Then we were told that our miami must be built and that we must have meat and sleep, as we should have to start with the sun. They fell to work, Gioro and two or three others, and built a sort of hut in an incredibly short time, and then we supped on fish and wild duck and paste made with water of the seeds of some native grass. I think it was "nardoo." We had also a fruit which I have seen nowhere else, about the size of a loquat, of a pinkish colour and subacid in taste. After supper we had a palaver, Gioro being the interpreter, and then we went to bed. Jack and I slept well and rose before sunrise in order to get a bath before starting. Several of the blacks followed us to the water's edge and some of them plunged into the water after us. I didn't half like it as they swam round and round us; but they were more afraid of us than we of them.
Then we breakfasted and made a start. For twelve days we travelled on, still heading mainly westward,
star." I think that by "rises," or more properly, "has risen," Gioro meant "has culminated;" for Gioro usually spoke of "rising" and "setting" as "coming" and "going;" so if he had meant to speak of stars in opposition he would have said, "when the white star comes and the red star goes." Spica culminates about the time that Aldebaran sets; also there are no large stars near Spica, this may be why it is called "the one white star." I think I have read that some people for the same reason call it "the lonely one." Gioro probably meant, "When the lone white star has culminated, and the red star and the little stars are set."—R. E.
