Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/121

 CHAPTER XXIII.

ANECDOTES. The first white man who made his appearance at Port Fairy (a locality named after a small vessel called the Fairy) was considered by the aborigines to be a supernatural being; and, as he was discovered in the act of smoking a pipe, they said that he must be made of fire, for they saw smoke coming out of his mouth. Though they were very ready to attack a stranger, they took good care not to go near this man of fire, who very probably owed the preservation of his life to his tobacco-pipe. Shortly afterwards a tipsy man was seen. He was considered mad, and everyone ran away from him. The first ship which was descried by the aborigines was believed to be a huge bird, or a tree growing in the sea. It created such terror that a messenger was immediately sent to inform the chief of the tribe, who at once declared the man to be insane, and ordered him to be bled by the doctor. When the natives first saw a bullock, they were encamped at the waterhole Wuurong Yæring in Spring Creek, near the spot where the village of Woolsthorpe now stands, and were engaged in fishing. The animal, which was evidently a stray working bullock from some exploring party, and which had a sheet of tin tied across his face to prevent him from wandering, came down to the waterhole to drink. The natives, who had never in their lives heard of such a large beast, instantly took to their heels. In the night time the bullock came to the encampment and walked about it bellowing, which so terrified the people in the camp that they covered themselves up with their rugs and lay trembling till sunrise. In the morning they saw what they believed to be a Muuruup, with two tomahawks in his head; but no one dared to move. Immediately after the departure of this extraordinary and unwelcome visitor, a council of war was held; and the brave men, accompanied by their wives and children — who could not, under such alarming circumstances, be left behind — started in pursuit. The animal was easily tracked, as such footprints had never been seen before. They were followed four or five miles in a north-easterly direction. The bullock was at length discovered grazing in an open part of the forest. The bravest of the