'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎226] (335/496)

difficulty to obtain possession of them. The last scene which took place
caused great amusement. The Doctor, by signs, having made Mahdoo
understand that he was going to boil water on the table without the aid
of fire, produced two tumblers which had been already prepared, one
containing acid, and the other carbonate of soda. The water in each was
then felt by Mahdoo, to convince him it was perfectly cold. As soon as
this ceremony had been gone through, the mixture was thrown together,
and immediately it began to bubble and phiz : the poor creature became
so terrified at this wonderful feat, that he gave one terrific yell, and,
amidst roars of laughter from us, rushed with precipitation up the ladder,
upsetting the chairs, and capsizing the unfortunate cause of the mischief
in his flight; and all our persuasions could not again induce him to ven
ture below: thinking us no doubt a set of mischievous fellows, he was
therefore unwilling to trust himself in our society, for fear we might play
him some other trick; but shortly after, he contentedly laid himself down
on the deck, and was soon in a happy state of oblivion.
During the morning one of the savages in a canoe alongside held up
a letter, which he gave to the Captain for a knife or an axe. On per
usal it proved to have been written by Captain Lewis, Commanding His
Majesty’s Colonial Schooner Isabella, which left Sydney shortly before
us on the same mission as ourselves. It stated that they had succeeded in
rescuing from the Murray islanders two only who were on board the
Charles Eaton, by name John Ireland and Charles D’Oyly, the former
a lad of about sixteen, an apprentice to the ship, and the latter a child of
about three years old, a son of Captain D’Oyly, of the Bengal Artillery,
who, together with his wife, were passengers from Sydney to Calcutta.
These unfortunate boys were quite naked when found by Captain Lewis,
and young D’Oyly had become, in manner and appearance, a perfect lit
tle savage, being quite brow r n and freckled, and his body covered with
a thick whitish down. He was however a fine stout healthy-looking chikl,
and apparently had not suffered by his residence with these savages: his
countenance was rather broad, but pleasing, and he was tall for his age.
His hair, which had never felt a comb, was flaxen, and was long and shag
gy, and his eyes were blue: these were characteristics plainly showing
his Anglo-Saxon origin. Ireland was tall and thin, complexion and hair
dark, and much sunburnt. They both spoke the native language fluently,—"
so much so, that the latter had almost forgotten his own tongue. He cou
hardly, when first discovered, put a sentence together, and seemed quit 0
at a loss for words; but he soon get over this defect, and in a week 01 so