The Portland daily press., 1893-07-17
The Australian Blacks.

1t has been my good fortune to see at dll-
ferent times representatives OF all races tne
| world over. Before going to Australla In
| 1892 was much interested in the apoflg-
| ines of that island continent, whom from
my reading was led to regard as the low
| est savages in the world, and l am forced
| to confess that my actual experience among
them has confirmed this belief. Still in
| some respects the instincts OF these people
seem superior to the reasoning powers of
the whites, who look down on them with
| lordly contempt. Let me illustrate:
One day when riding in the Queensland
| bush / came upon party OF native black
| fellows out hunting honey. Curious to
know how their methods Of search differed
| from those of our own North American In
! dams, decided to stay near them and OBJ
serve.
| noticed that they were ceaselessly dodg-
| ing about in quest of bees. After short
time one of them discovered bee sucking
a flower close by. He at once approached
the insect, and taking from pouch carried
| suspended from his waist belt, which, by
| the way, was his only article of clothing, a
small portion of swansdown, which had
been touched with gum, he dropped it
adroitly on the bees back
In an instant the bee felt that something
was wrong and tried to work off the down
with his hind legs. which of course he was
| unable to do.
With an angry drone the bee left the
flower and started for home, as is ever the
case when these insects are alarmed.
Now could see why the honey hunters
had brought the gummed down with them
The bee rose up in the air just high enough
to clear the tops of the surrounding trees.
When at that height it would have been
difficult if not entirely impossible to fol
low, even with the keenest human vision,
the bee in it's flight. But here the wonder
full instinct and remarkable eyesight of the
natives came into play
From the instant the native placed the
down on the bees back he and his fellows
never lost sight of it, which, as they had to
run like deer in order to keep up with it,
was no easy matter.
Wishing to see the end of the hunt, |
urged my horse after the party, and a more
remarkable chase / never saw before and
never expect to see again.
The bush or forest was beset with fal}en
trees and great masses of prickly FERNS AS
the natives must keep their eyes on the bee
and could not well do this and at the same
ulLlC LUCK OuO lOT bD6 ldlleQ GlmDef GlaU De-
set the path, their running was series of
kangaroolike jumps, indescribably ludi-
crous to myself, for not being able to Judge
of the size of the obstacle in front they
put forward the same effort to clear stick
6 inches through that was necessary to get
over log feet in diameter
After Commute run the natives came
to halt before dead eucalyptus tree with
one of its branches broken off midway up
In the hollow, which was plainly visible
the bee had taken refuge
While was wondering how the blacks
were going to get the honey, one of them
seized the sides of the tree trunk, and, to
my amazement, he walked up as quickly
and with as little effort as an ordinary man
ascends a ladder
Why the bees did not drive him away in
stead of escaping themselves / could not
make out. Within very few minutes he
had thrown down at least so pounds of
honey to his followers at the foot of the tree.