Blacks and Bushrangers: Adventures in Queensland

by E. B. Kennedy

In the evening the young men were placed under the decorated spears, and their sisters and female cousins lay with their heads on the swollen arms.

Next morning the young men were taken into the bush, and returned decorated with shells and feathers, generally painted up and made to look becoming, when they set about choosing their sweethearts, and another grand “corroboree” closed the proceedings.

But there was much quarrelling and fighting after this, for these newly-fledged warriors commenced stealing the old men’s daughters, and even their wives; so that the brothers on this occasion presently found themselves amongst a lot of infuriated savages fighting chiefly with their clubs.

However, Dromoora came to their rescue, and, leading them into their gunyah, bid them lie quiet, and on no account in any way to interfere with the jins, for that they always caused these troubles; advice which Mat thought was quite uncalled for, as they had long seen that whenever there was fighting it was invariably about the women; but he answered the chief good-humouredly enough, remarking that white men also were known to have trouble about women in their own country.

However, in the present case the fierce uproar did not last long, and no one was killed, though some terrible blows were exchanged. The combatants had to leave off to go and find food.

Though Mat and Tim would not be separated from each other, they gradually joined other tribes in the district, or rather stayed with them during hunting expeditions; and though both were now so far settled that they got on well with the natives, were accomplished and keen hunters, and never lacked food, yet they often thought and conversed together concerning their white brethren and civilization.

The time had now dragged along until they were aware that they had been more than five years amongst the blacks, and still they saw no chance of release from their somewhat degrading life. One great comfort which supported them amidst their hardships was that they could keep up their spirits in each other’s society—in their own language, with their own books. Had there been only one white man, he must have almost forgotten his own language by this time.

During this long period of “free captivity,” our foresters had acquired half a dozen different dialects, which they had picked up amongst neighbouring tribes. They had often spoken of trying to work their way south, but had been dissuaded by their friends, who told them that the danger was too great, the tribes in that direction being fierce, and that they dare not go themselves beyond a certain limit. At the same time it was judged by our boys that their friends wished them to stay, and possibly exaggerated these dangers.

Though at first they “got out” very much in their dates, the brothers kept a journal as regularly as circumstances permitted, putting down everything of interest in their own lives, but more especially entering into a description of the manners and customs of the natives.

Tim contributed also by giving specimens of the language with their equivalents in English; also he mentioned with accuracy the edible plants, describing the places where they should be looked for, and their native names, as “Kaourou,” a blue water-lily, of which the natives eat seeds and roots. “Kadolo,” good root, something like a carrot, grows in every valley, plain, or creek bank, has three narrow, long, sharp-pointed leaves. He also mentioned the native yam, the wild banana, and a sort of tobacco. Many of these fruits and roots Mat guessed the English names of from pictures which he recollected.