AN ABORIGINAL TOPSY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5460, 11 January 1896, Page 3

AN ABORIGINAL TOPSY.

[by phtllis.] (jlustraZaiian.)

"Hullo! You new missis? Come stop along Mis 3 Blown? What you brought us ?" was the greeting I received from the black children, who looked all eyes and grinning mouths, as I alighted from a buggy at Moss Downs in Northern Queensland.

I had travelled from Melbourne to stop with the Brown family, consisting of father, daughter.'and two sons. -

" Here you niggers, carry in the luggage ; and you Esther," addressing a little black imp of ten, wearing a clean print frock and white apron, " fetch up water fpr MiBS Sool's bath," were the orders given by Miss Brown. Turning- to me she explained that Esther, or "Pup" as she was usually called, was her little maid, who assisted the cook about the house, sweeping, scrubbing, and laying tables.

I soon got into Esther's favour by making presents of oranges and sweets. A very comical little thing she was. Mr Brown had "bought" her from her parents for a red shirt and some tobacco. In the afternoon, she often went out fishing with the othei; black children, from the camp, retivming with a string of fish or a large eel, for master's breakfast. She usually came in punctually at six, but sometimes, if tho fish were numerous, we would have to call her from the garden which sloped to the creek.

On being called she divested herself of her one garment, generally an old frock, not being allowed out in the clothes she wore in the house, which she would fasten on her head, and jumping into the water would swim down to us, scramble out, put on her frock, and run up to the house,' where we would find her clean and neat on our return.

Her great delight was to be allowed to accompany us for a ride, astride on an old white horse. She bumped along, often tumbling off, but getting on again with a grin and chuckle of glee. We found her very useful in opening gates and picking any flowers we took a fancy to aB we rode along.

If we went mushrooming we always took her with us, as she found the best and largest plots.

Each of the children wore but one article of clothing, the boys a shirt, the girls a nondescript garment, often of many coloui'3, straight and narrow, so that it was a marvel how they managed to run about and play. '

Cricket, which was their favourite game, they played for hours in the hottest sun. Esther was always their leader. In the evening they sat in a row on the slip-rails and sang songs they had heard, either at the house or in the huts. It is wonderful how 3oon the little black imps learn a new tune and oven the words.

Esther would prop a piece of paper against a post, and sitting before it, beat the ground with her hands and say, "Me Mies Bloun make pianny work." One day a travelling hawker arrived at the station, and Tom, the eldest Brown boy, thought he would give the "nigs" a treat, so he presented each of the ton children -with a poany whistle. Oh, the hoiror of the next three days ! How those whistles piped and shrieked ! At last Mr Brown could stand it no longer, and forbade their, use within the homo paddock. Esther had a great 'objection to having her curls- cut. Rev hair, was stiff- and lil; 1 - :?.', mow like hov-o hzlv \sr.v. hirma;: nu.lv. At laiu v.-3 i'cuiid that Vyy saying, "You "all same wild black," or, " Your hair same flour-foag," meaning getting white,

we could prevail upon her to undergo a shearing. She wanted a good deal of looking after ; if set to clean a room, she would build houses with the matting and chairs, stand in the bucket of water, brush her hair before the glass with a hand broom, button or lace up all the boots, dresses and gloves in the room. One day she made what she called " Now missis on a nail," by stuffing my riding habit with all the garments she could find as it hung on the wall, putting a hat and a veil on top, with two hat pins stuck in the veil'-- to represent eye 3, and a pair of gloves fastened" to the sleeves for hands.

Esther slept on the verandah in hot weather. So did we ; we had wire stretchers, slio had only a blanket. One night Miss Erown' called out that thore was an earthquake, and she "sras almost being shaken off her stretcher. I thought this very 3trange,_as niinewas not moving, and on making an inspection of the verandah discovered a length of green hide, one end fastened to the stretcher the other very close to Esther, who was snoring in a manner rather too demonstrative to be natural.

Esther always tried to take revenge on persons who punished her by making grimaces behind their backs, and it was a great puzzle to her how we often knew what was going on, till one day she suddenly saw her reflection in the glass of the bookcase and then in the window, so the mystery was revealed to her. Another idea of hers was trying to persuade people to exchange things with one another. *She would say to Miss Brown, "You no got rad dress. You swap along Miss Sool; gib her old boots/ Or she would coma to me and say, " Your stockings longer Mareer Joe's; he gib you old hat along your stockings." I noticed I was always to have the worst of the swap, except where the cook was concerned; she was hated by the black children, and when Esther approached me with offers of a swap with Mrs Binge, then I was to have the best of the bargain. When the time came for me to leave Moss Downs, the last I saw of Esther she was sitting on a gate, her long black legs — which werealways bare — frantically kicking and arms •wildly waving good-bye, as she shouted, " You send dischilup tomahawk chop urn tree."