of Lizzie's abduction. 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.
Our new path was very similar to the last one, seeming to come to an
abrupt termination, but really shooting off at an angle, and leading
down to a bay, which opened out to our view about five o'clock, and did
not present nearly so pretty an appearance as the one we had just left,
for the ground seemed swampy, and the beach was a nasty muddy
mangrove-flat. We were also disappointed in not finding any blacks;
but as there is nothing so bad that it has not some redeeming quality,
so this dreary-looking swamp had its advantages, for the trees were
loaded with Torres Straits' pigeons, and sea-crabs were abundant. This
would enable us to lay in an extra day's provisions, and to extend our
search, if necessary, before visiting the 'Daylight', from which vessel
we were now separated by more than twenty miles of unknown country,
inclusive of a mountainous range. We determined not to shoot any
pige