selves so dexterously with shields as to be all but
invulnerable, whereas I had not the slightest idea of how to handle a
shield. And for the sake of my ever-indispensable prestige, I could not
afford to make myself ridiculous in their eyes. I always took good care
to let the blacks see me performing only those feats which I felt morally
certain I could accomplish, and accomplish to their amazement.

So far I had won laurels enough with my mysterious arrows or "flying
spears," as the natives considered them, and my prowess with the harpoon
and tomahawk was sung in many tribes. And not the least awkward thing
about my position was that I dared not even attempt a little quiet
practice in spear-throwing, for fear the blacks should come upon me
suddenly, when I would most certainly lose caste. I had several narrow
escapes from this serious calamity, but most of them cannot be published
here. I must tell you, though, that the blacks, when drinking at a river
or water-hole, invariably scoop up the water with their hands, and never
put their mouths right down close to the surface of the water. Well, one
day I was guilty of this solecism. I had been out on a hunting
expedition, and reached the water-hole with an intense burning thirst. My
mentor was not with me. I fell on my knees and fairly buried my face in
the life-giving fluid. Suddenly I heard murmurs behind me. I turned
presently and saw a party of my blacks regarding me with horror. They
said I drank like a kangaroo. But Yamba soon came to the rescue, and
explained away the dreadful breach of etiquette, by telling them that I
was not drinking, but simply cooling my face; when we were alone she
solemnly cautioned me never to do it again.

The months passed slowly away, and I was still living the same monotonous
life among my blacks--accompanying them upon their hunting expeditions,
joining in their sports, and making periodical trips inland with Yamba,
in preparation for the great journey I proposed to make overland to Cape
York. When I spoke to my devoted companion about my plans, she told me
she was ready to accompany me wherever I went--to leave her people and to
be for ever by my side. Right well I knew that she would unhesitatingly
do these things. Her dog-like fidelity to me never wavered, and I know
she would have laid down her life for me at any time.

Often I told her of my own home beyond the seas, and when I asked her
whether she would come wit