THE CANOE-MAKER 125 



'men and women who knew him when he was strong and 

 lusty strive to make him comfortable in his dotage; 

 but he is repellent. His surliness does not vex them. 

 They pity and excuse and endeavour to soothe. To 

 strangers whom Cassowary has never loved and would 

 .now assault with spear and nuUa-nulla, they apologise. 



"Poor fella, Cassowary. Him no good. Close up 

 that fella finis." 



Then they tell of his strange fantasies. Similiar 

 delusions have afflicted notable men of the world, and 

 even to this day are there not apprehensive monarchs 

 whose precautions are similar to those of the age-worn 

 savage ? He imagines that he is regarded as a useless 

 encumbrance, and that his fellows would gladly hasten 

 his departure to that country on the bourne of which 

 he painfully lingers. Suspicious of plots to rob him 

 of the poor vestiges of life, he is ever on his guard against 

 poison, his special dread. Rather than run risk he 

 submits to semi-starvation, for the decayed monarch 

 of a narrow strip of shore has no servitor on whom 

 to impose the office of taster of his dishes. A stranger 

 may of his goodwill offer a tribute of tobacco. It is 

 cast away with every manifestation of indignation and 

 haste. He is sure that the one solace of existence has 

 been drugged, and that if he indulges he must die. 

 How marvellous the self-denial ! How many of us 

 would purchase half an hour's existence such as his 

 at the cost of declining the one luxury of life 1 



Flour from his master's hands is served like the 

 stranger's tobacco, though he may not have tasted 

 food for days; nor does he accept a portion of the 

 damper cooked in his presence until he has seen others 

 eat. Then he feeds reluctantly and with extreme 

 caution, not to gratify the palate, but to maintain life. 



Was ever monarch or Roman pontiff beset by more 



