to grief so desperately (once the morose man nearly
broke his neck) that they soon gave it up. The man would sit and watch
our gambols for hours without moving a muscle. I was never actually
afraid of him, but took good care not to let him get possession of any of
my weapons; and as I had also taken the precaution to break up and throw
into the sea the spears he had brought with him on his catamaran, I felt
pretty sure he could not do much mischief even if he were so disposed.
After seeing me bring down birds with my bow and arrow he began to hold
me in absolute fear, probably because he had some idea that his own skin
might be jeopardised if he did not accommodate himself to circumstances.
I repeatedly told him that with my boat I might perhaps some day help him
to get back to his own country, and I must say that this suggestion
roused him somewhat from his lethargy, and he appeared profoundly
grateful.

Gradually I acquired a slight acquaintance with the extraordinary
language of the blacks, and had many a chat with the woman, who also
picked up a few words of comical English from me. She was a woman of
average height, lithe and supple, with an intelligent face and sparkling
eyes. She was a very interesting companion, and as I grew more
proficient in her queer language of signs, and slaps, and clicks, I
learnt from her many wonderful things about the habits and customs of the
Australian aborigines, which proved extremely useful to me in after
years. Yamba--for that was her name--told me that when I rescued them
they had been blown miles and miles out of their course and away from
their own country by the terrible gale that had been raging about a
fortnight previously. It seems that they had originally started out on
an expedition to catch turtles on a little island between Cambridge Gulf
and Queen's Channel, but the storm carried them out to sea. They drifted
about for many days, until at length they reached my little island. The
only food they had during the whole of this time was turtle, but they
were entirely without water. One would think that they must inevitably
have died of thirst, but the blacks are wonderful people for going
without water for prolonged periods. Moreover, they find a mouthful of
salt water occasionally quite sustaining.

One of my most amusing experiences with the blacks was one day when,
quite accidentally, Yamba caught sight of herself for the first time in
the little oval looking