h the
phenomenon, and it was apparently not one of those many things which
their forefathers wove superstitious stories around, to hand down to
their children. As the great darkness continued, the natives retired to
rest, without even holding the usual evening chant. I did not attempt to
explain the real reason of the phenomenon, but as I had no particular end
to serve, I did not tell them that it was due to my power.

Never once, you see, did I lose an opportunity of impressing the savages
among whom I dwelt. On several occasions, having all the ingredients at
my disposal, I attempted to make gunpowder, but truth to tell, my
experiments were not attended with very great success. I had charcoal,
saltpetre, and sulphur ready to my hand,--all obtainable from natural
sources close by; but the result of all my efforts (and I tried mixing
the ingredients in every conceivable way) was a very coarse kind of
powder with practically no explosive force, but which would go off with
an absurd "puff."

Now I was very anxious to make an _explosive_ powder, not merely because
it would assist me in impressing the blacks, but also because I proposed
carrying out certain blasting operations in order to obtain minerals and
stones which I thought would be useful. The net result was that although
I could not manufacture any potent explosive, yet I did succeed in
arousing the intense curiosity of the blacks. My powder burnt without
noise, and the natives could never quite make out where the flame came
from.

As there seemed to be a never-ending eagerness on the part of the blacks
to witness the wonders of the white man, I even tried my hand at making
ice--a commodity which is, of course, absolutely unknown in Central
Australia. The idea came to me one day when I found myself in a very
cool cave, in which there was a well of surprisingly cold water.
Accordingly, I filled some opossum skins with the refreshing fluid,
placed them in the coolest part of the cave, and then covered them with
saltpetre, of which there was an abundance. When I tell you that the
experiment was quite fruitless, you will readily understand that I did
not always succeed in my role of wonder-worker. But whenever I was
defeated, it only had the effect of making me set my wits to work to
devise something still more wonderful--something which I was certain
would be an assured success.

Whilst taking, a stroll in the region of my mountain home one day, my
eyes-