to his feet, and making sure that though stunned he was not seriously
hurt.

"No," said the doctor. "No bones broken. It's wonderful what some of
these savage races will bear."

He ceased his examination and gave the poor fellow a friendly clap on
the shoulder, while, after lying down for a time in the new
camping-ground, close up to the welcome supply of meat, the injured man
was sufficiently recovered to sit up, and eat his share of roast buffalo
flesh.

Some delicious steaks which we cooked proved very welcome to us by way
of a change, but we did not commence without a few words with Master
Jimmy, who was all smiles and friendliness now with everybody, till the
doctor said, pointing to the abundant supply of meat:

"No more bad illness, Jimmy. You are not to eat much."

"Jimmy won't eat not bit!" he cried viciously. "Go in a bush and starve
a deff."

"There, sit down and eat your supper!" said the doctor sternly; "and no
more nonsense, please."

The black looked at him in a sidelong fashion, and his fingers played
with the handle of his waddy, which was behind him in his waistband, and
then he quailed beneath the doctor's steady gaze, and sat down humbly by
the camp fire to cook and eat what was really a moderate quantity for an
Australian black.

Next morning we were off at daybreak, our way lying up a narrow ravine
for a short distance, and then between a couple of masses of rock, which
seemed to have been split apart by some earthquake; and directly we were
through here the dull humming buzz that we had heard more or less for
days suddenly fell upon our ears with a deep majestic boom that rose at
times, as the wind set our way, into a deafening roar.

I looked triumphantly at Jack Penny, but he only held his head higher in
the air and gave a sniff, lowering his crest directly after to attend to
his feet, for we were now in a complete wilderness of rocks and stones,
thrown in all directions, and at times we had regularly to climb.

"It is useless to bring the men this way," the doctor said, after a
couple of hours' labour; but as he spoke Ti-hi called a halt and pointed
in a different direction, at right angles to that which we had so far
followed, as being the one we should now take.

The sun had suddenly become unbearable, for we were hemmed in by
piled-up stones, and its heat was reflected from the brightly glistening
masses, some of which were too hot even to be touched without pain,
while th