Their captain
was a lady of unbounded bravery and great strength--a model
pioneeress, with a talent for governing the opposite sex.* When at
home on her station she did the work of a man and a woman too. She
was the one in a thousand so seldom found. She not only did the
cooking and housework, but she also rode after stock, drove a team,
killed fat beasts, chopped wood, stripped bark, and fenced. She did
not hanker after woman's rights, nor rail against the male sex. She
was not cultured, nor scientific, nor artistic, nor aesthetic. She
despised all the ologies. All great men respected her, and if the
little ones were insolent she boxed their ears and twisted their
necks. She conquered all the blackfellows around her land with her
own right arm. At first she had been kind to them, but they soon
became troublesome, wanted too much flour, sugar, and beef, and
refused to go away when she ordered them to do so. Without another
word she took down her stockwhip, went to the stable, and saddled her
horse. Then she rounded up the blackfellows like a mob of cattle and
started them. If they tried to break away, or to hide themselves
among the scrub, or behind tussocks, she cut pieces out of their
hides with her whip. Then she headed them for the Ninety-mile Beach,
and landed them in the Pacific without the loss of a man.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415