The Gunyahs Were Better
Constructed Than Usual, And Consisted Of Saplings Bent In An Arch And
Covered With Tea-Tree Bark, A Great Improvement On All The Native Dwellings
We Had Hitherto Seen, Which Were Generally Little Better Than A Rude Screen
Against The Wind.
But our time was precious, for we carried but little
provision; and we could not afford to loiter about,
Even in so pleasant a
spot as this little bay; so, after dispatching a hasty dinner, we started
off afresh, to the immense relief of the gins, and got out of the valley by
another pass, which Lizzie showed us. I must not forget to mention one
ludicrous circumstance, which convulsed us with laughter. The gins showed
such curiosity about Lizzie's pipe, that she handed it round and made them
each take a puff. Their expressions, when the pungent smoke caused them
either to sneeze, cough, or choke, were most laughable; and I have no doubt
that it is still a matter of wonder to them, and a fruitful source of
debate over the camp-fires, what pleasure the white man can find in filling
his mouth with smoke, apparently with no better object than to puff it out
again as soon as possible. Our course now lay due south, and the
travelling was much the same as in the morning, that is to say, as bad and
as fatiguing as it well could be. Lizzie said she could take us to another
bay, where there were sure to be more blacks; and so we trudged patiently
along under her guidance, with the sun blazing down so fiercely that the
carbine-barrels became quite heated.
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