the other black boys endured. Therefore, he argued wistfully,
and half inquiringly, he would only be a burden to me. He was a very
affectionate and considerate little fellow, with an intelligence far
beyond that of the ordinary aboriginal child. He spoke in English,
because I had taught both him and his sister that language. At the last
I learned--for the first time--that it was always worrying him, and
almost breaking his little heart, that he could never compete with the
black boys in their games of strength and skill; and no doubt he would
have become an outcast were it not that he was my son.

Almost his last whispered words to me were that he would be able to
assist me more in the Spirit-land than ever he could hope to do in the
flesh. He was perfectly conscious to the last, and as I knelt down by
his couch of fragrant eucalyptus leaves, and stooped low to catch his
whispered message, he told me he seemed to be entering a beautiful new
country, where the birds always sang and the flowers bloomed for ever.
Spirit voices kept calling him, he said, and he felt himself being
irresistibly drawn away from me.

Upon my own feelings I do not wish to dwell. All I will say is I kissed
my boy on the eyes and mouth, and then, with a soft "Good-bye, they have
come for me," he closed his eyes for ever.

I felt it was to be. A few days afterwards the little girl, my remaining
child, was taken ill, and so feeble was she, that she soon joined her
brother in the better land. I seemed to be overwhelmed with misfortunes,
but the greatest of all was yet to come. I have hinted that Yamba was
beginning to show signs of infirmity through advancing years. I could
not help noticing, with a vague feeling of helpless horror and sickening
foreboding, that she had lost her high spirits and keen perception--to
say nothing about the elasticity of her tread and her wonderful physical
endurance generally. She was no longer able to accompany me on the long
and interesting tramps which we had now taken together for so many years.
Her skin began to wither and wrinkle, and she gradually took on the
appearance of a very old woman. The result of this was I began to have
fits of frightful depression and acute misery. I stayed at home a good
deal now, partly because I knew the country thoroughly and no longer
cared to explore, and partly also because I missed the companionship and
invaluable assistance of my devoted wife. I constantly buoyed