because of his prowess
as an athlete, and his medical ability, which was given gratuitously to
all. He was said to have been concerned in some of the many South
American revolutions, but although we were friendly from this time until
his death, he never alluded to such an occurrence. I realised, however,
that he was very reticent as to his early life, and the gossip may have
had some foundation.

I delivered my load just as the wet season set in, so made my camp six
miles down the river from Palmerville. My black boy caught a cold,
which, in spite of the medicines I gave him, developed into pneumonia.
He was very weak, and as he refused to accept food from anyone but
myself, I was a prisoner in camp. One evening he called me over, and
made a confession of what he said were lies he had told me at different
times. Once when I had sent him to muster some of my horses on the Annan
River, near Cooktown, he had returned saying he could not find them. He
now told me that when he had reached the river, he saw a lot of Myall
black fellows, which so frightened him that he gave up looking for the
horses, and camped until sun-down, thus leading me to think he had been
looking for them all day. Several other little instances that I had
quite forgotten, he told me were lies. In the morning he was dead. I
buried him, and put a wooden cross over the grave. He was a splendid
little fellow, and I missed him greatly.

On returning to Cooktown in 1874, I offered to make an agreement with a
Chinese storekeeper to carry for him for twelve months at the rate of
L50 per ton. After consulting Joss, he agreed, and I thus had constant
employment at a lucrative price.

The Chinese storekeepers had sent to China to import a number of coolies
to pack their merchandise from Cooktown to the Palmer.

The Government had just completed wharves and sheds at the landing, and
rented these to Mr. F. W. J. Beardmore, stock and station agent there.

This gentleman hearing that a steamer from the north was about to arrive
conveying 400 Chinamen, came out to the four-mile, where a number of
carriers were camped, to ask if we would assist him at the wharf, as he
intended to levy a poll tax of one shilling per head on each Chinaman
who landed, and to bring ropes with us. After a consultation, we decided
to help him, as these coolies were competing with our trade. Before the
ship arrived, we had stretched our ropes across the exit, and marshalled
our forces t