ht-glass, the group was seen to consist of above a dozen people,
each carrying a blazing torch, and going through the movements of a
dance. At one time, they extended rapidly into line; at another,
closed, dividing into two parties, advancing and retreating, crossing
and recrossing, and mixing up with each other. This continued for half
an hour; and having apparently been got up for our amusement, a rocket
was sent up for theirs, and a blue-light burned; but the dancing had
ceased, and the lights disappeared.'

On the 1st October, the _Rattlesnake_ was again at Cape York. About
the middle of the month, an incident occurred which relieved the
dulness of a period of inactivity--the discovery and rescue of a white
woman, who had been for some time a prisoner among the natives. We
shall abridge Mr Macgillivray's narrative of her story. Her name is
Barbara Thomson; she was born at Aberdeen, and emigrated to New South
Wales with her parents. About four and a half years prior to the
event, she had accompanied her husband in a small cutter, to try to
save some part of the cargo of a whaler that had been wrecked on the
Bampton shoal. The pilot missed his route, two of the crew were
drowned by accident, another was left on a desert island, and at last
the little vessel, caught by a gale in Torres Strait, struck upon a
reef on Prince of Wales Island. The only two men left on board were
drowned in attempting to swim to shore; but the woman was saved by a
party of natives, one of whom, Boroto by name, forced her to live with
him as his wife, in which position she for a time was exposed to much
cruelty, owing to the jealousy of the women of the tribe. She
eventually was saved from persecution by a singular belief prevalent
among the natives--that white people are the ghosts of departed
aborigines--one of the principal among the blacks having persuaded
himself that he had found in her his long-lost daughter, after whom
Barbara was named Giom. The head-quarters of the tribe were on an
island, and the captive frequently saw vessels pass on their way to
Torres Strait, but without any opportunity of making her case known.
She had heard of the first arrival of the _Rattlesnake_ and tender at
Cape York; and on the last visit, had induced the blacks to escort her
to within a short distance of the anchorage, they believing that she
only wished to shake hands with her countrymen, and would soon return,
laden with knives, axes, and tobacco. Alt