Evening star., 1898-10-22


from their sockets in the most terrifying
manner, and an indescribable longing pos
sessed me to Kill my faithful Bruno in order
to drink his blood. My poor Bruno! AS
write these humble lines, so lacking in liter
airy grace, I fancy / can see him lying by
| my side in that giaring, ilimitable wilder
ness, his poor, dry tongue loliing out, and
lis piteous eyes fixed upon me with an eX-
preston of mute appeal that added to my
agony.
Gradually grew weaker and weaker, and
at last, feeling the end was near, 1 crawled
under a tree and prepared to meet the
death I was now fervently praying for
Had Yamba given up these lines would
| never have been written. Amazing to re-
late. she kept marvelously we'll and active.
though without water. She must have seen
that l was slowly sinking, for at last she
stopped down and whispered earnestly in
my ear that she would leave me for little
while and go off in search of water Like
a dream it comes back to me how she ex-
planned that she had seen some birds pass
Ing overhead, and that If she followed in
the same direction she was almost certain
to come UP with water sooner or later.
Ask Yamba to Kill Me.
I could not speak; could not answer, but
1 felt it was a truly hopeless enterprise on
her part and as did not want her to leave
me, 1 remember 1 held out my tomahawk
feebly toward her and signed to her to
come and strike me on the head with it.
and put an end to my indescribable agonies
The heroic creature smiled sadly and shook
her head emphatically. She took the prot
fered weapon. however, and after putting
some distinguishing marks on my tree with
it, she hurled it some distance away from
me- She then stopped and propped me
against the trunk of the tree, and leaving
my poor, suffering dog to keep me company
she set out on her lonely search with long,
looping strides of amazing vigor.
1t was late in the afternoon when, she
took her departure. and | lay there hour
a hOnr sometimes fr1nticallV dellriOuS.
and at others in state of semf-conscious-
ness. fancying she was by my side. with
fluid. I would rouse myself with a start
from time to time, but, alas! 1amba was
not near me. During the long and deathly
stiffness of the night the dew came down
heavily, and it enveloped my bed l fell
into sound sleep. from which l was awak-
ened some hours later by the same clear
and ringing voice that had addressed me
on that still night on my island Sandspit.
Out upon the impressive stiffness of the air
rang the earnest words, Coupe farbre!
Coupe rarbre!'
by my sleep, but the message puzzled me a
great deal. At first l thought it must have
been Samba's voice, but l remembered
that she did not now a word of French,
and as ] looked round there was no one to
be seen. The mysterious message still
rang in my ears, but was far too weak to
attempt to cut the tree myself, so I lay
there in a sort of inert drowsiness. until,
rousing myself, / heard the familiar foot
steps of Yamba approaching the spot where
l lay Her face expressed anxiety, earnest
ness and joy.
My MinfsterinG Angel.
In her trembling hands she bore a big
leaf containing two or three ounces Of life
giving water. This l drank with gasping
eagerness, you may suppose. My de-
lirium had now entirely left me, although
l was still unable to speak. l signed to her
to cut the tree as the voice in my dream
had directed me. Without word of ques-
ton Yamba picked up the tomahawk from
where she had hurled it and then cut vigor-
OuSly into the tree making hole three or
four inches deep. 1t may seem astonishing
TO You, but it surprised me in no wise
when out from the hole there trickled
clear uncertain stream of water, under
which Yamba promptly held my fevered
head This had wonderfully refreshing
effect upon me. and in q short time | was
able to speak feebly but nationally. greatly
to the delight of my faithful companion.
AS, however, l was still too weak to move,
| indulged in another and far soCnder sleep.
All through that terrible night while Yam
ba was far away searching for water. Bru
no had never left my side looking into my
face wfstfuly, and occasionally licking my
body sympathetically with his poor parched
tongue.
While 1 was asleep the second time Yam
ba had gone off with the dog in search of
food and had returned with a young opos-
sum, which was soon frZZling in an appe-
tizing way on tripod Of sticks over blaz-
ing fire. l was able to eat a little of the
flesh. and we obtained all the water we
wanted from our wonderful tree. / have
since learned that my life was saved by
the well-known Australian bottle tree"
50 called from the shape of the trunk OF
course, Yamba was unaCouainted with the
fact that water was stored in its interior,
because this wonderful tree was unknown
in her country. AS rule. her instinct
might be depended upon implicitly. and
even after years of her companionship |
la lo1 1yIritf, do. tl,p
which she would track down game.
How Yamba Caught Opossum.
She would glance at a tree casually and
discern on the bark certain minute
scratches, which were quite invisible to me
even when pointed out. Sne would then
climb up like a monkey, and would return
to the earth with a good-sized opossum,
which would be roasted in its skin and ac-
companied with many different varieties of
delicious roots. When ! had recovered
Yamba told me she had walked many miles
during the night, and had finally discovered
full water hole in a new country for
which she said we must make as soon as
| was sufficiently strong. Fortunately this
did not take very long, and on reaching
the brink of the water hole we camped be-
side it for several days, in order to recu-
perate. ! must say that the liquid
found here did not look very invitlng-it
was, in fact. very Shiny and green in color;
but by the time took our departure
there was not a drop left Yamba had a
method of filtration which excited my ad-
miratiOn. She dug another hole alongside
the one containing the water, leaving a few
inches of earth between them, and then
forced stick through the partition. When
we wished to drink this stick was with
drawn. stream of comparatively clear
water then spurfed through the opening.
She would also filter the water by letting
it drain from the water hole into another
hole dug at the side.
AT other times, when no ordinary human
being could detect the presence of water,
she would point out to me little knob
of clay on the ground This, she told me-
denoted the presence of frog, and she
would at once thrust down a reed about
eighteen inches long and invite me to suck
the upper end with the result that | i'm
bihed copiOus drafts of delicious cold water
AT the water hole described above birds
were rather plentiful, and when they came
down to drink Yamha knocked them over
without difficulty, and they formed very
welcome addition to our daily bill of fare.
In this way we had Il very pleasant rest
for four or five days. Continuing our Jour-
ney once more, we pushed on till we came
to a well-wooded country, where the eu-
calpytus fiourished nightly and water was
plentiful. but yet, strange TO say, there was
very little game in THIS place. Soon after
this [ noticed that Yamba grew a little