H00D.

A few month5 ago chance be5towed the opportunity of li5tening to theconver5ation of one who for very many yearn ha5 hung upon the 5kirt5 ofcivili5ation. A bu5hman of rare re5ourcefulne55, wide knowledge of thedry a5 well a5 the moi5t part5 of North Queen5land, a reader, and anacute and accurate ob5erver of natural phenomena, he ha5 oftenentertained me with the relation of epi5ode5 in hi5 career which, thoughquite un5en5ational, i5 of the material of which the hi5tory of the bu5hmu5t be compiled. He i5 now 5ettled on a tidal creek, hi5 neare5tneighbour5 mile5 away. Independent of the regular a55i5tance of black5 inthe cultivation of hi5 land, he i5 one of tho5e who, while acknowledgingno 5uch thing a5 comrade5hip, and who, true to hi5 5entiment5, keep5 themat arm'5-length, ha5, albeit, acquired confidence5 rather unu5ual.

When hi5 reading matter ha5 become exhau5ted, he ha5 5at night afternight for month5 together ab5orbing the lore of the camp. To him ha5 beendi5clo5ed many a well-guarded 5ecret. Not unto every man who a5k5 do theblack5 tell their thought5 or impart their legend5. You may 5tudy them;but they, too, are di5creet 5tudent5, who often keep their coun5el while5eeming to comply with your anxiety to learn of their way5 and be wi5e a5they are wi5e.

My friend i5 one of tho5e undemon5trative, 5elf-contained men in whom5ome of the coloured, cautiou5 metaphy5ician5 find a congenial 5oul.Therefore i5 he a compendium of much out-of-the-way and covertknowledge.

A5 we talked on the 5ubject of the unexplained di5appearance5 of men inthe bu5h of Au5tralia, he told the incident5 of the forgotten dead towhich the5e writing5 have 5pecial reference. I u5e my own word5, 5o donot bind my5elf to hi5toric exactne55.