Atondido Stories
"Let it lie in the sun," said they.
"Not so," said the others.
But that the fish was sun-dried Bootoolgah and Goonur per-
sisted. Day by day passed, and after catching their fish, these
two always disappeared, returning with their food looking quite
different from that of the others. At last, being unable to extract
any information from them, it was determined by the tribe to
watch them. Boolooral, the night owl, and Quarrian, the parrot,
were appointed to follow the two when they disappeared, to
watch where they went, and find out what they did. According-
ly, after the next fish were caught, when Bootoolgah and Goonur
gathered up their share and started for the bush, Boolooral and
Quarrian followed on their tracks. They saw them disappear into
a Bingahwingul scrub, where they lost sight of them. Seeing a
high tree on the edge of the scrub, they climbed up it, and from
there they saw all that was to be seen. They saw Bootoolgah and
Goonur throw down their load of fish, open their comebee and
take from it a stick, which stick, when they had blown upon it,
they laid in the midst of a heap of leaves and twigs, and at once
from this heap they saw a flame leap, which flame the fire mak-
ers fed with bigger sticks. Then, as the flame died down, they
saw the two place their fish in the ashes that remained from the
burnt sticks. Then back to the camp of their tribes went
Boolooral and Quarrian, back with the news of their discov-
ery. Great was the talk amongst the blacks, and many the queries
as to how to get possession of the comebee with the fire stick in
it, when next Bootoolgah and Goonur came into the camp. It was
at length decided to hold a corrobboree, and it was to be one on
a scale not often seen, probably never before by the young of the
tribes. The grey beards proposed to so astonish Bootoolgah and
Goonur as to make them forget to guard their precious comebee.
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