my then found a word or two of English, and
said, "You master?" The natives always like to know who they are
dealing with, whether a person is a master or a servant. I replied,
"Yes, mine master." He then said, "Mine (him) ridem yarraman." "Oh,
yes." "Which one?" "That one," said I, pointing to old Cocky, and
said, "That's Cocky." Then the boy went up to the horse, and said,
"Cocky, you ridem me?" Turning to me, he said, "All right, master, you
and me Burr-r-r-r-r." I was very well pleased to think I should get
such a nice little fellow so easily. It was now near evening, and
knowing that these youngsters couldn't possibly be very far from their
fathers or mothers, I asked, "Where black fellow?" Tommy said, quite
nonchalantly, "Black fellow come up!" and presently I heard voices,
and saw a whole host of men, women, and children. Then these three
boys set up a long squeaky harangue to the others, and three or four
men and five or six boys came running up to me. One was a middle-aged,
good-looking man; with him were two boys, and Tommy gave me to
understand that these were his father and brothers. The father drew
Tommy towards him, and ranged his three boys in a row, and when I
looked at them, it was impossible to doubt their relationship--they
were all three so wonderfully alike. Dozens more men, boys, and women
came round--some of the girls being exceedingly pretty. To feed so
large a host, would have required all my horses as well as my stock of
rations, so I singled out Tommy, his two brothers, and the other
original little two, at the same time, giving Tommy's father about
half a damper I had already cooked, and told him that Tommy was my
boy. He shook his head slowly, and would not accept the damper,
walking somewhat sorrowfully away. However, I sent it to him by Tommy,
and told him to tell his father he was going with me and the horses.
The damper was taken that time. It did not rain, and the five
youngsters all slept near me, while the tribe encamped a hundred yards
away. I was not quite sure whether to expect an attack from such a
number of natives. I did not feel quite at ease; though these were, so
to say, civilised people, they were known to be great thieves; and I
never went out of sight of my belongings, as in many cases the more
civilised they are, the more villainous they may be. In the morning
Tommy's father seemed to have thought better of my proposal, thinking
probably it was a good thing for one of his