FOURTEEN YEARS WITH THE BLACKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5184, 2 November 1877, Page 3

FOURTEEN YEARS WITH THE BLACKS.

The Cairns Advertiser, a paper published in Northern Queensland, relates the following incident, which occurred to a resident on the ranges a short time since : —“ On the track now known as Collinson’s is a shanty, kept by a Pole. Within the last fortnight the Pole bad occasion to be absent from his shanty at some distance, looking after his horses, which had strayed away from their usual grazing ground. During his travels he had occasion to shoot at a black snake crossing his path, when suddenly some blacks jumped up and decamped, except a half-caste, who, it will be remembered, was met with once before near the same locality by Mr. Collinson, when exploring the track. The half-caste advanced towards the Pole, but this one pointing at him his gun, he also disappeared. Continuing his search for the horses, the Pole afterwards fell in with a dirty-looking white man, perfectly nude, and his body bedaubed with a greasy substance. His beard was sandy or a reddish color ; he held iu his baud an American axe. On seeinghim the Pole immediately raised his piece and covered him. ‘ Don’t shoot,’ shouted the naked man. ‘ Put down your axe,’ replied the Pole, who, by-the-bye, is remarkable for the indistinct manner in which he speaks English or any other language. The axe was accordingly lowered to the ground, its handle being held between two fingers of the owner. The Pole, seeing the stranger was not a black, asked him if he were alone, or if there were any more like him. To this he replied, * Yes, four.’ The shanty-keeper then asked him if he had seen his horses, and in reply he pointed to the scrub, in which quarter the horses were quietly grazing. Seeing his horses safe, the Pole suggested to his new acquaintance the impropriety of spearing the horses, to which the stranger replied, ‘ Have no fear.’ He was then asked where he lived. He pointed towards the scrub, and quietly walked towards it, eyeing the Pole at intervals from over his shoulders. It is currently reported that this man has been living amongst the blacks during the last 14 years. It will be remembered that during excursions Mr. K ch and others came acrop letters on different trees, and some of them quite fresh. On these occasions it was surmised that those letters had been out by white men. The rencounter with this white man partially explains the fact of so many trees having been found out down in these localities with an axe, and wholly clears up who has been perpetrating occasional robberies of axes, tomahawks, and other commodities of like service.”