g they
likened to the howling of the dingoes! They were sincere, hardly
complimentary.

Elsewhere I have alluded to the horror the girls had of being left alone.
Whenever I went off with the men on a hunting expedition I left them in
charge of my other women-folk, who were thoroughly capable of looking
after them. I also persuaded the natives to keep some distance away from
our dwelling, particularly when they were about to hold a cannibal feast,
so that the girls were never shocked by such a fearful sight. Certainly
they had known of cannibalism in their old camp, but I told them that my
own people were a superior race of natives, who were not addicted to this
loathsome practice.

Although we had long since lost count of the days, we always set aside
one day in every seven and recognised it as Sunday, when we held a kind
of service in our spacious hut. Besides the girls, Yamba, and myself,
only our own women-folk were admitted, because I was careful never to
attempt to proselytise any of the natives, or wean them from their
ancient beliefs. The girls were religious in the very best sense of the
term, and they knew the Old and New Testaments almost by heart. They
read the Lessons, and I confess they taught me a good deal about religion
which I had not known previously. Blanche would read aloud the most
touching and beautiful passages from the Bible; and even as I write I can
recall her pale, earnest face, with its pathetic expression and her low,
musical voice, as she dwelt upon passages likely to console and
strengthen us in our terrible position. The quiet little discussions we
had together on theological subjects settled, once and for all, many
questions that had previously vexed me a great deal.

Both girls were devoted adherents of the Church of England, and could
repeat most of the Church services entirely from memory. They wanted to
do a little missionary work among the blacks, but I gently told them I
thought this inadvisable, as any rupture in our friendly relations with
the natives would have been quite fatal--if not to our lives, at least to
our chances of reaching civilisation. Moreover, my people were not by
any means without a kind of religion of their own. They believed in the
omnipotence of a Great Spirit in whose hands their destinies rested; and
him they worshipped with much the same adoration which Christians give to
God. The fundamental difference was that the sentiment animating them