Australian Search PartyEden, Charles H. (Charles Henry)
History
Australian Search Party
Eden, Charles H. (Charles Henry)
Australia -- Discovery and exploration
carbines over the heads of the retreating Myalls (wild blacks), which
completed their panic, and one of them, rushing recklessly forward, was
captured by the troopers, and brought by them in triumph to the camp,
amidst the yells and jabbering of the gins and piccaninnies.
After half an hour or so, seeing that no harm was intended to them, the
women came out of the water, and we were very much pleased to find that
they readily understood Lizzie. On being addressed by her, the
warrior, who had hitherto maintained a sullen and defiant attitude,
became conversational, and readily replied to all the questions put to
him by Dunmore. Unlike most of the blacks, he appeared to be very
little frightened at the situation in which he found himself, and
seemed instinctively to know that all danger was past. On being
questioned regarding the shipwrecked crew, he denied all knowledge of
any vessel having been lost, but said at once that a white man had
lived with this tribe for many moons, though he was dead now. This
rather astonished us, and we asked if any relics were still in the
camp, upon which one of the gins produced an old sheath-knife, worn
down nearly to nothing by constant sharpening; half a dozen horn
buttons, one of them still sewn to a fragment of moleskin; and an empty
tin match-box. We asked how long the white man had been dead, and were
told that he died three moons before, of fever, and that we could see
his grave if we liked, for it was within a day's journey. There was an
openness about this tribe, and a frankness in their answers, that made
us certain that all we heard was the truth, and as they had evidently
befriended this poor wanderer, we were anxious to repay them in some
measure, and strengthen the kindly feelings they felt for the white
men, so we told Lizzie to assure them that our visit was only to search
for our lost brethren; that we should like to visit the grave, if one
of them would guide us; and that in return for their services we would
give them a new knife and a tomahawk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account