Law interfered, white men killed the black fellow because
they were hungry with a hunger that must be fed with gold, having been
trained in a school that for generations has acknowledged "Thou shalt not
kill" among its commandments; and yet men speak of the "superiority" of
the white race, and, speaking, forget to ask who of us would go hungry if
the situation were reversed, but condemn the black fellow as a vile
thief, piously quoting - now it suits them - from those same commandments,
that men "must not steal," in the same breath referring to the white
man's crime (when it finds them out) as "getting into trouble over some
shooting affair with blacks." Truly we British-born have reason to brag
of our "inborn sense of justice."
The Maluka being more than willing to give his fair percentage, a
judicious hint from him was generally taken quietly and for the time
discreetly obeyed, and it was a foregone conclusion that our "nigger
hunt" would only involve the captured with general discomfiture; but the
Red Lilies being a stronghold of the tribe, and a favourite hiding-place
for "outsiders," emergencies were apt to occur "down the river," and we
rode out of camp with rifles unslung and revolvers at hand.
Dan's sleep had in no wise lessened his faith in the efficiency of
dust-throwing, and as we set out he "reckoned" the missus would "learn a
thing or two about surprise parties this trip." We all did, but the black
fellows gave the instruction.
All morning we rode in single file, following the river through miles of
deep gorges, crossing here and there stretches of grassy country that ran
in valleys between gorge and gorge, passing through deep Ti Tree forests
at times, and now and then clambering over towering limestone ridges that
blocked the way, with, all the while, the majestic Roper river flowing
deep and wide and silent on our left, between its water-lily fringed
margins. It would take a mighty drought to dry up the waters of the
Territory - permanent, we call them, sure of our rivers and our rains.
Almost fifty miles of these deep-flowing waterways fell to our share;
thirty-five miles of the Roper, twelve in the Long Reach, besides great
holes scattered here and there along the beds of creeks that are mighty
rivers in themselves "during the Wet." Too much water, if anything, was
the complaint at the Elsey, for water everywhere meant cattle everywhere.
For over two hours we rode, prying into and probing all sorts of odd
nooks and crannies before we found any sign of blacks, and then, Roper
giving the alarm, every one sat to attention. Roper had many ways of
amusing himself when travelling through bush, but one of his greatest
delights was nosing out hidden black fellows.
