During the voyage out Tim had proved to his shipmates that he had a fair voice for singing, and on the strength of this was deputed to lead the hymns, when the captain performed the little Sunday service on deck.
So it struck Mat, upon awakening the next morning after the “Corroboree” in the native camp, that Tim should give them one of the hymns they had learnt on board ship. So, whilst lying in the “gunyah,” Tim struck up at the top of his voice, “From Greenland’s icy Mountains,” and Mat joining in, the black fellows flocked round, squatted themselves, with awe-struck faces, on the ground, and stared in utter amazement.
But just as the singing concluded, the two blacks who had been to the coast, returned, and evidently conveyed some important news to the tribe, for they all began talking excitedly together, and pointing to the direction from which the white men had come, intimated that they must go with them there.
The possibility of some of their late shipmates being cast ashore occurred to the brothers, and they signified their readiness to go.
“I must have something to eat first though, Mat,” said his brother, “for I feel terrible ‘leer.’” So, in response to their signs, the natives brought them more roots and fish, and after partaking of a good breakfast, the whole party started.
The blacks noticed before they had proceeded far that both brothers were lame and weak, so cut them each a stout “yam” stick as staves, and purposely walked very slowly. Mat tried to explain that a dog bigger than Jumper had caused his wound; however, his black brethren concluded that that animal itself was the culprit, and in consequence gave it a wider berth than ever.
The tribe of blacks who had received our lads in such a friendly way were a fine body of men, as Mat and Tim perceived now that they appeared in broad daylight with clean skins—minus the paint of the preceding night. Their bushy but finely-textured hair was now ornamented with tufts of the white cockatoo and other feathers; their brows encircled by a band of reddish-coloured material; their eyes were dark and glittering.
Though small of bone as to their wrists and ankles, and fine in loin, yet their every movement denoted perfect muscular strength and agility. Many of them were over six feet high, though Mat found by subsequent experience that this stature was more peculiar to the coast-tribes, owing probably to the better class of food which they were able to procure.
Climbing for honey.