CHAPTER XVI
The Mother and Child. – The Interior of the Country. – Another Cataract. – The Pilgrim Troop. – The Difficult Ascent. – The Frilled Lizard. – The Mountain-range. – The Kangaroo-chase. – The Pass of Erin
But it was not till they had left the bloody field many miles behind them that the woman recovered so far from her fear and stupefaction as to be able, by signs and half-understood words, to indicate to them that she was friendless and homeless; and that Peter would kill her, the last of her family; and from the report of Wilkins, and other sources of information, Mr. Mayburn concluded that it was the custom of these northern people to live in families, or clans, rather than in tribes of many, one man being the head of the house, if we may so speak of those who rarely have a house; but who live, like the beasts of the field, in the open air, unless driven by the rains to take shelter in caves.
From the woman they learnt that her name was Baldabella, and that of her child was Nakinna. She was young, and her features were not unpleasant; her eyes were brilliant, and her voice soft and musical; nor was she disfigured in any way, except that through the gristle of her nose she wore a fish-bone. The only garment she wore when she was discovered, was a short cloak of the skins of opossums, sewed neatly together and pinned round her neck with a pointed bone. When they drew the canoes ashore at the close of the day, on a narrow strand, Baldabella looked with wonder on the arrangements made for the night, and the process of broiling birds and roasting eggs at the fire, and drew away when invited to partake of the strangely-cooked food. Then she plunged her fingers into the mud at the edge of the water, and soon went up to Margaret, and put into her hand some small gray reptiles resembling slugs. Margaret shrank from the feast, shaking her head; but the woman put one into her own mouth, and swallowed it living with great relish, crammed one into the mouth of the child, and then returned to hunt for more.
Jenny held up her hands to express her abhorrence; Ruth stared at the woman with terror, evidently looking on her as a kind of sorceress; and O'Brien laughed, as he said, "Well, nurse, you need not be so much disgusted; I dare say these snails taste as well as the ugly oysters which we are cannibals enough to swallow alive."
"Oysters, Master Gerald," answered nurse, reprovingly, "are eat by decent Christian people; and I see no harm in them, specially with pepper and vinegar; but these things are varmint. Our ducks in England would hardly touch them."
"A duck is not a fastidious feeder, nurse," said Margaret, "and I would not answer for its nicety in this matter. But this poor stranger prefers the food she has been accustomed to, and we have no right to scoff at her taste. If she remain with us, no doubt, in time, she will conform to our habits."
For many days longer they continued their uninterrupted voyage up the river, the widow becoming daily more at home with her protectors. Margaret clothed her in one of her old dresses, with which she was much delighted, and in other respects she began to adopt the customs of her strange protectors. She voluntarily discarded her nose ornament; she bathed herself and her child daily; she at length ate the same food, and imitated the manners of her friends.
Margaret made light dresses for the little Nakinna, who rapidly caught the English names for the objects around her, and from her the mother learnt many words. But it was with deep concern that Mr. Mayburn saw the perfect indifference with which Baldabella regarded the religious worship of the family. She looked at first much astonished to see men and women kneel down, and to hear the solemn prayers pronounced by Mr. Mayburn; but she soon turned carelessly away to dig for worms, or to collect sticks for the fire.
Not so the little Nakinna; for, after observing the devotions two or three times, she walked up to Margaret, knelt down by her, lifted up her little hands, and seemed to listen with interest, though she could not yet understand. This act of docility and obedience was very gratifying to her kind instructress, who anxiously wished for the time when a mutual understanding might render it possible to communicate to these heathens a knowledge of the truth.
"Can it be possible, Wilkins," said Mr. Mayburn, "that these wretched natives are so lost as not even to acknowledge a Supreme Being! not even to 'see God in clouds, and hear Him in the wind!' not to feel that there must be a spiritual Ruler of the universe?"
"Why, to my fancy, master," answered Wilkins, "t' men folks isn't altogether dull chaps; but them poor jins just get all their sense knocked out on their heads. Poor bodies! they're no better off nor dogs nor asses. They work fra' morn to night, and hug heavy loads, and get kicks and short allowance for their pains."
There was a crushed, subdued look about the woman that rendered Wilkins's assertion not improbable; but Margaret hoped that, by kind treatment, the dormant intellect of the native might be developed.
At length the river became more difficult of navigation, the stream more rapid, and encumbered with fallen rocks, while rapids and falls compelled them to land continually among thick jungles, or on the narrow strand below precipitous cliffs. A mountain range was now visible before them, and they concluded that they must soon reach the source of the friendly river, when they should have to abandon the canoes for a less safe and convenient mode of travelling.
"We cannot stand walking again," said Gerald. "Couldn't we carry the canoes forward awhile? and perhaps we might have the luck to fall in with another river. What a grand thing it would be if we could find one flowing to the east or the south, that we might run easily down the stream without any hard work."
"That is not very probable, Gerald," said Arthur, "when we are yet so far from the central part – what we may strictly term the interior of the country. But we will certainly spare ourselves the labor of carrying away our canoes when we leave the water; for there can be no difficulty, in such a richly-wooded region, in procuring materials for making canoes, if we should need them. The noise of the waters seems to grow louder, and I fear we are again approaching some great cataract, which will probably, like the last we encountered, terminate all hopes of boating. I propose that we should at once make for yonder niche in the cliffs, and unlade the canoes. Wilkins and I will then row up as high as we can in a lightened canoe, to endeavor to find out a mode of ascending from this deep gully."
"If we are to land," said Gerald, "it will be easy enough to climb these wooded heights."
"Easy for you, my boy," said Arthur, "especially if you had no encumbrances; but think of papa, and Margaret, Baldabella and her child, and all the bags and bundles which constitute our wealth. We must endeavor to discover an easier road, and in the mean time we will disembark at this convenient spot."
Mr. Mayburn and Margaret remonstrated with Arthur for exposing himself and Wilkins to more danger than the rest, but were at length persuaded that the expedition could be executed with more safety and success by a small party; and two of the canoes, with all the stowage, were therefore landed in a shady nook, while the two men rowed on in the third boat. Margaret and her father waited uneasily, but the two boys amused themselves by penetrating into the woods, to seek birds; Jack cut down branches of trees, and formed them into spears, arrows, or forks; Jenny and Ruth cooked some birds, and Baldabella, armed with a spear, waded into a shallow creek of the river near them, and speared two large fish, of the species they called the fresh-water cod. Still everybody thought the hours went slowly, and were truly glad to see the light canoe gliding swiftly down the stream with Arthur and Wilkins, who drew it ashore; then Arthur said, —
"If possible, we must make our way along the banks, for the river is even now dangerous of ascent, and at no great distance our voyage would be entirely arrested by a cataract, similar to that we encountered soon after our reaching the mainland. Wilkins and I, after mooring our canoe to the mangroves, climbed to the heights, and found we were then only at the base of successive ranges of hills, which terminated in high-peaked mountains, apparently inaccessible. From these hills flowed many rivulets, which unite at the grand cataract and form this river."
To make further progress in their journey, it was therefore necessary that they should reach the country above the high rocky banks of the river, and Arthur said that on their return they had noticed one place where it might be possible for the whole party to ascend; though the path must necessarily be one of difficulty.
They dined on roast birds and broiled fish, and then began an active preparation for walking. Every thing that was worth transporting was reduced to as small a compass, and made as portable as possible; the canoes were reluctantly abandoned, and then the long train, headed, as usual, by Arthur, set out; Baldabella quietly taking her place in the line, bearing her child on her shoulder, and resting on her long fish-spear.
"I could fancy we were the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness," said Gerald.
"You will please to recollect, Gerald," said Hugh, "that the Israelites exceeded us in number in a trifling degree, extending to hundreds of thousands, we are told; and then, though Arthur is doubtless a clever fellow, he cannot be such a guide as the wise and gifted Moses."
"The Israelites had a more infallible Guide," said Mr. Mayburn, "than even their great leader Moses, until by discontent and disobedience, they rejected the Holy One. Let us take warning, my children, lest we should, in like manner, forget the certain protection which our Heavenly Father extends to all his faithful people."
They slowly wound along the narrow strand, sometimes sunk in mud, sometimes climbing over mounds of pebbles or piles of drift-wood, anxiously examining the thick matted woods which covered the precipitous cliffs, and even occasionally intercepted their path. For some time they despaired of finding any spot favorable for the purpose of reaching the level ground; till Arthur pointed out the place which he had previously noticed, where the banks had given way, and a great fall of rocks had formed a sort of sloping staircase, less encumbered with the brushwood, and less abrupt than they had expected.
"If we ever succeed in reaching the height," said Arthur, "this must be our path. The strong must lead the way, and aid in drawing up the feeble. These drooping creepers will be convenient to cling to, that we may not lose the ground we have made. Give me your hand, Meggie."
With many a slip downwards, a scream, and a rending of garments, the women were dragged up through the almost perpendicular wood. Baldabella alone, erect and firm in foot, despised assistance. She disencumbered herself of all loose drapery, and clasping her child, she stepped among, under, or over the bushes, with speed and safety; and long before the men had reached the height, she had quietly resumed the garb of her sex, and was seated to wait for the arrival of the less-practised climbers. They were scarcely all assembled, weary and tattered, at the head of the cliff, when Ruth, who was the last, suddenly uttered a piercing shriek, and rushed down into the matted bush again, pursued by Jack, who captured and brought her back, struggling and exclaiming against his interference.
"Oh, Jack, man, let me be," cried she; "didn't thou see 't? It's an uncanny place, this. I seed it mysel', Jack; it were a little auld fairy, grinning at me, wi' a long tail."
Jack was too enlightened to have any dread of a fairy, even with a long tail; and he persisted in bringing up Ruth, pale and trembling, to the rest of the party, though she continued to cry out, "Yonder she sits! Jack, honey! keep out on her way; she'll charm thee."
As soon as the boys heard Ruth's story of the tailed fairy, they ran with great glee to the spot she pointed out, and there, perfectly calm and immovable, they beheld the old fairy, in the form of a very extraordinary lizard. It was seated on its tail, apparently undismayed by the presence of observers; and Mr. Mayburn was called to the spot to examine the new discovery. The length of the body might be five inches, but the tail was twice that length; the color yellowish brown and black. It was scaly and frightful, and its human-like face, prominent eyes, long claws, and plaited ruff, might well terrify the ignorant and superstitious.
"I recognize the creature," said Mr. Mayburn, "from the description given by more than one traveller, to be the Chlamydosaurus Kingii, peculiar to Australia. The frill which surrounds its head, extending even to the chest, and folded in plaits, points out the distinct species. This ruff is a curious membrane, which can be expanded, by means of slender transverse cartilages, at the will of the animal, when it is roused to anger."
"Then observe, papa," said Gerald, "how indignant it is at our impertinent remarks. See how it spreads its broad frill, and shows its sharp teeth, as if it wished to bite us. Must I knock it down?"
"Truly, Gerald," answered Mr. Mayburn, "my curiosity would overcome the feelings of humanity, and I should be tempted to desire to obtain the creature; but I see Arthur shakes his head at the suggestion. And, after all, we have no right to slaughter the unoffending animal."
Baldabella, on whose ears Mr. Mayburn's words fell in vain, looked with glittering eyes on the reptile, and raising her spear said in her new language, "Baldabella eat him." But the lizard, with an instinct of danger, ran swiftly up the tree, assisted by its hooked claws, and escaped the blow. When far above any fear of attack, it again calmly sat down, looking down on the baffled woman with a frightful sarcastic grin.
"There now!" said Ruth, "didn't I tell ye she were uncanny? She heard all 'at were said, as sure as we're here." For Ruth's conviction of its supernatural rank was not to be shaken by Mr. Mayburn's scientific demonstration.
After satisfying their curiosity in looking at the frilled lizard, Arthur called on his forces to resume their march. Before them now lay rich green hills, rising gradually above each other, and intersected by clear streams, flowing into the river they had left. These hills were the first steps to mountains which rose, high and rugged, even to the clouds. The hills, though tedious, would not be very difficult to ascend; but how to pass the mountains they could not yet judge.
The mountain-range ran, as far as the eye could reach, from north-east to south-west, and completely intercepted them in the road they desired to pursue. To pass them, if possible, must therefore be their aim; or a vast deal of time must be lost in making a circuitous course.
"We will ascend the hills, at all events," said Arthur, "and look round us. We may, perhaps, find some natural pass. We might even try a kangaroo-path, which must be found, for, see what herds of the animals are bounding along under the lofty trees on the hills."
"Oh, do let us have a kangaroo-hunt, Arthur!" exclaimed Hugh. "We are hungry, and kangaroo meat would fill us; and therefore, papa, we have a right to kill and eat."
"Let's see ye set about it," said Wilkins. "They're sharper fellows nor ye think on, them kangaroos, my lad. They're a match for most folks, barrin' ye have dogs, or follow them up till they fall tired, and that'll maybe, not be for half a day. I ken a good deal of kangaroo-hunting; but I'se not clear that them there chaps is so shy as down-country beasts; ye see, they'll niver like have clapped eyes atop on a man, and they'll not ken man's crafty ways."
"To the disgrace of human nature," said Mr. Mayburn, "what Wilkins suggests is true: wherever he is recognized by the brute creation, they instinctively
'Shun the hateful sight of man.'"
"Well, sir," said Gerald, "that is, I suppose, because the ignoble fears the noble – the coward the brave."
"And you may add, Gerald, the slave his tyrant," continued Mr. Mayburn. "It is ever thus with
'Man, proud man!
Dressed in a little brief authority.'"
"But, papa," said Hugh, "we are in need of food, and you must allow that it is more humane to destroy one kangaroo than a dozen cockatoos or pheasants."
"I agree with Hugh, papa," said Margaret. "We will, if possible, content ourselves to-day with taking one life."
Armed with spears and throwing-sticks, bows and arrows, and one boomerang which Baldabella had found, and which no one but herself could yet use, the hunters preceded Mr. Mayburn and Margaret. By the directions of the experienced Wilkins, they spread along in a line, to guard the foot of the hill; for he said the animal always took a downward course when it was alarmed, for, as its fore-feet never touch the ground in its greatest speed, it has more time in a descent to draw up the hind legs, to make the immense spring, than it could have with an ascent before it.
No sooner had the timid animals seen the strange forms of the hunters than they started off with such incredible speed, that no one unacquainted with their habits could have believed that their flight was a series of jumps, and that their fore-feet never touched the ground. In their confusion, some of the animals tried to penetrate the rank of the hunters, while some fled to the right or to the left. The spears and arrows showered amongst them, and more than one beast carried off the weapon sticking in him. But it was the boomerang of Baldabella which, after complicated and mysterious evolutions, struck and stunned a large animal, which Wilkins presently despatched with his knife.
Arthur then recalled the hunters, saying, "We will have no more slaughter. This large animal will supply us with as much meat as we can consume while it remains fresh, and it would be wanton to slay more."
The rear rank then joined them. The body of the kangaroo, suspended on a long pole, was shouldered by Wilkins and Jack, and the march was resumed. They ascended and descended several hills, till night and fatigue compelled them to rest in a little hollow, where a cooking-fire was made, and they supped with great enjoyment on venison steaks; and, like the early inhabitants of the world, before luxury and artificial wants had enervated them, they slept beneath the canopy of heaven, among the everlasting hills.
"Get up, Arthur," cried Hugh, early next morning. "Get up, and come to see our mountain-pass. Gerald discovered it, and therefore we propose to name it the 'Pass of Erin.'"
CHAPTER XVII
The Dangerous Pass. – The Coupled Travellers. – The Mountain Labyrinth. – The Emancipation of Ruth's Chickens. – A Combat à l'outrance. – The Ornithorhyncus. – The Forest in the Mountains. – Singing Birds. – The Laughing Jackass
Arthur was soon alert, and followed the boys, who led him up the side of the next high hill and along the ridge for about three hundred yards to the south west, and then pointed out to him a narrow rent or gorge in the mountain, lying far below the hill on which they stood; but from this hill a gradual ascent, formed by fallen rocks, made a rude path to a narrow shelf or terrace which they now saw far above them, and which ran along the precipitous side of the rocky wall. Arthur shuddered as he said, "Is that narrow terrace passable, do you think, Gerald?"
"Oh, yes," answered he; "Hugh and I had a run along it before we woke you, and it is not half so bad as it looks. We shall manage very well if we go 'goose-walk;' but I think it would not be safe for two abreast. To be sure, it is rather confusing to look down into the depths below; but we must give them all a caution, and I think it would be better to blindfold Ruth."
"There is nothing for us but to try it," said Arthur. "Let us return to breakfast before we set out."
"Yes, we might as well reduce the bulk of the kangaroo," said Hugh, "for it will be awkward to carry it along our pass."
But when the plan was fully arranged, it was judged expedient to cut up the kangaroo, and only carry away sufficient for another day's consumption. Even the useful skin was reluctantly abandoned, as Arthur knew well they must have no unnecessary encumbrance. Ruth could not, however, be persuaded to leave her pet fowls, but resolutely set out with her basket on her arm.
Then, after beseeching a blessing on their perilous journey, they marched forward, and gradually ascending the hills, they reached the narrow path that skirted the mountain. This natural shelving was scattered over with loose stones, and occasionally broken away till a ledge of only about five or six feet was left for them; but the creeping plants that covered the rock enabled the timid to grasp a kind of support on one hand, as they moved cautiously along the unequal and perilous path. Below this terrace yawned a deep gully, that formed the bed of a stream, which at all seasons washed its sides. This stream was now shallow, and moved sluggishly; but rugged crags, and torn-up trees, lying in the bed, showed that raging torrents must pour into it after the rainy season.
From the interstices of the bush-covered rocks sprang the gray-leaved gum-tree, the elegant casuarina, and a bright-leaved tree resembling the box, but lofty and strong. Among these trees parrots and cockatoos chattered incessantly, and on the gum-trees hundreds of little active opossums sported with all the playfulness of monkeys; and Mr. Mayburn was so interested in watching them hang from the branches, suspended by their curved tail, to rifle the nests of the birds, or feed on the numerous insects round them, that Arthur, in alarm, stepped back to hold his father by the arm.
"I tell you what we must do, Arthur," said Gerald; "we must be linked in couples, as the travellers on the Alps are; then, if one makes a false step, there's a chance for his mate to draw him up."
"No bad plan, Gerald," answered Arthur; "but we must take care to couple with judgment. The prudent or brave must take charge of the rash or the timid. I will take papa; Jack, his unlucky sister; Hugh, Margaret, or, more correctly, Margaret must take Hugh; Wilkins will take charge of nurse; and you, the neglected proposer of this wise measure, cannot profit by it, unless you will submit to be guided by Baldabella, who seems to trip along with her lively burden unapprehensive of danger."
Hugh preferred to walk unfettered; and Arthur had no fears for the native woman, whose firm and steady step showed that she had been accustomed to such rough and scrambling paths.
Arthur, who was the first of the line, now became uneasy, as, on looking before him, he remarked that, as far as the eye could reach, there appeared to be no termination to the mountain wilderness. He could have fancied that a labyrinth of broken, precipitous, lofty, and interminable rocks shut them completely from the world. It was a bewildering prospect, and even the strong heart of Arthur almost failed him, and his head whirled at the sight of such stupendous and uncertain difficulties.
A scream from Ruth recalled him to his immediate duties, and on turning round he saw her much-valued basket of poultry bound down the precipice over the bushes, till it rested on a lower ledge, some hundreds of feet beneath them, where it flew open, and the fowls, uninjured by their involuntary flight, fluttered from their prison, and began calmly to peck about for food; while the little bantam cock proclaimed his liberty by shaking his plumes and uttering his conceited hoarse crow.
"They are settlers now, Ruth," cried Gerald, laughing; "the first colonists – regular squatters. How astonished future travellers will be when they make the curious discovery: a species of bird remarkably like Gallus Barndoorii. What grand names they will bestow on them! and write long papers, and puzzle ornithologists."
But the patriarch of this new species was not allowed to squat among the aborigines with impunity; his triumphant notes were answered by a crow of defiance in a less familiar tone from a splendid cock pheasant, which pounced down on the new comer with a furious peck, that the true-trained English bird, notwithstanding his foreign ancestry, could not brook. The brave little bantam retaliated boldly, and a furious combat ensued, causing even the English hens to raise their heads from their pleasant feast, and appear somewhat interested in the event; while Ruth shrieked, "He'll kill him! Jack, honey! throw a stone at him! drive him off! Chuck! chuck!"
But though Ruth's familiar cry failed to separate the combatants à l'outrance, the pleased hens recognized the well-known call, and responded to it by fluttering and scrambling up the mountain side, to partake of the scattered grain; and in the fulness of their feast, they were easily captured, and stowed in separate bags and pouches, till a new dwelling could be made for them.
Then the little feathered hero below, having vanquished and left his antagonist for dead, perched for a moment on the pinnacle of a shattered rock, and crowed triumphantly, as if to defy the whole race of native birds; after which demonstration, he leisurely followed his female friends up the steep, to share their feast and their captivity.
Notwithstanding the alarm and delay caused by this accident, there was something amusing about it that was not without its beneficial effects. Ruth continued to lament the loss of her basket; but Jack scolded her seriously for her foolish fears and awkwardness, which were the sole cause of the loss. He declared the fowls were absolute pests, and wholly useless in a region where birds and eggs dropped into your hands; but his remonstrances having produced tears of penitence and promises of amendment, he relented, and promised to make for her a coop, or cage, of cane, which would be easier to carry than the basket, and afford more air to the unfortunate prisoners.
After wandering for two days along their frequently dangerous, and always difficult, aerial pathway, resting only when they came to some rocky hollow, they began to pine for a less-hazardous road; and they now perceived that, with the usual caprice of Australian rivers, the stream in the narrow bed below them had disappeared, though slender rills continually fell from the mountains, but subsided into bogs, or formed pools below. They therefore resolved, if they could safely accomplish it, to descend to the bed of the river; and endeavor to extricate themselves from the rocky maze in which they seemed hopelessly involved.
After another day's travelling, they fancied the descent appeared more practicable than it had yet been since they set out on the shelving terrace, and it was decided to make the trial. The first step would decidedly be the most difficult. About twelve feet below them another shelf of rock projected, wider than that on which they now stood; but how to reach it was a puzzling question, for the descent was perpendicular, and quite overgrown with thorny bushes.
"If you will help me, Master Hugh," said Jack, "I think we may manage it. We must just cut down the bushes into steps like for them that feel timid."
Employment was the grand need of the active boys, and to clear a passage as low as they could reach, and then step down on the bushes to work below, was a pleasant amusement. The stone axes were now found to be perfectly serviceable, and they soon cut six clearances, each two feet deep, graduating like a staircase, of which the matted brush formed the steps, which reached to the lower terrace; and down the staircase the agitated females were, one after another, assisted, and safely placed on the broad shelf.
This was a decided victory, and they now saw, to their great satisfaction, that the lower descent sloped so much, from accumulated rocks and drift-wood, that by clearing the way with the axes, they easily reached the comparative security of the muddy bed of the vanished river. They looked round on the immense walls which inclosed them with some dismay; then Gerald said, —
"Now, Meggie, we only want the great rains to come on, and then we shall have some notion of the situation of sinful man in the Deluge."
"I trust, my dear boy," said Mr. Mayburn, "that you do not allude to that fearful judgment with levity. And surely, Arthur, we are not near the time of the terrific tropical rains."
"Usually, papa, I believe the heaviest autumnal periodical rains are in February and March," said Arthur. "We are now in the midst of summer; still I must confess I have read of continued rains, even at this season; but I trust we shall be in a safer locality before such trying weather comes on. We are certainly progressing in the way we wish to go; but the immense extent of the mountain-range is extraordinary. Fortunately, we are not in a desert, we are surrounded by plenty, and as far as we have yet penetrated, ferocious animals seem unknown; and more, ferocious man rarely encountered. I only fear for your strength, dear papa, and for that of dear Meggie."
"Fear not for us, Arthur," answered Margaret; "you know I am naturally strong; and God has given renewed life and health to dear papa. His delight in these new and varied scenes of Nature makes every toil light to him. Observe him now, pausing and contemplating something at yon large pond; let us join him. Now, papa! what is the new discovery?"
"Wonderful, my children," said he. "Behold this marvellous new creature. Undoubtedly it must be the Ornithorhyncus paradoxus, the duck-billed Platypus, which I should have recognized, from the numerous sketches I have seen; and my warmest hopes are fulfilled in the happiness of really looking on the rare animal in its native wilds."
"Is't a duck, think ye, Miss Marget?" asked Ruth, with a kind of awe.