y only
have known what had become of the long-lost loved ones--a fate more
shocking and more fearful than any ever conceived by the writer of
fiction. Of course, my readers will understand that much detail about
the fate of these poor creatures must be suppressed for obvious reasons.
But should any existing relatives turn up, I shall be only too happy to
place at their disposal all the information I possess.

Presently, I grasped the whole terrible affair, and realised it as
absolute fact! My first impulse was to leap from the _corroboree_ and go
and reassure the unhappy victims in person, telling them at the same time
that they might count on my assistance to the last. It was not
advisable, however, to withdraw suddenly from the festivities, for fear
my absence might arouse suspicion.

The only alternative that presented itself was to send a note or message
of some kind to them, and so I asked Yamba to bring me a large fleshy
leaf of a water-lily, and then, with one of her bone needles, I pricked,
in printed English characters, "_A friend is near_; _fear not_." Handing
this original letter to Yamba, I instructed her to give it to the girls
and tell them to hold it up before the fire and read the perforations.
This done, I returned to the _corroboree_, still displaying a feigned
enthusiasm for the proceedings, but determined upon a bold and resolute
course of action. I must say though, that at that particular moment I
was not very sanguine of getting the girls away out of the power of this
savage, who had doubtless won them from some of his fellows by more or
less fair fighting.

I made my way over to where the chief was squatting, and gazed at him
long and steadily. I remember his appearance as though it were but
yesterday that we met. I think I have already said he was the most
repulsive-looking savage I have ever come across, even among the
Australian blacks. The curious raised scars were upon this particular
chief both large and numerous. This curious form of decoration, by the
way, is a very painful business. The general practice is to make
transverse cuts with a sharp shell, or stone knife, on the chest, thighs,
and sometimes on the back and shoulders. Ashes and earth are then rubbed
into each cut, and the wound is left to close. Next comes an extremely
painful gathering and swelling, and a little later the earth that is
inside is gradually removed--sometimes with a feather. When the wounds
finally