242 " SHOVEL JACK. 



Point Bereiis, and whom, in reference to the object 

 of his desire on that occasion, our men had christened 

 " Shovel Jack." He evidently wished to remain 

 incognito, sitting very quietly among a group of men, 

 and being disguised by a pair of snow spectacles, 

 which were made of wood, and had a narrow slit 

 lengthwise for vision. But we recognised him, not- 

 withstanding, and suspected mischief accordingly. 

 Foremost in the crowd was the tall man who visited 

 us on the preceding night : his gun, which his wife 

 now carried, was the only weapon visible. For a time 

 the natives reniained quiet, and seated themselves 

 contentedly around ; but the tall man at last became 

 impatient of the restraint imposed by us, and crossed 

 the boundary line ; he was speedily re-conducted to 

 his own side of the border with the most scrupu- 

 lous pohteness, which was unfortunately not 

 sufficiently appreciated by the native noble; he 

 re-crossed the line, and commenced to importune 

 for powder. A little tobacco was given to him, but 

 this was not satisfactory, and he walked off with a 

 number of his men, apparently in dudgeon, I thought 

 for good, but, as we soon found, for no good. A 

 preconcerted scheme became immediately manifest : 

 in a few seconds they were armed with bows and 

 arrows, which they had hidden near, and advanced 



