262 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



Mattie (with a downcast air) — " My word ! Bo'sun (the 

 brother-in-law) gib it letter belonga Mickie." 



"Where letter?" I asked. 



Mattie — " Me got 'em," and drawing out a very soiled 

 little parcel, he proudly exposed a piece of greyish wood, 

 about the size and shape of a lead pencil, on which had 

 been cut two continuous intersecting grooves. " Me giv' 

 'em Mickie ; Bo'sun alonga Cooktown. He want to come 

 up this way now." 



The letter was a mere token of material expression 

 of the fact that the sender was in the land of the living, and 

 of his faith in the bearer, who was charged with all the 

 personal messages and news. It was a sad rebuff to 

 Mattie, elated with responsibility and eager to unburden 

 himself of the latest domestic intelligence, to find that 

 Mickie was not on the spot to receive it all. And, after 

 fondling the wooden document for a while, he wrapped it 

 up and carefully bestowed it within the bosom of his shirt. 

 The disappointment was general. The gleam faded from 

 the faces of the boys. For several days, first one and then 

 another was entrusted with the honourable custody of the 

 missive. Whoever possessed it for the time being was the 

 most favoured individual. His worthiness for the office he 

 acknowledged with an amusing air of self-consciousness and 

 pride. The transmission of a letter is not an ordinary 

 occurrence, and though there is an entire absence of form 

 and ceremony in its delivery, the rarity of the event lends 

 to it novelty and importance. 



Aboriginal letters are of great variety, and some there 

 are who profess to interpret them. The despatches are, 

 however, invariably, in my experience, transmitted from 

 hand to hand, the news of the day being recapitulated at 

 the same time. It is not essential that the unstudied cuts 

 and scratches on wood should have any significance or be 

 capable of intelligible rendering. Though blacks profess 

 to be able to send messages by means of sticks alone, the 

 pretension is not recognised by those who have crucially 

 investigated it 



