Messrs. Browne And Lyon Had At Their Camp A Small Black-Boy Whom They
Tried In Vain To Tame.
He stood a good deal of misplaced kindness, and
even wore clothes without complaint; but he could not bear having his hair
cut, and so ran away to the bush.
He belonged to the wandering tribe that
daily visited the camp - a tribe of wretched famine-stricken "blacks,"
whose natural hideousness and filthy appearance were intensified by the
dirty rags with which they made shift to cover their bodies. I should
never have conceived it possible that such living skeletons could exist.
Without begging from the diggers I fail to see how they could have lived,
for not a living thing was to be found in the bush, save an occasional
iguana and "bardies,*" and, as I have said, all known waters within
available distance of Coolgardie were dry, or nearly so.
[* "Bardies" are large white grubs - three or four inches long - which the
natives dig out from the roots of a certain shrub. When baked on
wood-ashes they are said to be excellent eating. The natives, however,
prefer them raw, and, having twisted off the heads, eat them with evident
relish.]
Benstead had managed to bring up a few sheep from the coast, which the
"gins," or women, used to tend. The native camp was near the
slaughter-yard, and it used to be an interesting and charming sight to see
these wild children of the wilderness, fighting with their mongrel dogs
for the possession of the offal thrown away by the butcher. If successful
in gaining this prize they were not long in disposing of it, cooking
evidently being considered a waste of time. A famished "black-fellow"
after a heavy meal used to remind me of pictures of the boa-constrictor
who has swallowed an ox, and is resting in satisfied peace to gorge.
The appeal of "Gib it damper" or "Gib it gabbi" (water), was seldom made
in vain, and hardly a day passed but what one was visited by these silent,
starving shadows. In appreciation no doubt of the kindness shown them,
some of the tribe volunteered to find "gabbi" for the white-fellow in the
roots of a certain gum-tree. Their offer was accepted, and soon a band of
unhappy-looking miners was seen returning. In their hands they carried
short pieces of the root, which they sucked vigorously; some got a little
moisture, and some did not, but however unequal their success in this
respect they were all alike in another, for every man vomited freely. This
means of obtaining a water supply never became popular. No doubt a little
moisture can be coaxed from the roots of certain gums, but it would seem
that it needs the stomach of a black-fellow to derive any benefit from it.
Though I cannot say that I studied the manners and customs of the
aboriginals at that time, the description, none the worse for being old,
given to savages of another land would fit them admirably - "Manners none,
customs beastly."
CHAPTER II
"HARD UP"
During that drought-stricken Christmas-time my mate was down at the
"Cross," trying to carry through some business by which our coffers might
be replenished; for work how we would on alluvial or quartz reefs, no gold
could we find. That we worked with a will, the remark made to me by an old
fossicker will go to show. After watching me "belting away" at a solid
mass of quartz for some time without speaking, "Which," said he, "is the
hammer-headed end of your pick?" Then shaking his head, "Ah! I could guess
you were a Scotchman - brute force and blind ignorance!" He then proceeded
to show me how to do twice the amount of work at half the expenditure of
labour. I never remember a real digger who was not ready to help one, both
with advice and in practice, and I never experienced that "greening" of
new chums which is a prominent feature of most novels that deal with
Australian life.
In the absence of Lord Douglas, an old horse-artilleryman, Richardson by
name, was my usual comrade. A splendid fellow he was too, and one of the
few to be rewarded for his dogged perseverance and work. In a pitiable
state the poor man was when first we met, half dead from dysentery, camped
all alone under a sheet of coarse calico. Emaciated from sickness, he was
unable to follow his horses, which had wandered in search of food and
water, though they constituted his only earthly possession. How he, and
many another I could mention, survived, I cannot think. But if a man
declines to die, and fights for life, he is hard to kill!
Amongst the prospectors it was customary for one mate to look after the
horses, and pack water to the others who worked. These men, of course,
knew several sources unknown to the general public. It was from one of
them that we learnt of the existence of a small soak some thirteen miles
from Coolgardie. Seeing no hope of rain, and no prospect of being able to
stop longer at Coolgardie, Mr. Davies, who camped near us, and I, decided
to make our way to this soak, and wait for better or worse times. Taking
the only horse which remained to us, and what few provisions we had, we
changed our residence from the dust-swept flats of Coolgardie to the
silent bush, where we set up a little hut of boughs, and awaited the
course of events. Sheltered from the sun's burning rays by our house, so
low that it could only be entered on hands and knees, for we had neither
time nor strength to build a spacious structure, and buoyed up by the
entrancement of reading "The Adventures of a Lady's Maid," kindly lent by
a fellow-digger, we did our best to spend a "Happy Christmas."
Somehow, the climate and surroundings seemed singularly inappropriate;
dust could not be transformed, even in imagination, into snow, nor heat
into frost, any more easily than we could turn dried apples into roast
beef and plum-pudding.
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