For Two Days After Lizzie's Arrival In Camp, She
Refused To Speak Or Eat; For The Next Two Days She
Ate everything she could
lay her hands on, but still kept an unbroken silence; and for another two
days, whenever
She was not eating, she "yabbered" so much and so fast that
the other gins looked on aghast, unable to get a word in edgewise, so
continuous was the flow of Hinchinbrook vituperation. On the seventh day,
as if by magic, she brought her tirade to a close, went down to the creek
with the other gins to fetch water, cooked her husband's supper, appeared
perfectly reconciled to her change of life, and henceforth, from her
sharpness, the aptitude with which she picked up the broken English in
which the officers communicate with the troopers, and her great knowledge
of the surrounding country, she became a most useful acquisition to the
camp, and Dunmore used frequently to say that Lizzie was worth three extra
troopers. One of the most extraordinary things about her - and she was
not unique, for all the Australian blacks are alike constituted in this
respect - was the facility with which she seemed to rupture all the
natural ties of kinship and affection. Her own tribe - her father,
mother, sisters, all were apparently wiped from her mind as completely as
writing is removed from a slate by a sponge; or, if ever remembered, it was
never with any mark of regret.
AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY - II.
BY CHARLES H. EDEN.
BETWEEN one and two o'clock, the report of a little swivel gun, with which
the taffrail of the 'Daylight' was armed, echoed over the bay, and
announced to the party that all was in readiness. In a very few minutes we
were all mustered on the beach, looking, I must confess, remarkably like
brigands, in our slouching and high-crowned Californian hats, coatless, and
with shirt-sleeves either tucked up or cut off above the elbow, which, with
the carbine that each man carried in his hand, and the revolvers, knives,
etc., stuck into the waist-belts, made our 'tout ensemble' such, that I am
convinced no honest citizen, with a plethoric purse, who saw us thus for
the first time, would have felt quite at his ease in our company. With a
ringing cheer from the townspeople assembled on the beach, under the shade
of the big trees, we shoved off, and, manned by willing hands, the cable
rattled in, in a fashion that must have astonished the old windlass,
accustomed to the leisurely proceedings that usually obtained on board the
'Daylight'. The sail was soon clapped on, the little vessel heeled over to
the sea-breeze now setting in pretty stiffly, and ten minutes after
quitting the shore we were down in the hold, the captain and his lady
occupying the cabin. Making our preparations for the night, which
consisted, I may mention, mainly of spreading out our blankets, whilst the
'Daylight', with the Government whale-boat towing astern, was beating up
against the adverse wind for the north end of Hinchinbrook, where we
purposed anchoring for the night, and commencing our search on the
following morning.
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