ABORIGINAL SENTIMENT.

Evening Post, Issue 131, 11 July 1865, Page 2

ABORIGINAL SENTIMENT.

We are indebted to the Riverina Herald for the following :—«• A spark of poetic sentiment is sometimes drawn from the blacks, much in the same manner that a scintilla of fire is elicited from a worn out flint and a mucli-dinted steel. We remember hearing an aged darky, on the Murray, describe the Pleiades, to which he pointed, as the lubras of the sun, who had long been betrothed to him, and whom he was ever chasing, but could never catch. Again, they say that, in the evening, at dead of night, and in the early morning, the trees talk to one another, and they converse of things that occurred ages upon ages gone by. A correspondent, writing to us under a late date f /om the Darling, on his return from a back country trip, says, among other things which are only of private interest—' That night, after a fatiguing day's ride, I had to camp without water in a clump of niulga, in an open and very exposed piece of country. During the night the wind swept through the trees, making a horrible mo.ining sound. I slept very little, being vory thirsty, and also anxious about the horses. The blackftllow slept uneasily, and kept muttering in his sleep. Towards morning he woke and seemed relieved, as one does who has been oppressed by nightmare. "Me hink," he said, " devil been walk about to-

night— not devil- belonging to blackfellow, but white man devil. Methink Burke and Wills cry out to night, « What for whitefellow not send horses and grub ? ' You hear wind ? That come up from Cooper Creek. My word, master, Mr. Burke, Wills too, big one walk about on that creek. Always, always, always, walk about there, and cry out 'long a Menindie, " Where white man ? Why another one white man no come " ' You know," continues our correspondent, ' that this fellow is aware of the proceedings of the unfortunate Victorian expedition." We may add, by way of explanation, that the word 'spirit' is unknown to the blacks, and in this instance, no doubt, as in many others that we know of the word ' devil' is made use of instead."