Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/146

141 when, in short, the earth was little better than a dark, cold wilderness, and was inhabited by the birds of the air and the beasts of the field only, it might be supposed during that cheerless time that peace and goodfellowship was the rule which obtained amongst the birds and beasts, but it was not so, for even in those days strife was more common than amity; the birds and beasts quarrelled continually, and much bad blood and general discomfort accrued accordingly. Broken bones were not by anyway uncommon in those days; even grim death's visage occasionally entered upon the already dreary-enough scene of their incessant disputes.

The courtenies (native companions) were nearly always at the bottom of every disagreement, and like ill-conditioned attorneys, they seemed to make a point of laying themselves out for mischief and were never at rest unless so engaged.

The kurwie (emu) in those long-since bygone days dwelt altogether in the clouds. She had immensely long wings then, which bore her wheresoever she felt inclined to go. During her manifold flights through airy space she occasionally caught a passing sight of the earth and the birds and beasts thereof, and these glimpses of terrestrial life gave much food for thought, and little wonder either, as everything she saw there was so very different to what existed in her cloud sphere. The little that she had seen of the earth and its creatures raised her curiosity to such an extent that she at last resolved to know more about them, so one day she soared quietly down until she was near enough to the earth to be able to take note of the on-goings there. From the point of observation which she had chosen she saw the