Storyteller.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 4, 22 April 1893, Page 13

Storyteller.

A BLACK HEROINE.

(By Syevestee, in the Adelaide Observer.) When I was a child we lived on a station far away in the bush, our nearest neighbour being fifty miles distant. My father had undertaken the distribution in that district of the blankets and rations which the paternal .South Australian Government allowed its black subjects. No doubt that was why such numbers of natives collected on the neighbourhood of our station. , We children naturally took the greatest interest in the blacks, and learned to speak their language fluently. I have never been able to look upon them as the inferior creatures they are so constantly represented to be. I shall never forget the horror with which I regarded an Englishman who said they were mere animals without souls.

It is true they are not intellectual, "but are capable of . deep and lastingaffection, and some of their legends •when related in their own language are really beautiful, showing _ great imagination and poetical sentiment. Their moral laws are strict, and in their wild state are seldom broken. I speak of those special tribes amongst which my childhood was passed. In this particular they can set an example to the whites. Perhaps the following true story serve to show that though the blacks possess the passions common to humanity, they also share its redeeming qualities. One day when the Christmas cooking was going on a black girl rushed hastily into the kitchen, and tlix-rmivug" herself dtiicrA fß<¥®, passional y entreated hex' pi-otection. It seemed that by the laws of her txibe she was to be given in marriage to Palyari, a black of ci'uel chax'actex', whom she detested. To escape him she had come to my mothex*, fi'om whom she had often received kindness, for assistance. My mother attempted to reason her into submission, but in vain, Mingela only burst into fresh tears, saying that nevei', never would she yield hex’self to Palyari. Then the secret came out, she loved another black, and was equally beloved by him. She must have been a girl of unusual chax’actex- to have dax-ed to oppose the laws of her txibe, which, like those of the Medes and Pei’siaus, change not. Doubtless fx-om infancy she had been destined for Palyari’s bxide.

Woman-like, my mother, who was of a very romantic temperament, determined to assist the love-lorn maiden, and, against my father’s wishes, took Mingela and concealed her in her own room. Presently, a number of black men, lieaded by Palyari, came up to the house, brandishing spears and waddies. They had tracked the girl to the building, and now demanded that she should be given up to them. This my mother refused to do. Mingela, hearing the altercation, emerged from her hiding-place, and in a torrent of passionate eloquence bade her lover defiance, and proudly announced her love for her rival, Koonia. No tragic actress could have improved upon the attitudes and gestures of this untutored child of nature. Finding that neither threats nor entreaties had the slightest effect on the girl, the men retired to consult with the elders as to what course they should pursue. My father then represented to my mother the folly of harbouring the girl longer. What right had we, he justly asked, to interfere in the blacks’ private affairs ? How could we possibly judge of the rights of the case, ignorant as we were of their tribal laws ? The next thing, he said, would be an attack on the house by the infuriated natives; and, though lie did not fear them- —knowing that his powder and balls would be more than a match for their spears and waddies—he did not wish to fight with them, feeling as he did that right was on their side.

My mother, however, was obstinate ; the girl had appealed to her for protection, and she would have it. As to ns children, all our young sympathies were with Mingela and my mother. We.regarded my father as a very hard-headed person. Presently we saw Koonia steal up to the window where Mingela was concealed. After a short consultation with her lover, the girl came to my mother and told her Koonia’s suggestion, which was that my mother .should lend Mingela a pair of boots. In these she might hope to escape safely as in them the blacks would not recognise her footmarks. Koonia had appointed to meet her at a certain place in the scrub, from whence they would fly together to a distant spot. She thanked my mother warmly for her help, and said she had overheard my father’s remarks, which she considered wise. Her last wish, Mingela concluded, would be to involve her benefactress in any trouble-on her account.

My mother agreed to lend the shoes, and when evening fell, the gixi put them oxx and stole away in the dusk to joixx hex* lovex'. We held our breaths listening for the signal agi-eed upon—a curlews wail —which was to tell us that Mingela and Koonia had safely met. Instead a chorus of triumphant 3-ells fell upon our ears. The poor gixi had fallen into the hands of the mexx of her txibe, who had been lying in ambush to intei’cept hex’ should she leave the house. She was taken to her* fathex’’s --wur! cy / } The next day we saw hex' depart with Paljuri on a hunting trip. Her wild 03'es, and the look of scoxu and hati’ed with which she regarded 1 ittle^happiness for the bridegx >S*l, unless, indeyT^ 1 was px’obable in a man of his cxnei natux’e—he found a certain zest in taming this savage Katherine. We turned sadly from the sight, thinking Mingela’s fate was sealed. Not so.

A few da}'s latex* the body of Pafyaxi was found speared through the heart. Both Mingela and Koonia had disappeared. The police of the nearest township wei’e infoi’nxed of the supposed murder, and wei’e soon on the tx-ack of the fugitives. In less than a week the}' were taken to Adelaide, Koonia to be tried for mux'dei*, Mingela as a witness. Accoi'ding to her evidence, Koonia, who had followed Palyari and hex* at a distance, came upon them in the evening just as they wex’e about to camp. Infuriated at seeing Palyari strike hex', Koonia had rushed for wax’d and hit his rival with a “waddy.” A despex'ate fight ensued between the two men; but it was she, the girl alleged, who thrust the spear which caused Palyari’s death. This, however, Koonia denied. His story was that in self-defence during their struggle, he had run the spear through his rival’s bod}', killing him at once. Mingela, he said, had told him that if it were proved that he, Koonia, committed the crime he would be hanged, and to save him she had taken the guilt on herself. The blacks who had found the body were called. Their evidence, though it px'oved that the wound was not self-inflicted, threw little further light on the manner of death.

The jury returned a verdict of “ Guilty,” with a recommendation to mercy on account of the provocation received. Koonia was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. On Ixis release he was joined hy his faithful wife, who, during his incarceration, had been taken care of by a kindly family in Adelaide, to whom my mother had recommended her. Koonia and Mingela did not return to our district. ISTo doubt they feared that the punishment they would have to suffer from their tribe would be more severe than that they had received from .the whites. They were taken to a mission station. Prison discipline had tamed Koonia, and Mingela’s long residence with the family in Adelaide had accustomed her to civilised ways, and the Super-

intendent found them very tractable and obedient. My father always asserted that Koonia’s sentence was absurdly light. As to us children and my mothex', in spite of the blood that had been rightly or wi'ongly shed, our sympathies x’emained with the dusky lovers.