EVERYTHING FOR A NAME 317 



is taken out, squeezed between hands moistened with spittle 

 until it becomes sodden. Then it is bound again tightly in 

 green leaves in long rolls, and buried in the hot ashes till 

 cooked. Such cakes are said to be very nice. They must 

 be nutritious for the blacks among whom Koi-ie is one 

 of the principal foods are fat and agile fellows. These 

 Princess Charlotte Bay boys cooked their iiour in a some- 

 what similar way. The result was a sodden, tough, dirty 

 damper, the sight of which roused the not usually tender 

 susceptibilities of the owner of the boat. Taking pity on 

 the untutored boys, he had a proper damper made with 

 soda and acid and a due proportion of salt. It turned out 

 a beauty, so spongy and light that it almost lifted the lid 

 off the camp oven, in which it was baked. The boys ac- 

 cepted it, but not without manifestations of doubt and 

 suspicion. They presently returned in a solid and unani- 

 mous deputation loudly proclaiming that the boss was a 

 humbug, and had cheated them, the bread being full of 

 holes containing no "ki-ki" whatever, while they made 

 " ki-ki " as dense as the deck, which they tapped with their 

 feet significantly and about which there was no palpably 

 hollow fraud. At first the boss failed to understand, for 

 the blacks had little even of pidgin English. When he did 

 realise the true state of the case he wasted no breath in 

 explanations. The blacks catered for themselves in the 

 future, and got fat and saucy on the diet of plain flour and 

 water, so cooked that sometimes it was like half-burnt deal, 

 and as often a sticky, ropy mess. 



Everything for a Name 



To the blacks of North Queensland there is a great 

 deal in a name. When a piccaninny is born, the first request 

 is — " You put 'em (or make 'em) name belonga that fella ! " 

 When a strange boy, a myall, " comes in " he wants a name, 

 and until he gets it he is as forlorn as an ownerless dog. 

 Anything does, from " Adam " to " Yellow-belly" or " Belle 



