Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/255

 Rh distress. The iguana, being a kind-hearted fellow, came up and asked him the cause of his grief, and the wallaroo repeated the same story that he had told his uncle, with the same result. When the iguana had gone a little distance, the wallaroo repeated the offer of the boomerang, and the iguana, on standing still to catch it, was killed and eaten in the same way that his uncle had been disposed of.

Several different animals went in search of the padamelon at various times, but none of them ever returned to their own camp, and their friends held a council to determine what should be done. The willy-wagtail, who was a medicine-man and a very clever fellow, volunteered to go out and endeavour to ascertain the fate of his comrades. He belonged to the section Bunda, and was one of the nephews of the padamelon, and resolved to avenge his death, and that of his fellows. At daylight next morning he started off, and about the middle of the day his attention was arrested by the heavy thuds of the wallaroo's tail upon the ground. He approached the spot warily, because his suspicions had been aroused by the strange disappearance of the other members of his tribe, and enquired of the wallaroo what was the matter with him, and was answered in the usual sorrowful tone, and the same delusive story was reiterated. The willy-wagtail volunteered to go and find the fishermen, and, when he got the usual distance away, the wallaroo proffered the use of his boomerang. The willy-wagtail, suspecting foul play, said,—"Throw it to me, and I'll catch it," but kept a vigilant eye upon the thrower. Being very quick and active, he leapt to one side, and the boomerang went past him. The wallaroo threw some nulla nullas and two or three spears, but the willy-wagtail jumped out of the way of every one.

When the wallaroo had exhausted his stock of weapons, the willy-wagtail picked up the boomerang from where it had fallen, and threw it with all his force, striking the wallaroo a mortal blow, and splitting his chest open, which accounts for the streak of white fur on the breasts of all wallaroos ever since. He then roasted his enemy in the same hole which had been used in cooking his victims. While he was being cooked, the willy-wagtail kept beating two sticks together and singing,—"You are