warriors went to the front, and, with the whole tribe at their back, approached the animal. They asked if he was a whitefellow, and requested him to give them the tomahawks he carried on his head; whereupon the astonished bullock pawed the ground, bellowed, shook his head, and charged. This so terrified the 'braves' that they fled headlong, and in their precipitate retreat upset men, women, and children, and broke their spears. The natives afterwards told this
story with great glee. It used to be narrated in a very humorous way by
Gnaweeth, who was mentioned in a previous chapter, and afforded the women many a laugh at the expense of the men. It was also told more recently by Weeratt Kuuyuut, when he was considerably over seventy years of age; and he described it as having occurred when he was a newly married man, which makes the date of the incident to have been about 1821 or '22.
THE FIRST FORMATION OF WATERHOLES.
One very dry season, when there was no water in all the country, and the animals were perishing of thirst, a magpie lark and a gigantic crane consulted together. They could not understand how it was that a turkey bustard of their acquaintance was never thirsty; and, knowing that he would not tell them where his supply of water was obtained from, they resolved to watch and find out where he drank. They flew high into the air, and saw him go to a flat stone. Before lifting the stone, the turkey, afraid of his treasure being discovered, looked up and saw the two birds, but they were so high, and kept so steady, that he took them for small clouds. He lifted the stone, therefore, and drank from a spring running out of a cleft in a rock. When he replaced the stone and flew away, the two spies came down and removed it, and took a drink and a bath, remarking, 'King gnakko gnal' — 'We have done him.' They flapped their wings with joy, and the water rose till it formed a lake. They then flew all over the parched country, flapping their wings and forming waterholes, which have been drinking-places ever since.
THE TORTOISE AND THE SNAKE.
Long ago the tortoise was a venomous beast, and bit people while they were drinking at waterholes and streams. To avoid being bitten, they adopted the plan of scooping up the water with their hands and throwing it into their
