Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-08-03
A Day on Shore. No. 2.

| ne Shhu Nils or Port Bunbury, west
ern coast of Australia, doomed up lik
mountains of crushed silver ore in tn
mornings sunlight as we pulled il
shore for days liberty" On thu
| broad beach the watch of % men
each following his bent singly, in twos
thfees or more, discussed their inten
| ions ana wishes, separated to enjoy
themselves as best they might.
me flow and Harrow Inn absorbed
S"oaly number Of the boys. they II
turn absorbing innumerabe fluids o.
doubtful purity, to be in many cases
, again absorbed by the 'calaboose. sit
uated conveniently near where the
troublesome mixtures were sold.
Some wandered aimlessly hero and
there-ran races on the beach. climbed
the sand hills. walked into Tho forest
and beneath the huge 'banshca" oaks.
irlttered away the day Four of us
obtained as many horses. provided orr
selves with a three ha'- penny loaf
with cold lamb to match and were off
Tor a run INTO the hills. Our guide
paid little attention to roads The for
csts were clear of underbrush and the
tough little brutcs we rode seemed to
delight in just grazing the rough bark
of the great trees, lodging the obst ruc
tons with less than an inch to snare
working in a scraped shin now and
then as tally to the miles they COW
cred 50 braVely
Snakcs-not in our boots-but the wig
Cling, squirming, genuine snakes. from
the little, foot-long adder whose bite is
sure death within an hour. to the car
ret snake a fhthom strong from tip to
~, resplendcnt in green and gold, and
the black racer the largest of them all
with ilght stamped in every movement.
Snakes. Great Scott, Snakes black
blue. green. yellow, all these colors com
bined with other shades ayd mixtures
too numerous to mention. scooting
across our path like a stitak of light
lying coilcd In the sun or stretched at
full length on some rottiug tree trunk.
alert at the least sound and ready for
battle. Now and then kangaroo rat
lodged out of his hole and back again.
leaving the impression that magma
ton was responsible for something
we could hardly tell what
twenty miles through the forest in
three hours was pretty good work for
lads that We're new to the saddle. but
1t prepared US for a plentiful snack"
Of roast kangarooand "dampcr " washed
down with strong tea at the hut of a
sheep tender. which was The end Of our
journey. During our three hours wait
To rest the horse and ourselves. we
climbed the grassy slope and saw the
niue flock ~ sheep that was our hosts
special care. There were only 50 odd
thousand Of them. The shepherd and
his dog took care Of them all and had
done so for almost a year Although a
man. he was looking for
ward t. visit to the Port, where as a
rule his savings from SKI un-ten" a
month and found (s@250 and boar,l)
would disappear in from one to three
weeks
Going back q different route WE
caught glimpse Of a family of kan
CARGO. led by rusty old boomer"
whose tremendous leaps soon took
them out of sight
An encampment Of natives in all
their natural iiithincss were encoun-
tered near the town. one old woman
was hunting with apparent success
the head Of a perfectly naked youth.
putting her catch to death by SNAP
ping the unlucky "jigGer'' between
her teeth and swallowing tho precious
morsel. y man with the handsomest
black beard | ever saw. was roasting
a half-plucked parrot over a fire tina
could have been covered with my hat
dividing it when half cooked among
the hungry crowd. The flesh. feathers
and entrails disappeared as if by ma
@ic This most degraded Of human
beings helieNe-and it ought to make
them happy-that he will fall down
a black man and jump up white
nan"
We We're back To Hooper's Gardens
in time t" fill up on delicious grapes
of more than a dozen kinds. peaches
that had cracked open in the ripen-
Ing, all at the cost Of a shilling-thenco
INTO town mile or more and aboard
ship-bett"r able to stand than Sit
where we found more than half tho
watch in irons for safe keeping.
they having wound up the day by a
free fight. brought about by too Law
ish use Of tanglefoot They all de
rlared that they had had a good time.
If black eyes and swollen noses
counted, they must have been right
| know that We had. although for
week walking was a difficult opera
ton. and going aloft. out of the ques-
ton. JAY EFF BEE.