he fire. John, who saw him first, called out, "a
Blackfellow! look there! a Blackfellow!" and every gun was ready. But the
stranger was unarmed, and evidently unconscious of his position; for,
when he saw himself suddenly surrounded by the horses and ourselves, he
nimbly climbed a tree to its very summit, where he stood between some dry
branches like a strange phantom or a statue. We called to him, and made
signs for him to descend, but he not only remained silent, but
motionless, notwithstanding all the signs and noise we made. We then
discharged a gun, but it had not the intended effect of inducing him to
speak or stir. At last I desired Charley to ascend the neighbouring tree,
to show him that we could easily get at him if necessary. This plan was
more successful; for no sooner were Charley's intentions perceived, than
our friend gave the most evident proof of his being neither deaf nor
dumb, by calling out most lustily. He pooh'd, he birrrred, he spat, and
cooeed; in fact, he did everything to make the silent forest re-echo with
the wild sounds of his alarm; our horses, which were standing under the
tree, became frightened, and those which were loose ran away. We were
much afraid that his cooees would bring the whole tribe to his
assistance, and every one eagerly proffered his advice. Charley wished to
shoot him, "or," said he, "you will all be killed; I do not care for
myself, but I care for your being killed and buried." Others wished to
remove from the spot, and so give him an opportunity of escaping. I was,
of course, horrified at the idea of shooting a poor fellow, whose only
crime, if so it might be called, was in having mistaken our fire for that
of his own tribe: so I went to our own fire, which was at a short
distance, where he could see me distinctly, and then made signs for him
to descend and go away. He then began to be a little more quiet, and to
talk; but soon hallooed again, and threw sticks at myself, at my
companions, and at the horses. We now retired about eight yards, to allow
him to escape, which we had not done before, because I feared he might
imagine we were afraid of his incantations, for he sang most lamentable
corrobories, and cried like a child; frequently exclaiming, "Mareka!
Mareka!!" This word is probably identical with Marega; the name given by
the Malays to the natives of the north coast, which is also called by
them "Marega." [Capt. King's Intertropical Survey of Australia,
vol. I. p.