Their Love Of Finery And Gaudy
Colours Is Also Most Remarkable.
Interwoven amongst the twigs of which the
bower is composed, and scattered about the ground in its vicinity, are
Found bleached bones, broken oyster, snail, and cowrie shells, and not
unfrequently, in the more civilised districts, pieces of coloured rag, and
fragments of ribbon pilfered from some neighbouring station, for, in search
of attractive objects to decorate his playground, the bower-bird entirely
ignores the eighth commandment, and, I fear, justifies the somewhat strong
expression of "d - d thief" which Ferdinand bestowed on him. Indeed, so
well are his filching propensities known to the natives, that they make a
practice of searching the runs whenever any small article of value is
missing, and often succeed in recovering the lost object.
I find that I have been using the pronoun 'he' hitherto, whilst describing
this insatiable love of finery, but on reflection I cannot but think that I
am utterly wrong, and that when more is known of the domestic arrangements
of the bower-bird, it will be found that the lady alone is responsible for
this meretricious taste, and that the poor 'he', whom I have so
unblushingly accused, is in reality gathering berries and fruit for the
little ones, guiltless of the slightest inclination towards picking and
stealing.
These birds live and thrive in confinement, and busy themselves immensely
in the construction of runs, but they never multiply whilst captive.
Indeed, the place and manner of their breeding is as yet a mystery, for, so
skilful are they in concealment, that even the lynx-eyed blacks have failed
to discover their next.
We found the descent to the boat incomparably preferable to the tedious
climb of two hours previous, and, thanks to the promise of a "nobbler of
rum each," Cato and Ferdinand transported my precious "run" in safety to
the stern-sheets; the sun having then sunk in crimson beauty behind the
coast-range, and the breeze having fallen to the faintest whisper, we
shoved off, and pulled leisurely over the calm bay to Cardwell, arriving
about ten o'clock, to hear the welcome news that the 'Daylight' would be
ready for us on the following afternoon.
HOW WE EXPLORED HINCHINBROOK ISLAND.
The sun was just showing above the distant sea-line, and the bay was lying
motionless as a mirror, with a rosy hue thrown across its placid surface,
when I awoke on the following morning, stiff from the clamber of the
preceding day. The short half-hour before the rays of the sun have
attained an unpleasant fierceness is most enjoyable in Australia,
particularly in a wild region such as Cardwell, where birds, beasts, and
fishes pursue their daily avocations, heedless of the presence of man. My
house was situated at the extreme north end of the township, and far apart
from the nearest dwelling - so much so, in fact, that it was only by a
stretch of the imagination that I could say I was included within the
village boundary. On the side farthest from the settlement lay the virgin
bush, whilst outside the garden at the back, all was wild and rude as
Nature had left it, except a small clearing I had made for the growth of
maize, sweet potatoes, etc. Now this clearing had many enemies, and of
many species, ranging from feathered and furred to biped. The cockatoos
came down in such clouds as almost to whiten the ground, and made short
work of the maize; the bandicoots and the township pigs dug up and devoured
the sweet potatoes, just as they were becoming large enough for use -
commend me to your half-starved pig to find out in a moment where the
juiciest and finest esculent lies buried - and the chattering little
opossums stripped the peach-trees of their wealth, in which labour of love
they were eagerly assisted by the flying-foxes during the night, whilst any
that had escaped these nocturnal depredators became the spoil of two or
three idle boys, who loafed about all day, seeking mischief, and, as always
happens, succeeding in finding it, even in this sequestered region. From
this it will be seen that my efforts in the direction of husbandry were
attended with some difficulty, and, despite a real liking for the animal
world, I had imbibed a holy hatred of that particular section of its
society which insisted on devouring my substance under my very nose, only
retreating to the nearest tree until my back was turned, and then resuming
operations with unblushing effrontery. By way of a mild vengeance, I had
got into the habit of coming out every morning directly I awoke, with my
gun, and easing off both barrels amongst the cockatoos, wallabies, or
whatever particular class of robbers happened to be afield at the moment -
a practice which served as a safety-valve for my injured feelings, whilst
at the same time it provided me with a cockatoo pie, or a good bowl of
kangaroo-tail soup.
Once, in my indignation at finding my palings broken down, and some
sugar-cane, that I had been most carefully rearing, rooted up and
destroyed, while the author of the mischief, a huge sow, innocent of the
restraining ring (I would have hung the ring of the 'Devastation's' best
bower-anchor to her snout, had I been allowed to follow out my wishes),
stood gloating over the havoc she had caused. Then, in my wrath, I had
hastily loaded a carbine with a handful of salt, and prematurely converted
a portion of my enemy's flank into bacon; but even this just act of
retribution was not to be accomplished without further loss to myself, for
on receipt of my hint to move on, her sowship dashed straight ahead, and
brought down a whole panel of my fence about her ears, owing to which the
village cows, which I had often observed throwing longing glances over the
paling at my bananas, doubtless apprised of their opportunity by the
evil-minded and malicious sow, took a mean advantage of the weakness of my
defences, and on the same night devoured everything in the garden that they
thought worthy of their attention.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 5 of 31
Words from 4022 to 5059
of 31542
