EDITOR YEARS' TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2263, 15 July 1897, Page 56

EDIT OR YEARS ' TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA.

(Written for the; Witness Little Folks by compagnon, walkawa.)

XXVIII. Sat it is not from the aborigines alone fliat danger is to be apprehended by travellers in the wilds of Australia. Many years ago it was customary in Britain to Bend out bo Tasmania and Botany Bay bad characters, who were a menace to law-abiding citizens it Home, and these people scattered all over JLustralia. Many of them were transported Jor trifling offences, and come in error innocently; but the majority were men cf the lowest type, criminals of the worst description, whom it was not safe to meet on a lonely track unless fully armed. They, are cow fast dying out, but I met a few during my rambles while there, and on the occasion of. the event about to be related I was brought into rather close quarters with one of the fraternity. In some partß of Australia there are wide belts of poor arid shingly country, that bears nothing in its virgin state except a scrub called mallee. This scrub is about Bft or 10ft in height, smooth and clean in the stem, with A tuft of foliage near the top. It ib cleared by means of heavy iron rollers, which are dragged by horses, and after the scrub is crushed down level with the ground it is burned off. Some are sanguine that the naallee 'country thus cleared will become good for wheat-growing, bnt I very much doubt it. It may, aided by the ashes of the Irarnt scrnb, produce a fair crop for the first year or two, provided that there be jplenty of rain ; but the impression I formed of it on riding through a belt of upwards of 30 miles in width which stretches from the main Bourke road away oat towards the Oojini Ranges was poor in the extreme — a (wild, dreary wilderness devoid of bird, -animal, or apparent insect life. The feeling jon passing through it was one of the most !« epressing experienced in all my rambles. ilThere was a death-like stillness, due to the 'entire abienco of all animate things, that ■eemed to weigh one down with an oppresfirlve lassitude bordering on melancholy. JE&ch shadow cast on the narrow track bseemed like a spectre, and at midnight. When that strange sighing breeze so well known to travellers by night rustled the smaller leaves, a slight shiver passed over me, everything around seemed so weird and ghostly. Tightening the bridle reins and touching the horse with the spars, I trotted some distance to restore my shaking nerves, 'when on a sudden the animal stopped dead, .planted his four hoofs firmly in the ground, j'pricked his ears, stared ahead, and trembled violently. Fearing from the tremor that shook him that the horse was going to drop under me, I was in the act of dismounting when he recovered himself and walked on a Jew yards, when a man came along the track towards me. This was the cause of the horse's alarm ; and when he approached close enough to be seen properly my fear was greater than the horse's, for a more villainouß type of humanity I never saw. His shaggy, matted hair hung low on his shoulders, concealing hia neck, while in front the scalp almost touched bis heavy, lowering eyebrows, beneath which gleamed the eyeß of a fiend, so restless, wild, and 'murderous were they. Forehead he had none; but the broad, deep jaw, thin lips, and wide mouth proclaimed the animal in human form. " Good evening, or good morning rather,' the villain granted in a deep, sepnlchral jroice, showing his teeth, as he eyed me from head to foot, scanning the horse and trappingE *nd its brand. He started visibly as he noticed the deadly Colt's revolver hanging from the saddle-bow. "Going far tonight," he pursued. " Only to the gilguys how far are they 1 " was my reply. " Aboul » mile. Been here before!" "No/ •''Then you will miss the water. The fiilguys are off the track. I will show you— I am encamped there." Without a word I followed the man, bui never for a moment took my eyes off hia until we arrived at the gilguy hole, where ] watered the horse, gave him a loaf oi bread, and tied him to a tree ; then, having partaken of a " snack," as bushmen call t jjlight repast, I lay down and pretended t( Bleep. The stranger did likewise. Not lonj afterwards the unknown, who lay on som< leaves a short distance away, turned elowk

I and Ciutiously on his side, the better to see \ | whether I was asleep, and being satisfied on this point he rose noiselessly to his feet, stole j towards the horse, undid the revolver from the saddle, cocked it, and came sneakingly ! towards me. All these movements were carefully noted, and oockiDg the little " bull- I dog " that was always kept handy, I sprang to my feet and covered him. " Drop that, i you villain I " I sternly shouted to the wretcb, ! who, suddenly taken aback, pulled the trigger [ of the revolver without doing me harm, for i tbe cartridges had been withdrawn when the j horse was tethered. "If there was a witness here I'd shoot you like a dingo." Again he drew, but the hammer fell with a harmless click. "Drop it", I tell you — once, twice, thrice, or down you go ! That weapon.* \ empty." ; I The would-be murderer's face grew ashy 1 white, and bore an expression like that of a j ve/y demon. In it all the furies of every ! type, of criminals of avery stamp, seemed blended together, while cowardice shone above all when the trick he had been played became apparent, and the scoundrel felt that he waß at my mercy. 11 Put back that pistol where you got it, and clear out of this, you Bhivering dog, or die," was scarcely uttered when the brute did as he was bidden, and gathering up his tattered blanket made as if to go towards Cojini. " Not that way, cur 1 I've seen enough of you. Go baok the road you came," I ordered, and, muttering curses, the villain slunk away. Blacks, when enraged, are fierce and dangerous* frightening those who are unused to them; but, dreading the white man's superior weapons, they will not dare to openly attack him, while villains such as he whom I have mentioned are more to be dreaded, if tbe traveller happens to be alone. The former cringe and beg, and»go away ; the latter cut your throat for very hate even after you have given up everything you carry, lest, permitting yon to live, the tidings of their haunts may reach .the authorities', and some former crime should meet' with its reward. Some have lost their way and perished through exhaustion, others met their death by thirst, while hsre and there the spears of blacks have ended travellers' careers; but not a few of those whose skeletons lie bleaching in tbe wilds of tbe lone bush fell by the hands of their own kith and kin, who to the pleadings for mercy turned a deaf ear — brutes who live by robbery and murder, remorseless, cruel, and unmoved by pity, sympathy, and pain. Cowards inwardly, they make pretence of friendship to lure the unsuspecting victim to his death ; then, under cover of the night, or when their fellew man is wrapt in slumber, they will plunge a knife into his breast or send a bullet to his brain. These men are human bloodhounds, who oan ran a fresh trail with any aborigine, live in the bush for weeks together, depending on nothing but the food that can be obtained by hunting, and elude capture with perfect ease, their knowledge of the trackers' prowesß enabling them to baffle them successfully. At times they may emerge from their secluded haunts, work on an out Btation for a short period, then withdraw once more to pass the time in planning deeds of darkness for future execution. j