326 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



instead of taking that generous hint, the natives invariably 

 cut out from the fence what they wanted. On another 

 station in the same district, when a fence was under con- 

 struction small coils of loose wire were left every few 

 hundred yards as a tribute or free will offering ; but in this 

 case they again overlooked the loose stuff and cut what 

 they wanted from the strained wire. 



Strategy 



Incomprehensibly dull as blacks frequently are they 

 occasionally exhibit shrewdness which is all the more re- 

 markable because of its unexpectedness. As the station 

 hands were busy erecting buildings in newly opened up 

 country, the blacks sent an envoy to engage their attention 

 while others of the tribe cut off the iron bracing from the 

 paddock gates wherewith to make tomahawks. They suc- 

 ' ceeded in completely despoiling one gate before they were 

 disturbed. 



Literal Truth 



A black boy of more than ordinary intelligence, who 

 had been sent to iill a couple of tubs with water, sauntered 

 back with a self-satisfied air and said — " Me finish 'em 1 " 



The master found that the boy, as a preliminary, had 

 fitted one tub into the other. 



Magic that did not Work 



Under the spell of the first sensations of Christianity, 

 Lucy found and took unauthorised possession of a gold 

 cross. Retiring to a secluded spot on the bank of the 

 river, she hung the cross to a string round her neck, imagin- 

 ing it to be a charm, by the magic of which she would 

 become a white girl. Twenty-four hours of patient ex- 

 pectancy passed without any change in Lucy's complexion, 

 so she lost faith in the golden symbol, and bartered it to a 



