Chapter 30 Thirty Australian Aborigines

The next day, January 5th, in the morning, everyone stepped into the vast Murray area.This uninhabited country stretches as far as the majestic mountains of the Oceanian Alps.Modern civilization has not yet spread there, and this is an inaccessible and unknown area of ​​Victoria.But one day its forests will be lost to the ax of the woodcutter, and its pastures will be excellent fodder for cattle.However, so far, it is still a piece of virgin land, undeveloped and barren. This barren area is called the black area on the British map, which means the reserved area for black people.The British settlers brutally drove the aborigines here, and the aboriginal race gradually disappeared in this remote wasteland and in the impenetrable forest.All white people, whether they are immigrants, wanderers, landers or loggers, are free to enter this designated area, but local blacks are not allowed to come out.

A geographer rides a horse and talks about contemporary racism.On this issue, there is only one conclusion: the colonial system of the British Empire wants to conquer weak races and destroy them in its homeland.This grim trend can be seen everywhere, but it is becoming more and more obvious in Australia. In the early days of colonization, blacks were treated as beasts from outlaws to immigrants.They wantonly expelled the natives and shot the natives.They massacred the natives and needed evidence from jurists, so they plausibly said: the people of Oceania are aliens, and killing these sluts is not a crime.Sydney newspapers even suggested that the most effective means of exterminating the natives was to poison them on a large scale.

It can be seen that the British pioneered their colonial career by massacring the natives, and their cruelty was horrific.In India, 5 million Indians were wiped out; in the Cape of Good Hope, there were 10,000 people left in Hothunt of 1 million.Their practices in Australia have not improved. A large number of aboriginals were either tortured to death or died of excessive drinking.It is true that the British authorities also issued a circular to stop the actions of several murderous loggers.But they stipulated that if a white man cut off the nose or ear of a black man, or cut off the little finger of a black man to make a cigarette stick, he would be punished with whips.However, this majesty did not deter the executioners. Instead, they went to the business of killing on a larger scale, sometimes even exterminating entire tribes.Just take Fandimen Island as an example. There were 5,000 natives on the island at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but only seven remained in 1863!Recently, "Iskra" actually reported a news that the last Tasmanian fled to Hubbard.

What the geographer said was not contradicted by a single word from the Sir, the Major, and the Captain.Even if they were Scots, they could not defend themselves.Because all of these are well-known facts and undeniable ironclad evidence. If fifty years ago, the geographer went on to say, we might have encountered many natives, but now there is not even a trace of natives.A century from now, there will probably be no more native-born blacks. yes!There were no blacks in the so-called ghettos, not even the remains of their bivouacs or palapas.It's so pathetic.After the wilderness is the woods, and after the woods is the wilderness, the more desolate you go, the more lonely you go.Not even a living thing, be it a cow or a horse, seemed to come out of this remote area.At this moment, however, Robert Jr. stopped before a clump of eucalyptus, and cried:

a monkey!look!a monkey! While yelling, he pointed at the little animal. The animal jumped up and down on the branches with astonishing vigor. For a while, it was on the top of this tree, and then it jumped to the top of that tree, as if it had grown wings and could fly.Could it be that the monkeys in this place can also fly?Is it the same as the legendary fox growing a pair of bat wings? At this time, the bullock cart stopped, and before everyone saw what was going on, the animal disappeared at the end of the eucalyptus.After a while, it jumped down like lightning again, ran on the ground, twisted and turned, and stretched out its long arms to grab the trunk of the big gum tree.Everyone was thinking, this tree is tall, straight, and smooth, so it can't be hugged, how can it go up?But the monkey took something like an axe and cut many small notches on the trunk from left to right, and it climbed up the branches of the gum tree with the help of these small notches at equal distances.A few seconds later it disappeared into the dense leaves again.

strangeness!What kind of monkey is this?McNabbs was talking to himself. Is this a monkey, Paganel answered him, this is a real Australian aborigine! Before everyone had time to shrug their shoulders and question the words of the great geographer, they suddenly heard a cry not far away.Thinking that there was an accident, the passengers hurried on their horses and walked about 100 meters away. They unexpectedly arrived at a native camp. What a miserable sight!The ten or so thatched houses with large bark roofs are called Gu Ni Wo by the locals.Under the oppression of poverty, they are almost unhuman, and it is disgusting to see.There were about thirty people there, including men, women, old people, and children, all dressed in tattered kangaroo skins.As soon as the ox cart arrived, they wanted to escape.Fortunately, Al used a few inexplicable idioms, and they seemed relieved.They surrounded them suspiciously, as if the animals saw their family members giving them something to eat.These natives are short in stature, dark-skinned, not dark, but as if they have been smoked by soot, their hair is a mess, their arms grow very long, their stomachs protrude, they are covered with vellus hair and tattoos, and some of them still have leftovers. There are scars from cutting flesh during funerals.Their faces are extremely ugly. The big mouth, the flat nose lying on the cheek, the protruding jaw, and the white teeth bared make people feel very uncomfortable.

Lady Helene and Miss Mary got out of the car, held out their hands to the poor souls, and gave them something to eat.These natives gobbled it up like a starving ghost.Thus the natives treated these travelers as gods, for the Australian natives had a superstition that white people were originally black and only became white when they died and went to heaven. Among these natives, the two female guests felt special pity for women.The situation of women in Oceania is really miserable.Nature mistreats them like a stepmother, and does not even give them the slightest charm; they are but slaves taken by violence, and their marriage gift is only a piece of the Huadi that their master always holds in his hand. Beat up.The so-called brutal beating by Hua Di was the baton used by the Oceanians.After getting married, they immediately become young old women. They do all the hard work in the wandering life. While holding the child wrapped in a cattail bag, they carry fishing and hunting tools on their backs. The raw material of honey weng grass tendon is a kind of weed like hemp.They have to provide food for the family, they have to hunt lizards, kangaroos, snakes, and chase them to the top of trees; I have tasted the taste of rest, and eat, just eat some leftovers left by the master after the master has finished eating.

At this time, some poor women, who looked like they hadn't eaten for a long time, were trapping birds with grain. They can lie on the hot ground, motionless, like dead men, and wait for hours, hoping that some stupid bird will come to them!So much for their tricks, and only Australian birds would fall for them. The natives were moved by the kindness of the travelers, and they all ran to surround the travelers, so everyone had to beware of the possibility of robbery by them.They were hissing and twirling their tongues in their mouths like beasts.However, their voices are very tactful and gentle.They kept saying: Noji, Noji, while gesturing, so it is not difficult to understand: Noji means to me.The travelers said so no matter what they saw.Mr. O'Bill guarded his luggage compartment with great care, especially the rations for the journey.

Those poor hungry wretches looked at the contents of the car with terrible greedy eyes, and bared their sharp teeth, the kind of teeth that might have chewed human flesh. Naturally, most Australian natives don't eat people in normal times, but in scuffles, if they defeat their enemies and don't eat their flesh, that's rare. At this time, the Sir agreed with Lady Helene's proposal and asked someone to bring them something to eat.The natives immediately understood what he meant, and made all kinds of expressions, even the hard-hearted people would be moved by these expressions.They made expressions and yelled, similar to the growls of wild animals when they see people open their cages to feed them.Although they could not agree with McNabbs' statement, they could not deny that this uncivilized race was not far from beasts.

Mr. O'Bill is a person who is familiar with social habits, and he thinks that loose things should start with women.But the unfortunate women dare not eat in the presence of their terrible masters.The masters rushed on the biscuits and dried meat like a hungry tiger on a flock of sheep. Miss Mary's eyes watered as she thought of her father being taken prisoner by such a savage.She seemed to see a man like Captain Grant as a slave, suffering, starving, and being abused in this wandering people.Captain Mengel looked at her very disturbedly, guessed what was on her mind, and asked the Britannia's sailor before she could speak:

Ayrton, did you escape from such savages? Yes, Captain, answered Ayrton, the natives in the interior are all alike.However, what you see here is just a small group of poor people.There are many large tribes on both sides of the Daring River, and the authority of the leaders is very terrifying. What, then, is a European to do among these native tribes? Just do what I did, answered Ayrton, and hunt and fish with them, and fight with them, as I told you last, that what you do with your work will be determined by what you do, As long as you are smart and brave, you can be respected in the tribe. But is that still a prisoner?Mary asked. Yes, still under close watch, Ayrton said, no one could escape day or night. Nevertheless, Ayrton, you have escaped.the major interrupted. Yes, Mr. McNabbs, I managed to get away while the tribe was fighting with the neighboring tribes.Now that I escaped, I naturally have no regrets.However, if I were asked to escape again, I believe that I would rather be a slave for the rest of my life than go through the barren areas in the interior and suffer that kind of suffering.May God save Captain Grant from the risk of such an escape! Yes, of course.Menger replied, Miss Mary, we hope your father is still in the hands of the natives, so that if he is not running around in the forest on the mainland, it will be easier for us to find him. Do you always think there is hope?the girl asked. I always think there is hope, Miss Mary, hope to see you with the help of God happy one day! Miss Mary thanked the young captain with tears in her eyes. While they were talking, the natives broke into a sudden commotion, and shouted and ran in all directions, all taking up their arms, as if they were all mad. The Sir was bewildered, when MacNabbs called Ayrton and asked: Since you have lived among the native Australians for a long time, you must be able to understand their words? Only a little, replied the sailor, for every tribe has its own dialect.However, I believe that I can guess what these natives mean. They want to show us a battle in order to thank us. Sure enough, the commotion was exactly for this.The natives fought directly without any opening ceremony.They fought furiously and pretended to be realistic.One would have thought it was a real fight if it hadn't been known in advance that it was a show.The native Australians, as many travelers report, were excellent pantomime performers, and here they really displayed their astonishing feats. Their weapons of attack and defense were nothing but large clubs, which were so heavy that they could shatter even the thickest skulls.There is also a kind of ax called Tomahoke, which is made of extremely hard stones and sandwiched between two sticks.The handle of the ax is three meters long.The ax was a formidable weapon, and a useful tool, for it could cut heads as well as branches, and split men as well as trees, and it was as useful as the occasion. There was a wild waving of weapons in the hands of these many natives, and there was a chorus of curses from their mouths; the combatants rushed at each other: some fell as if dead, and others uttered triumphant cries.That kind of appearance is indeed a bit thrilling, even if it is a real battle, it is nothing more than that.Mrs. Helen was always afraid that they would call and make the fake come true.There are also children playing in it, and it's a real fight.There are boys and girls here, especially girls, who are even more angry, slapping and slapping, and the slaps are vigorous and fierce. Such a martial arts scene lasted for ten minutes, when suddenly all the thugs stopped, and all the weapons were thrown from their hands.The natives stood still, maintaining their last postures, just like the figures in the painting.One would have thought they had all been turned into puppets all of a sudden. What is the reason for this change?Why are they suddenly motionless like fossils?Everyone soon understood. It turned out that a group of big parrots flew over at this time, soaring on the top of the rubber tree.The sky is full of babbling sounds, and their feathers are colorful, like a flying rainbow.It was because of the appearance of this colorful cloud-like flock of birds that their battle was stopped.Hunting is better than fighting, so they stopped fighting and went hunting. One of the natives grabbed something that was dyed red and had a special structure, and leaving his companions, who were still standing still, he walked towards the group of parrots from between the big trees and the bushes. .He crawled along without making a sound, neither touching a leaf nor disturbing a stone, just like a shadow sliding forward. As soon as he reached a suitable distance, the native threw the thing in his hand flat. The thing was half a meter above the ground and flew forward parallel to the ground. When it landed, it suddenly went up into the air, reached a height of ten meters, killed more than a dozen birds, and returned to the hunter's feet in a parabola.Jazz and his friend stared so dumbfounded that they could hardly believe their eyes. That thing is called flying.Ayrton said. Fly around!Paganel yelled, is that what the Australians use to fly around? He said, just like a child, ran over to pick up the magical thing, to see what's inside. Yes, most people will think that there is some kind of mechanism hidden in the Flying Over, that there is a kind of spring inside, and when the spring is activated, it will turn in the air.actually not. It was just a curved piece of hardwood more than one meter long.The big one in the middle is ten centimeters thick, with pointed ends.The concave side is about seven or eight minutes deep, and the convex side protrudes with two sharp edges.It's unbelievable how simple the construction is. This is what people often say about flying around.Paganel looked at the strange thing and said, it was just a piece of wood, nothing.How could it fly sideways, jump up suddenly, and fall back into the hands of the person who threw it?Many scholars and travelers could not explain the reason. Is it like throwing an iron ring, if you throw it out in a certain way, can you return to the starting point?Menger asked. Perhaps a return effect, Sir Greenarvan added, like hitting a billiard on a billiard table, where you hit a spot on it and it goes back in a circle? No, Paganel replied, whether throwing a hoop or playing marbles, there is a point of force to determine its reaction. Throwing a hoop has the ground as the point of action, and playing billiards has the table as the point of action.It flies around but has no effect at all, does it not touch the ground at all?Why is it jumping so high? How, then, do you explain this phenomenon, Monsieur Paganel?Lady Helene asked. I can't explain it, ma'am, but I'm sure once again that there are obviously two reasons for this phenomenon, one is that the throwing method is very clever.One is the special structure of flying around.However, this throwing technique is exactly the secret of the Australians. At any rate, no doubt it was their intelligence that could not compare them to monkeys.Mrs. Helen looked at the major and added something, but he was still unconvinced and kept shaking his head. Everyone talked and debated, and the time passed like this.The Jazz felt that time should not be wasted, and they should continue to move east.He was about to ask the female guests to get into the car, when suddenly a native ran over and said a few words excitedly. ah!Ayrton said they saw several emus! Um?Still want to hunt?Sir said. We must see, cried Paganel, it must be brilliant again!You have to fly around. What do you think, Ayrton? It won't be long, ser.the sailor answered. The natives didn't waste any time, they arranged it quickly.Hitting an emu is a rare joy for them, and one emu is enough to feed them all for several days.So they use all their skills to catch this big game.But such a big bird, running so fast, how can you hit it without a gun?How could it be overtaken without hounds?Paganel asked to see the hunt precisely to see their interesting style of play. This kind of emu is also called a cassowary without a comb, and the natives call it a mlog, and it is gradually becoming rare on the plains of Australia.This big bird is seventy-six centimeters high, with white flesh, a hard horny armor on the head, light brown eyes, black beak, bent downward, sharp claws on the toes, strong and powerful, and only two wings Short wings, unable to fly, darker feathers.Although, they can't fly, and they can't even catch up with horses in running.Therefore, to catch them, you can only use tricks, and you need to use clever tricks. So, when the man yelled, a dozen natives scattered like stormtroopers.In this lovely field, wild bluegrass is blooming with blue flowers, painting the ground a shade of blue.Travelers stopped next to a bush of woody mimosa. When the natives approached, a dozen emus got up and fled, fleeing to hide in an area more than a kilometer away.The hunter scouted the terrain and made a gesture to tell his companion not to move.The partners immediately lay on the ground.The hunter took out two pieces of emu skins sewn skillfully from the net bag, and immediately put them on his body.Then he stretched his right arm and raised his head, imitating the way an emu forages. The hunter imitated it very much and walked towards the group of birds.Sometimes he paused, as if pecking; sometimes he kicked up dust with his feet, and there was a cloud all around him.He also made frequent calls, and the emus would never know that it was fake.Sure enough, the emu fell for it.The unsuspecting animals approached the natives.At this time, he swung the mallet, and five of the six emus were knocked down at once. The hunter's hunt has a good harvest, and the hunt is over. So the jazz, the two ladies and the rest of the team said goodbye to the natives.