To quit until he either saw or heard from us,
however long the time might be. During the daytime the whale-boat was to
be kept hauled up alongside the cutter, with the carbines belonging to the
crew loaded and triced up under the thwarts, ready for immediate service,
and a bright look-out was to be kept on the channel, in both directions.
If the natives attempted the smallest communication with the mainland, the
whale-boat was to give chase immediately, and either intercept and capture
the canoes, or compel them to return to Hinchinbrook Island.
Such was the rough plan we sketched out for the guidance of the 'Daylight'.
With regard to ourselves, we could make no standing rule, for the country
was comparatively unknown to us, and we must, Micawber-like, trust to
something turning up and, in the pursuit of this happy event, must follow
whithersoever fortune and Miss Lizzie thought fit to lead us.
At least an hour before dawn we were astir, and swallowing the scalding tea
that the man on watch had prepared: this done, and a snack of damper and
cold meat eaten, we got quietly into the boat and were pulled ashore.
Until daylight, we were unable to make our way, for paths there were none,
and the ground was dangerous from the quantity of stones, etc., so we were
compelled to sit down quietly and smoke our pipes until we could see to
pick our way. In the tropics there is but little dawn; the sun springs up
without heralding his approach by a lengthened gradation from darkness to
night, as obtains in more temperate climes, and but little patience was
requisite to enable us to commence our search. As many of our readers are
doubtless aware that in Australia no journey is ever undertaken on foot;
that the real bushman would think himself sunk to the depths of abject
poverty, if he had not at least 'one' horse of his own; and that a man will
wander about for a couple of hours looking for a horse to carry him half a
mile, when he might have gone to his destination and back half a dozen
times, in the interval wasted in searching for his steed. Knowing this,
they will doubtless wonder why we did not bring our mounts with us, and
perform the journey comfortably, in place of the tedious method we now
adopted. It must not for a moment be imagined that the great assistance
horses would have afforded us had not been duly weighted and considered,
and our reasons for leaving them behind were as follows: - From the little
we knew of Hinchinbrook, and from the description Lizzie gave of the
country, they would have been rather in our way than otherwise. The whole
island is a mass of lofty volcanic mountains; and the passes through the
gorges so strewn with huge boulders, debris, and shale, that we should have
been compelled to lead our nags, and thus they would have only proved an
encumbrance. This was one reason, and apparently a very good one, but I
doubt if it would have had much effect upon our party, who could hardly
contemplate any undertaking without the agency of horseflesh, had not a
more cogent argument been forthcoming, to which they were compelled to give
in their adherence.
"The 'Daylight' is quite big enough to carry them all, for such a short
distance, if they're properly stowed," said Jack Clark, the roughrider, who
was a zealous advocate for the conveyance of his pet quadrupeds.
"Of course she can," said another; "and we shall get the work over as
quickly again."
"How will you land them?" I ventured to suggest; "for the cutter can never
go near enough to the shore to walk them out."
"She can't get within a quarter of a mile," said the pilot; for at this
time none of us knew of the little inlet, into which Lizzie so deftly
guided us.
"Pitch them overboard, of course," cried Jack; "they'll pretty soon make
for the land; and I'll send my mare Gossamer first; she'll give them a
lead, I'll bet. Cunning old devil!"
The impetuosity of Jack was fast gaining converts, when Cato pulled Dunmore
quietly by the sleeve, and said -
"Marmy, baal you take 'em yarroman like 'it Hinchinbrook; my word, plenty
of alligator sit down along of water. He been parter that fellow like 'it
damper."
"By Jove! Cato's right," said Dunmore; "we forget about the alligators and
sharks. I won't let the boys take their horses, and shall not take my own.
I lost one horse from an alligator last year, on the Pioneer River, and
Government wanted to make me pay for it, and I'll take care I don't risk
losing 'three'. Bring Gossamer, if you like, Clark, but, take my word for
it, you'll never see her again."
This unexpected contingency; the prophesied fate of Gossamer, which was as
the apple of Jack's eye; and the point-blank and sensible refusal of
Dunmore to hazard the Government horses, completely turned the tables.
After a little inward grumbling, Jack consoled himself, saying -
"Well, at all events, I can 'think' of riding!"
And thus it came to pass that we landed on Hinchinbrook, with no means of
locomotion beyond those with which nature had endowed us.
And now, headed by Lizzie, and walking in single file and in silence, we
struck out for the interior of the island. The path - if path it could be
called, for it consisted only of a dim track beaten by the naked feet of
the blacks - wound in and out among the long grass, which, as we
approached the foot of the mountain range, became exchanged for boulders
and loose shale, which rendered walking most tedious, and played the very
mischief with our boots.
