was a black, squat,
hideous-looking native, and his whole costume, besides the little strip
of cloth usually worn by natives round the loins, consisted of a black
silk hat and a pair of Wellington boots!

Dear reader, do not suppose that I am trying to impose upon your
good-natured credulity. What I state is a _fact_, however unlikely it
may appear in your eyes.

The natives of this part of the country are called digger Indians, not
with reference to gold-digging, but from the fact of their digging
subterranean dwellings, in which they pass the winter, and also from the
fact that they grub in the earth a good deal for roots, on which they
partly subsist. They are degraded, miserable creatures, and altogether
uncivilised, besides being diminutive in stature.

Soon after the first flood of gold-hunters swept over their lands these
poor creatures learned the value of gold, but they were too lazy to work
diligently for it. They contented themselves with washing out enough to
purchase a few articles of luxury, in the shape of cast-off apparel,
from the white men. When stores began to be erected here and there
throughout the country, they visited them to purchase fresh provisions
and articles of dress, of which latter they soon became passionately
fond.

But the digger Indians were not particular as to style or fashion--
glitter and gay colour were the chief elements of attraction. Sometimes
a naked savage might be seen going about with a second-hand dress-coat
put on the wrong way, and buttoned up the back. Another would content
himself with a red silk handkerchief tied round his head or shoulders.
A third would thrust his spindle-shanks through the arms of a sleeved
vest, and button the body round his loins; while a fourth, like the one
now under consideration, would parade about in a hat and boots.

The poor digger had drawn the right boot on the left foot, and the left
boot on the right--a matter of little moment, however, as they were
immensely too large for him, as was also the hat, which only remained on
his brows by being placed very much back on the head. He was a most
singular being, and Ned and Tom, after the first glance of astonishment,
were so un-mannered as to laugh at him until they almost fell off their
horses. The digger was by no means disconcerted. He evidently was
accustomed to the free and easy manners of white men, and while they
rolled in their saddles, he stood quietly beside them, grinn