wait And first feed the pigeons--thou lazy fellow."

CHAPTER XVII ~ "OMBRE CHEVALIER"

Once, after many years' wanderings in the North and South Pacific as
shore trader, supercargo and "recruiter" in the Kanaka labour trade, I
became home-sick and returned to my native Australia, with a vague idea
of settling down. I began the "settling down" by going to some newly
opened gold-fields in North Queensland, wandering about from the
Charters Towers "rush" to the Palmer River and Hodgkinson River rushes.
The party of diggers I joined were good sterling fellows, and although
we did not load ourselves with nuggets and gold dust, we did fairly well
at times, especially in the far north of the colony where most of the
alluvial gold-fields were rich, and new-comers especially had no trouble
in getting on to a good show. I was the youngest of the party, and
consequently the most inexperienced, but my mates good-naturedly
overlooked my shortcomings as a prospector and digger, especially as I
had constituted myself the "tucker" provider when our usual rations of
salt beef ran out. I had brought with me a Winchester rifle, a shot gun
and plenty of ammunition for both, and plenty of fishing tackle. So, at
such times, instead of working at the claim, I would take my rifle or
gun or fishing lines and sally forth at early dawn, and would generally
succeed in bringing back something to the camp to serve instead of beef.
In the summer months game, such as it was, was fairly plentiful, and
nearly all the rivers of North Queensland abound in fish.

In the open country we sometimes shot more plain turkeys than we could
eat. When on horseback one could approach within a few yards of a bird
before it would take to flight, but on foot it was difficult to get
within range of one, unless a rifle was used. In the rainy season all
the water holes and lagoons literally teemed with black duck, wood-duck,
the black and white Burdekin duck, teal, spur-winged plover, herons
and other birds, and a single shot would account for a dozen. My mates,
however, like all diggers, believed in and wanted beef--mutton we
scarcely ever tasted, except when near a township where there was a
butcher, for sheep do not thrive in that part of the colony and are
generally brought over in mobs from the Peak Downs District or Southern
Queensland.

Our party at first numbered four, but at Townsville (Cleveland Bay) one
of our number left us to return to New Zealand o