That progress was almost impossible, and
we were compelled to wade along the bed of the creek; now tripping over a
sharp ledge of rock, now floundering up to the waistbelt in a treacherous
hole; past the base of a beautiful waterfall, where the action of the
torrent had worn a hollow basin in the rock, in which it sparkled, cool,
transparent, and prismatic, in the rays of the burning sun, and where the
view, so unlike the generality of Australian scenery, was perfectly
bewitching; on, through more scrub, through swamps, and over stiff
mountains, wet, draggled, moody, and cross, crawling along after the little
black figure in front, that held steadily on its way, as though hunger and
fatigue were to it things unknown.
At length, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we found ourselves in a
sort of natural funnel in the rock, the end of which grew narrower and
narrower as it wound about in curious curves.
"Close up now," said Lizzie, "water sit down along of other side; baal
black fellow get away."
We halted for a few minutes to get breath, and to steady ourselves, and
then, keeping close together, stepped out of the gloomy passage into the
broad daylight. It was a beautiful sight. The "bora ground" had been
selected in a miniature bay, of about three acres in extent, closed in by
perpendicular rocks, and attainable only by boat, or by the passage through
which we had just arrived. In this secluded spot a quantity of coca-nut
palms were growing, waifs, carried there by the ocean from the distant
South Sea Islands, fructifying and multiplying on the hospitable shore, and
shielded from the tomahawk of the native, on account of the shelter they
afforded his mysterious retreat. Under the palms stood several conical
huts, or lodges, of considerable dimensions, used, I presume, on state
occasions for the deliberations of the elder warriors. But the thing most
pleasing to our eyes, was the sight of some two hundred natives, of both
sexes, and all ages, who now started to their feet, with wild cries of
alarm, and motions expressive of the utmost terror, at this sudden invasion
of their retreat by the dreaded white man.
Some of the blacks flew to arms at once, and stood with poised spears in a
menacing attitude, whilst the gins and piccaninnies cowered together on the
beach. We had our carbines in hand, cocked, and prepared to defend
ourselves in the event of hostilities, which we earnestly hoped to avoid.
Lizzie, who had at last begun to understand that slaughter was not our
object, and who had been reconciled to our tame proceedings by the promise
of much finery, now advanced towards the threatening natives and made a
speech in their own language, to the effect that we wished to do them no
harm, beyond ascertaining whether there were any whites among them, though,
if we found murder had been committed, we should discover the perpetrators,
hold them answerable, and punish them. Rewards were offered for any
information that would lead to a knowledge of the real fate of the
shipwrecked crew, and an exaggerated estimate of our strength, and the
capability of our firearms, was given by our interpreter, on her own
account, and was perfectly intelligible to us from the signs and
gesticulations she made, and the scorn with which she pointed to the rude
weapons of her country-men; for the intrepid little girl had marched
fearlessly up to the group of warriors.
After delivering her speech, Lizzie withdrew to us, and we waited, rather
anxiously, the turn that affairs would take; for a peaceful solution would
be far preferable to a fight, in which, though we must ultimately be the
victors, yet success would only be achieved at considerable loss of life,
probably on both sides.
Whilst matters rested thus, and the blacks were holding an animated
discussion, one of the troopers espied a solitary dingo on the rocks
overlooking the "bora ground," and distant from us about fifty yards.
Lizzie at once said -
"Suppose you shoot 'em that fellow dingo, plenty that frighten black fellow."
"By Jove, Lizzie, what a good idea!" we said. "Who's the best shot; for it
will be fatal to miss?"
"Let your boy fire," said Abiram, "it will astonish them much more if they
see it done by a black; and let Lizzie warn them of what is going to take
place."
"You believe you shoot 'em that fellow dingo?" asked Dunmore of Ferdinand.
"Your (yes), marmy, mine believe."
"Plenty big glass of rum, suppose you shoot 'em bony (dead)," added Abiram.
The trooper's eyes glistened, and he licked his lips as if the spirit were
already won.
Meanwhile Lizzie had told her countrymen to watch the dog, and they would
see him killed, and the blacks stood straining their eyes at the doomed
dingo, who, with pricked ears and drooping tail, stood motionless against
the sky-line, intently surveying the unusual scene beneath, and wondering
probably how soon he should get the relics of the roasted fish, whose
fragrant odour had assailed his nostrils, and drawn him into his present
position.
It was a moment of intense suspense while the trooper raised his carbine -
slowly and deliberately; no hurry, not even the quiver of a muscle, for his
mind was on the rum, and he recked little of the moral influence of a
successful shot; - we drew a long breath of relief as the weapon flashed
forth, and the dog, making a convulsive bound forward, fell stone dead at
the foot of the rocks, where it was instantly surrounded by the awestruck
savages, who carefully examined the body, and thrust their fingers into the
bullet-hole, for the ball had passed clean through the animal, just behind
the shoulder-blade.
