CHAPTER II:  IN THE WOOL-SHED

At last shearing came; and with the shearers there was an old native, whom they had nicknamed Chowbok—­though, I believe, his real name was Kahabuka.  He was a sort of chief of the natives, could speak a little English, and was a great favourite with the missionaries.  He did not do any regular work with the shearers, but pretended to help in the yards, his real aim being to get the grog, which is always more freely circulated at shearing-time:  he did not get much, for he was apt to be dangerous when drunk; and very little would make him so:  still he did get it occasionally, and if one wanted to get anything out of him, it was the best bribe to offer him.  I resolved to question him, and get as much information from him as I could.  I did so.  As long as I kept to questions about the nearer ranges, he was easy to get on with—­he had never been there, but there were traditions among his tribe to the effect that there was no sheep-country, nothing, in fact, but stunted timber and a few river-bed flats.  It was very difficult to reach; still there were passes:  one of them up our own river, though not directly along the river-bed, the gorge of which was not practicable; he had never seen any one who had been there:  was there to not enough on this side?  But when I came to the main range, his manner changed at once.  He became uneasy, and began to prevaricate and shuffle.  In a very few minutes I could see that of this too there existed traditions in his tribe; but no efforts or coaxing could get a word from him about them.  At last I hinted about grog, and presently he feigned consent:  I gave it him; but as soon as he had drunk it he began shamming intoxication, and then went to sleep, or pretended to do so, letting me kick him pretty hard and never budging.

I was angry, for I had to go without my own grog and had got nothing out of him; so the next day I determined that he should tell me before I gave him any, or get none at all.

Accordingly, when night came and the shearers had knocked off work and had their supper, I got my share of rum in a tin pannikin and made a sign to Chowbok to follow me to the wool-shed, which he willingly did, slipping out after me, and no one taking any notice of either of us.  When we got down to the wool-shed we lit a tallow candle, and having stuck it in an old bottle we sat down upon the wool bales and began to smoke.  A wool-shed is a roomy place, built somewhat on the same plan as a cathedral, with aisles on either side full of pens for the sheep, a great nave, at the upper end of which the shearers work, and a further space for wool sorters and packers.  It always refreshed me with a semblance of antiquity (precious in a new country), though I very well knew that the oldest wool-shed in the settlement was not more than seven years old, while this was only two.  Chowbok pretended to expect his grog at once, though we both of us knew very well what the other was after, and that we were each playing against the other, the one for grog the other for information.