MAKING FIRE.
When my men had to make a fire, I usually gave them matches, which they were so delighted to use that they always asked for them to light their pipes with, even when a large fire was burning. They called them mardshe, after the English “matches,” a word which I gradually taught them. As a rule, they produce fire with two pieces of light wood from eight to fifteen inches long, either cork-tree (Erythrina vespertilio) or black fig. One piece, which is half of a split branch, is laid on the ground with the flat side up, the other, a round straight stick, is placed perpendicularly on the former, and is twirled rapidly between the hands, so that it is bored into the lower piece, the wood of which is usually of a softer kind. After a few seconds they begin to smoke, and soon there fall out of the bore-hole red-hot sparks which kindle the dry leaves laid around. The man assists by blowing at the sparks. Twigs and branches, which are now quickly collected, are not broken in the manner usual with us—across the knees—but always across their hard skull, the bone of which is so thick that they can easily break branches one and a half to two inches in diameter. The natives usually carry with them the two pieces of wood for kindling fire as long as they are serviceable. I tried to use them, but succeeded only in producing smoke.
Whenever the Australians rest they build a fire, though it be ever so warm, and at all times of the day, partly for comfort, partly in order to roast the provisions which they may have found. On short expeditions they usually make the women carry a fire-brand with them, finding this more convenient than to use the apparatus above described. They always have fire in front of their huts, but usually a small one, no doubt to avoid attracting the attention of hostile tribes.
As we were encamped round the fire I, feeling icy cold in my wet clothes, could not help envying the naked blacks who, independent of garments, became warm and goodhumoured in a few minutes. But in a short time they were as cold as ever, for we had to proceed on our journey in the ceaseless rain. Now and then they exclaimed with a sigh, Takolgŏro ngipa!—that is, Poor me!—and we had to halt, so that they might warm themselves again, and soon they were once more merry and happy.
The rain had ceased when, late in the evening, we returned to our camp. The natives were hungry, and were determined to hinder me from taking my usual bath, striking their stomachs impatiently, and crying, Ammeri! ammeri!—that is, Hungry! hungry! I threatened them with my revolver, as I did not wish to be cheated out of my only pleasure for the day, so they became quiet, and I took a refreshing bath in the clear water of a mountain brook.
I always began the day before sunrise, and after making the necessary preparations for the excursion, I rambled about with the blacks all day long, frequently without eating. Marching through the dense scrubs is very exhausting, the hot climate makes one weak, and it requires much effort to maintain one’s good humour and courage and at the same time to stimulate the indolent natives to do their work. Add to this that it is constantly necessary to be on one’s guard against attacks, and it will be evident that I needed a few moments’ respite; and in order to preserve my health and vigour I availed myself of the opportunity of taking a bath in the nearest pond or brook.
After refreshing myself in this manner I had to be cook both for myself and my greedy companions. Fortunately I did not that evening have to prepare the animals I had shot, for the weather was so cool after the rain that they would keep overnight.
On the way home to Herbert Vale we passed the forests of gum-trees which clothe the base of the mountain range. Here is the favourite resort of the bees, and my blacks at once began to look for their hives, for honey is a highly valued food of the natives, and is eaten in great quantities. Strange to say, they refuse the larvæ, however hungry they may be. The wax is used as a glue in the making of various implements, and also serves as a pomade for dressing the hair for their dances and festivals. The Australian bee is not so large as our house-fly, and deposits its honey in hollow trees, the hives sometimes being high up. While passing through the woods the blacks, whose eyes are very keen, can discover the little bees in the clear air as the latter are flying thirty yards high to and from the little hole which leads into their storehouse. When the natives ramble about in the woods they continually pay attention to the bees, and when I met blacks in the forests they were as a rule gazing up in the trees. Although my eyesight, according to the statement of an oculist, is twice as keen as that of a normal eye, it was usually impossible for me to discover the bees, even after the blacks had indicated to me where they were. The blacks also have a great advantage over the white man, owing to the fact that the sun does not dazzle their eyes to so great an extent. One day I discovered a small swarm about four yards up from the ground, and thereby greatly astonished my men. One expressed his joy by rolling in the grass, the others shouted aloud their surprise that a white man could find honey.
It is an amusing sight to observe the natives gathering honey. One of them will climb the tree and cut a hole large enough to put his arm through, whereupon he takes out one piece after another of the honeycombs, and as a rule does not neglect to put a morsel or two of the sweet food into his mouth. He drops the pieces down to his comrades, who stand below and catch them in their hands. At the same time the bees swarm round him like a black cloud, but without annoying him to any great extent, for these bees do not sting, they only bite a little.