The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-08-14


mates in that long forced companion
ship. But | wasn't wise, and | went
on with him.
From the first moment, even before l
had spoken to him, l disliked Lemar-
chant very soon I grew to hate him.
He seemed to me the most recklessly
cruel and deviish creature (Gcd for
give mo that should say it y had
ever met with in my whole lifetime.
On an Arctic expedition mans true
nature soon comes out-mine did, GER
tainly-and he let's his companions
know more about his inner self in six
weeks than they could possibly learn
about him in years of intercourse un-
der other circumstances. Add the
second night was on the Cotopaxi |
learned enough to make my blood run
cold about Harry Lemarchant's ideas
and feelings.
We were all sitting on deck togeth.
er, those of US who were not on duty,
and listening to yarns from one anoth-
er, as idle men will, when the conversa
ton happened accidentally to turn on
Queensland, and Lemarchant began to
enlighten us about his doings when he
was in the colony. He boasted great
deal about his prowess as dispenser Of
the black fellows, which he seemed to
consider very noble sort of occupa-
ton. There was nobody in the colony,
he said, who had ever dispersed so
many blacks as he had, and he'd like
to be there dispensing again, for, in the
matter of sport, 1t beats kangaroo
hunting, or any other kind of shooting
he had ever yet tried his hand at, all to
pieces.
The second Lieutenant, Stepworth
Paterson, nice, kind.hearted young
Scotchman, looked up at him little
curiously, and said: "Why, what do
you mean by dispensing, Lemarchant ?
Driving them off into the bush, l sup
pose; isn't that it? Not much fun in
that, that / can see, scattering lot OF
helpless, black, naked savages."
Lemarchant curled his lip contempt
uously (he didn't think much of Pater-
son, because his father was said to be
a GLASGOW grocery and answered in his
rapid, daredevil fashion: "No fun
Isn't there, just? That's all you know
about it, my good fellow. Now, III
just give you one example. One day
the inspector came and told us there
were lot of blacks camping out on
our estate, down by the Warramidgee
river. So we jumped on our horses
like shot, went down there immedi
ately, and began dispensing them
We didn't fire at them, because the
grass and ferns and things were very
high, and we might have wasted oul
ammunition; but we went at then
with native spears, just for all the
world like pig-sticking. You should
have seen those black fellows run fol
their lives through the long grass
men, women and little ones together
We rode after them full pelt, and a:
we came up with them, one by one, W.
| just rolled them over, helter-skelter, a.
if they'd been antelopes or bears o
something. By and by, after good
long charge or two, we'd cleared tn,
place of the big blacks altogether; bu
the gins and the children, some o
them, lay lurking in among the grass
you know, and wouldn't come out ant
give us fair sport, as they ought t.
have done, out in the open; children
will pack. you see, whenever they'r
hard driven, exactly like grouse, afte
a month or two's steady shooting
Well, to make them start and shov
game, of course we just put mattel
to the grass, and in minute tn
whole thing was in blaze, right dow
the corner to the two rivers. So W
turned our horses into the stream an,
rode alongside; half dozen of us o.
each river; and every now and the
one of the young ones would brea
cover and slide out quietly into tn
stream and try to swim across withou
being perceived, and get clean ava
into the back country. Then we jus
made a dash at them with the bi
spears; and sometimes they'd dive
and precious good divers they are, toe
those Queenslanders, can tell yol
but we waited around till they com
up again, and then we stuck them a
sure as houses. That's what we ca
dispensing the natives over in Queens
land; extending the blessings of civi
ization to the unsettled parts of tn
( back country"
> He laughed pleasant laugh to hin
self quietly, as he finished this atro
, cious, devilish story, and showed HI
white teeth all in a row, as if h
thought the whole reminiscence G,
ceedingly amusing.
. Of course, we were all simpl
speeches. with horror and astonisl
: ment. Such deliberate brutal murde
> ousness-gracious heavens I what al
3 / saying l had half forgotten for til
moment that /, too, am murderer
, ''But what had the black fellow
, done to youf" Paterson asked wit
t a tone of natural loathing, after W
had all sat silent and horror-stricke
in circle for a moment: 81 suppos
!, they had been behaving awfully ba
, to some white people somewhere
masacreing women or something-t
get your blood up to such a horri
piece of butchery."
Lemarchant laughed again qui,
, chuckle of conscious superiority, an
, only answered; "Behaving badly
Massacreing white women Lord ble'
your heart, I'd like to see them VIII
the wretched creatures wouldn't eve
dare to do it. Oh, no, nothing of tn;
sort, can tell you. And our bloc
wasn't up, either. We went in for
, just by way of something 10 do, an
to keep our hands in. OF course, yo
can't allow lot of lazy, hulking blacl
| to go knocking around in the neigl
borhooa of an estate, stealing yol
! fowls and fruit and so forth, withol
let or hindrance. It's the custom
{ Queensland to disperse the black fe
lows. I've often been out riding wit
a friend, and I've seen niger skull
ing about somewhere down in the he
, low among the tree-ferns. and I've ju
drawn my six-shooter, and said to IN
, friend: "You see me disperse that co