66 TiMEHRI. 



generally, look for the barefoot man. " Bill" generally 

 gives out before his time is done. He takes his advance 

 to his uncle, and comes into the bush utterly unprovided 

 with clothing — sometimes without even a hammock. 

 He has to subsist on food entirely different from that to 

 which he has been accustomed, and the poor feeding 

 alone renders him an easy prey to malaria and dysentery. 



It is about his food that the ordinary labourer is most 

 troublesome. He is perfe6lly aware of the amount of 

 his allowance, and never wearies of telling you that he 

 knows that, though you personally have nothing to do 

 with it, the cook is robbing him. When told that under 

 the circumstances it will be advisable to take his raw 

 vi6luals and cook them, he will find numberless objeftions 

 to such a course. Many make a regular pra6lice of 

 begging, giving one the disagreeable necessity of 

 refusing. These few drawbacks, excepted, they are a 

 happy lot, and generally work very well. 



At night when their work is done, and particularly 

 when there is a large gang, song after song is sung, and 

 the chorus taken up in perfe6l harmony and unison. 

 Certainly the songs are frequently mere repetitions and 

 very meaningless, but in the still nights the singing is 

 far from unpleasant, and appears to afford the performers 

 infinite delight. The variety of the instruments is 

 marvellous. Besides concertinas, flageolets^ violins, 

 guitars, etc., which they bring with them from town, they 

 invent many more. They will rattle a spoon on a pudding 

 pan very musically, they make use of the familiar comb 

 and piece of thin paper, they whistle very fairly, they con- 

 stru6l flutes with old bones, violins with meat cans, and 

 wonderful to relate^ they make even violoncellos, 



