Bunyip Land | Page 8

asking him if it
wouldn't be better to have a coat of white paint over him instead, as
being cooler and less trouble, and the like.
All this Jimmy took with the greatest of equanimity, grasping the men's
meaning very well, and very often throwing himself flat on the deck
and squirming about, which was his way of showing his delight. But it
was absolutely necessary that all this banter should come from the
Englishmen. If one of the Malay sailors attempted such a familiarity,
Jimmy was furious.
"Hi--wup--wup!" he exclaimed to me after one of these bouts; "dirty
fellow, brown fellow no good. Not white fellow, not black fellow. Bad
for nothing."
One afternoon the doctor and I were sitting forward watching the
beautiful heaving waves, and talking over the plans we intended to
follow when we landed, and we had agreed that a small party was far
more likely to succeed than a large one, being more suitable for passing
unnoticed through the country. We had just arrived at the point of
determining that we would engage six natives at a friendly shore
village to carry our baggage and act as guides, when the noise of some
trouble aft arose, and we turned to see a Malay sailor lying upon the
deck, and Jimmy showing his teeth fiercely, waddy in hand, after
having given the man what he afterwards called "a topper on de
headums."
We ran up, fearing more mischief, for Jimmy could fight fiercely when
roused; and we were just in time, for as the doctor reached the Malay
the man had scrambled up, drawn his knife, and rushed at the black.
But before he could strike, the doctor showed me what wonderful
strength of arm he possessed, by seizing the Malay by the waistband
and arm and literally swinging him over the low bulwark into the sea.
"That will cool his passion," said the doctor, smiling. "I'm sorry I did it
though, captain," he said the next minute; "these men are very
revengeful."

"Too late to say that," cried the captain roughly. "Here, hi! man
overboard! Never mind the boat: he swims like a fish."
This was plain enough, for the Malay was making his way swiftly
through the water, and the captain ran aft with a coil of rope to throw to
him from the stern.
I ran too, and could see that as the man struck the water in a peculiar
fashion, he held his knife open in his hand, and was thinking whether
he would use it when the captain threw the rope, the light rings
uncoiling as they flew through the air and splashed the water.
"Here, look out!" cried the captain; but the man did not heed, but began
to beat the water furiously, uttering a strange gasping cry.
"Look, doctor!" I cried, pointing, and leaning forward.
A low hiss escaped his lips as he, too, saw a dull, indistinct something
rising through the transparent sea.
"Yah, hi! Bunyip debble fis!" shouted Jimmy excitedly. "Bite sailor,
brown fellow. Hoo. Bite!"
The black gave a snap and a shake of the head, and then taking the long
sharp knife the doctor had given him from his belt, he tore off his shirt
and, it seemed to me, jumped out of his trousers. Then the sun seemed
to flash from his shiny black skin for an instant, and he plunged into the
sea.
The exciting incidents of that scene are as plain before me now I write
as if they had taken place yesterday. I saw the body of the black strike
up a foam of white water, and then glide down in a curve in the sunlit
sea, plainly crossing the course of the great fish, which had altered its
course on becoming aware of the second splash.
The Malay knew what he was doing, for ignoring the help of the rope
he allowed himself to drift astern, seeing as he did that the shark's
attention had been drawn to the black.

"He knows what he's about," said the captain. "If he laid hold of that
there rope, and we tried to draw him aboard, that snipperjack would
take him like a perch does a worm in the old ponds at home. Here,
lower away that boat, and I'll go and get the whale lance."
Away went the skipper, while the men lowered the boat; and I was so
intent upon the movements of the great fish that I started as the boat
kissed the water with a splash.
The shark was about ten feet long and unusually thick; and as it kept
just below the surface the doctor and I could watch its every movement,
guided by the strange but slow wave of the long, curiously-lobed tail.
"Now, you brown fellow, you