There was an 8 x 10 tent for my living and sleeping, an upturned tank which my natives and I rolled many miles across the plains where it had lain stranded2 for years, and which I utilized3 as library, storing there my manuscripts and my books; a bough4 shed “storehouse” that held everything from my daily provender5 and supplies for the natives to their most sacred totem boards and initiation6 properties, and a smaller bough shed on the crest7 of the hill, with a ladder leading to its leafy roof, that was my observatory8. Here in the bright, still evenings, I studied the skies, astronomy being an old love of mine, and compiled my aboriginal9 mythologies10, many of them as poetic11 and beautiful as are the starry12 mythologies of the Greeks. A prickle-bush-“dead finish,” as old white prospectors13 call it-was my barred gateway14 at night-time, a barrier for privacy passed by few in all my years of residence. Outside, the natives would come to await my attention, old friends sitting patiently beside the pipe-line, and naked newcomers shyly flitting about among the trees, sometimes two days before they summoned courage to approach this Kabbarli of whom they had heard so far away. Innocent as children, they would make their fires on the sand-hills and camp contentedly15 while I made or obtained from my store the clothing they needed before they approached the siding, too soon to learn the art of scavenging and selling all that was saleable.
They came to me from the Mann, the Gosse, the Everard, the Petermann and the Musgrave Ranges, occasionally from as far away as Tanami, from Kalgoorlie and Laverton in the West and Streaky Bay in the East, and from far across the north-western borders of the State. Sometimes two years on the journey, zigzagging16 in the desert for food and water, they followed the tracks of those who had come in before them, disintegrating17, reuniting, mourning and rejoicing, and every moon fleeing farther from their hereditary18 waters. At last the remnants arrived on the rim19 of civilization outside my breakwind. As each little group appeared, I was made aware of its arrival by the wailing20 and shouting and spear-rattling21 of the groups already there. Every native who steps over his own boundary is in strange country and hostile. There are no groups in the lower centre now, only little mobs continually changing. The amalgamation22 of the totems is their frantic23 effort to coalesce24. Each mob was more reckless and difficult to control than the preceding ones.
My duty, after the first friendly overtures25 of tea and damper, was to set them at ease, clothe them, and simply to explain the white man’s ways and the white man’s laws.
Sometimes a group of forty and more would arrive, families and vagrants26 following each other, finding their way across the desert, drinking water from the tree-roots, and setting fire to the bush as they came, hunting kangaroos and emus. They had fought and killed on the way south, and their only safety from each other now lay in their proximity27 to the white man. His novelties were also exciting. The first few weeks of their arrival were usually spent in ejaculating “Irr! Irr! Irr!” at the trains, the houses, the white women and babies, paper, pannikins, tea, sugar and all the mystifying belongings28 of the “waijela.” Biscuits and cake and fruit were thrown to them from the train windows, while their boomerangs and native weapons, and their importance in the landscape as subjects for photography, brought many a shilling and sixpence for them to spend, which they promptly29 did, without any knowledge of its value, and sometimes were wickedly imposed upon. The train was their undoing30. Amongst the hundreds that “sat down” with me at Ooldea, there was not one that ever returned to his own waters and the natural bush life.
There was never a camp, through my thirty-five years of service, where my small mercies were not constantly in demand, but here they were called upon to the utmost. There were sometimes as many as 150 natives in the vicinity of Ooldea. Among them I found sufferers from venereal disease, debility, senility, ophthalmia, bone-magics, broken wrists, burns and spear-wounds, with the occasional outbreak of an epidemic31 of ring-worm, measles32, sandy blight33 and pneumonia34, which meant unending ministrations.
No more half-caste children were born in Ooldea from 1920 onward36 until the temporary cessation of my work there in 1934, nor was any half-caste ever begotten37 in any of my camps. I had my own way of dealing38 with the problem. Like Agag, I walked delicately, by quiet persuasion39 preventing the black girls from haunting the white men’s huts, and by equally quiet persuasion, from a different angle, deterring40 the white men from association with them, an appeal from a woman of their own race and colour to play the game that never faded. Three half-castes had been begotten at Ooldea in the year before my arrival. One was taken to the German mission on the west coast of South Australia. The other two were destroyed in infancy41, one of them thrown into a rabbit-burrow, and the other scalded to death by a billycan of hot tea thrown over both mother and child by the black husband.
Never at any time in any Ooldea camp did I receive government rations35 for distribution or public charity of any kind. By this time the proceeds from my north-west station properties were wholly exhausted42. I still possessed43 a freehold in Perth, a small residential44 estate overlooking the banks of the Swan River, upon which it was my intention to build a home for my declining years. So many times had I beguiled45 away the loneliness and hardship with architectural plans of that little home, envisioned its simple comforts, and worked and idled in its gardens-a dream that was not to be, for here I found a need far greater than my own. I ordered the sale of my freehold in my first year at Ooldea, with most of the personal possessions that remained to me, including my sidesaddle and bridle-last relic46 of a happy past. When this moneyy too, was engulfed47 in the usual routine order of flour, tea, sugar, onions, medical supplies, dress material, shirts, trousers, and a little tobacco for comfort, I depended wholly upon the earnings48 of my pen, contributing to Australian and Home newspapers my scientific gleanings of general interest, the legends that had occupied years in the collection, and the human stories of the curious people to whom I have devoted49 my life.
When visitors and friends from interstate and overseas showed interest in my work, and wished to send donations, my expressed wishes were always for flour and tea and sugar and porridge. It sounded greedy, but it meant so much to see the little ones jooni-bulga (tummy-full).
Young and old, they were all my children, children always hungry, and my love for them was interpreted always in the litany of flour, tea and sugar. No sooner did I obtain supplies than they wanted to sit down and eat up the whole lot “quickfella.” It was of no avail rationing50 them weekly, for they would promptly devour51 the lot. My own living never cost me more than 10s. a week and sometimes considerably52 less. My own food-bill from December to March totalled ￡4.
The weekly stores obtained from the supply train consisted of two loaves of bread, toasted to the last stale fragment, one tin of powdered milk, a pound of rice or sago and a pound of butter when I could get it. A tin of jam lasted six weeks, and a pound of tea over two months. An occasion cabbage or lettuce53 was eaten leaf by leaf, day by day, and 12 lb. of dried potatoes lasted nearly four months. When friends sent me delicacies54 such as preserved fruits or tinned goods, gladly I exchanged them with the fettlers’ wives for flour and tea and sugar. When times were lean, and the natives had only a small damper, they could be sure that I had an even smaller piece of toast. One day Gindigi misunderstood me, thought I was hungry, and brought me a billy-can of broken bread he had begged from the train-passengers.
I discouraged this begging to the best of my ability, but it was of no avail. Occasionally trouble came of it. One day a mean-spirited tourist, after some twenty minutes’ haggling55 over the customary “tchillin” for a boomerang, kept possession of the curio till the moment of the train’s departure when, with a wink56 at his fellow-passengers, he climbed on board and threw the puzzled native a penny. The enraged57 boy hurled58 a stone that broke the carriage window, and the natives were warned from the line for a period, but they were flies about a honeypot and it was impossible to keep them away. It was old Kattigiri, climbing a moving van eager to be first for the sheep’s head and other butcher’s offal, who fell beneath the train and was cut to pieces. On another occasion, old blind Janjinga, something of a wit and always lucky, struck a group of particularly generous travellers, who loaded her with good things. As there were still more gifts and givers coming, Janjinga ripped off the travesty59 of a frock that was her only garment, spread it on the ground, and stood with arms outstretched, wearing nothing but her smiles of gratitude60. She could never understand why all her benefactors61 suddenly disappeared, fleeing for the carriages to hide their blushes, while the siding rang with shouts of ribald laughter.
It was no unusual sight to see anything up to 100 of these cannibals, men, women and children, several of them but a week in civilization, climb aboard an empty truck and go off to an initiation ceremony farther up the line. I use the word cannibal advisedly. Every one of these central natives was a cannibal. Cannibalism62 had its local name from Kimberley to Eucla, and through all the unoccupied country east of it, and there were many grisly rites63 attached thereto. Human meat had always been their favourite food, and there were killing64 vendettas65 from time immemorial. In order that the killing should be safe, murderers’ slippers66 or pads were made, emu-feathers twisted and twined together, bound to the foot with human hair, on which the natives walk and run as easily as a white man in running shoes, their feet leaving no track. Dusk and dawn were the customary hours for raiding a camp. Victims were shared according to the law. The older men ate the soft and virile67 parts, and the brain; swift runners were given the thighs68; hands, arms or shoulders went to the best spear-throwers, and so on. Those who received skull69, shoulder or arm kept the bones, which they polished and rounded, strung on hair, and kept on their person, either as pointing-bones or magic pendants.
Every one of the natives whom I encountered on the east-west fine had partaken of human meat, with the exception of Nyerdain, who told me it made him sick. They freely admitted their sharing of these repasts and enumerated70 those killed and eaten by naming the waters, and drawing a line with the big toe on the sand as they told over in gruesome memory the names they dared not mention.
My first words to them were always “No more man-meat.” From the weekly supply train, I would procure71 part of a bullock or sheep and show them the game food areas, mallee-hen’s eggs, rabbits and so on, that must be their meats now, with as many dampers as I could provide, and a drink of sweetened tea.
One morning very early, the news came that Nyan-ngauera had left the camp, taking a fire-stick and accompanied by her little girl. No one would follow her or help to track her. For twelve miles I followed the track unsuccessfully, but Nyan-ngauera doubled many times and gave birth to a child a mile west of my camp, where she killed and ate the baby, sharing the food with the little daughter. Later, with the help of her sons and grandsons, the spot was found, nothing to be seen there save the ashes of a fire. “The bones are under the fire,” the boys told me, and digging with the digging-stick we came upon the broken skull, and one or two charred72 bones, which I later sent to the Adelaide Museum. A grown man will never avenge73 the death of his own child, nor will he, under any circumstances, share the meal.
The late Frank Hann, on a survey exploration, conferred the name of Mount Daisy Bates upon a height a little south of Mount Gosse. I discovered that it was the area of one of the worst groups of cannibals in the Centre.
Such were the men and women who came to my camp at Ooldea during the whole of my residence of sixteen years. Derelicts of the desert, these people knew no marriage laws nor traditional relationships, for their groups were scattered74 and mixed. All were potential enemies living in an armed truce75, with fires lighted about their shelters to shield them from each other’s magic, and spears standing76 ready. As each little group arrived, I was advised of the fact by wailing and shouting and rattling of spears. There were many family wrongs to be avenged77. Thigh-spearing and duelling were frequent, but I knew the dangerous sounds and I casually79 asked them to tell me when they wanted to fight. They laughed, and said, “We will tell you, Kabbarli, if a spear is thrown to hit.”
Certain duels80, among brothers, I allowed, always standing by the duellists. When a slight wound was inflicted81 as punishment, a brother would invariably share food with the wounded, and the quarrel was forgotten. On one occasion, a boy ran away from his initiation and placed himself under the protection of the white settlement. He later aggravated82 the offence by taking a wife. He was caught by one of his initiated83 brothers, and a duel78 with clubs ensued. The kindly84 but mistaken intervention85 of the offender’s white friends resulted in his being taken to a hospital, and that quarrel is neither avenged nor forgotten to this day.
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1
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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provender
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| n.刍草；秣料 | |
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initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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mythologies
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| 神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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prospectors
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| n.勘探者，探矿者( prospector的名词复数 ) | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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zigzagging
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| v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 )；盘陀 | |
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disintegrating
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 ) | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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amalgamation
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| n.合并，重组；；汞齐化 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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coalesce
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| v.联合，结合，合并 | |
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overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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vagrants
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| 流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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deterring
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 ) | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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rationing
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| n.定量供应 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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52
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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53
lettuce
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| n.莴苣；生菜 | |
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54
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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55
haggling
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| v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 ) | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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travesty
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| n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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cannibalism
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| n.同类相食；吃人肉 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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vendettas
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| n.家族世仇( vendetta的名词复数 )；族间仇杀；长期争斗；积怨 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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79
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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80
duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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81
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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83
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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84
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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85
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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