co the works of the two studios, there is little doubt that there were at least two artists native of Dunk Island in times past, and in that respect the island was infinitely superior to its present state

Each appears to have effected a different kind of work--one devoting himself to realistic reptiles and the human form debased, and the other alns, and the representation of the anie One illustrated ave to one of his reptiles a semi-human shape; the other exercised an exuberant fancy for ornaeneration works that are at least free from the subtleties of art

Most of us have hadeifts have been developed tofor perfection Do not these clu their environinal and unacadeere soul controlled by wilful aesthetic ens and symbols capable of elucidation, but the earliest and only efforts of an illiterate race, a race in intellectual infancy, towards the ideal--a forlorn but none the less sincere atteht that quickens dreams to deeds!”

The last of the series of ”Black Art” pictures is not local It occurs on the reverse of a shi+eld, the spear-punctured lower edge of which verifies its eventful history The warrior-artist silhouetted a sweetheart's figure, where, at supreave the battle to his hands

A POISONOUS FOOD

One of the chief vegetable foods of the blacks is the fruit of ”tinda-burra” (Moreton Bay chestnut--CASTANOSPERMUM AUSTRALE) The plentiful pea-shaped flowers range in colour froe to scarlet, and contain large quantities of nectar, which attracts ard this tree with special favour and consideration A casual remark, as I observed the industry of insects about the flowers, that the bean-tree was good for bees, elicited the scornful response, ”Good for raceful shape, the bole often pillar-like in its sy colour, and so beautifully grained that it is fast beco It bears a prolific crop of large beans, from two to five in each of its squat pods, but they are, as Mr Standfast found the waters of Jordan, ”to the palate bitter, and to the stomach cold,” and require special treatment in order to eliminate a poisonous principle Many che that theyany noxious eles die if they eat the raw bean, and a reat pain, followed by most unpleasant consequences, the research was continued, until within quite a recent date the presence of saponin was detected Before science made its discovery, the blacks were very positive on the point of the poisonous qualities of the bean, and took measures to eli steeped in water for several days, are dried in the sun, roasted in hot ashes, and pounded between stones into a coarse kind of meal, which may be kept for an indefinite period When required for use the meal is mixed ater, made into a thin cake or damper, and baked in the ashes Prepared in this way the cake resembles a coarse shi+p's biscuit In other parts, the beans are scraped by means of mussel-shells into a ver in water Our blacks have a enious method of preparation, and employ a specially formed culinary implement, which is used for no other purpose They take the commonest of the land shells--”kurra-dju” (XANTHOMELON PACHYSTYLA)--and breaking away the apex grind down the back on a stone until but littlecarefully worked to a fine edge, the only housewifery implement that the blacks possess is perfect With the iht hand, between the thu on the thuulate the thickness of the shaving to a nicety

It is women's work to collect the beans,In the first place the beans are cooked, the oven consisting of hot stones covered with leaves In three or four hours they are taken out and planed, a dilly-bag (basket rass) full of the shavings is i then ready for consumption without further preparation In appearance it resembles coarse tapioca, and it has no particular flavour To give it zest, so sea-water beside them when they dine, into which each portion of the mess is dipped As saponin is very soluble in water, by soaking the shredded beans for a few days the blacks resort to an absolutely perfecta poisonous substance into a valuable and sustaining, if tasteless, food No doubt, , shredded beans would pass without comment as a substitute for tapioca