Adventures in Southern Seas | Page 6

prey to the most dismal forebodings. Next morning I became ill,
with violent pains and headache, which incapacitated me for some days,

during which time a lubra named Moira sat beside me, apparently
anxious to do what lay in her power to ease my sufferings.
Helped by the words I had learnt in my former intercourse with savages
at the islands we had visited in the early part of the voyage, I was soon
able to make myself understood to Moira, and to understand what she
said when I confided to her my desire to escape to the sea coast At first
she would only shake her head, but I became so insistent that at length
she consented to help me. A tribal ceremony was very shortly to be
celebrated, so Moira informed me, when the night would be favourable
for the success of our project, since the tribe would then be assembled
at the camp fires. On that night, moreover, there was no moon until late,
and we trusted to be able to slip away in the darkness unobserved.
I had always been impatient of my captivity, but now that escape was
in sight I could scarcely control my desire to be rid of these savages. I
counted the days, dreading lest some change in the manner of my
captivity might prevent the carrying out of the plan we had formed; but
all went well until the time came when Moira whispered to me our
chance had come.
The tribe were assembled at the camp fire, engaged in one of their
many rites to propitiate the evil spirits whom alone they worship.
Beyond the glow, darkness complete and compelling hung like a pall.
The stars were hid by a curtain of clouds.
"Come," I whispered to Moira, and reckless of consequences, we fled
into the pitch black of the scrub.
CHAPTER III
THE ONLY WHITE MAN IN NEW HOLLAND
After leaving the blacks' camp I made my way through the forest,
guided by Moira, who could see in the dark. I was fearful lest we might
be pursued, in which case I resolved I would not be taken alive. Moira,
however, did not believe that we would be followed. Her people, she
told me, were afraid to enter the forest at night, when evil spirits were

supposed to be abroad, and indeed her own terror was so great that I
realized her devotion to me in having braved, for my sake, the
superstition in which she had been reared.
Moira was right in thinking we would not be followed, for no attempt
was made to follow us. But now a fresh anxiety arose. There were
shapes among the trees which were visible to Moira, though I could not
see them, which caused her such terror that I was obliged almost to
carry her, and I sometimes thought by the chill of her body that she had
died in my arms. With the dawn, however, the shapes disappeared, and
Moira's fears were dispelled.
Daylight found us several miles on our way to the coast, which we
made, as I reckoned, about noon, to the north of where I had first
landed. The cliffs here were high and rocky, the waves breaking at the
foot in fountains of spray. The sky was dull and overcast, which
betokened a storm. A number of white birds with yellow crests, such as
I had seen on my first landing, flew inland, and several fur-coated
animals, with heads resembling deer, and powerful tails, hopped across
the stubble to the shelter of the trees. The prospect was a dreary one,
and a feeling of melancholy oppressed me, which I found it hard to
dispel.
Moira did her best to cheer me, but I could not rid myself of the dread
of being the only white man upon this desolate shore. When we had
walked for some distance we came to a sandy beach, where we found a
cave in which to shelter from the storm which now burst upon us. For
an hour or more the elements raged with a fury only to be equalled in
the tropics. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, whilst rain fell with
the force of a deluge. Then, suddenly, the storm passed, and the sun
shone with renewed splendour, decking the dripping foliage with
myriads of raindrop gems.
We had depended for food since leaving the blacks' camp upon a
supply of dried fish and prepared bulrush root, which Moira had
brought with her in her dilly-bag, but we were now compelled to seek
fresh means for our support. Moira collected a quantity of shellfish, for
the cooking of which I made a fire of some dried wood. Moira showed

the greatest astonishment and some alarm at my flint and steel, which I
now