he faced the target, that proved there were some traits in their
character which would have made them formidable enemies.

The youngster balanced his body, throwing his right leg back as a brace,
and advancing his left foot, holding his spear upon an angle with his
eye, and drawing it back and forth, as though testing the strength of
his little, skinny arm, until he had apparently got the right balance,
when, with a quick motion, he hurled it at the mark; and as the spear
sped through the air, it produced a humming sound, like the noise of a
stone when thrown from a sling by the vigorous arm of a strong man.

So quick was the motion, and rapid the movement of the spear, that the
eye could not follow its flight; but we could hear the dull sound that
it produced within two inches of the mark, which was not larger than a
man's two hands.

"Well done," shouted Fred and myself in a breath; but the natives
manifested no applause, and even Smith shook his head and muttered,--

"He can do better than that; but the youngster is nervous and hardly
awake. Come, old boy," turning to the older native, "try your hand at
the business, and let's see what you can do."

After the usual telegraphing, he was made to understand what was
wanted; and taking a spear a trifle heavier than the one before used,
retreated nearly ten paces farther from the mark, and without apparently
using the same precautions for accuracy, let it fly.

It struck the piece of paper nearly in the centre, and penetrated the
tree four or five inches, quivered for a moment, but before it had
ceased, the native had snatched up another spear and hurled it after the
first. The second struck within an inch of its companion, and the united
strength of Fred and myself was necessary to draw them from the tree.

"Now let them see what Americans can do with rifles," cried the convict,
as he saw that the natives were rather jubilant over the feat of their
companion.

Neither Fred nor myself were what was called crack shots, either with
revolver or rifle; but we were fair, and had no need to feel ashamed of
our shooting. Determined to let the natives witness a specimen of our
skill, we pinned a piece of white rag, not larger than the palm of my
hand, upon the tree, discharged our rifles and carefully reloaded them
to be sure that they were not foul, and then retreated until we could
just see the rag.

The natives watched our proceedings in silence, but with considerab