These Were No Improvement On The First Lot; All The Old And Ugly
Ladies Of The Neighbouring Tribes Must Have Been Gathered Together.
Their
dogs however, were worthy of notice, for they were Manx-dogs, if such a
word may be coined!
Closer inspection showed that they were not as
nature made them. For the tails of the dingoes the Government pays five
shillings apiece; as their destructive habits amongst sheep make them
better liked dead than alive. A black fellow's dog is much the same as a
dingo - in fact must have descended from the wild dog - and has the same
value in his owner's eyes with or without a tail. A stick of tobacco is
fair payment for a dog's tail. Thus all parties are satisfied except the
dog; and the Government is content to pay, not dreaming that
"dog-stiffeners" (i.e., men who make a living by poisoning dingoes) carry
on so base a trade as bartering tobacco for live dogs' tails!
Our cavalcade still further increased by women and dogs, we proceeded on
our way, until choosing a high sandy bank overlooking the estuary of the
small lake on the South, the creek to the North-West, and a backwater to
the North, we halted and prepared to make camp. This was attended by some
difficulty, for our native friends, now in considerable numbers,
evidently wished to look upon it as their camp too. They soon became so
tiresome that I had to tell them through Tiger, as interpreter, that
unless they retired forthwith and kept to the other side of the creek, we
should take strong measures to remove them. Before long they had all done
as they were bid, and made their camp about a mile away across the
water - and the bulk of them we did not see again. Small parties were
continually visiting us, and we were the best of friends.
Our camp was in lat. 20 degrees 11 minutes long. 127 degrees 31 minutes,
and here we stayed five days to give our stock a final rest, and regale
on luscious food and abundant water, before tackling the dreary country
that we knew to be before us. For our own sakes we were by no means keen
on leaving this delightful spot; the very thought of those sand-ridges
seemed to make one's heart sink to one's boots! Our camp consisted of a
bough-shade, and mosquito-nets, of course. Barring the constant torment
of flies and the extreme heat, we had a most enjoyable time. The lakes
and creek abounded in wild-fowl of all kinds, and fish by the hundred
could be caught below our camp. Seen from our camp the estuary had so
much the appearance of a low-lying arm of the sea, with the tide out,
that we could easily understand why Gregory called it a "sea" rather than
a lake. Numerous sandspits stand out in the middle, on which, in early
morning, so dense was the crowd of shags, pelicans, snipe, small gulls,
whistling duck, teal, and other birds, that to say that there was acre
upon acre of wild-fowl would not be wide of the mark; but in spite of
their abundance they were not easily shot; for not only did their numbers
insure the watchfulness of some of the flocks, but after the first shot
the whole lot rose in a cloud and settled away out in the middle of the
lake, beyond reach.
Our larder was well filled here, and the natives took great interest in
our shooting and fishing. I used to take Tiger as retriever when I went
duck shooting, and an excellent boy he was too, simply loving the water,
and able to swim like any duck; to see him after a wounded bird was most
exciting; as soon as he reached it, it would dive until he would be
almost exhausted. At last he hit upon a similar plan, and, diving, came
up beneath the duck, seized it by the leg and brought it to shore,
grinning with delight. A shot-gun would indeed be a treasure to these
natives, who manage to kill pelicans and ducks only after hours of
waiting, hidden in a hide of bushes until a bird comes near enough to be
killed by a throwing-stick.
In some parts of Australia the natives swim out to ducks, concealing
themselves under a bunch of rushes and moving very slowly; the ducks are
not scared by the rushes, and fall a comparatively easy prey. From what
Tiger told me the Sturt natives seem to rely solely upon waiting and
stalking. They catch fish in a rather ingenious way, only practicable
when the fish are in shallow water; from this they sweep them with a sort
of dredge of branches, which they drag through the pools on to the banks;
the water runs back through the sticks, leaving the fish high and dry on
the sand. The pelican is considered a great delicacy amongst the natives,
and every day deputations waited upon us, asking us to shoot the "Coyas"
for them, which of course we were very glad to do. They did not repay our
kindness very nicely, for they tried to inveigle Warri into their camp
for the purpose of killing him, as a stranger meets with no great
hospitality! I had sent Warri and Tiger out with a gun to stalk some
ducks when a number of blacks tried to get possession of the gun, first
by telling Tiger that they wanted to shoot an old man who had annoyed
them, then by tempting him with descriptions of the beauties of their
wives; but Warri was proof against all these blandishments - nor could
they get the gun by force. I think Master Warri was quite glad to come
quickly home, for he stood in some awe of the Kimberley natives; "Sulky
fella," he called them.
One day a fresh mob of blacks came in; amongst them we recognised our old
friends from Jew's Well.
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