# The Aborigines of Victoria/Volume 1/Chapter 8

Food.
The natives of Australia are generally described as omniverous. There is scarcely any part of the country in which they cannot find food, and there is nothing in the nature of food, or of substances which can by any possibility contribute to the maintenance of life, that they will not eat. When driven to extremity by hunger, the black tightens his belt, and when overcome by thirst, he covers his stomach with earth; but it is not often that he is forced to adopt such measures. He eats of the fruits of the earth, literally, in due season, and he catches wild animals when he can. He understands the nature of every vegetable product in his district, and knows what to eat and what to avoid; and he is thoroughly conversant with the habits of the beasts and birds and fishes that are to be found within the boundaries of his domain. Every species of marsupial, from the largest kangaroo to the smallest mouse; every kind of bird, from the swift-footed emu to the little dicæum that feeds on the berries of the loranthus; every egg that every bird lays; every reptile; every one of the amphibia; every fish, whether in fresh or in salt water; every shell-fish; and every crustacean and insect—he is familiar with, and in general knows how to procure each by the easiest and quickest method. From poisonous plants he is able to extract a wholesome farina, and he roasts roots and grinds seeds into flour. He gathers manna in the heats of summer. In the arid tracts he obtains water from the roots of trees; and, unless the region were inhospitable indeed, he could never actually perish of hunger.
He makes a drink that, if not intoxicating, is certainly of a character to exhilarate; and he chews or smokes a plant that stands in the stead of tobacco.
It is wholly impracticable to give a complete list of all the indigenous products which serve him for food, nor is it possible to describe all the methods he has of catching wild animals, or preparing the roots and seeds on which, in certain seasons, he has to depend mainly for subsistence; but I have collected from numerous sources a great deal of information, much of which I trust will be useful and interesting.
Many of the statements relate to the practices of the natives in parts of the continent far distant from Victoria; but each is calculated to throw light on the modes of procuring food that were usual amongst our blacks before Port Phillip was colonized.
Hunting Kangaroos.
In hunting and killing the kangaroo the natives display great skill, a complete knowledge of the habits of the animal, and often much perseverance and great endurance. Kangaroos are much more numerous now in many parts of Victoria than they were when the lands were in possession of the natives; and though it may appear at present to an inhabitant of the bush that a blackfellow could have no difficulty in procuring a sufficient supply of this game, it was different when the animal was regularly hunted, when it was the prey of the wild dog, and when the tribes had to depend largely on it for food.
Several modes of taking the kangaroo were employed. When a native was living with his family in a district where kangaroos were easily found, he would start off at early morning, with his wives and perhaps his children accompanying him, and look for a feeding ground where there was some shelter. The women and children would not follow his footsteps closely, but keep near enough to invite his attention by some previously-arranged signal, as the movement of the hand, or a sound—as that of a bird—if any one of them should see the game. The hunter himself, keenly interested in the pursuit, would be well prepared for the day's sport. He would have his spears sharpened, his throwing-stick in good order, and his waddy at hand. His basket, slung over his shoulder, would contain, as well as the throwing-stick, perhaps a knife. Cautiously taking his way through the bush, keeping an eye on every animate and inanimate object within the limits of his vision, moving noiselessly, he would at last view the kangaroos feeding in some rather open well-grassed spot. Having observed the direction of the wind, he would so direct his movements as to get to leeward of the game, and he would use all the skill he possessed to approach them as near as possible. He would advance a few steps, keeping his body in one position, and note the behaviour of the kangaroos. The creatures—keen-scented and quick of hearing—would exhibit some alarm perhaps, and the hunter would remain still and motionless until they again began to feed. He would thus advance, sheltered by bushes and trees, until within distance, and then his spear would be thrown. He would rarely miss his aim. As soon as the creature was struck, the women and children would shout with delight, and hasten to the assistance of the sportsman.
​If the ground to leeward of the game was without cover, the native would retire to a spot where he could construct a screen of boughs, and, with this before him, he would without difficulty get within reach of his prey.
Sometimes two men set out together for the purpose of spearing the kangaroo. One attracts the attention of the kangaroo by making a very slight noise, as by breaking twigs or the like, while the other approaches stealthily from an opposite direction until near enough to transfix the animal with his spear.
Kangaroos are frequently taken at their watering-places. If there is convenient and suitable natural shelter near a water-hole, the native conceals himself in the bushes, and patiently waits until he can throw his spear with a certain aim. If there is no shelter, he constructs a screen of boughs very artfully, and in such a situation as not to attract the attention of the animals when they come to the water.
Another method of catching kangaroos at their water-places is described in a letter to me by Mr. A. F. Sullivan. The men of the Paroo make a pit, close to the water, and enclose a space with two wings of brush-fence. Each wing is from three hundred to four hundred yards in length, forming two sides of a triangle. When a kangaroo comes for water, the natives hunt him into the space between the wings, and thence into the pit, where he is easily knocked on the head with a waddy.
Nets are also used for catching the kangaroo.
On great occasions, a large number of natives assemble and form a hunting party. This hunt is always under the guidance of experienced persons, who direct the mode of procedure and assign the hunters their places. An area of country perhaps half a mile or more in diameter is encircled by the sportsmen, who, shouting and clattering their arms, gradually close in, and when the animals are in a narrow space they spear them, or knock them on the head with waddies, as they jump from one point of danger to another.
This method is practised both in scrubby forest tracts and also in more open country where there are small plains.
They use fire at times, when they wish to take a number of animals. The men form a circle, and set fire to the bushes, and thus kill a great many kangaroos and other wild animals of the forest.
In the Port Lincoln district, the men and boys are expert in using a club named wirra. When the bush is on fire, and the animals are trying to escape, they throw the wirra with unerring dexterity, and kill both kangaroos, wallabies, and kangaroo-rats.
​The wirra is indeed a weapon of essential use to this people, and in throwing it they have acquired a skill which is astonishing. Little boys of seven and eight years old, and even girls of tender age, will knock down parrots from the she-oak trees with this instrument. The children are taught to use it almost as soon as they can walk. A piece of dry sponge is rolled along the ground, and they are made to throw the wirra at it until they are accomplished in its use.
Like the natives of Cooper's Creek, the people of the Port Lincoln district use a number of signs, unaccompanied by sound, which are of great advantage to them when engaged in hunting. They can, by using their hands, make known to their companions the animals they discover, and in what situation they are. They stretch out the first finger, in imitation of the leaping of a kangaroo, when such an animal, quietly feeding, is in sight; three fingers stretched out, the second finger a little lower than the others, is the sign for an emu; when an opossum is seen, the thumb is raised; and when the whole hand is extended, it is known that a fish is near. They have signs of a similar kind to indicate all the varieties of game.
In tracking the kangaroo, the native has to bring into play other qualities than those shown in hunting excursions of an ordinary character. He is never sure in these adventures that he will be successful. A hundred uuforeseen misfortunes may rob him of his prey. The hunter himself, with his whole attention devoted to the pursuit, may be followed by hostile blacks who have a mission to kill him; the wild dogs may cross the line, and perhaps secure the animal when almost worn out; another blackfellow may spear it as it hastens to some water-hole to quench its thirst; it may mingle with a mob of kangaroos, and the single trail may be lost; or the animal may be of extraordinary fleetness and strength, and may escape the most arduous toil of the hunter; but with all these difficulties in front of him, the blackfellow patiently follows the marks left by the beast, until success or failure causes his return to his miam.
This mode of hunting the kangaroo "calls out every qualification prized by savages—skill in tracking, endurance of hunger and thirst, unwearied bodily exertion, and lasting perseverance. To perform this feat, a native starts upon the tracks of a kangaroo, which he follows until he sights it, when it flies timidly before him; again he pursues the track, and again the animal bounds from him; and this is repeated until nightfall, when the native lights his fire and sleeps upon the track; with the first light of day the hunt is resumed, and towards the close of the second day, or in the course of the third, the kangaroo falls a victim to its pursuer. None but a skilful huntsman in the pride of youth and strength can perform this feat, and one who has frequently practised it always enjoys great renown amongst his fellows."
The natives of the Gawler Range, in South Australia, use a method of taking the wallaby which is highly ingenious. They make of long smooth pieces of wood an instrument like a fishing-rod, to the thin end of which they attach the skin and feathers of a hawk—so carefully arranged as to represent very accurately a living bird. Taking this in his hand, and his spear, the hunter ​roams the forest until he spies a wallaby, when, holding aloft his mock-bird, and giving a motion to the long flexible rod, such as to cause the mock-bird to appear to fly and stoop, he utters the cry of the hawk, and the wallaby at once takes refuge in the nearest bush. Cautiously stealing onwards, the native throws his spear and secures the game.
Even when the native succeeds in spearing the kangaroo he is not always sure of obtaining the carcass without difficulty. An old kangaroo of great size is fierce when brought to bay, and must be approached cautiously and at- tacked at a safe distance. If the hunter recklessly seized him, the brute would endeavour to strike him with his great claw, and might seriously injure or kill him. I have seen an "old man kangaroo" of great size attack a man on horse- back. He followed the horse, and nearly succeeded in tearing open his quarter. Twice he attempted to tear the horse, and had not the animal been guided by an experienced rider, the kangaroo would have seriously injured him. When hunted, the kangaroo invariably "makes tracks" for a water-hole; and, if hard pressed, will swim a river or enter the sea.
The native secures a prize when he spears a well-grown kangaroo (a forester). Some weigh as much as 150 lbs.
When a kangaroo is killed, the native is careful to preserve the sinews of the tail. He rolls the sinews around some stick or weapon or ball, so as to keep them stretched and in a fit state for future use.
The cooking of the kangaroo was in general a very simple affair. The hair was singed, the body scraped, and the entrails removed, and it was then roasted. The favorite method in the Paroo district, Mr. Sullivan informs me, is to cook the animal in a sort of oven. A hole is made in the ground, heated stones are put into it with the body of the kangaroo, and the whole is covered with hot ashes. In many parts the oven is more carefully constructed. The stones are heated in the hole, grass is placed over the stones, and the whole is covered with earth. If the steam is not sufficient to cook the flesh properly, holes are made and water is poured in. The skin is left on, in order to preserve the juices of the meat, and it is customary to remove the entrails after the body is well warmed. The entrails are cooked separately. Sometimes the body of a large kangaroo is cut up, and separate portions of it are broiled. The blood is collected in one of the intestines, and a sort of "black pudding" is made. The elders, of course, keep the delicacies for themselves, and amongst these the blood is very highly prized.
The several kinds of kangaroo caught and eaten by the natives of Victoria are as follow:—
| | Native Name—Lake Tyers. |
| Kangaroo | Jirrah | Macropus major; weight about 150 lbs. |
| Wallaby | Tharogang | Halmaturus ualabatus; weight about 50 lbs. |
| Rock wallaby | Wyat | Petrogale penicillata (of N. S. Wales only). ​ |
| Red wallaby | Kénarra | Halmaturus ualabatus. |
| Small wallaby | Dak-wan | Halmaturus Billardieri. |
| Padamelon | Bowey | Halmaturus Billardieri. |
| Kangaroo-rat | Bree | Bittongia cuniculus. |
The red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus) is found in the interior from just north of the Murray.
Opossum.
Opossums furnish the natives with an abundant supply of animal food in all the well-timbered tracts. These creatures, in situations suitable to them, are very numerous. When riding through the forests of the north-eastern parts of Victoria, I have seen, at night, many hundreds of them, and it was not at all difficult to get near them. They are easily seen by moonlight; and, by keeping in the deep shadows cast by the bushes, one can almost reach them by hand when they are on the lower branches of the trees. As far as I have been able to observe them, they are less alarmed by sound and scent than any other of the marsupial inhabitants of the bush. A loud noise would, of course, cause them to hide themselves; but one has not to be so cautious in approaching the retreat of these creatures as in attempting to observe the habits of the native cat, or even the native bear, which does not ordinarily exhibit much intelligence.
The opossum hunter roams through the forest, eyeing each tree as he goes, until he sees one likely to hold an opossum in some of its holes. He examines the bark, and so well skilled is he in his craft as to be able to determine at once whether there are marks of opossum's claws on it, whether they are fresh or not, and whether the creature has been ascending or descending. If the examination is satisfactory, he climbs the tree and takes the animal out of its hole.
The various ways in which the natives climb trees are described elsewhere.
Sometimes the marks of the opossum's claws are very faint, and in such case the hunter breathes on the bark, in order to see whether there are any hairs or grains of sand on it. By such signs he is guided; and he rarely returns to his camp without a good supply of opossum flesh.
The several species of opossum constitute the ordinary animal food of the natives. They are taken with comparative ease. Indeed industry more than skill is required for their capture, though, without a knowledge of their habits, and in places where they are scarce, a man might make many attempts before securing one.
In cooking them the natives are not very particular. In general, they are thrown upon a fire for perhaps a minute. Then the wool is pulled off, a hole is made in the stomach with a stick, and the entrails are taken out. The body is then roasted slowly in the hot embers and ashes of the fire.
Sir Thomas Mitchell found that the native method of cooking the opossum was not unsatisfactory. The flesh had a flavor of singed wool, but was not unpalatable even to a white man.
​When a great number of opossums are caught at one time, they are cooked in an oven in the same manner as the kangaroo is cooked.
The several kinds of opossums eaten by the natives of Victoria are as follow:—
| | Native Name—Lake Tyers. |
| Opossum (common) | Wadthan | Phalangista vulpina. |
| Black opossum | Brak | Phalangista fuliginosa (Tasmania only). |
| Ring-tail opossum | Blaang | Phalangista viverrina. |
There is also the Phalangista canina, the native name of which I have not obtained.
Wombat.
The wombats (Phascolomys platyrrhinus and P. niger)—the Naroot Norngnor or Warren of the natives—are odd-looking creatures, with clumsy, fat bodies, very short legs, and coarse hair. The specimens I have examined were gentle in their habits—not at all pugnacious, but very obstinate. One in confinement was shown a door where he could escape, and I attempted to stop him, but he thrust himself forward with a strength and determination for which I was unprepared. I used the utmost force to keep him back, but he good-naturedly struggled with me, and finally gained the victory. He is not a handsome creature; but, when cooked, is said to afford some appetising morsels. Lieut.-Col. Collins says:—"The wombat, or, as it is called by the natives of Port Jackson, the womback, is a squat, short, thick, short-legged, rather inactive quadruped, with great appearance of stumpy strength, and somewhat bigger than a large turnspit-dog. Its figure and movements, if they do not exactly resemble those of the bear, at least strongly remind one of that animal. Its length from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose is thirty-one inches, of which its body takes up twenty-three inches and five-tenths. The head is seven inches, and the tail five-tenths. Its circumference behind the fore legs, twenty-seven inches; across the thickest part of the belly, thirty-one inches. Its weight by hand is somewhat between twenty-five and thirty pounds. The hair is coarse, and about one inch or one inch and five-tenths in length, thinly set upon the belly, thicker on the back and head, and thickest upon the loins and rump; the color of it a light sandy-brown of varying shades, but darkest along the back. This animal has not any claim to swiftness of foot, as most men could run it down. Its pace is hobbling or shuffling, something like the awkward gait of a bear. In disposition it is mild and gentle; but it bites hard, and is furious when provoked. Mr. Bass never heard its voice but at that time; it was a low cry, between a hissing and a whizzing, which could not be heard at a distance of more than thirty or forty yards."
In those parts of the colony where there is ground suitable for the wombat, whose habit is to burrow, he is found in great numbers. He has given names ​to numerous places in Victoria, more particularly in the volcanic tracts, where the earth is easily penetrated. In the Western district, before the whites invaded it, he had a wide territory. Near the extinct volcanoes are beds of ash, and in these the wombat-holes were at one time thickly inhabited. Now, one sees a wombat—in the vicinity of numberless holes—rarely; and it may be presumed that the white man and his dogs and his guns are responsible for the diminution of the numbers.
In the Life and Adventures of William Buckley a very good account is given of the method employed by the natives to capture the wombat.
Buckley says:—"They [the wombats] live in holes in the earth, of about twenty feet long and from ten to twenty deep, in an oblique direction, burrowing in them like the mole. When well cooked they are good eating. . . . . The natives take these creatures by sending a boy or girl into their burrows, which they enter feet first, creeping in backwards until they touch the animal. Having discovered the lair, they call out as loud as they can, beating the ground overhead, whilst those above are carefully listening, their ears being pressed close to the earth. By this plan of operations they are enabled to tell with great precision where they are. A perpendicular hole is then made, so as to strike the extremity of the burrow; and having done this, they dig away with sharp sticks, lifting the mould out in baskets. The poor things are easily killed, for they make no resistance to these intrusions on their haunts. There is, however, a good deal of difficulty in making these holes, and in getting down so deep to them—so that it is a sort of hunting for food of which the natives are not very fond."
The wombat, Eyre states, is driven to his hole with dogs at night, and a fire being lighted inside, the mouth is closed with stones and earth. The animal being by this means suffocated, is dug out at convenience.
The wombat is roasted in his skin, and is said to afford most excellent meat.
It is believed that this creature could be easily domesticated.
The wombats of Victoria weigh as much as seventy pounds.
Native Bear.
The native bear (Phascolarctos cinereus)—Koola (Gippsland), Koob-boor, Karbor, or Kur-bo-roo (Yarra)—is arboreal in its habits, and is easily taken from the trees. If he is found on the ground, he commences to climb as soon as he sees an intruder, and utters a kind of growl as he rather slowly ascends, stopping and looking back rather anxiously from time to time, and apparently disinclined to take more exertion than is absolutely necessary for his safety. At Monkey Creek, in eastern Gippsland, these animals are very numerous. One morning I saw as many as five at one spot. One was apparently asleep at the side of the track, and I went close to him and tickled his ear with my riding-rod. He was pleased at first, but suddenly opening his eyes and seeing me, he shuffled ​to the nearest tree and commenced to climb it, seemingly with great reluctance. I could have captured him with ease.
The natives may not skin the bear. He is roasted whole in his skin. The flesh is said to taste like pork.
The weight of a bear is about forty pounds.
Bandicoot, etc.
The bandicoot (Perameles obesula, P. nasuta, P. fasciata, and P. Gunni)—Menaak (Gippsland), Warrun (Western district), Bang (Yarra)—burrows, and lives on roots. He is either caught in his nest or knocked down with a stick.
The porcupine (Echidna hystrix)—Kowern (Gippsland), Wilanyul (Western district), Ka Warren (Yarra)—burrows in the ground to a good depth. He is got out by digging with a stick, and is speared in the breast. This creature, in proportion to its size, is of enormous strength.
In cooking it, it is usually covered with clay and roasted in its quills. In Gippsland, the fat is severed from the lean and cooked separately.
Amongst other animals eaten by the natives are the following:—
Native dog (Canis Australasiæ)—Ngurran (Gippsland), Purnung (Western district)—the male it is said being named Pipkuru, and the female Nrung-yrreh)—Yearangin (Yarra)—speared or taken when young.
Native cat (large) (Dasyurus maculatus)—Womainte (Western district)—Native cat (common) (Dasyurus viverrinus)—Beathedel (Yarra).
Water-rat (Hydromys Chrysogaster).
Flying squirrels (Petaurista taguanoides), (Belideus breviceps and B. Notatus)—Berring (Western district).
Mice (Mus Novæ Hollandiæ) (Hapalotis conditor, H. apicalis, and H. Mitchelli).
Bats (Molossus Australis), (Pteropus poliocephalus—flying fox), and several small species of Scotophilus.
To these may be added the marsupials Phascogale penicillata and P. Calura (Kutar of natives). These small rat-like marsupials are often confounded with rats and mice in popular estimation, but they are fierce carniverous animals.
Emu.
The emu (Dromaius Australis)—Burri-mul (Yarra), Miowera (Gippsland)—is a large bird, affording a good deal of nutritious flesh. When in an ordinary position, the head is about five feet from the ground. He is very fleet and very ​strong, and is hunted by the natives much in the same manner as the kangaroo is hunted. In nearly all parts of Victoria he is speared, nets or yards not being used as a rule.
Mr. Giles mentions finding in the interior of Australia yards erected by the natives for yarding emus and wallabies, and in one place a yard was discovered near a water-hole.
In the Cooper's Creek district, when food is scarce, and the weather is very hot, the natives follow the emu until he is tired, and capture him.
The emu is not easily captured. I have seen a large kangaroo-dog knocked over two or three times by a stroke from the leg of an emu. This was in ascending a range, when the dog was able to overtake the emu; in going down hill the bird extended his short wings and outpaced the dog. In former times, flocks of emus, forty or fifty together, might be seen feeding on the plains. The weight of an emu is about 130 lbs. The natives roast these birds in the ashes of their fires.
Turkey.
The turkey (Otis Australasiensis) — Brea-ell (Yarra), Korn-jinah (Gippsland), Parim-barim (Western district)—is a shy bird, but the natives are cunning in taking him.
FIG. 18.
In the Western district they make an instrument long and flexible, like a fishing-rod, and attach to the end of the thinner part the skin and feathers of a small bird, or a dead butterfly, and a running noose.—(Fig. 18.)
When the hunter sees a turkey, he slowly approaches the bird, holding in front a bush to hide his person, and swinging aloft the decoy with a peculiar motion characteristic of the bird or insect. The turkey's attention is at once arrested and wholly taken up with the movements of the decoy. He stares at it stupidly, turns round and stares again, but though it approaches, he does not move far. He continues to stare until the black gets near enough to slip the noose over his head and secure him.
The weight of a full-grown turkey is about thirty pounds. It feeds on grass, beetles, and great quantities of grubs or larvæ of insects.
The bird is always roasted by the natives, either in an oven or on the embers of the fire.
Native Companion.
The native companion (Grus Australasiensis)—Goor-rook of the Yarra natives, and Korurik of the Western district—is a very elegant bird, of exquisite plumage, and almost too beautiful to be eaten. He is quite friendly in his habits, and may be seen sometimes following the plough, and busily engaged in picking up grubs and worms. The natives kill this bird with a stick, a boomerang, or a waddy. When a flock is flying low at evening, they come within range, and a skilful man will easily secure at least one out of a flock.
The flesh is said to be very good. The bird is cooked in the same manner as the emu and the turkey.
The weight of a full-sized bird is about twenty-five pounds. It feeds on fish, lizards, mice, &c.
Catching Ducks and other Wild-fowl.
Aquatic fowls supplied the natives with food at all seasons—indeed whenever a native was hungry he would take one if he could secure it either by boomerang, or waddy, or spear, or by following it in the water and catching it. As far as I can gather, they did not have a "close season" in Victoria. They took the birds when they could get them.
A common method of catching ducks is by fixing a net, about sixty yards in length, across a watercourse, a river, a swamp, or a lagoon—the lower part being three or four feet above the water. The ends of the net are either fixed to trees or held by natives stationed in trees. One man proceeds up the river or lagoon, and cautiously moves so as to cause the ducks to swim towards the net. When they are near enough, he frightens them, and they rise on the wing, and at the same time another native, near the net, throws up a piece of bark, shaped like a hawk, and utters the cry of that bird. The flock of ducks at that moment dip, and many are caught in the net. Four men are usually employed when this sport is pursued. This account was given to me by Wye-wye-a-nine, a native of the Lower Murray.
Mr. Beveridge says that sometimes three dozen ducks are caught in this manner at one time, without the breakage of a single mesh of the net.
Major Sir Thomas Mitchell mentions this method of catching wild-fowl. He says:—"The natives had left in one place a net overhanging the river, being suspended between two lofty trees, evidently for the purpose of catching ducks and other water-fowl. The meshes were about two inches wide, and the net hung down to within about five feet of the water. In order to obtain water-fowl with this net, it is customary for some of the natives to proceed up and others down the river, in order to scare the birds from other places; and when any flight of them comes into the net, it is suddenly lowered into the water, thus entangling the birds beneath until the natives go into the water and secure them. Among the few specimens of art to be found in use with the primitive inhabitants of those wilds none came so near our own manufacture as the net, ​which even in quality as well as in the mode of knotting could scarcely be distinguished from our own."
Mr. Chenery says that he has often seen the natives of the Goulburn catch ducks. A man swims under water, breathing through a reed, and approaches a flock without creating any alarm. When he is within reach of a duck, he seizes it by the feet, drags it under water, wrings its neck, and tucks it under his belt. In this way, quietly and noiselessly, he secures a great number of birds.
In other parts a somewhat similar method is followed. When a number of ducks is seen on a river or a lagoon, a native enters the water—far below them —covers his head with flags or rushes, or any weed that is growing in the water, and swims towards the flock. He approaches the ducks cautiously, and takes one after another in the manner described by Mr. Chenery.
Sometimes the natives sneak along the banks of a river, and, concealing themselves amongst the reeds, get so near the water-fowl as to be able to spear them, or take them with a noose.
Meyer states that swans, geese, ducks, and other water-fowl, which are plentiful in the Lakes, are taken by the men of the Encounter Bay tribe by a noose at the end of a long stick. They steal upon them, concealed by the long grasses and rushes on the banks of the stream, until they are within reach of the birds.
Taplin finds the noose in use generally amongst the natives of the Lower Murray, but the reed-spear is also employed. The natives send their spears into the dense flocks of widgeon (punkeri), and transfix the birds as they fly. By means of the spear they kill a great many.
"Most of the wild-fowl on the Lakes," says Mr. Taplin, "are unable to fly in the moulting season; they then betake themselves to the reeds. A net is put by the natives round a clump of reeds, beaters are sent in to drive out the ducks, which rush into the nets and are captured by scores."
In Gippsland the natives caught the wild-fowl also when moulting, and when sitting on their eggs, or when just fledged. It does not appear that they used either the net or the noose.
The swan was usually taken by stratagem. He was driven into reeds, and then speared or knocked on the head with a waddy.
In the Paroo district ducks are taken usually, Mr. Sullivan informs me, in nets, arranged like those in use amongst the natives of the Murray. Sometimes they are knocked down by sticks, and sometimes a native will cover his head with mud, and swim so close to a duck as to be able to hit it with ease with any weapon he may have with him. When ducks are flying along a water-course, a boomerang thrown amongst them will bring down one or two.
In cooking birds the natives used, in former times, an oven formed of a number of heated stones on which wet grass was strewn. The birds were placed ​on the grass, and covered with it; more heated stones were laid on, and the whole was covered with earth. In this way they were half-stewed. The Murray tribes still use this method. In Gippsland it has fallen into disuse.
The following is a list of some of the aquatic and other birds eaten by the natives:—
| | Native Name—Lake Tyers. |
| Swan | Gidi | Cygnus atratus. |
| Goose | Krangnark | Anseranas melanoleuca. |
| Pelican | Burran | Pelecanus conspicillatus. |
| Common wild or black duck | Wrang | Anas superciliosa. |
| Mountain duck | Karagnack | Casarca Tadornoides. |
| Pink-eyed duck | Koortgan | Malacorhynchus membranaceus. |
| Spoon-bill | Wyang | Platalea flavipes. |
| Musk duck | Bau | Biziura lobata. |
| Wood duck | Naak | Chlamydochen jubata. |
| Teal | Barook | (?) |
| Speckled teal | Koortgang | Anas punctata. |
| Cormorant | Karnie | Phalacrocorax carboides. |
| Shag | Kurrowera | Phalacrocorax melanoleucus and P. leucogaster. |
| Sea eagle | Kang-gang | Polioetus leucogaster. |
| Large gull | Gnoman | Larus pacificus. |
| Small common gull | Tarook | Xema Jamesoni. |
Parrots of many kinds are very numerous in the forests of Australia, and the natives are practised in killing them with the short heavy sticks they carry and with the boomerang. The cockatoo-parrots fly in large flocks. Sometimes at evening one may see hundreds of them high in the air, on the borders of the swamps, flying hither and thither and screaming loudly. They are wary birds, and a sportsman must use great caution in approaching them. In Gippsland the cockatoo (Braak) and parrots of other kinds were not often killed by the boomerang. The natives generally took them when they were sitting on their eggs, or when too young to fly, or when moulting.
Grey gives an animated description of the killing of cockatoos by the boomerang. He says:—"Perhaps as fine a sight as can be seen in the whole circle of native sports is the killing cockatoos with the kiley or boomerang. A native perceives a large flight of cockatoos in a forest which encircles a lagoon; the expanse of water affords an open clear space above it, unencumbered with trees, but which raise their gigantic forms all around, more vigorous in their growth from the damp soil in which they flourish; and in their leafy summits sit a countless number of cockatoos, screaming and flying from tree to tree, as they make their arrangements for a night's sound sleep. The native throws ​aside his cloak, so that he may not even have this slight covering to impede his motions, draws his kiley from his belt, and with a noiseless, elastic step approaches the lagoon, creeping from tree to tree, from bush to bush, and disturbing the birds as little as possible. Their sentinels, however, take the alarm; the cockatoos farthest from the water fly to the trees near its edge, and thus they keep concentrating their forces as the native advances; they are aware that danger is at hand, but are ignorant of its nature. At length the pursuer almost reaches the edge of the water, and the scared cockatoos, with wild cries, spring into the air. At the same instant the native raises his right hand over his shoulder, and bounding forward with his utmost speed for a few paces, to give impetus to his blow, the kiley quits his hand as if it would strike the water; but when it has almost touched the unruffled surface of the lake, it spins upwards with inconceivable velocity and with the strangest contortions. In vain the terrified cockatoos strive to avoid it; it sweeps wildly and uncertainly through the air, and so eccentric are its motions, that it requires but a slight stretch of the imagination to fancy it endowed with life, and with fell swoops is in rapid pursuit of the devoted birds—some of whom are almost certain to be brought screaming to the earth. But the wily savage has not yet done with them. He avails himself of the extraordinary attachment which these birds have for one another, and fastening a wounded one to a tree, so that its cries may induce its companions to return, he watches his opportunity, by throwing his kiley or spear, to add another bird or two to the booty he has already obtained."
Amongst the parrots most commonly taken the following may be mentioned:—
| Rosehill | Platycercus eximius. |
| King lory | Aprosmictus scapulatus. |
| Green leek | Polytelis Barrabandi. |
| Blue mountain | Trichoglossus multicolor. |
| Ground parrakeet | Pezophorus formosus. |
| Pennant's parrot | Platycercus Pennanti. |
| Cockatoo (species that fly in flocks) | Cacatua galerita. |
| Cockatoo (without a crest) | Licmetis tenuirostris. |
Small birds of various kinds, which feed on the blossoms of the honeysuckle (Banksia), are caught by the natives living in the Mallee scrub in the following manner. A hole is dug in the ground sufficiently large to admit of a man's sitting in it comfortably, and over it is built a mia-mia of green boughs and twigs. In front a number of small sticks are stuck in the ground slantingly and crossing each other. The native, having provided himself with a thin stick, furnished with a running noose of fine cord at the end, takes his seat in the hole, and imitates the chirping of the birds. After some trouble, he secures one, and he uses this as a decoy, fastening it by a cord to one of the long slanting sticks. It attracts numbers by its cries, and the native cautiously ensnares one after the other with the loop, until he takes perhaps three hundred ​or more. Having passed the loop over the head of the bird, he twists the stick and adroitly draws it into the hole. A patient hunter is always well rewarded when pursuing this method of capture.
The natives had many other contrivances for catching birds; but perhaps the simplest and most curious is that formerly practised in New South Wales. Collins relates that the men of New South Wales caught crows in this manner: A native stretched himself on a rock, as if asleep in the sun, holding a piece of fish in his hand. The bird—hawk or crow—seeing the prey, and not observing any motion in the native, pounced on the fish; and in the instant of seizing it was caught by the savage, who cooked it quickly on the fire, making a meal that for enjoyment might be envied by an epicure.
When a native was hungry he would eat any bird he could kill. Amongst some of the more common, though not necessarily easily taken, may be mentioned the eagle (Aquila audax), hawks (Teracidea berigora, Astur approximans, and Tinnunculus cenchroides); pigeon—large pigeon of Upper Yarra (Leucosarcia picata), bronze-wing pigeon (Peristera elegans), and crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes); magpie (common) (Gymnorhina leuconota), minah-bird (Myzantha garrula), wattle-bird (Meliphaga carnuculata), mutton-bird (Puffinurus brevicaudus), and crow (Corvus coronoides); lyre-bird (Menura superba), owl (Strix delicatula), laughing jackass (Dacelo gigas), and the more-pork (Podargus humeralis and P. Cuvieri).
Turtle, etc.
The fresh-water turtle (Platemys Macquaria)—Ngart (Gippsland), Putchpoh (Lake Condah)—is found in great numbers in many of the rivers, lagoons, and swamps of Victoria. It is caught with the hand, and roasted in the shell. On the Murray, the natives take a great many of these reptiles during the summer season; and the flesh is said to be delicate and delicious.
The sea turtles are not seen far south of Shark's Bay, on the north-western coast, and they do not come further south than Sydney, on the north-eastern coast. They are, of course, unknown to the natives of Victoria.
​The numerous reptiles, easily caught in every part of the country, supplied food during the summer season. Besides the smaller lizards, there is the large iguana (Hydrosaurus varius)—Bathalook (Gippsland)—which furnishes a quantity of excellent flesh; and, of the larger snakes, there are the ​death-adder (Acanthophis antarctica), the black snake (Pseudechys porphyraicus), the tiger snake (Hoplocephalus curtus), and the large brown snake (Diemenia superciliosa.)
Frogs were roasted and eaten in some parts of Victoria; and amongst these the natives probably often took the common green frog (Ranhyla aurea), the smaller dark one (Lymnodynastes Tasmaniensis), and the tree-frogs (Hyla phyllochroa and Hyla Verreauxi).
Fish.
There is not much to add, with respect to the native methods of catching fish, to the information given under the heads of Spears, and Fish-hooks, and Nets for Fishing. The natives appear to have practised at least five different methods of taking fish, namely:—
1. By hand.—In shallow pools, in lagoons, and in the ana-branches of rivers, in times of drought, they would catch a few fish by wading into the shallow water and taking them by hand. Black-fish are commonly caught by hand in the water-holes of the Western district.
In the Port Lincoln district, the natives go into the water and push the fish before them with branches of trees until they are fairly driven ashore.
"Some fishes are, in the night, attracted to light, and then easily killed. The blacks, provided with torches made of long strips of bark, go into the water and catch them with the hand, striking them or spearing them."
2. By nets.—The native nets are used very much in the same manner as in Europe. Mr. Francis F. Armstrong, the Government Interpreter in Western Australia, says that nets were not known when the Europeans first landed in that colony, but that they are used by the people of the north coast, who make the twine of a fibre obtained from spinifex or the bark of trees.
The method of fishing by the net is thus described by the Rev. J. G. Wood. He says:—"This requires at least two men to manage it. The net is many feet in length, and about four feet in width. It is kept extended by a number of sticks placed a yard or so apart, and can then be rolled up in a cylindrical package and be taken to the water. One man then takes an end of the net, unrols it, and, with the assistance of his comrade, drops it into the water. As soon as the lower edge of the net touches the bottom, the men wade towards ​the shore, drawing with them the two ends of the net and all the fish that happen to be within its range. As soon as they near the shore, they bring the two ends of the net to the land, fix them there, and are then able to pick up and throw ashore all the fish that are in the net. Some of the more active fish escape by leaping over the upper edge of the net, and some of the mud-loving and crafty wriggle their way under the lower edge; but there is always a sufficiency of fish to reward the natives for their labor."
"The Narrinyeri make fishing-lines and twine from two kinds of fibre. One is a bulrush which grows in the scrub; the other is the root of a flag or bulrush which grows in fresh water, and is called Menungkeri. The rushes or roots are, first of all, either boiled [?] or steamed in the native oven, and then chewed by the women. A party of them will sit round the fire and masticate the fibrous material by the hour. While they do so, the masses of fibre which have been chewed are handed to the men who sit by, and they work it up, by twisting it on the thigh, into hanks of twine, either stout or fine, according to the purpose to which it is to be applied. Others receive the twine as fast as it is made, and make it into nets. They wind the twine on a short stick, which is used as the netting needle. The only measure of the size of the mesh is the finger of the netter, and yet their nets are wonderfully regular. The stitch is exactly the same as ours, but it is taken over and towards the netter, instead of under as we do. They make lengths of this net about four feet wide, and tie straight sticks of Mallee across it, to keep it open; then a number of lengths are tied together, end to end, and it is used for catching fish or moulting ducks, in the usual way."
"Some nets are furnished with a bag or pouch of netting, with smaller meshes placed at one end of the net, into which the smaller fish are driven as the net is hauled in. When the fish approach the shore, the natives enter the water with the net, and swim about until they get the fish between themselves and the shore; they then spread out the net, those on shore directing them, so that they may enclose the fish, and, as soon as this is accomplished, they are drawn to the shore."
3. By spearing.—Various kinds of spears, as figured and described in this work, are used for taking fish of all kinds, both in the sea and in fresh water. The natives are very skilful in all sports, as already stated, but in using the spear in fishing they are astonishingly expert.
Sir Thomas Mitchell describes a fishing scene on the Darling. He says:—"There was an unusually deep and broad reach of the river opposite to our camp, and it appeared that they fished daily in different portions of it in the following manner. The king stood erect in his bark canoe, while nine young men with short spears went up the river, and as many down the river, until, at a signal from him, all dived into it, and returned towards him, alternately swimming and diving; these divers transfixing the fish under water, and ​throwing them on the bank. Others on the river brink speared the fish when thus enclosed, as they appeared among the reeds, in which small openings were purposely made to attract them. In this manner they speared with astonishing despatch some enormous cod (Peel's perch), but the largest were struck by the chief from his canoe with a long barbed spear. After a short time the young men in the water were relieved by an equal number, upon which they came out shivering—the weather being very cold—to warm themselves in the centre of a circular fire, kept up by the gins on the bank. The death of the fish in their practised hands was almost instantaneous, and caused by merely holding them by the tail with the gills immersed."
At the mouth of the Murray, and at the Lakes, fish are caught with the three-pronged spear; and the natives of the Bellingen Eiver (lat. 30° 30′ S.) use a spear of the same kind. It is mentioned also by Peron.
Near Yelta, on the Murray, fish are speared with the paddle, which has hooked grains at one end, made of kangaroo leg-bones.
Collins observed the several modes of catching fish as practised on the sea-coast. On one occasion he saw the men killing fish with the fiz-gig—an instrument made of the wattle, having a joint in it, fastened by gum, and from fifteen to twenty feet in length. It was armed with four barbed prongs, the barb being a piece of bone secured by gum.
Lieut.-Col. Mundy was much pleased with the sight of a native using the fish-spear. "Just opposite La Perouse's monument," he says, "we saw a black spearing the rock-cod and groper, which feed on the shell-fish torn from the rocks in stormy weather. The figure of this man poised motionless on a pedestal of rock, with his lance ready to strike, the waves dashing up to his feet, was a subject for a bronze statue."
4. By weirs.—The natives are ingenious in constructing weirs both in salt and fresh water. In the former they are placed in the flats left nearly dry at low water, and in the latter so as to take advantage of floods, or an increased artificial flow of water, which they manage by constructing dams, or excavating the outlet of a lake or lagoon.
They have also movable dams. On the Bogau, "fishing is left entirely to the gins, who drag every hole in a very effectual and simple manner, by pushing before them, from one end of the pond to the other, a movable dam of long, twisted dry grass, through which the water only can pass, while all the fish remain and are caught."
In the Gwydir, Major Mitchell found osier-nettings of neat workmanship. The frames were as well squared as if they had been done by a carpenter, and ​into these frames twigs were inserted, at regular intervals, so as to form, by crossing each other, a strong and efficient kind of net or snare. Where these were erected, a small opening was left towards the middle of the current, in order, probably, that some sort of bag or netting might be applied there to receive the fish, while the native in the river above should drive them to this netting.
In Western Australia fish are nearly always taken in weirs, made of brushwood and poles, from three to six feet in depth.
Mr. Gideon S. Lang gives a description of a singular work of art constructed by the Aborigines. He says:—"The great weir for catching fish, on the Upper Darling, called Breewarner, is, both for conception and execution, one of the most extraordinary works recorded of any savage tribe, and, independent of another described by Murrell, the shipwrecked mariner, who passed seventeen years among them, is quite sufficient to prove their capacity to construct works on a large scale, and requiring combined action. This weir (Breewarner) is about sixty-five miles above the township of Bourke. It is built at a rocky part of the river, from eighty to one hundred yards in width, and extends about one hundred yards of the river course. It forms one immense labyrinth of stone walls about three or four feet high, forming circles from two to four feet in diameter, some opening into each other, forming very crooked but continuous passages, others having one entrance only. In floods, as much as twenty feet of water sweeps over them, and carries away the tops of the walls; the lower parts of the walls, however, are so solidly and skilfully built with large, heavy stones, which must have been brought from a considerable distance, and with great combined labor, that they have stood every flood from time immemorial. Every summer this labyrinth is repaired, and the fish, in going up or down the river, enter it, get confused in its mazes, and are caught by the blacks by hand in immense quantities."
5. By hooks.—Catching fish by the hook and line was not practised by all the natives of Victoria. In Gippsland, however, they used hooks made of bone; and an ancient fish-hook of bone, obtained from Gippsland, is figured in this work. Mr. Green says that the natives of the Yarra were unacquainted with the hook. Meyer and Taplin and Wilhelmi state that it was not used in South Australia until after the arrival of the Europeans; nor is it known ou the Paroo. But the natives of Victoria, in some parts certainly—if not in the Western district, most assuredly on the eastern seaboard—were accustomed to make fishing hooks and lines. The Western Port blacks name the fish-hook Ling'an-ling'an—but perhaps they derived the invention and were taught its uses by the Gippsland natives. In the north-eastern and northern parts of Australia the blacks make excellent fish-hooks and good lines.
The hooks were not in all parts of the same shape as those that somewhat resemble European hooks. They appear to have sharpened pieces of wood in such a manner as when hitched to twine and baited would secure the larger kinds of fish.
​Collins says he saw the natives fishing with the hook and line in New South Wales. The women, he says, used the hook and liue. The lines were made of the bark of a small tree, and the hooks of the mother-of-pearl oyster, which they rubbed on a stone until it assumed the shape desired. "While fishing, the women sing. In their canoes they always carry a small fire laid upon sea-weed or sand, with which, when desirous of eating, they dress their meal."
The hook, probably, travelled slowly southwards, along the eastern seaboard, and had not reached the Lower Murray at the time the whites settled there. Negative evidence on such a matter is not, however, of much value.
The fish-hooks figured in M. Péron's work (1800-1804) are exactly similar to those of Gippsland and Rockingham Bay; and I think it may be safely assumed that the invention of the shell-hook is native.
Amongst the fish commonly taken by the blacks are the Murray cod (Oligorus Macquariensis), which is often three feet in length and very heavy; the bream (Chrysophrys Australis); the schnapper (Pagrus unicolor); the herring (Prototroctes marœna); the black-fish (Gadopsis marmoratus); the Murray cat-fish (Copidoglanis tandanus); the gudgeon or trout of colonists (Galaxias ocellatus and G. attenuatus); the eel (Anguilla Australis); the large conger eel (Conger Wilsoni); the flounder (Rhombosolea flesoides and Pleuronecties Victoriæ); the flat-head (Platycephalus Tasmanicus); the gar-fish (Hemiramphus intermedius); the whiting (Sillago maculata); the chimera (Callorhynchus antarcticus); the common skate (Raya Lemprieri); the sting-ray (Myliobates aquila); the dog-fish (Galeus canis and Mustela vulgaris); and the large shark (Odontaspis taurus).
Of the aquatic mammals may be mentioned the whale (Physalus Grayi—McCoy), the species commonly stranded in Victoria, and eaten by the natives; and the porpoise (Delphinus fulvifasciatus); and of the marine carnivorous mammalia, the sea-leopard (Stenorhynchus leptonyx), and the eared seal, Otaria (Arctocephalus) lobatus.
​The fish commonly taken and eaten in Gippsland are as follow:—
| English. | Native. | How taken. |
| Schnapper | Nerabogang | With bone-hook. |
| Gurnet | Koortgut | In the net; seldom with hook. |
| Flounder | Pertpin | Speared. |
| Gar-fish | Thacki | Speared. |
| Large flat-head | Bimbiang | With spear and hook. |
| Flat-head | Brindat | With spear and hook. |
| Bream | Kine | With the bone-hook. |
| Perch | Tambun | With the bone-hook. |
| Travalla | Karie | With the bone-hook. |
| Sand mullet | Krinyang | With the bone-hook. |
| Fat mullet | Pertpiang | In net made of grass. |
| Sea trout | Billing | With the bone-hook. |
| Golden perch | Looterak | In the net. |
| Silver perch | Kooee | In the net. |
| Large perch | Wirrinbown | Speared. |
The whale (Kaandha) and the porpoise (Kornon) are only procured when stranded. No efforts are made to catch them. The seal (Ngalewan) is killed on the beach.
The dugong is caught and eaten by the natives of the north, and much skill is shown by them in capturing this creature.
The natives did not use much art in cooking fish. They were thrown on the fire and broiled, and eaten without salt. The women often had fires in their canoes, and they could cook and eat the fish as soon as they were caught. In some parts, however, they adopted an excellent method. It is thus described by Grey:—
"If the fish are not cooked by being merely thrown on the fire and broiled, they dress them in a manner worthy of being adopted by the most civilized nations; this is called yudarn dookoon, or 'tying-up cooking.' A piece of thick and tender paper-bark is selected, and torn into an oblong form; the fish is laid in this, and the bark wrapt round it, as paper is folded round a cutlet; strings formed of grass are then wound tightly about the bark and fish, which is then slowly baked in heated sand, covered with hot ashes; when it is completed, the bark is opened, and serves as a dish: it is, of course, full of juice and gravy, not a drop of which has escaped. Several of the smaller sorts of fresh-water fish, in size and taste resembling whitebait, are really delicious ​when cooked in this manner; they occasionally also dress pieces of kangaroo and other meats in the same way."
And in other parts of Australia the natives are not so indifferent to the art of cooking as is generally supposed. Mr. Clement Hodgkinson thus writes of the natives of the north-east coast:—
"Although, from the preceding details, the Australian natives might be deemed the dirtiest savages in the world, with regard to the nature of the food they eat and their mode of cooking it, yet such is not the case. It is quite true, as many writers have reported, that the produce of the chase, such as opossums, squirrels, pademellas, guanas, ducks, &c., are thrown down, unskinned and unembowelled, before the fire, and devoured, entrails and all. But having often observed the mode of cookery pursued by the Australian Aborigines, I have never seen them omit to extract the entrails as soon as the animal was warmed through, and they are then carefully cleaned and cooked separately. With regard to the skin being left on (which is not always the case), it is purposely done, in order to retain the juices of the meat, which would otherwise be dried up by their simple mode of cookery; but as soon as the animal is sufficiently done, the skin is easily pulled off and rejected. The Macleay River natives always clean and gut their fish, and cook them carefully on hot embers, and they eat nothing whatever in a raw state, except cobberra and grubs. The Australian Aborigines, therefore, though not remarkably scrupulous as to cleanliness, are, at least, equally so with the less uncivilized New Zealanders, and much more so than many of the African tribes."
The common kinds of shell-fish eaten by the natives are as follows:—Fresh-water mussel (Unio sp.); mussel (salt-water) (Mytilus Dunkeri); mutton-fish (Haliotis nivosa); periwinkle (Lunella undulata); limpet (Patella tramoserica); and cockle (Cardium tenuicostatum).
The sea cucumber (Holothuria sp.) is also eaten.
The Rev. Mr. Bulmer gives the native names of these, as follow:—
| Fresh-water mussel | Nerridewan. | Cockle | Tagera. |
| Periwinkle | Moondara. | Mutton-fish | Walkan. |
| Limpet | Banawara. | Sea cucumber | Jirawon. |
Mr. Hodgkinson says that the oyster (Ostrea mordax) is eaten by the natives of the Bellingen River.
The crab (Pseudocarcinus gigas)—Krangalang (Gippsland); and the cray-fish (Homarus annulicornis)—Terndang (Gippsland)—as well as the cray-fish commonly found in creeks and ponds—the large Murray one (Astacoides serratus), and the smaller (A. quinquecarinatus), afford excellent food. ​
Bees, etc.
The native not seldom adds to his usual stock of food by robbing a bee-hive. When he sees bees busy near a tree, he can tell usually at once where the aperture leading to the hive is, and he proceeds to cut open the trunk with his tomahawk and take out the honey. Sometimes large quantities of comb are taken from a hive. I have myself assisted in opening a hollow tree in which a hive had secreted its stores, and the quantity of honey that was found in it was surprising. It was peculiarly flavored, but not at all inferior to the honey of Europe.
Occasionally in the bush the hunter in olden times would see a single busy bee feeding on the flowers near his track. He would adroitly catch this bee and affix to it a particle of down, and follow it until he found its nest.
In the narrative of the overland expedition of the Messrs. Jardine from Rockhampton to Cape York (1867) the following account is given of the native bee:—
"This little insect (called Wirotheree in the Wellington dialect), the invasion of whose hoards so frequently added to the store of the travellers, and no doubt assisted largely in maintaining their health, is very different from the European bee, being in size and appearance like the common house-fly. It deposits its honey in trees and logs, without any regular comb, as in the case of the former. These deposits are familiarly known in the colony as 'sugar-bags' (sugar-bag meaning, aboriginicè, anything sweet), and require some experience and proficiency to detect and secure the aperture by which the bees enter the trees, being undistinguishable to an unpractised eye. The quantity of honey is sometimes very large, amounting to several quarts. Enough was found on one occasion to more than satisfy the whole party. Its flavor differs from that of European honey almost as much as the bee does in appearance, being more aromatic than the latter: it is also less crystalline. As the celebrated 'Narbonne honey' derives its excellence from the bees feeding on the wild thyme of the south of France, so does the Australian honey derive its superior flavor from the aromatic flowers and shrubs on which the Wirotheree feeds, and which makes it preferred by many to the European."
Mr. Braim says that in New South Wales wild honey is collected by a small stingless bee, not so large as the common fly; and that the honey-nest is generally found at the summit of remarkably high trees. The honey is of delicious flavor, after it has been carefully separated from the comb, the cells of which are generally filled with small flies. The natives, however, devour it just as they find it, and are very fond even of the refuse comb, with which they make their favorite beverage called Bull, and of this they drink till they become quite intoxicated.
Professor McCoy informs me that the only bee in Victoria that makes a honey-comb is the imported one (Apis mellifica). It is more than thirty years since it was first introduced. The honey-comb is always stored in the hollows of trees.
​The natives are very fond of the pupæ of ants. They gather them and place them in a tarnuk; they are then mixed with the dry bark of the "stringy-bark" tree, which they tear off the tree and rub in their hands until it is powdery. When this is thoroughly mixed with the so-called ants' eggs, they take up some in their hands and blow away the loose stuff, and finally get clean eggs to eat. They say they are very good, the taste being something like that of a mixture of butter and sugar.
Mr. Wilhelmi mentions the trough of bark used by the blacks of South Australia for holding the pupæ of the ants. The trough is called Yuta; it is about four feet in length and eight inches in breadth. The natives open the ant-hills, and the pupæ are placed in this trough, which is shaken and so manipulated as to retain the pupæ and to throw off the dirt and refuse. The season of the ants is in September and October, and during these months the yuta is always seen in the hands of the natives.
A kangaroo skin, or indeed anything at hand that will hold the contents of the ants' nest, is used for shaking and clearing the pupæ of dust, &c., when the tarnuk or the yuta is not to be had.
The pupæ of the common ant (Formica consobrina) are of the size of grains of rice; those of the black and red bull-dog ants (Myrmicia pyriformis and M. sanguinea) are three-quarters of an inch in length.
Several kinds of grubs are eaten, namely, those taken from the honeysuckle (Tharathun krang), those taken from the wattle (Martthem krang), and those from the white-gum (Ballook krang).
All the grubs, says Mr. Bulmer, are named from the trees from which they are taken. Some natives prefer to eat the grubs raw; others cook them by placing them for a short time in the hot ashes of a fire.
The common grubs in Victoria are the Zeuzera citurata and Endoxyla eucalypti (found in the wattle), and Endoxyla n. sp. (found in the gum-trees).
The moths—the Bugong moths—(Agrotus suffusa) are greedily devoured by the natives; and in former times, when they were in season, they assembled in great numbers to eat them, and they grew fat on this food.
​The natives also eat earth-worms—and probably the Lumbricus was most often taken. Whether the large earth-worm of Brandy Creek and south-western Gippsland, the Megascolex Australis (McCoy), was ever used as food, is not known to me. This worm is about four feet in length and thick in proportion, and, if it can be eaten, must afford readily the means of satisfying the cravings of hunger, if not of the appeasing of the appetite. It has a peculiar smell, like tar.
In addition to all these, the blacks have for food the eggs of birds and reptiles; and indeed there is scarcely any living thing to be found in the earth, in the forests, on the plains, in the sea, or in the lakes, streams, or ponds, that they did not occasionally eat.
The eggs are named thus in Gippsland—those of the emu, Booyanga Miowera; those of the swan, Booyanga Gidi; those of the duck, Booyanga Wreng; those of the iguana, Booyanga Bathalook; and those of the turtle, Booyanga Ngerta. Eggs are never eaten raw. They are always cooked in the ashes until hard, and they are eaten in all stages of incubation.
Vegetable Food.
Some account of the kinds of tubers, bulbs, roots, leaves, and fruits which, before the advent of the whites, constituted the vegetable food of the natives must necessarily be given. Though there was no lack of edible roots and tubers in Victoria, the natives were not able to derive from their lands such great quantities of excellent products as are yielded by the Bunya-bunya (Araucaria Bidwilli); the Mondo and Mondoleu (species of capparis); the Parpa (Ficus); the Tagon-tagon (mangrove—Avicennia tomentosa); and the rich farinaceous and other food obtained by the pounding, maceration, and desiccation of various nuts, seeds, and tubers of the many indigenous plants—including the palms and zamias—which are found so abundantly in the northern parts of Australia. Neither did the natives of the southern part of the island-continent resort even to rude methods of cultivation; nor had they the knowledge to treat seeds or roots, in their natural state poisonous, in such a manner as to derive from them the tapioca-like fecula and mucilaginous pastes that afford nourishment to the people in the north.
​Inhabiting a colder climate, our natives had to depend rather on the general abundance of some of the varieties of the vegetable food yielded by their soils than on the number, richness, and great yield of such trees as give spontaneously almost unlimited supplies of fruit in certain seasons of the year. They had, however, like the natives of the northern parts, a complete knowledge of every plant that grows; and were well able to seize the advantage when, during any season, or under favorable circumstances of soil or aspect, a particular root or tuber was in abundance.
They seem to have been unacquainted, generally, with the use, as a food, of the clover-fern, Nardoo, though the natives of the north-western parts of Victoria must have had intercourse with the tribes who use it, and could have obtained it, sparingly, from the lagoons in their own neighbourhood.
The people of the Lower Murray had, however, in use the appliances for pounding roots and grinding seeds; and the round and flat stones are sometimes now found on and in the vicinity of old Mirrn-yong heaps.
Murr-nong or Mirr-n'yong, a kind of yam (Microseris Forsteri), was usually very plentiful and easily found in the spring and early summer, and was dug out of the earth by the women and children. It may be seen growing on the banks of the Moonee Ponds, near Melbourne. The root is small, in taste rather sweet, not unpleasant, and perhaps more like a radish than a potato. This plant grows throughout the greater part of extra-tropical Australia—and in Tasmania and New Zealand; and it has been traced up to the summit of our Alps. At 6,000 feet, in alpine pastures, it assumes much larger dimensions than in the lowlands, and the roots are quite suitable for food. Indeed, the plant is one which might be cultivated for food in cold countries. It is allied to the Spanish scorzonera, a well-known culinary vegetable.
Mr. Turner tells me that the cockatoo feeds almost exclusively on this tuber when the plant is in flower.
Buckley mentions the Mirr-n'yong, which appears to have been commonly eaten by the natives when he was living with them.
In addition to the fruits of the quandang, native currant, native raspberry, and native cherry, they had also in great quantities, in many parts, the fruits of the mesembryanthemum, and the mucilaginous seed of the native flax.
The native truffle (Mylitta Australis), a subterranean fungus, was much sought after by the natives. When cut, it is in appearance somewhat like unbaked brown bread. I have seen large pieces weighing several pounds, and in some localities occasionally a fungus weighing fifty pounds is found.
The heart of the fern-tree, the spike of the grass-tree, sweet flowers of several kinds, leaves of a kind of nasturtium, and the sow-thistle, were commonly eaten; and the gums exuded by the wattles and a pittosporum were also used as food.
​The Rev. Mr. Bulmer, in reply to my enquiries, has furnished me with a list of the vegetables commonly eaten by the natives of Gippsland. They are as follows:—
| Common Name. | Native Name. | How Eaten. |
| Sow-thistle | Thalaak | Always eaten raw. |
| Mesembryanthemum (pig-face) | Katwort | Fruit eaten raw. |
| Flag | Toorook | The root sometimes roasted, and also eaten raw. |
| Water-grass | Loombrak | The root roasted in ashes: never eaten raw. |
| Male fern (common fern) | Geewan | Root roasted in the ashes. |
| Tree-fern | Kakowera | The pith roasted in the ashes. |
| Dwarf tree-fern | Karaak | The pith roasted in the ashes. |
| Native cherry | Ballat | The fruit, when ripe, eaten raw. |
| White currant | Yellitbowng | Always eaten raw. |
| Black currant | Lira | Fruit eaten when ripe. |
| Large black currant | Wandha-wan | Fruit eaten when ripe. |
| Kangaroo apple | Koonyang | Fruit eaten when ripe. |
From Mr. Hogan, of Lake Condah, I have received also, in reply to enquiries, the native names of the vegetables formerly gathered for food by the Aborigines of the Western district. The list is as follows:—
| Common Name. | Native Name. | How Eaten. |
| Fern | Mukine | Roasted. |
| Rush | Purtich | Roasted. |
| Yam | Yerat or Murr-nong | Roasted. |
| Mushroom | Pekurn | Roasted. |
| Grass (a kind of) | Tarook | Roasted. |
| Thistle | Tallerk | Eaten raw. |
| Kangaroo apple | Meakitch | Eaten raw. |
| Native cherry | Pallert | Eaten raw. |
| Wild raspberry | Boring-koot | Eaten raw. |
| Grass-tree | Karwin | (not stated— |
| pieces cut out of the head of the stem, just below where the leaves spring, are very good and refreshing on a hot day, and when roasted properly are excellent). |||
The natives used also to compound liquors—perhaps after a slight fermentation to some extent intoxicating—from various flowers, from honey, from gums, and from a kind of manna. The liquor was usually prepared in the large wooden bowls (tarnuks) which were to be seen at every encampment. In the flowers of a dwarf species of Banksia (B. ornata) there is a good deal of honey, and this was got out of the flowers by immersing them in water. The water thus sweetened was greedily swallowed by the natives. This drink was named Beal by the natives of the west of Victoria, and was much esteemed.
​"The only sweets," says Mr. Taplin, "which the Narrinyeri knew of before the advent of Europeans were the honey of the native honeysuckle or Banksia; the honey of the grass-tree flowers (Xanthorrhœa), and the manna which falls from the peppermint-gum tree (Eucalyptus). These they used to gather carefully, and infuse them in water, and drink the infusion with great enjoyment."
Little is generally known of the manna of Australia. It was, however, at one time an important article of food; and in the western part of Victoria the natives gather it in pretty large quantities still.
In summer the Aborigines of the Mallee country eat Lárap, Lárp, or Lerp—a kind of manna. It somewhat resembles in appearance small shells; it is sweet, and in color white or yellowish-white. It is gathered in December, January, February, and March. It is a nutritious food, and is eaten with various kinds of animal food. "This saccharine substance," says Baron von Mueller, C.M.G., in a letter to me, "is obtained from one, or perhaps from several, species of Eucalyptus of the Murray and Darling districts. It is not a real manna, but is known as lerp, a name given to it by the Aborigines." Dr. Thomas Dobson, of Hobart Town, many years ago referred the insect from which the lerp emanates to the genus Psylla as Ps. eucalypti. Lerp is very different from the so-called manna, which is gathered from the large Eucalyptus viminalis occurring near Melbourne and elsewhere. [For the geographic range of E. vim. see 3rd vol. of Flora Australiensis.] The latter (the manna of the E. viminalis) emanates from a cicadeous insect—seemingly a true species of cicada—and the substance is amorphous; while the lerp-sugar is of a crystalline and shell-like structure. Dr. Thomas Anderson, of Edinburgh, was the first to make known to scientific men the character and properties of lerp, and this was in 1849. Baron von Mueller states, further, that until the insect which produces lerp is collected in all its stages, and examined, together with the flowering and fruiting branches of the Eucalyptus on which the insect feeds, it will be impossible to give such an account of it as will be satisfactory, and that there may be more than one species of bush which furnishes lerp.
Baron von Mueller adds that the so-called manna is perhaps in some localities a saccharine exudation of the bark of Myoporum platycarpum.
The following account of two kinds of manna found in Victoria is given by the jurors in the records of the Victorian Exhibition of 1861:—"Two varieties of a substance called manna are among the natural products in the Exhibition. One kind is ordinarily found in the form of irregular little rounded masses, of an opaque white color, and having a pleasant sweetish taste. In the early mouths of summer it is most abundaut, being secreted by the leaves and slender twigs of the E. viminalis from punctures or injuries done to these parts of the tree. The little masses often present an aperture at one end, showing the attachment of the small twig from which the manna has been secreted in a liquid form—at first transparent, and of the consistence of thin honey—and then, becoming solid, drops off in the condition that has been mentioned. It consists principally of a kind of grape-sugar, and about five per cent. of the substance called Mannite."
​Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla family, and obtains the name of lerp among the Aborigines of the northern districts of the colony. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant on the leaves of the E. dumosa, or Mallee scrub, and these are occasionally whitened over with the profusion of this material, so that the shrubby vegetation has the appearance of being iced. It is found in masses of aggregated cones, each covered with a filamentous material like wool, and has a color varying from an opaque white to a dull yellow. Beneath the little dome, or shield, which presents on the concave a somewhat reticulated character, the pupa remains until ready for its further development, when it escapes by forcing its passage through the apex of the cone. The woolly material alluded to is composed of solid filaments, more or less striated transversely, and in some instances distinctly corrugated or beaded. They give a faint series of colors by polarized light, and when submitted to the action of iodine, immediately become intensely blue. These varieties of manna are of no medicinal value; and, apart from their consideration as objects of natural interest and curiosity, have obtained but little notice."
Large quantities of this bush-sugar can be collected with ease, in the proper season, in the north-western parts of the colony, as well as in some localities in the east; and it furnished formerly, during the summer months, a portion of the food of the natives.
Lieut.-Col. Mundy gathered it near Bathurst, in New South Wales. He says:—"It sounds strange to English ears—a party of ladies and gentlemen strolling out in a summer's afternoon to gather manna in the wilderness; yet more than once I was so employed in Australia. The substance is found in small pieces, on the ground under the trees, at certain seasons, or in hardened drops on the surface of the leaves. It is snowy white when fresh, but turns brown when kept, like the chemists' drug so called; is sweeter than the sweetest sugar, and softer than Gunter's softest ice-cream. The manna is seldom plentiful; for birds, beasts, and human beings devour it, and the slightest rain or even dew dissolves its delicate compounds. . . . . . . Hundreds of quails were to be found within a few paces of the manna-fields."
Manna as it is found in Tasmania is mentioned also by Lieut. Breton.
At my request, and, I know, under unusual difficulties, the Government Botanist has hurriedly prepared the following list of vegetables commonly eaten by the natives of Victoria. Though it makes no claim to completeness, it adds materially to our knowledge of the food-resources of the Aborigines, and it will be studied with great interest in all parts of Australia. The list is as follows:—
"1. Tubers of numerous terrestrial orchids belonging to the genera Dipodium, Gastrodia, Thelymitra, Diuris, Prasophyllum, Microtis, Pterostylis, Lyperanthus, Cyrtostylis, Caladenia, and Glossodia.
​2. Roots of various liliaceous small plants, for instance, of Arthropodium paniculatum, A. strictum, Cæsia vittata, Bulbine bulbosa, Anguillaria Australis, Burchardia umbellata, Thrysanotus tuberosus, T. Patersoni. I am not certain whether these were used by the Aborigines always in a raw state.
3. Tuberous roots of Geranium dissectum, var. pilosum; also of Scirpus maritimus, Microseris Forsteri, of two bulrushes (Typha Muelleri and T. Brownii), of Triglochin procerum.
4. Young shoots, bases of leaves, and young flower-stalk and spike of the grass-tree (Xanthorrhœa Australis).
5. Fruits of Solanum vescum (the Gunyang of our natives); fruits of many Epacrideæ (although always small), of the genus Styphelia and its allies; also of Kunzea pomifera.
6. Fruits of two kinds of raspberry (Rubus parvifolius and the rarer R. rosifolius); also of Eugenia Smithii and of several species of Persoonia.
7. Seeds of the native millets (species of Panicum), particularly P. decompositum.
8. Leaves of the Nasturtium terrestre, and several species of Cardamine and Lepidium, for cress.
9. Fruits of Mesembryanthemum æquilaterale (so-called ' pig-face '), raw, also the leaves baked.
10. The mucilaginous seed of the native flax (Linum marginale).
11. Leaves of the clover-sorrel (Oxalis corniculata).
12. Gum of the wattle-acacias (Acacia decurrens, A. pycnantha); also of several other species of this genus; also of Pittosporum phillyroides.
13. Berries of the native elders (Sambucus Gaudichaudiana and S. xanthocarpa); also of Rhagodias.
14. Honey-like secretion from the flowers of Banksias, or so-called native honeysuckles (Banksia marginata, B. integrifolia, B. serrata, B. Cunninghami).
15. Fruit basis of the so-called native cherry-trees (Exocarpus cupressiformis, E. stricta, E. aphylla); also fruits of the allied genus Leptomeria.
16. The quandang, fruit of Santalum Preissianum; also the desert Nitraria.
17. The sweet flowers of several species of Xerotes, and the milky unripe fruit of Marsdenia Leichhardti.
18. The young top shoots of the cabbage-palm (Livistonia Australis); but the value of this esculent was not known to the natives in their uncivilized state.
19. The large native truffle (Mylitta Australis).
20. The seeds of the Portulaca oleracea (the Purslane). These can be gathered by a blackfellow to the extent of many pounds weight in a day; and they can be baked into nutritious cakes, infinitely superior to cakes made of nardoo flour. The plant is pulled up, the sand and earth shaken off, and it is then placed on bark or on kangaroo skins. Soon the lid-like upper parts of the seed-vessel spring off by contraction whilst drying, the numerous though ​small seeds drop out, and they furnish, on account of their starchy albumen, a very wholesome food. The tubers of Portulaca napiformis (Mueller), of wide distribution in tropical Australia, are also used by the natives for food."
The natives are industrious in gathering the ripe seeds of plants in the whole of the large area drained by the River Murray. In some parts, as on the Paroo, the women may be seen in troops returning to their miams with the produce of the day's labor. Each has a little wooden shoe-shaped vessel on her head, full of seeds, and one woman follows another—Indian file. Their dark, perfectly naked figures; their graceful attitudes as they change their steps and gait to preserve the equipoise of the load they bear on their heads; the merry tones of their voices as they exchange gossip by the way; the character of the country, flat, and but scantily covered with vegetation in many places—all in strict harmony with the rather savage aspect of the procession; the warm tints in the sky, and the spears of yellow light gilding every object on which they fall—form altogether a novel and not unpleasing spectacle to the stranger. When the women reach their homes, they proceed to grind the seeds of the nardoo and grass between two stones. The larger flat stone, about eighteen inches in length, one foot in breadth, and about two inches in thickness, is called Yelta on the Darling; and the smaller, held in the hand—the other larger stone resting on the ground—is about six inches in length, five inches in breadth, and one inch or more in thickness. The latter is named Nay-ka. The stones used for grinding in nearly all parts of the Darling are Silurian sandstones, and when the seeds are ground up and made into paste, the natives necessarily swallow a quantity of sand with each morsel. Water is added as they grind the seeds, and they scoop up the paste with the forefinger. In some places the paste is baked into cakes.
Dr. Gummow states that the fruits of the nardoo were used by the natives of the Lower Murray in Victoria; and the seeds of grasses, no doubt, were likewise ground up and eaten.
Dr. Gummow mentions also, as vegetable food eaten by the people of the Lower Murray in Victoria, the sow-thistle, used as a kind of salad, the gum of the acacias, and manna. "The roots of the Compungya," he says in his letter to me, "are in appearance like sticks of celery, and when baked much resemble the potato, from the quantity of starch contained in them."
Mr. Cairns, writing of the food of the natives of the same district, says that, according to information afforded him by Mr. P. Beveridge, the "kumpung springs up from the root, through the water, about the end of August, or as soon as the weather becomes slightly warm. When about a foot in length above the water, the natives pull it up and eat it for food in an uncooked state. In flavor ​it is very insipid, but extremely satisfying, and in this state is termed by the natives Joutey. It is full grown or nearly so by the time the waters recede, and remains green until the frosts come round, when it becomes quite brown, and, if not destroyed by fire, continues so until the young shoots spring up the following season; and so it goes on from year to year, until it becomes so thick as to be impervious to the sun, thus rendering the ground quite swampy and impassable for stock. In the summer the natives dig up the roots, which they either roast or boil [?], and after masticating them, and obtaining all the starch therefrom, they retain the stringy, fibrous parts in lumps, which the lubras carry about with them in their nets or bags, like careful housewives, until such be required for making strings or threads, which they afterwards net into bags, girdles, and other useful articles."
Baron von Mueller, it is said in the paper from which I have quoted, has examined this particular kind of Australian bulrush, and has found it to be closely allied to a species found in Switzerland—the Typha Shuttleworthi.
Berries of several kinds were gathered by the natives of Victoria; and on the coast at Port Lincoln, in South Australia, the plant known there as karambi (Nitraria Billardierii) affords large quantities of a pleasant cool fruit. It is found on the western coast of Spencer's Gulf, growing on high sandhills; and, when the weather is hot, the natives lie at full length under a bush, and do not leave it until they have stripped it of its berries. The fruit is in form and size like an olive, and is of a dark-red color.
In North-Western Australia the blacks prepare and eat the By-yu, the pulp of the nut of a cycas, which in its raw state is poisonous. It is mentioned by Capt. Cook, and well described by Grey:—"The native women collect the nuts from the palms in the month of March, and having placed them in some shallow pool of water, they leave them to soak for several days. When they have ascertained that the by-yu has been immersed in water for a sufficient time, they dig, in a dry sandy place, holes which they call mor-dak; these holes are about the depth that a person's arms can reach, and one foot in diameter; they line them with rushes, and fill them up with the nuts, over which they sprinkle a little sand, and then cover the holes nicely over with the tops of the grass-tree; in about a fortnight the pulp which encases the nut becomes quite dry, and it is then fit to eat; but, if eaten before that, it produces the effects already described [acting as a most violent emetic and cathartic]. The natives eat this pulp both raw and roasted; in the latter state they taste quite as well as a chestnut."
This method of treating the nut has been carried undoubtedly from the north-east to the north-west.
Nardoo (Marsilea quadrifolia), previously referred to, the fruits of which form much of the vegetable food of the natives of the Cooper's Creek district, is extensively distributed, and owing to the different characters it presents—due to the season when it is gathered, the greater or less moisture in the soil in which ​it grows, and the temperature and humidity of the air—a great number of varieties have been collected and named by botanists; but the Government Botanist, who has examined all the Australian Marsileæ that have been named, is of opinion that they are referable to one species, the typical Linnæan Marsilea quadrifolia. "The nutritive properties of the Marsilea fruit," says Baron von Mueller, "are evidently very scanty. It seems to contain but slight traces of protein combinations, and but little starch, its nourishing property resting mainly on a mucilage, pertaining to a certain extent of that of the seed-testa of flax, cress, quince, zygophyllum," &c.
Mr. Gason very accurately describes the nardoo:—"A very hard fruit, a flat oval, of about the size of a split pea; it is crushed or pounded, and the husk winnowed. In bad seasons this is the mainstay of the natives' sustenance; but it is the worst food possible, possessing very little nourishment and being difficult to digest."
Mr. Howitt describes it in his notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek.
In the swampy tracts near the lower part of Cooper's Creek, as likewise to a less extent in other low swampy lands, liable to periodic inundations, this fern grows gregariously, and when the floods abate the fruits are well formed and very abundant.
The melancholy incidents attached to the fate of Burke and Wills, who, on returning to Cooper's Creek, vainly sought the means of sustaining life by eating the nardoo flour, will never be forgotten by Australians. Wills and King—when the small party was reduced to extremity—used to collect daily a bag of nardoo seed, and carry it to the camp, where Burke employed himself in pounding it. Wills, in his journal, says—"I cannot understand this nardoo at all; it certainly will not agree with me in any form. We are now reduced to it alone, and we manage to get from four to five pounds per day between us. . . . . . It seems to give us no nutriment. . . . . . . Starvation on nardoo is by no means very unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels, and the utter inability to move oneself, for, as far as appetite is concerned, it gives me the greatest satisfaction. Certainly fat and sugar would be more to one's taste; in fact those seem to me to be the greatest stand-by for one in this extraordinary continent; not that I mean to depreciate the farinaceous food; but the want of sugar and fat in all substances obtainable here is so great that they become almost valueless to us as articles of food without the addition of something else."
The natives appear to subsist largely on nardoo and fish in this part of the continent, but they have in addition many roots and plants.
Mr. Cobham informs me that the blacks are in the habit of going to the swamps early in the morning, for the purpose of collecting the fruits of the nardoo. They take the fruits home in bags, and roast them in the ashes of their fires. When roasted, they are put into a shallow wooden vessel, made by ​hollowing out the elbow of a tree, and the ashes are blown away by the breath; they are then pounded on a stone, and again placed in the wooden vessel, shaken, and the husks blown away, until only the flour remains, which is mixed with water, and made into rolls about eighteen inches in length. These rolls are baked and eaten.
As this plant is of great interest, I give a figure and a description of it from Sir William Hooker's work (Fig. 19), placed at my disposal by the Government Botanist.
* FIG. 19.
"The caudex creeps for some length, and is scarcely so thick as a crow's quill, rooting, branched, and knotty; the knots are densely woolly with ferruginous hair, and seem to be the rudiments of a new cluster of fronds. Fronds or leaves from the apex of a woolly knot or branch, two to four from one point. Petioles from four inches to a span long, erect, flexuose, slender, silky, bearing at the point four spreading broadly cuneate leaflets, finely and radiately veined, the veins here and there anastomosing, villous with dense silky hairs, especially beneath; the hairs often deciduous above, and occasionally beneath, subulate, articulated, tawny. From the very base, among the cluster of petioles, arise one or two erect peduncles, about two inches long, in other respects resembling the petioles; these are terminated each by an obliquely erect, ovate, compressed capsule, transversely striated, with a gibbosity on one side at the base, densely clothed with imbricating, subulate, jointed hairs."
"Fig. 1, Leaflet; fig. 2, Capsule; fig. 3, The same cut through transversely; fig. 4, Hairs from the Capsule—all more or less magnified."
[The figure is reduced one-half in the engraving here given from Sir William Hooker's lithograph.]
In New South Wales the natives have, amongst many other fruits, the Geebung, a native plum, and the "five corners."
The Nonda (Parinarium Nonda—F. v. Mueller) of Northern Queensland, bears a fruit in size and appearance resembling a yellow egg-plum, and in taste like a mealy potato, with, however, a trace of that astringency so common to Australian fruits. It is much eaten by the natives. ​
* FIG. 20.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all the fruits eaten by the natives is the Bunya-bunya. It is obtained from a Queensland pine (Araucaria Bidwilli), which appears to be restricted to a very limited area, and to bear a profusion of fruit only once in about three years. The only tree bearing fruit which I have seen had a bunch of cones near the top, and the stem and leaves being prickly, it was not easy to get at them. One was removed, which is figured here.—(Fig. 20.) The tree was growing in the garden of the late Mr. Hugh Glass, at Moonee Ponds. The length of the cone was six inches, and the diameter five inches and three-quarters; and it weighed shortly after it was pulled two pounds ten ounces. In the native forests much larger fruits are found. The engraving shows the fruit about one-third of the natural size.
When there is a profusion of fruit in the Bunya-bunya district "the supply is vastly larger than can be consumed by the tribes within whose territory the trees are found. Consequently, large numbers of strangers visit the district, some of them coming from very great distances, and all are welcome to consume as much as they desire, for there is enough and to spare, during the few weeks which the season lasts. The fruit is of a richly farinaceous kind, and the blacks quickly fatten upon it. But after a short indulgence in an exclusively vegetable diet, having previously been accustomed to live almost entirely upon animal food, they experience an irresistible longing for flesh. This desire they dare not indulge by killing any of the wild animals of the district—kangaroo, opossum, and bandicoot are alike sacred from their touch, because they are absolutely necessary for the existence of the friendly tribe whose hospitality they are partaking. In this condition, some of the stranger tribes resort to the horrible practice of cannibalism, and sacrifice one of their own number to provide the longed-for feast of flesh. It is not the disgusting cruelty, the frightful inhumanity, or the curious physiological question involved that is now under consideration; but the remarkable fact educed of an unhesitating obedience, under circumstances of extraordinary temptation, to laws arising out of the necessities of their existence; and the indirect proof afforded of the severe pressure upon the supply of food which, under ordinary circumstances, must have prevailed among the Aboriginal tribes. The strangers dared not, in their utmost longing, touch the wild animals, because they were absolutely necessary for the existence of the tribe to which the district belonged. They might eat their fill of the Bunya-bunya, because that was in profusion, and prescription had ​given them a right to it. Such a singular condition of things could never have arisen but in an old over-populated country, the laws of which had acquired that immutable character which is conferred only by immemorial custom."
There is evidence constantly cropping up in the narratives of travellers—evidence not always very clear—that there were areas in Australia common at certain periods, by prescriptive right, to strange tribes. To these the strangers would resort to procure what was there in profusion—it might be red-ochre, stones for tomahawks, fruits, or gums. Grey says that in one part of Western Australia, known to him—there may be, and probably are, many other localities—the acacia trees, growing in swampy plains, are literally loaded with a tragacynth-like gum (Kwon-nat), affording a sufficient supply of food to support a large assemblage of persons. These kwon-nat grounds are generally the spots at which the annual barter meetings of the natives are held; and during these, fun, frolic, and quarrelling of every description prevail.
Mr. Gideon S. Lang refers to this matter in his pamphlet, and states that "there is also the nurp, a sort of raspberry, which grows in large quantities over the sandhills on a run which I took up on the Glenelg. All the neighbouring tribes had the right to go there, and did so in large numbers when the fruit was in season. A hill in the interior of the Sydney district which produced a very hard stone, peculiarly suitable for the manufacture of stone tomahawks, was the subject of similar regulations; and so was a certain quarry of sandstone at St. Kilda, near Melbourne, which was peculiarly adapted for grinding down and sharpening the stone tomahawks."
That this much-despised people have, under certain circumstances, interests in common; that these should be respected, and that hostilities and deadly animosities during periods longer or shorter should be suspended or buried—suggest new views respecting their moral perceptions and the laws that govern their actions.
Amongst other savage races we find a community of property in places specially favored by the occurrence of rocks or clays or food which were a necessity or a luxury to tribes living far distant. Speaking of the Great Red Pipe Stone Quarry of the Coteau des Prairies, between the Minnesota and Missouri Rivers in the Far West, Catlin tells us "that this place should have been visited for centuries past by all the neighbouring tribes—who have hidden the war-club as they approached it, and stayed the cruelties of the scalping-knife, under the fear of the vengeance of the Great Spirit who overlooks it—will not seem strange or unnatural when their customs are known. That such has been the custom there is not a shadow of doubt, and that even so recently as to have been witnessed by hundreds and thousands of Indians of different tribes now living, and from many of whom I have personally drawn the information; and as additional and still more conclusive evidence, here are to be seen the totems and arms of the different tribes who have visited this place for ages past, deeply engraven on the quartz rocks."
​Mr. Hodgkinson says that, in consequence of the seeds of the cones of the Bunya-bunya being, during one season of the year, the principal support of large tribes of natives, the Governor had promulgated an order enjoining the Commissioner of Crown Lands at Moreton Bay to prevent persons from forming stations in those parts of the country in which these Australian fruit-trees grow.
This noble pine is, for the same reason, still protected by Government.
The Araucaria Bidwilli has a diameter of from thirty inches to forty inches, and its height is from one hundred to two hundred and twenty feet. The chief forest is in latitude 27° S., where it grows over an area of three hundred and sixty square miles. The wood is strong and good, easily worked, and shows beautiful veins when polished.
Any account of the vegetable products habitually used by the natives of Victoria would be incomplete if reference were not made to the water-yielding roots, from which, in arid parts of the country, the Aborigines derive, without much trouble, supplies of water sufficient for all their wants. Stanbridge says that the hunter, in places far removed from permanent water, has to draw his supply of that element from the roots of the swamp-box and weir-mallee, which run a few inches below the surface of the earth. Sometimes five pints of water, which is very good, are taken from one root.
The late Dr. Gummow states, in a letter to me, dated the 9th April 1872, that it frequently happens to the natives, when out in the Mallee country, that the water-holes, from which they had counted on obtaining a supply of water, have dried up; but they are never, therefore, at a loss. They select in the small broken plains some Mallee trees, which are generally found surrounding them. The right kiud of trees can always be recognised by the comparative density of their foliage. A circle a few inches deep is dug with a tomahawk around the base of the tree; the roots, which run horizontally, are soon discovered. They are divided from the tree and torn up, many of them being several feet in length. They are then cut into pieces, each about nine inches long, and placed on end in a receiver; and beautifully good, clear, well-tasted water is obtained, to the amount of a quart or more, in half an hour. This method of procuring water is not confined to the Mallee only. The roots of several other trees yield water. A knowledge of this means of getting water, and of the trees which yield it, says Dr. Gummow, would have saved the lives of very many white men, whose bleached skeletons, lying on the arid plains, alone testify to their once having existed.
"During a recent visit to the Murray," says Mr. Cairns, "where I had often heard of this useful shrub [Weir-Malleè], my friend, Mr. Peter Beveridge, rode with me into the Malleè, accompanied by one of his native stockmen; who, on our approaching the edge of one of the plains, at once pointed out the tree. It grows upwards of twenty feet high, and scarcely differs in appearance from those ​around, to the eye of a stranger, but easily to be detected on the brownish tinge of its leaves being pointed out. Our black immediately proceeded to cut a yam-stick, about five or six feet long, which he pointed with his tomahawk, and then, tracing the roots by a slight crack discernible on the surface of the ground, he dug underneath it, till, obtaining space enough for the point of his stick, he pushed it under and then prized up the root as far as he could. Going further from the tree, he repeated the operation until he had perhaps fifteen or twenty feet of the root laid bare. He now broke up the roots into lengths of three to four feet, and, stripping off the bark from the lower end of each piece, he reared them against the tree, leaving their liquid contents to drop into a pannikin. On holding a piece of root horizontally, no water is to be seen, but the moment it is placed in an upright position a moisture comes over the peeled part, until the pores fill with water, which drops rapidly. The natives, when travelling in search of water, on finding the tree, usually cut off a large piece of the bark to serve as a dish, which they place at the foot of the tree, leaving the broken roots to drain into it, whilst they smoke a pipe or light a fire. The root, on being broken, presents to view innumerable minute pores, through which the water exudes most copiously; from a pint to a quart of pure water being procurable from a root of twenty to thirty feet long. . . . . . . Many explorers have been much surprised to find natives existing where there was apparently no water to be found, either in roots or otherwise; but their surprise has been changed into admiration at another wonderful provision of Nature, in the Murn—so called by the natives, but Malleè-oak by the whites. This tree is very like the She-oak, but with bark less rough and more silvery in color. The wood is very hard, like lance-wood, and capable of taking a fine polish. When the trunk attains a diameter of about six inches, it becomes pipy, thus forming a natural reservoir, in which the rains of the wet season are collected; the branches of the tree, which join at the top of the stem, acting as conducting-pipes. The narrow aperture prevents much evaporation, and the natives know how to obtain water here, where an inexperienced traveller would never dream of searching for it. To procure this water, the native ties a bunch of grass to the end of his spear, and then climbing the tree, dips his primitive piston-rod—if I may so call it—into this singular well. Drawing it up again, he squeezes the water from the grass into his bark dish, and thus proceeds until he obtains sufficient for his present requirements."
The native boys who accompanied Eyre in one of his journeys procured water from the roots of trees exactly in the manner described by Mr. Cairns.
Sir Thomas Mitchell makes mention of water-yielding trees. On or near the Bogan he found the natives digging up roots for the sake of drinking the sap. They first cut the roots into billets and then stripped off the bark (sometimes chewing it), and, holding one end of the billet upright in the mouth, the juice dropped into it. He found the natives everywhere skilful in getting water. In one place where he encamped with his party the water was hot and muddy; ​but the blacks knew well how to obtain a clean and cool draught. They scratched a hole in the sand beside the pool, thus making a filter, in which the water rose cool but muddy. They next threw into the hole some tufts of long grass, through which they sucked the cooler water, freed in this manner from sand or gravel.
Stokes refers to the ingenuity and great fertility of resources of the natives in all situations, and particularly when journeying in apparently waterless tracts. They were never at a loss. Besides procuring water from the roots of trees, they collected also the dew from the leaves of shrubs.
The Bottle-tree of Northern Australia furnishes a refreshing beverage. Binkey (Brachychiton Delabeehei) is generally found in stony scrub land, and is remarkable on account of its enlarged trunk, similar in shape to a lemonade bottle. The natives cut holes in the soft trunk, where the water lodges and rots the trunk to its centre. These trunks are so many artificial reservoirs of water. When a tree has been cut, its resources are not exhausted. The tired hunter, when he sees a tree that has been tapped, cuts a hole somewhat lower than the old cuts, and obtains an abundant supply of the sweet mucilaginous substance afforded by this plant.
One of the myths of the natives, referred to in another part of this work, would lead one to suppose that they were not unacquainted with the fact that the bladder of the frog acts as a reservoir for water—like the pericardium and bladder of the large tortoise of the Galapagos Archipelago—and they may have occasionally killed these reptiles, as well for water as for food.
I cannot learn whether or not the natives of Victoria used any plants as narcotics or sedatives, or whether any herb or shrub in the colony was chewed or eaten as a nepenthetic; but in the Cooper's Creek district the blacks chew Pitcherie, which is believed to be a narcotic, and the men are very fond of it. As preserved in their bags, it presents the appearance of small dried twigs, and is said to be procured from a narrow-leaved shrub growing in the country to the north-west of Cooper's Creek.
​Pitcherie is described in Mr. Alfred Howitt's notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek.—(See Appendix.)
The Messrs. Jardine state that all the people of the north are much addicted to smoking. They now use tobacco when they can get it, but, before it was procurable, they smoked the leaves of a large, spreading tree—a species of Eugenia. These leaves, the Messrs. Jardine think, must possess some narcotic property. They smoke to such an extent as to become insensible. The pipe used is a piece of hollow bamboo, about two feet and a half in length, and as thick as a quart bottle. One of the smoking party fills this with smoke from a funnel-shaped bowl, in which the leaf or tobacco is placed, by blowing through a hole at one end of the tube. When the bamboo is filled, it is handed to one of the men, who inhales and swallows as much of the smoke as he can, passing the pipe on to his neighbour. These travellers have seen a smoker so much affected by one dose as to lie helpless for some minutes afterwards.
Macgillivray gives a very similar description of the mode of smoking, as observed by him at Cape York, and the effects produced by inhalation.
The animal and vegetable food of the people of the Dieyerie tribe (Cooper's Creek) is, according to Mr. Samuel Gason, as follows:—
| Chookaroo | Kangaroo. |
| Kaunoonka | Bush wallaby. |
| Wurtarrie | Kangaroo rat. |
| Pildra | Opossum (of rare occurrence). |
| Capietha | Native rabbit. |
| Miaroo | Rat. |
| Poontha | Mouse. |
| Arutchie | Native ferret. |
| Cowirrie | Rat (species not known). |
| Thillamillarie | A species of ferret. |
| Pulyara | Long-snouted rat. |
| Koolchie | Species of rat. |
| Koonappoo | Species of mouse. |
| Kulkuna | Species of wallaby (very swift). |
| Kooraltha | Spotted ferret. ​ |
| Kulunda | White and black rat (similar to the house rat). |
| Tickawara | Native cat. |
| Kunnie | Jew lizard. |
| Kopirrie | Iguana. |
| Patharamooroo | Black iguana (very scarce). |
| Choopa | A slender lizard, about 3 inches long. |
| Kudieworoo | Red-backed lizard, about 3 inches long. |
| Wakurrie | Flat-headed lizard, about 3 inches long. |
| Moonkamoonkarilla | Small black lizard with short tail, generally found under the bark of trees. |
| Oolaumi | Lizard, transparent skin, spotted yellow and black, about 5 inches long. |
| Woma | Carpet snake, from 5 to 12 feet long, large body; its bite not venomous. |
| Thoona | Grey snake, generally about 5 feet long; venomous. |
| Wondaroo | Green and yellow snake, very thick body, about 5 feet long, quite harmless, and has a sleepy appearance. |
| Woonkoo | Light-brown and grey snake, from 4 to 7 feet long; venomous and very vicious. |
| Wirrawirrala | Large brown snake, with yellow belly, from 6 to 10 feet long; very venomous. |
| Wipparoo | Long thin snake, black, shaded with other dark colors, about 7 feet long; very venomous, its bite causing instant death; so the natives are very cautious in killing it. |
| Marrakilla | Large brown snake, about 7 feet long, has a large head; is very venomous and vicious. |
| Mithindie | White and yellow spotted snake, small thin body, about 3 feet long; harmless. |
| Koolielawirrawirra | Small yellow and black spotted snake, about 3 feet long; harmless. |
| Mulkunkoora | Black and green spotted snake, 5 feet long; venomous. |
| Thandandiewindiewindie | Small black snake, small mouth, about 5 feet inches; venomous. |
| Kurawulieyackayackuna | Flat-headed snake, green back, yellow spots on belly, about 4 feet long; venomous. |
| Kulathirrie | Frog. |
| Thidnamura | Toad. |
| Pinchiepinchiedara | Bat. |
| Curawura | Eagle hawk. |
| Kunienundruna | The largest hawk, excepting first-named. |
| Thirriethirrie | Small speckled hawk. |
| Thoaroopathandrunie | White hawk. ​ |
| Milkieworie | Large grey hawk. |
| Pittiekilkadie | Speckled hawk. |
| Kirrkie | Whistling hawk (very swift). |
| Kookoongka | Kite. |
| Windtha | Grey owl. |
| Wurchiewurchie | White owl. |
| Killawoloowolloorka | Dark-brown owl. |
| Moonyie | More-pork. |
| Woroocathie | Emu. |
| Kulathoora | Bustard. |
| Kudrungoo | White cockatoo. |
| Killunkilla | Red-breasted cockatoo. |
| Kooranyawillawilla | Cockatoo parrot. |
| Poolunka | Parrot. |
| Cathathara | Shell parrot. |
| Willaroo | Curlew. |
| Moodlubra | Pigeon. |
| Murnpie | Bronzewing pigeon. |
| Woparoo | Flock pigeon. |
| Koorookookoo | Dove. |
| Mulliepirrpaoonga | Quail. |
| Choonda | Red-breasted robin. |
| Thindriethindrie | Shepherd's companion (a species of wagtail). |
| Thiewillagie | Small species of lark. |
| Mulyamulyayapunie | Swallow. |
| Poothoopoothooka | Sparrow. |
| Kowulka | Crow. |
| Koorabaukoola | Magpie. |
| Booralkoo | Native companion (large species of crane). |
| Ooroo | Nankeen-colored crane. |
| Culiemulyandurie | Black and white crane. |
| Moolpa | White crane. |
| Chooiechooie | Snipe. |
| Dickadickulyerra | Species of snipe. |
| Mootoomootoo | Species of snipe. |
| Thanpathanpa | Slate-colored snipe. |
| Tharalkoo | Teal. |
| Thowla | Spoon-bill duck. |
| Kockadooroo | Mountain duck. |
| Chipala | Whistling duck. |
| Koodnapina | Brown duck, with red beak. |
| Thookabie | Diver. |
| Doolpadoolparoo | Black diver. |
| Kilkie | Water-hen. |
| Muroomuroo | Black water-hen. |
| Wathawirrie | Species of water-hen. ​ |
| Muloora | Cormorant. |
| Boorkoopiya | Long-beaked cormorant. |
| Kootie | Swan. |
| Thaumpara | Pelican. |
| Kirrpiyirrka | Gull. |
Fish and other fresh-water habitants are few and unimportant, being caught in the water-holes and lakelets, which can only be called creeks or rivers when the floods come down; the last of which occurred in 1864.
| Paroo | A small bony flat fish. |
| Multhoomulthoo | A fish weighing from 3 to 3½ lbs. |
| Moodlakoopa | A fish averaging 4 lbs. |
| Koorie | Mussel. |
| Kuniekoondie | Cray-fish. |
The vegetable food is various:–
| Yowa | Rather larger than a pea, found three inches deep in the ground. |
| Winkara | A very starchy root, about five inches long. |
| Munyaroo | A plant much eaten. |
| Kunaurra | The seed of the munyaroo, used when ground into meal between two stones. |
| Ardoo | Often described in newspapers and by writers as nardoo. [Referred to in another part of this work.] |
| Cobboboo | A nut found on the box-tree, on breaking which it discloses a grub; this is probably a gall. |
| Wodaroo | A thin long root, obtainable only where the soil is rich and covered with turf. This is one of the best vegetables the natives possess, sweet and mealy. |
| Coonchirrie | The seed from a species of acacia, ground and made into small loaves. |
| Patharapowa | The seed of the box-tree, ground and made into loaves. |
| Caulyoo | The seed of the prickly acacia, pounded and made into loaves. |
| Wodlaooroo | Very fine seed, taken from the silver-grass growing in the creeks. |
| Wirrathandra | Seed of an acacia. |
| Mulkathaudra | Seed of the mulga-tree. |
| Yoongundie | Black, fine seed, taken from a plant similar to clover. |
| Mootcha | Native cotton-bush. When the leaves sprout and become quite green, the natives gather and cook them, and at seed-time they pluck and eat the pods. ​ |
| Kuloomba | Indigenous clover; when young, cooked by the natives and eaten in large quantities. |
| Willapie | A small watery plant. |
| Yoolantie | The native fig. |
| Bookabooda | The native gooseberry. |
| Mundawora | The native blackberry. |
| Thoopara | The native pear. |
| Yegga | The native orange. |
Mr. Gason gives the native names and excellent descriptions of other animals and products, many of which will be referred to elsewhere.
There is scarcely any subject more worthy of engaging the attention of the man of science than the indigenous food-resources of a country; and every fact bearing on the various methods of treating the native roots, tubers, seeds, and pods, by those who can have had no enlightenment from civilized peoples, is also of singular interest, as showing how, by slow steps, a kind of knowledge of the nature of the changes that take place during maceration and desiccation must have begun to grow in the minds of the more able amongst the Aborigines. The keen observation of the Australian savage could not fail to be exercised when he was soaking a bulb in water, and he would know that the vegetable would undergo some change, but his untrained intellect would not enable him to reason on the results of the process.
I have already stated that by far the most important of the edible fruits of Australia are found in the northern parts of the continent; and as the fullest and clearest information respecting such of those as are eaten by the natives of Northern Queensland is given by Mr. A. Thozet, I think it right to quote his notes and catalogue. It will be observed that the native foods referred to in the catalogue were prepared under Mr. Thozet's superintendence for the Melbourne-Paris Exhibition.
NOTES ON SOME OF THE ROOTS, TUBERS, BULBS, AND FRUITS USED AS VEGETABLE FOOD BY THE ABORIGINALS OF NORTHERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.— (By A. Thozet.)
For the occasion of the forthcoming exhibition, specimens of the various native foods have been carefully prepared under the superintendence of the compiler of the following catalogue, who deems the present a good opportunity of drawing attention to them by a few remarks.
Our pioneer explorers and travellers, in passing through trackless paths previously untrodden by the foot of the white man, in their praiseworthy efforts in the cause of civilization, often die of hunger, although surrounded by abundance of natural vegetable food, in the very spot where the Aborigines easily find all the luxuries of their primitive method of life, and not a few, unacquainted with the preparation which several of the deleterious plants require, lose their lives in venturing to use them. These martyrs to progress ​in a new unsettled country like Northern Queensland should stimulate to further exertion those who either by taste or accident have become acquainted with the practical resources of our flora.
The vegetable foods here referred to have been divided into three categories:—
* Those used without any preparation.
* Those which require baking only.
* Those which, being poisonous, require to go through a process of maceration, pounding, and desiccation.
The first category includes roots and bulbs, which, like the native yam and water-lily, are very plentiful, and available at any time. The fruits, though more numerous, do not offer advantages equal to the others, as they mature only at certain seasons of the year.
The second category includes the root of a bean and the tubers of a rush, which are also plentiful, and easily obtainable.
The last category is the most important, as it furnishes an inexhaustible supply. These plants, with the exception of Entada scandens, besides being abundant, are of wide distribution over the northern part of this continent.
Should the publication of these particulars be instrumental in affording relief to the suffering, or in saving the lives of any lost in the trackless forests of the interior, the writer will feel amply rewarded.
WITHOUT ANY PREPARATION.
Roots or Tubers.
1. Hibiscus heterophyllus, Vent. Native sorrel. Aboriginal name, Batham.
Found on banks of rivers and creeks, occasionally on plains. A rather tall shrub, part of the stem and young branches covered with small prickles. Leaves entire or lobate. Flower white and pink or yellow, with purple centre. (Roots of young plants, young shoots, and leaves eatable.)
2. Sterculia trichosiphon, Benth. Platan-leaved bottle-tree. Ketey.
In scrub land. A tree of a beautiful pyramidal growth when young; becoming enlarged in the centre with old age. (Roots of young plants eatable.)
3. Sterculia rupestris, Benth. Bottle-tree. Binkey.
Generally found in stony scrub land, remarkable by its enlarged trunk, similar in shape to a lemonade bottle; some measure six to eight feet in diameter. (Roots of the young plants eatable.)
The natives refresh themselves with the mucilaginous sweet substance afforded by this tree, as well as make nets of its fibre. They cut holes in its soft trunk, where the water lodges and rots them to its centre, thus forming so many artificial reservoirs. On their hunting excursions afterwards, when thirsty, they tap them one or two feet below the old cuts and procure an abundant supply.
4. Cissus opaca, F. Muell. Round yam. Yaloone (large), Wappoo-wappoo (small).
Found principally in clayey soil. Small creepers. Leaflets usually three, four, or five, dark-green and smooth. Berries black and globular. Tubers very numerous, some weighing five to ten pounds. Eaten in hot weather like water-melons (the small and young are the best); they are, however, difficult to digest. Probably the yam alluded to by Leichhardt, in his Journal of an Overland Expedition, page 150. He says: "Both tubers and berries had the same pungent taste, but the former contained a watery juice, which was most welcome to our parched mouths."
​5. Dioscorea punctata, R. Br. Long yam. Kowar.
A small rough, twining creeper. Leaves heart-shaped and smooth. Flowers terminal. The cluster of the winged capsule look, to an unacquainted observer, like the flowers of the common hop. (Small young tubers eatable.)
6. Helocharis sphacelata, Rush. Kaya.
Lagoons, creeks, and ponds. Small, almost spherical tubers, six to twelve in each plant.
Stems, or Flower-stalks.
7. Nymphæa gigantea, Hook. Blue water-lily. Yako Kalor, Rockh. tribe; Kaooroo, Cleveland Bay tribe. Very abundant in all lagoons and ponds. (Flower-stalks of the unexpanded flowers, after being broken and deprived of their fibrous part, are eatable.)}}}}
8. Xanthorrhœa sp. Grass-tree. Kono.
Over ridges and mountain sides. (Small part of the extremities of the young shoots and the white tender base of leaves eatable.)
9. Livistonia Australis, F. Muell. Cabbage-tree palm. Konda.
Found in valleys and gorges seventy to 120 feet in height. (White part of the undeveloped leaves eatable.) "Several of my companions suffered by eating too much of the cabbage-palm."—Leichhardt's Overland Expedition, page 72.
Fruits.
10. Melodorum Leichhardtii, Benth., F. Muell. Merangara.
A small shrub, sometimes a strong tall creeper. Bark aromatic. Producing in the top of our scrub trees an oblong or almost round fruit, with one or two seeds.
11. Capparis Mitchelli, Lind. Wild pomegranate. Mondo.
In open plain. A small tree of a very crooked growth. Bark longitudinally fissurated. Trunk and branches covered with short prickles, the branches nearly always drooping. Flowers white. Fruit large oblong or spherical, two to three inches in diameter.
12. Capparis canescens, Banks. Native date. Mondoleu.
In scrub or open forest land. A creeper, ascending small shrubs or large trees, with stipulate hooked prickles. Leaves oblong. Flowers white. Fruit pyriform, half inch in diameter.
13. Capperis nobilis, F. Muell. Small native pomegranate. Rarum.
A small scrub tree, with stipulate prickles on the branches. Leaves oval oblong. Flowers white. Fruit globular, one to one and a half inch in diameter, with a small protuberance at the end.
14. Grewia polygama, Roxbh. Plain currant. Karoom, Rockh. tribe; Cleveland Bay tribe, Ouraie.
A small shrub, found amongst grass. Large, alternate, ovate serrated leaves. Berries brown and smooth, two or four in an axillary peduncle. Leichhardt speaks of this small plant in his journal, page 295:—"I found a great quantity of ripe Grewia seeds, and, on eating many of them it struck me that their slightly acidulated taste, if imparted to water, would make a very good drink. I therefore gathered as many as I could, and boiled them for about
an hour. The beverage which they produced was at all events the best which we had tasted on our expedition, and my companions were busy the whole afternoon in gathering and boiling the seeds." The same explorer states also, that à l'instance of the natives they obtained another good beverage by soaking the blossoms of the tea-tree (Melaleuca leucadendron), which were full of honey, in the water used for drinking.
15. Owenia cerasifera, F. Muell. Sweet plum. Rancooran.
A beautiful scrub tree with erect trunk and pinnate glossy leaves. Eatable part (sarcocarp) red.
16. Rhamnus vitiensis, Benth. Murtilam.
Scrub tree. Trunk and branches whitish. Leaves very smooth, shining, serrate, crenulate, and green on both sides. Berries, quarter inch diameter.
17. Zizyphus jujuba, Lam. Torres Straits jujube-tree.
The trunk and branches covered with prickles. Leaves ovate, rarely orbicular, green, smooth above, and white tomentose underneath. Fruit ovoid, yellow when ripe, half to three-quarter inch diameter.
18. Rubus rosæfolius, Sm. Native raspberry. Neram.
Found in creeks and valleys.
19. Terminalia oblongata, F. Muell. Yananoleu.
A large scrub or open forest tree, with branches spreading almost horizontally. Spikes a little longer than the leaves, with white-yellowish flowers. Fruit purple, flattened and winged.
20. Barringtonia sp. Broad-leaved apple-tree. Barror.
A small tree in open forest, alluvial soil. Flowers white and pink. Fruit like a middle-sized apple.
21. Jambosa sp. Buyan-buyan.
A tree found in creeks. Rich bright foliage with abundant white blossoms. Fruit rose and red, pyriform and drooping.
22. Cucumis sp. Native cucumber. Pumpin.
On rich alluvial soil and amongst grass. Fruit from half an inch to three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and one to one and a half inch in length. The natives bite off one end, press the pulpy substance and seeds into their mouths, and throw away the outer skin or rind, which is very bitter.
23. Nauclea Leichhardtii, F. Muell. Leichhardt's tree. Toka, Rockh. tribe; Taberol, Cleveland Bay tribe.
Found on the banks of rivers and creeks. Stem erect. Leaves broad, oblong, deciduous. Flowers globular and fragrant. Fruit one and a half to two inches diameter, usually spherical, but varying much in shape; very soft when ripe; pulp slightly bitter.
24. Polyphragmon sericeum, Desf. Kavor-kavor.
Commonly met with in the bed of creeks. Fruit half inch in diameter, in shape not unlike the crab apple of Europe.
25. Maba sp. Scrub box, or ebony. Ronone.
A small tree, with dark scaly bark. Leaves ovate or obovate, almost sessile. Fruit small egg-shaped, orange-red when ripe.
26. Achras sp. Baleam.
A tall, straight scrub tree. Bark thin, grey, yellowish. Leaves obovate obtuse. Fruit as big as a middle-sized plum; with four or five smooth, shining, flattened seeds.
​27. Carissa ovata, R. Br. Native scrub lime. Karey, Rockh. tribe; Ulorin, Cleveland Bay tribe.
A small prickly shrub. Flowers white, fragrant. Fruit one-third inch diameter; egg-shaped.
28. Myoporum difusum, R. Br. Amulla.
Among grass. A diffuse, almost prostrate, small herbaceous plant. Leaves alternate dentate at their base, lanceolate, acute. Fruit quarter of an inch diameter, on an axillary solitary peduncle; white and pink when ripe; slightly bitter.
29. Exocarpus latifolius, R. Br. Native cherry. Oringorin.
A small scrub tree. Bark almost black, scaly. Leaves thick, dark-green. Fruit red when ripe.
30. Ficus aspera, R. Br. Rough-leaved fig-tree. Noomaie, Rockh. tribe; Balemo, Cleveland Bay tribe.
Very common in scrubs and plains. Fruit black when ripe.
31. Ficus sp. Leichhardt's clustered fig-tree. Parpa.
A good-sized tree, found in scrub, also on the banks of rivers and creeks. Leaves ovate, lanceolate, acute, dark, smooth; green above and pale-green underneath. The fruit, which is of a light-red color when ripe, hangs in clusters along the trunk, and on some of the largest branches.
32. Pipturus propinquus, F. Muell. Native mulberry. Kongangn.
Found in creeks. A soft shrub, almost herbaceous. Leaves broadly ovate, serrate, acuminate, tomentose, and white underneath. Fruit white, transparent.
33. Musa Brownii, F. Muell. Native banana. Morgogaba, Cleveland Bay tribe.
34. Pandanus sp. Screw pine. Kaor.
The eatable part is the side of the seeds adhering to the rachis.
Seeds.
35. Nelumbium speciosum, Willd. Pink water-lily. Aquaie.
A splendid aquatic plant. The stalk of the leaves erect; the latter peltate slightly concave, one to two feet diameter. Flowers pink; five to eight inch diameter. Seeds, twenty to thirty-five; more than three-quarters imbedded in a large flat-topped torus.
(2bis.) Sterculia trichosiphon.
(3bis.) Sterculia rupestris.
36. Sterculia quadrifida, R. Br. Convavola.
In shrubs and creeks. Leaves ovate or cordate. The pod, which contains three to six black ovoid seeds, is of a bright-crimson color when ripe.
(7bis.) Nymphæa gigantea.
WITH PREPARATION.
Baked only.
Roots.
37. Phaseolus Mungo, Linn. Komin, Rockhampton tribe; Kadolo, Cleveland Bay tribe.
Found slightly twining among grass. Stems and branches hairy. Leaflets three, narrow, three to four inches long, acute. Flowers pale-yellow. Pod cylindrical, two to four inches long. Roots the shape of small long carrots.
​38. Acacia Bidwilli, Benth. Bidwill's acacia. Waneu.
Found usually in stony ridges. A small tree, prickly when young. Small leaflet, fifteen to twenty-five pairs, one-eighth inch long. (Roots of the young plants eatable.)
(5bis.) Dioscorea punctata.
Large old roots.
Bulbs, Tubers, or Stems.
(7ter.) Nymphæa gigantea. The tubers.
39. Aponogeton sp. Warrumbel, Rockhampton tribe; Koornabaie, Cleveland Bay tribe.
Found in shallow water in lagoons or ponds. A small aquatic plant. Leaves oblong, lying on the surface of the water. Rachis erect. Flowers numerous, small, and yellow. Bulbs spherical, half inch to one inch diameter.
40. Dendrobium canaliculatum, R. Br. Yamberin.
Very abundant on the decayed trunks and branches, principally of gum-tree. (The bulbous stems, after being deprived of the old leaves, are eatable.)
(6bis.) Helocharis sphacelata.
The small tubers, baked, are roughly pounded between two stones, and made in the same shape as almond cake.
Pod.
(36bis.) Sterculia quadrifida.
The mucilaginous substance of the unripe pod eatable.
Fruits.
41. Avicennia tomentosa, R. Br. Mangrove. Egaie, Cleveland Bay tribe; Tagon-tagon, Rockhampton tribe.
A small tree, but sometimes attaining eighteen inches in diameter; generally found on the estuaries of rivers and creeks. Small numerous roots protrude at the base of the crooked trunks. Leaves pale-green above, and white tomentose underneath. Fruit heart-shaped, with two thick cotyledons. The Aboriginals of Cleveland Bay dig a hole in the ground, where they light a good fire; when well ignited, they throw stones over it, which, when sufficiently heated, they arrange horizontally at the bottom, and lay on the top the Egaie fruit, sprinkling a little water over it; they cover it with bark, and over the whole earth is placed, to prevent the steam from evaporating too freely. During the time required for baking (about two hours) they dig another hole in the sand; the softened Egaie is put into it, they pour water twice over it, and the Midamo is now fit for eating. They resort to that sort of food during the wet season when precluded from searching for any other.—Murrell's testimony.
Near Mount Elliot and Cleveland Bay there is also an eatable root, Wangoora, probably a species of Ipomœa. The roots, very bitter, are cut in two, put into water for one hour or one hour and a half, and are afterwards baked for three or four hours, in the same way as the Egaie; they then carry it in a dilly-bag (Yella barda) to the water's edge, where, by pouring water over and pressing it, they make the starch fall upon the bark in the same way as arrowroot falls from the cylinder into the trough; they wash it three or four times until the water is very clear, and the yellow fecula is then fit for use.—Murrell's testimony.
This plant may be the same as the one alluded to by Leichhardt, page 284: — "I tried several methods to render the potatoes which we had found in the camps of the natives eatable, but neither roasting nor boiling destroyed their sickening bitterness; at last I pounded and washed them, and procured the starch, which was entirely tasteless, but thickened rapidly in hot water like arrowroot, and was very agreeable to eat, wanting only the addition of sugar to make it delicious—at least, so we fancied."
POISONOUS IN A RAW STATE.
Pounding, Desiccation.
42. Caladium machrorhizon, Vent. Hakkin, Rockhampton tribe; Banganga or Nargan, Cleveland Bay tribe.
Found in moist, shady places. A strong herbaceous plant, with very large sagittate leaves. The young bulbs, of a light-rose color inside, found growing on large old rhizomes, are scraped, and divided in two parts, and put under the ashes for about half an hour. When sufficiently baked, they are then pounded by hard strokes between two stones—a large one, Wallarie, and a small one, Kondola. All the pieces which do not look farinaceous, but watery when broken, are thrown away; the others, by strokes of the Kondola, are united by twos or threes, and put into the fire again; they are then taken out and pounded together in the form of a cake, which is again returned to the fire and carefully turned occasionally. This operation is repeated eight or ten times, and when the Hakkin, which is now of a green-greyish color, begins to harden, it is fit for use.
43. Typhonium Brownii, Scott. Merrin.
A small herbaceous plant; found in sandy, shady places. Leaves sagittate entire or three lobate. Flowers purple, dark, of a disagreeable odour. The tubers, which are yellow inside, are manipulated in the same way as the Hakkin, but none are watery, and they are made to adhere together after the first roasting.
Pounding, Maceration, Desiccation.
44. Entada scandens, Benth. Barbaddah, Cleveland Bay tribe.
A strong climber. Pod two to four feet in length, and three to four inches in breadth. The seeds, one and a half to two inches diameter, are put in the stove oven and heated in the same way and for the same time as the Egaie; they are then pounded fine and put into a dilly-bag, and left for ten or twelve hours in water, when they are fit for use.—Murrell's testimony.
45. Cycas media, R. Br. Nut palm. Baveu.
A graceful tree, with a crown of fruit the size of a walnut, yellow when ripe; very common on the mountain sides and in valleys. The nuts are deprived of their outer succulent cover (sarcocarp), and are then broken; and the kernels, having been roughly pounded, are dried three or four hours by the sun, then brought in a dilly-bag to the water stream or pond, where they remain in running water four or five days, and in stagnant water three or four days. By a touch of the fingers the proper degree of softness produced by maceration is ascertained. They are afterwards placed between the two stones mentioned, reduced to a fine paste, and then baked under the ashes in the same way that our bush people bake their damper.
Pounding, Maceration.
46. Encephalartos Miquelii, F. Muell. Dwarf zamia. Banga.
Found generally in the same locality as the palm nut, with a large cone fruit not unlike a pine-apple. The seeds, orange-red when ripe, and separating freely, are baked for about half an hour under ashes; the outside covers and the stones are then broken, and the kernels, divided by a stroke of the Kondola, are put into a dilly-bag and carried to a stream or pond, where they remain six or eight days before they are fit for eating.
47. Encephalartos sp. Leichhardt's aborescent zamia.
Prepared in the same way as E. Miquelii.
Mr. Norman Taylor, of the Geological Survey Staff in Victoria, who was engaged in exploration under the Government of Queensland, supplies the following statement relative to the customs of the natives of York Peninsula:—"Their cooking is done by scooping a hole in the saud in the river-beds, making a fire, and piling stones on. When sufficiently heated, the wood is taken away, ​the stones arranged flat, the animal to be cooked is laid on them, and then covered with some green branches, over which is laid tea-tree bark, and the whole covered with sand. About two hours are sufficient, and as the juices and steam are all kept in, the product is not to be despised. On the inland rivers, or those flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, the natives' food appeared to be principally mussels and fish, the beds of the rivers being covered with old camps and great quantities of roasted mussel-shells, and the rivers and creeks being FIG. 21. dammed with weirs, some very nicely built of stone.—(Fig. 21.) In the small water-holes the gins catch the fish by puddling the water up, and then sweeping the fish down with an oval net set in a cane frame and held between two of them. On the coast, at certain seasons, turtle are a favorite food, and at other seasons bivalves (Ostrea, Perna, and Cyrena) and univalves (Cerithium and Potamides) are obtained in great quantities, and of large size, from the mud flats and mangrove swamps. The inland tribes obtain kangaroos and opossums, &c., but these are rare on the coast. The coast scrubs contain great varieties of nuts and fruits; and generally the seeds of two water-lilies (Nelumbium and Nymphæa), the root of an arum, the nuts of a zamia or cycas, various yams and roots of different creepers, form their food. Several of the roots and nuts are poisonous, and require a long and tedious preparation, by maceration in water and filtering through the sand, the results being a tasteless starch."
Forbidden Food.
The natives have many very curious laws relating to food. The old men are privileged to eat every kind of food that it is lawful for any of their tribe to eat, but there are kinds of food which a tribe will eat in one district and which tribes in another part of the continent wiU not touch. The women may not eat of the flesh of certain animals; certain sorts of meat are prohibited to children and young persons; young married women are interdicted from partaking of dainties that delight the palates of older women; and men may not touch the flesh of some animals until a mystic ceremony has been duly celebrated. Their laws, indeed, in connection with hunting and fishing, and the collecting, cooking, and eating of food, are numerous and complex; and as the penalties believed to be incurred for a breach of these laws are, in most cases, serious diseases, or death, they are obeyed. Some suppose that cunning old men established the laws for the purpose of reserving to themselves those kinds of food which it was most difficult to procure, and that one effect of their prohibitions was to make the young men more expert in hunting; and it has been suggested that the eating of some animals was interdicted in order that the natural increase might not be prevented. In looking over the list of animals prohibited to young men, to women, and to children, one fails to see, however, any good reasons for the selection—unless we regard nearly the whole of the prohibitions as having their source in superstitious beliefs. A man, for instance, may not eat of the flesh of the animal that is the totem of his tribe; and he is forbidden to kill some others ​for food because they are the property of sorcerers, who, the blacks believe, inflict fearful diseases on men that eat of animals that they have reserved for themselves.
They have other remarkable customs in regard to food. Mr. D. Stewart, of Mount Gambier, states, in a letter to the Rev. Lorimer Fison, that the natives of the south-east corner of South Australia have a kind of partnership, formed in boyhood and continued through life, in the division of kangaroo meat. When a kangaroo is killed, each partner takes a specified portion. As each man has some eight or ten partners, the whole tribe is mixed up in it.
These laws, with various modifications arising out of the diverse character of the food supplies, are known in all parts of the continent, and bear a resemblance to some of those that are obeyed by the savage tribes of Africa. As to their origin, or as to any changes that have been effected in them, the blacks know nothing.
According to information afforded by Mr. John Green, the young amongst the natives of the Yarra tribe were forbidden to eat the following:—
| Common Name. | Native Name. |
| Opossum (young) | Walart. |
| (They might eat the old male opossums.) ||
| Flying squirrel | Warran. |
| Porcupine | Ka-arrn. |
| Emu | Boorra-mile. |
| Bustard | Woorna-bit. |
| Ducks | Toolim. |
| Swan | Goona-warra. |
| Iguana | Pujing. |
| Turtle | Koorrong-nile. |
| Large fish | Woora-mook. |
If any young person, they were told, should eat any of the flesh of the animals above named, unless and until he was given authority to eat it by the old men, he would sicken and die, and not one of the doctors could cure him. After the age of thirty he could eat any of them with impunity.
It will be observed that no mention is made in the list of the kangaroo, bandicoot, wombat, native bear, or native dog, or of the native companion, the cockatoo, the pigeon, the quail, or of parrots, or of the eggs of birds and reptiles, or of eels or snakes, or of any kind of vegetable food. The food available to the young men was various; and the few kinds prohibited seem to have been selected by the elders for reasons not apparent on the surface.
The Rev. John Bulmer, of Lake Tyers, in Gippsland, says, in a letter to me, that his experience with regard to the restrictions before and after initiation is as follows:—
"Among the Gippsland blacks it is usual to forbid the use of certain kinds of food to the uninitiated. They are forbidden to eat the following:—All animals of the female gender except the wombat. They may eat all ​animals of the male gender except the porcupine: this they are to avoid. They are not allowed to eat the generative organs of any animal; some indeed are ordered to skin all the animals, so that in skinning them they may cut off the parts forbidden. Of birds, the only restriction seems to be the black duck. They are not allowed to eat grubs which are got from the gum-trees. There are no restrictions with regard to vegetable food among the Gippsland tribes.
Among the Maneroo tribes the uninitiated are not allowed to eat the opossum, the bandicoot, the porcupine, the emu, the young native bear, the young kangaroo, or grubs. I am told that the young women were also under this rule before marriage.
Among the Murray blacks the uninitiated were not allowed to eat parts of the emu, or the black duck or grubs; and of fish the following kinds, namely, the golden perch (Bangnalla), the eel-fish (Yamia). The uninitiated were called Wilyango Kurnundo—a term synonymous with our hobbledehoy. As soon as they were made 'young men,' they were called Thalera, to express strength and manhood.
The young girls never went through any ceremony of initiation, and there was nothing kept from them either before or after marriage, except the large eaglehawk and the hind part of the emu. The latter is always kept from young people. No one except old men and women may partake of such food. Among the Murray blacks the women abstained from fish during certain periods, and at these periods they were not allowed to go near water for fear of frightening the fish. They were also not allowed to eat them, for the same reason. A woman during such periods would never cross the river in a canoe, or even fetch water for the camp. It was sufficient for her to say Thama, to ensure her husband getting the water himself. I have not found this superstition amongst the Gippsland tribes. I am told by an Omeo woman that her tribe would not allow the young women to eat the porcupine before marriage, though they had no ceremony of initiation. I do not think you will find that any of the Victorian tribes put their young women through any form of initiation. Very young children were allowed to eat anything until they came to years of discretion. At about the age of twelve years they were put under training. But the Maneroo blacks would not allow little children to eat the porcupine."
In the Lower Murray district "certain kinds of food could not be eaten by young men and boys. Twenty kinds of native game were forbidden to the Narumbar—that is, those undergoing initiation into manhood—and thirteen kinds to the boys. These prohibitions were strictly observed. Certain penalties were said to follow disobedience. If the boys ate wallaby, they would turn grey; if they ate the fish called Tyiri, they would have sore legs; if they cooked food with palyi or pandandi wood, all the fish would forsake the shore."
In the Port Lincoln district "the general principle, with regard to the division of game is, that the men eat the male animals, the women the females, and the children the small animals; but since there is no rule without its exception, so, in this case, the men claim the right also to eat the female and small animals, ​while the women and children must abide by the established rules; the common kangaroo-rat, however, they are all, without any distinction, allowed to eat. As a fixed prohibition, the wallaby, in the Parnkalla language called Yarridni, and the two species of bandicoot, Kurkulli and Yartini, dare not, on any account, be eaten by young lads or girls, as, according to their opinion, they would, with the latter, cause premature puberty, and, with regard to the former, give to the beard a brownish appearance, instead of its becoming a jet-black color, as it ought to do. . . . . . Lizards are considered the proper food for young girls whose puberty they wish to hasten on, and snakes for women to make them bear children."
Grey, writing of the natives of West Australia, says that amongst the laws intended for the preservation of food there are the following:—"1. No vegetable production used by the natives as food should be plucked or gathered when bearing seed. 2. That certain classes of natives should not eat particular articles of food; this restriction being tantamount to game laws, which preserve certain choice and scarce articles of food from being so generally destroyed as those which are more abundant. . . . . . Independent of these laws, there are certain articles of food which they reject in one portion of the continent and which are eaten in another; and that this rejection does not arise from the noxious qualities of the article is plain, for it is sometimes not only of an innocent nature, but both palatable and nutritious. I may take, for example, the Unio, which the natives of South-West Australia will not eat, because, according to a tradition, a long time ago some natives ate them, and died through the agency of certain sorcerers who looked upon that shell-fish as their peculiar property."
Bennett informs us that "in most tribes the young men might not eat the flesh of the young kangaroo, the bandicoot, or the opossum. Young girls were not allowed to take the young from the pouch or eat the flesh of the old wallaby. Married young women were not to eat emu's eggs, or the young of any animal. No female could eat fish caught in places where they spawn."
According to the information I have received, the natives of Victoria never ate oysters; but this shell-fish is eaten by the blacks of the Bellingen River, in Queensland. There are some kinds of food, however, which seem to be universally abhorred—as, for instance, the fat of swine. As a rule, the natives will not eat pork, or any kind of fat the nature and origin of which are not known to them. A correspondent of the Rev. Lorimer Fison's says that the natives of Fraser's Island (Great Sandy Island), Queensland, will not touch pork or pork fat; and the natives of Victoria also strongly object to this food. On one occasion an old native woman named "Elizabeth" came to my house, and, as usual, food was given her, and a basin full of tea. I was informed that Elizabeth would not drink the tea, and strongly objected to it. I went to her and asked her why she objected to the tea; and though her manner was usually ​very respectful, she, on this occasion, looked angrily at me, and said, "What's that? Fat! Me not like 'em tea with fat!" The cook had put a good deal of cream into the tea, and Elizabeth would have none of it.
Péron found the like strong objection to fat amongst the natives of King George's Sound:—"Ils burent du café, mangèrent du biscuit et du bœuf salé; mais ils refusèrent de manger du lard que nous leurs offrîmes, et le laissèrent sur des pierres, sans y toucher."
Their aversion to fat probably arises from the circumstance that, in their belief, the fat of some animals is poisonous—as, for instance, that of the duck-billed platypus—and that the eating of the fat of some animals is interdicted. If they ate of fat that was given to them by whites, they might violate a tribal law.
Sir Thomas Mitchell mentions that when his party killed an emu none of the Aboriginal young men would eat of the bird, and, on making enquiries, he found that young men were not allowed to eat either the flesh or the eggs of the emu until some ceremony was performed. In the case of "Piper," Sir Thomas Mitchell's blackfellow, it was deemed essential that he should be rubbed all over with emu fat by an old man. "Richardson," an old man, ministered unto "Piper ;" he was well rubbed with the fat, and afterwards he was not afraid to eat emu flesh. The result of eating it, to any young man, until authorized and empowered so to do, was an eruption of boils and the breaking out of sores all over the body.
It cannot be doubted, I think, that while, probably, these prohibitions had their origin in superstition, and that young and old were alike credulous, the doctors and sorcerers turned their credulity to profit. They secured for themselves the best of the food, and managed to get it without labor; but unless they had had the aids derived from the false beliefs of the people, they could not have maintained for any length of time a system which pressed so injuriously on the young and active men, and was so obviously for the advantage of the drones in the hive. Superstition, as an ally, enabled the old men to maintain themselves in comfort, and to feast to their content, at tunes when the workers of the camp might be sorely pressed by hunger. Superior strength, and the influence which age commands, might have sufficed for the easy government of the women and children in this matter; but the young men must have had a firm belief in the doctrines taught by the sorcerers, or they would never have abstained from good food which they themselves had procured, and patiently watched the old wizards of the camp while they ate the emu and feasted on the rich meat afforded by the iguana.
Mirrn-yongs, Shell-mounds, and Stone-shelters.
The large heaps of earth, charcoal, and ashes—the cooking-places of the natives—the shell-mounds on the sea-coast, and the stone-circles on the plains, show that this people have occupied the country for a long period—how long it is impossible to guess. The mounds and the stone-circles are of such a character ​as to be easily destroyed by such slight changes as are effected by long-continued rains, great floods, or the alteration of the course of a stream. The ashes and charcoal of their cooking-places, too, would in time be removed, little by little, in seasons of drought, when hot winds prevailed. The light material, dried by the sun, would be blown away. It would not be safe therefore to assume, because no remains of these ovens and stone-circles have been found in post-Pliocene deposits, that they did not once exist. The period of the first occupation of the continent by the Australian race must be determined by other than such negative evidence as this. It must be ascertained by the position in the soil of less perishable monuments. Their stone implements, almost indestructible in their character, are surer guides, in considering this question, than any other of their works of art; and the inferences to be derived from the position of these in recent accumulations is discussed elsewhere. Yet it is not without instruction, when we view the size and position of the mounds and circles, to reflect on the immense periods of time which must have elapsed since some of these were first visited by the natives. The thought of most persons on seeing a very large mound is that the population has been in past times very dense; but this theory is untenable. The country has always been sparsely peopled—the food supplies and the modes of procuring food regulated the numbers; and the great size of the mounds is due to the frequent visits of a few persons during long periods, and not to any sudden accumulation caused by the presence of a multitude. This fact is borne out by the formation of the mounds. The layers of which they are composed point clearly to the slow and gradual heaping-up of small quantities of material from time to time.
The sites for Mirrn-yong heaps appear to have been chosen generally in localities near water; and whether because the site was the most convenient that could be chosen, or that it was always preferred because blacks had frequented it previously, is not known; but it is well ascertained that each site was used as a cooking-place by generation after generation. They are often found near or slightly within the margin of a forest or a belt of timber; and the situation is nearly always well sheltered.
There are numerous old Mirrn-yong heaps on the banks of the River Plenty, on the Darebin Creek, and the Merri Creek, near Melbourne; they are seen in all parts of the Murray basin, and on the coast; and there are large heaps in the Western district, some of which I have examined.
They are in general of an oval shape, about one hundred feet in length and about forty feet in breadth, and rising to a height of twelve feet or more. They are composed of burnt clay, a little soil, quantities of charcoal and ashes, burnt and unburnt bones, and stones. They enclose numerous fragments of black basalt, chips of greenstone, in some places whole and broken tomahawks, and in more than one have been found human skeletons, as if they had been used in later times as places of burial.
The late Mr. D'Oyly Aplin, at one time Acting Director of the Geological Survey of Victoria, and for a long period a Geological Surveyor, was very active in making researches in reference to these Mirrn-yong heaps; and he obtained much interesting information respecting a group of mounds on Mr. John L. ​Currie's station, near Mount Elephant. Mr. Currie, in reply to Mr. Aplin's enquiries, stated that the mounds were eight or nine in number, in close proximity to each other, and on the edge of a large marsh. At the time they were last examined by Mr. Currie they were much reduced in size, by the trampling of cattle and sheep. The material being light, and the surface being broken by the hoofs of the cattle, much of it was blown off in clouds of dust in summer. The largest was about thirty or forty yards in length by about fifteen or twenty yards in breadth, and from ten to twelve feet in height. They were nearly twice as high when Mr. Currie first saw them, and at a distance looked like hay-stacks. They are composed of the sort of ash and soil commonly found in Mirrn-yong heaps, and there is mixed with the ashes a good deal of wood-charcoal—although there are no trees at the present time within three miles of the spot. A human skeleton and the bones of the native cat and other animals were found in one of the heaps. Mr. Currie thinks that the blacks who resort to the marsh in the season when swans' eggs are abundant may have lost a companion by death and disposed of his remains in the mound, as offering a burial-place where an excavation could be made with the least labor. The bones of the animals, he supposes, are those of creatures that had burrowed in the mounds.
Some human bones were found by Mr. Currie's gardener in his garden at Lara, near Cressy (the same district), under rather peculiar circumstances. In digging, the man came upon a trench, about nine inches in width and twelve inches in depth, in which were several human bones, disposed in order, and covered to the depth of four or five inches with small round stones. The trench seemed to be of considerable length, but it was not farther explored. This is not a mode of sepulture common to the natives; and perhaps was not their work at all. It does not appear that the matter was investigated.
When Mr. Reginald A. F. Murray, Geological Surveyor, was in the Cape Otway district, he made careful enquiries respecting these mounds. Mr. Henry Ford found three Mirrn-yong heaps between the Lighthouse at Cape Otway and the Parker River—two about twelve feet in diameter and three feet in depth, and one thirty feet in diameter and five feet in thickness—all on the open dunes (grassed) overlooking the coast. Mr. Ford opened two, and found in them one stone tomahawk, about four inches in length and three inches in breadth, and one, one inch in thickness, sharpened at one end, and composed of hard, fine-grained siliceous sandstone; numerous chips of chert or flint, black and white, such as occur along the coast, and used probably for cutting, skinning animals, cleaning skins, &c.; bone-awls, six inches in length, some round and some triangular, carefully ground and smoothed; bone nose-ornaments (apparently), about two inches in length, round and polished, and bluntly pointed at both ends; charred bones of the wallaby, opossum, kangaroo-rat, birds, fish, seal (ribs, vertebræ, and jaw-bone), dog (jaw-bone); mutton-fish shells; fresh and salt water mussel-shells; and limpet, whelk, periwinkle, and buckie shells.
The stones that had been used for the oven were hard siliceous pebbles from the coast.
​Sir Thomas Mitchell found many native ovens on the Murrumbidgee. "The common process of natives," says Sir Thomas "in dressing their provisions, is to lay the food between layers of heated stones; but here, where there are no stones, the calcined clay seems to answer the same purpose, and becomes the better or harder the more it is used. Hence the accumulation of heaps, resembling small hills. Some I observed so very ancient as to be surrounded by circles of lofty trees; others, long abandoned, were half worn away by the river, which, in the course of ages, had so far changed its bed that the burnt ashes reached out to mid-channel; others, now very remote from the river, had large trees growing out of them."
Middens are found on the banks of nearly all the rivers and large lakes and marshes in Victoria, and on the sea-coast; but it does not appear that they occur in every part of the north. Mr. A. F. Sullivan informs me that he has never seen ovens or mounds, similar to those on the Murray, anywhere in Central Australia.
Shell-mounds, some covering large areas, are common on nearly all parts of the coast, and may be seen almost everywhere at those points where rocks are uncovered by the tide, and where it was easy for the natives to procure shell-fish. I have examined many of these mounds, and nearly all were remarkable for containing mostly the shells of the common mussel, with a less number of such shells as the mutton-fish, cockle, periwinkle, limpet, and oyster. Whether the latter was eaten or not, I cannot say. There is usually a great deal of charcoal mixed with the shells; and, in some cases, bones and implements are found in the heaps.
Mr. Murray collected, at the mouth of Coal Creek, near Cape Patterson, four chips of chert and two well-polished bone-awls from a shell-heap made up principally of shells of the mutton-fish, limpet, periwinkle, &c. The awls appear to be very old, and, judging from the appearance of the heap, it is probable that it is long since the spot was frequented by the blacks.
It is nearly impossible to ascertain, even approximately, the extent of some of the ancient shell-mounds. The mussel-shells, and many of the smaller fragments of the haliotis, &c., have been blown about by the winds, and the area covered by shells is consequently much larger than would have been the case if they had remained in the place where the natives ate the fish. Some of the mounds in Victoria—measuring only the thicker, unmoved parts—are many yards in diameter, and they must have been the resort of the natives during very long periods. Grey found, on a neck of land near the sea, between Port George the Fourth and Hanover Bay, in West Australia, "a complete hill of broken shells, which it must have taken some centuries to form, for it covered nearly, if not quite, half an acre of ground, and in some places was ten feet high. It was situated just over a bed of cockles, and was evidently formed from the remains of native feasts, as their fire-places and the last small heaps of shells were visible on the summit of the hill." Grey refers in a note to a similar mass ​of shells, though of smaller dimensions, which is spoken of by Capt. King as having been found at Port Essington:—"A curious mound, constructed entirely of shells, rudely heaped together, measuring thirty feet in diameter and fourteen feet high, was also noticed near the beach, and was supposed to be a burying-place of the Indians."
The shell-mounds in Victoria are, as a rule, never opened by any one. Few people know that they have been formed by the natives; and there is therefore no wanton injury done to them. In one or two places I have seen a shell-mound cut through where a track to the coast has been formed; but the old middens are not interfered with; and future archæologists will find abundant fields for research, in all parts of Australia, when more attention is given to the habits of the natives and a deeper interest is felt in their earlier history. What may be disclosed by a thorough examination of some of the ancient mirrn-yong heaps and shell-mounds one cannot guess, but it is not at all improbable that valuable discoveries may yet be made. It would be of the highest interest to find any such stone implements as those of the Tasmanians, or any implements in a transition state; and those who have the opportunity should not neglect to investigate the old mounds wherever they are opened. In the mirrn-yong heaps tomahawks of a remarkable form have been discovered by accident; and it is altogether too early to suppose that all that can be known is known respecting the Australian natives.
Stones, arranged in a circular or semicircular form, are found in some places on the wide plains in Victoria. They appear to have been set up to afford shelter in places where there was no natural break-wind. This is probable, but by no means certain. Very little is known respecting these ancient stone-circles.
In January 1873 I received a letter from Mr. R. E. Johns, a gentleman holding an important Government appointment at Avoca, in Victoria, drawing my attention to a statement in a paper on the Monuments of Unrecorded Ages, in No. 125 of Chambers's Miscellany of Useful and Entertaining Tracts, to the following effect:—"Even in Australia, in the Colony of Victoria, they [stone-circles] are to be seen in numbers, sometimes circle within circle, as at Avebury, and without any tradition among the natives as to their origin." Mr. Johns made enquiries, and being unable to learn anything respecting such structures, he wrote to the editor, and found that the authority for the statement regarding the stone-circles of Victoria was a paper by the late Sir James Y. Simpson, in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries (Scotland). Mr. Ormond had written to Sir James Simpson, informing him that he had seen many such stone-circles, especially near the Mount Elephant Plains, in Victoria. They were from ten to one hundred feet in diameter, and in some there was an inner circle. The stones varied in size and shape, and human ​bones had been dug out of mounds near these circles. The Aborigines had no traditions respecting them, and they invariably denied all knowledge of their origin." Mr. Johns pursued his enquiries, and on referring to Mr. Philip Chauncy, a District Surveyor, and to Mr. Peter Manifold, of Purrumbete, a well-known settler in the Western district, he ascertained their real character;—they are shelter-circles, erected in situations where neither brushwood nor bark can be obtained for building miams.
No doubt many of the heaps of stones have been erected for shelter; but when the natives had to perform certain ceremonies, to prepare themselves for their dances, and to use the strange rites elsewhere referred to, they must necessarily in such places have built up stones for the purpose of exhibiting the rude figures before which they danced, and going through the several parts of their mysteries.
In Mr. Howitt's notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek these stone-circles are mentioned. He found them in many places where the ground was bare, as, for instance, on extensive clay-flats. The stones were of various sizes, but generally about eight inches in diameter. The natives would give no satisfactory account of them, and Mr. Howitt regards them as worthy of investigation.
Mr. Giles, in his overland expedition, found in a glen near the Rawlinson Range several small mounds of stones, placed at even distances apart; and though the ground was all stones, places like paths had been cleared between them. There was also a large piece of rock in the centre of most of these strange heaps. They were not very high—not more than two and a half feet. "I have concluded," says Giles, "it may be said uncharitably, that these are small kinds of Teocalli, and that on the bare rock already mentioned the natives have, and will again perform their horrid rites of human butchery, and that the drippings of the pellucid fountains from the rocky basins above have been echoed and re-echoed by the dripping fountains of human gore from the veins and arteries of their bound and helpless victims." A minute description of these mounds would have added much to the value of Mr. Giles's narrative, if, as he supposed, they were the work of the natives. Were not these stones only natural out-croppings of the rock, and no more? It does not appear that they were pyramidal buildings; and it is not yet ascertained that the natives of the interior of Australia follow the religious observances of the ancient people of Mexico. Careful notes respecting the character of these stone heaps, information as to the kinds of stones used, and rough measurements, would have been valuable.
Grey found heaps of stones of a different character in North-West Australia. One heap was twenty-two feet five inches in length, thirteen feet ten inches in breadth, and four feet three inches in height; and another was twenty-two feet five inches in length, sixteen feet in breadth, and five feet ten and a half inches in height. They are represented in the drawing given in his work as symmetrical heaps. Grey says:—"They were both placed due east and west, ​and . . . . with great regularity. They were both exactly of the same length, but differed in breadth and height. They were not formed altogether of small stones from the rock on which they stood, but many were portions of very distant rocks, which must have been brought by human labor, for their angles were as sharp as the day they were broken off; there were also the remains of many and different kinds of sea-shells in the heap we opened. My own opinion concerning these heaps of stones had been that they were tombs; and this opinion remains unaltered, though we found no bones in the mound, only a great deal of fine mould, having a damp, dank smell. The antiquity of the central part of the one we opened appeared to be very great—I should say two or three hundred years; but the stones above were much more modern, the outer ones having been recently placed; this was also the case with the other heap. Can this be regarded by the natives as a holy spot?"
"On the Murray River singular-looking places are found sometimes, made by the natives by piling small stones close together upon their ends in the ground, . . . . and projecting four or five inches above the ground. The whole length of the place thus enclosed by one which I examined was eleven yards: at the broad end it was two yards wide, at the narrow end one. The position of this singular-looking place was a clear space on the slope of a hill, the narrow end being the lowest, on in the direction of the river. Inside the line of stones the ground was smoothed and somewhat hollowed. The natives called it Mooyumbuck, and said it was a place for disenchanting an individual afflicted with boils."
It is now very difficult to obtain information from the natives respecting these erections.
Cannibalism.
The natives of Australia are, under some circumstances, guilty of cannibalism. In another part of this work it has been shown, on the authority of Mr. Samuel Bennett, that during the Bunya-bunya season, strangers who visit the Bunya-bunya forest for the sake of the fruit are impelled by a craving for flesh to kill one of their number and eat him. Children are killed and eaten; and the fat of the bodies of those who have been killed in battle, as well as of those who have died a natural death, is occasionally swallowed. Hull says that the natives eat human flesh, and offer human victims as sacrifices. Mundy appears to have had no doubt of the existence of cannibalism in New South Wales, and he makes mention of the despatch of Sir George Gipps (Parliamentary Blue Book, 1844) in which is given an account of "perhaps one of the most ferocious acts of cannibalism on record."
Mr. Angas, quoted by Wood, gives an example of cannibalism, as occurring in New South Wales:—"A lad had died, and his body was taken by several ​young men, who proceeded to the following remarkable ceremonies. They began by removing the skin, together with the head, rolling it round a stake, and drying it over the fire. While this was being done, the parents, who had been uttering loud lamentations, took the flesh from the legs, cooked and ate it. The remainder of the body was distributed among the friends of the deceased, who carried away their portions on the points of their spears; and the skin and bones were kept by the parents, and always carried about in their wallets."
The Rev. Mr. Taplin states that the Tattiara natives are reputed to be cannibals. They are called Merkani, and are hated by the Narrinyeri, because the Merkani have a propensity to stealing fat people and eating them. If a man had a fat wife, he was always particularly careful not to leave her unprotected, lest she might be seized by the prowling Merkani.
A correspondent of Mr. Howitt's, referring to the statements made in the Rev. Mr. Taplin's work, says that cannibalism amongst the Tattiara blacks is not well authenticated. Isolated cases of man-eating are told of all the tribes by their neighbours, but they themselves invariably deny that the practice is indulged in. The Tattiara countiy is in lat. 36° 20’ S., and extends for some miles both on the west and east of the 141st meridian, the boundary between Victoria and South Australia. The Tattiara blacks are nearly allied to the Glenelg tribe, are warlike, and in many points like the Narrinyeri.
Gason's account of cannibalism, as existing amongst the Dieyerie tribe, near Cooper's Creek, is given elsewhere.
From a manuscript report placed in my hands by the Rev. Lorimer Fison I learn that the natives of Fraser Island (Great Sandy Island), Queensland, are cannibals; and that in former times cannibalism was much more common than now. They eat the young men and young women that are fat. Their word to express hunger after flesh is said to be Nulla-peethung.
The Jardines, on their overland expedition from Rockhampton to Cape York, found "at a native fire the fresh remains of a negro roasted: the head and thigh-bones were alone complete; all the rest of the body and limbs had been broken up, and the skull was full of blood. Whether this was the body of an enemy cooked for food, or of a friend disposed of after the manner of their last rites, must remain a mystery—until the country and its denizens become better known."
It must be admitted that the condition of the body was in the highest degree suspicious.
Sir Thomas Mitchell says the Australian savage is not a cannibal. In this he is right, if the term be restricted to such practices as were followed in some parts of Europe, up to the end of the fourteenth century, and to the feasts on human flesh in which the men of Fiji and New Zealand indulge. The Australian is not a man-eater as the New Zealander is. When severely pressed by hunger, he has been known to eat human flesh; and for the proper performance of certain ceremonials he is required by his laws to use the fat of the kidneys and ​other parts of the body for anointing himself, and he also swallows the fat and skin on some occasions; but he does not, like many of the South Sea Islanders, build a huge oven, and cook a number of human bodies, in order that a whole tribe and its friends may enjoy a feast. Horrible and disgusting as may be the customs amongst his people, he is not so bad as his neighbours.
Mr. Alfred W. Howitt has been good enough to obtain for me some information from the natives of Gippsland respecting the eating of human flesh. He says:—
"Taking kidney-fat, called Wurnewunga wallunga—i.e., the fat of the 'stone,' the kidney being so called from a supposed resemblance to a rounded pebble—from the conquered enemy, is not the custom of the Gippsland blacks, who, however, know of it as being customary among those of Maneroo—the Brajeraks. The custom here is, or rather was, to remove the skin from each side extending from the arm to the waist, and from the breast to the shoulder-blade, and from each thigh in front from the groin to the knee. This was roasted on the fire, and eaten by all men present. Women and boys were not allowed to eat this, or even to see the operation performed. It is said to have been done 'because father belonging to you and me'—that is, the ancestors—did it; in other words, as a traditionary custom, the meaning of which was lost. It is denied that any of the strength or courage of the deceased would pass to the eaters. One blackfellow explained it to me by saying—'After fighting that fellow, berry hungry.' The following instance may be given, which occurred soon after Gippsland was settled. My informant is Long Harry, otherwise Toorl-bourn (name given by his father), Bungil Bottle (name given by his contemporaries on account of his propensity to empty bottles containing strong waters), and otherwise Bungil Wunkin (a name indicating that he is the great boomerang thrower of the tribe, which has been acquired lately). The story is as follows, which I give as nearly as possible as he told me:—'When I was a young man, beard just growing—I had been made "Jerry-ale"—a lot of strange blacks came down to Gippsland. They were some Dargo River blacks, and with them some Omeo blacks. The Gippsland blacks did not meddle with them, because the Dargo blacks live on the upper part of this river (Mitchell), and therefore belong to us. The names of two of the Dargo blacks were Tare-ngun and Too-turn-burr; they were two brothers, very strong men, and left-handed. There were several others, but I forget them. Among the Omeo blacks were one called Panky Panky and another Binjo. I don't know what these names mean, they belong to another language. This mob of blacks camped at the Top Plain, near Bushy Park, and were looking round for 'possums, and so on—hunting. The Gippsland blacks were camped near Bushy Park, and I was there, and so knew all about this. The Dargo blacks quarrelled with the Omeo blacks, and they separated camps. Tare-ngun sent two men to find out where Panky Panky was encamped. In the night, just before dawn, the Dargo blacks all surrounded the Omeo men's camp. Binjo's wife saw them, and jumped up and sang out. The others rushed in—they were armed with reed-spears, pointed with glass—and speared the two men. Binjo ran out, but was followed, and overtaken about half a mile off. He had his blanket ​rolled up like a "Bamarook," and caught the spears in front; but other men came behind him, and he was killed. He was full of spears. He was left lying there. I don't know what became of him; I expect the wild dogs eat him. Then they caught the women, and each man who had first speared the man took his wife. Then the men killed in the camp were skinned, and the skin roasted and eaten. Panky Panky was a very big, fat man, twice as fat as "Billy the Bull." All the men who were there helped to eat the skin. Then the camp was thrown down on the dead men, and Tare-ngun and the others went away with the women. One woman had a fine little boy at her back, in her 'possum rug. One old man took him out, and, holding him by the feet, knocked his head against a tree, and killed him like a 'possum. Some said, "Why did you do that; we wanted to keep him?" He said, "By-and-by, when he grows up, he will kill you." To an enquiry what roast skin tasted like, Harry says, 'Like "porcupine;" and Toby, otherwise Wunda Garewut (which may be freely translated, 'Where is the creek?'), remarks, 'Yes; like porcupine. I once eat a piece of a Tarra blackfellow, when I was a young man.'"
Mr. Hewitt's account of the practice, as it existed amongst the warlike tribes of Gippsland, shows, probably, the furthest extent to which the horrible custom was usually followed, and may be taken as a fair statement of the facts as affecting, at any rate, the natives of Victoria. In the northern parts of the continent, and in the interior, when there is a scarcity of food, it is not doubted that revolting instances of cruelty, followed by cannibalism, are not rare.
The Habits of Animals (from information furnished by the Aborigines).
About seven years ago I obtained from the Superintendents of the principal Aboriginal Stations in Victoria, accounts, taken down from the lips of the natives, of the habits of some of the animals which it was presumed they were well acquainted with; and I now give these in the form in which I received them. They are valuable—not so much because of what they contain, but—as showing in what direction the mental energies of the natives are directed. All that concerns them as hunters and fishers they know; but questions relating to matters of no practical importance to them in their mode of life they neglect.
As regards things of interest to them, and as regards facts in connection with their pursuits, they are full of knowledge, and capable of imparting the knowledge they possess; but they are invariably wearied, and to some extent annoyed, when questioned on subjects to which they are indifferent.
​This indifference to the acquisition of knowledge which does not seem at the moment to be of use or profit is as clearly apparent in the Aboriginal mind as in that of an ordinary European, and is shown not more in these papers, contributed by the Superintendents of Stations, than in the statements generally in this work. In this respect the ordinary European is in no way better than the Australian black. Knowledge that cannot be turned to immediate profit is despised by both, and were it not for the labors of those who value knowledge—not for what it confers, not even for what it may confer, but simply for its exceeding preciousness as knowledge—the arts—even those that give wealth—would advance but slowly; and the physical powers that can be governed and directed at the will of man would remain undiscovered.
Habits of Native Animals, according to accounts given to the Rev. John Bulmer by the natives of Lake Tyers, Gippsland:—
Bärlijan or Platypus.
The platypus lives in the water; he makes holes under the banks of the rivers. A good many live in one place; they have plenty of young ones in their holes: never saw any eggs, only young ones. It has young ones about spring-time: never saw him feed his young. It makes its nest of weed out of the water. It is very good to eat: plenty of fat. It has Gola Koo-yun or spur on its hind foot, which it sticks into any one: makes hand belonging to blackfellow swell very much. The platypus is not very big; about half as long as the arm of a man.
Jirrah or Kangaroo.
The kangaroo generally has its young ones in the summer-time; it has never more than one young one at a time. Blackfellow finds the young one in the pouch very small; they must grow in the pouch. Kangaroos in the day-time like to lie in the sun, and in summer-time they make themselves a big camp. They go in big mobs; sometimes there is only one male in a mob and sometimes two.
Bathalook or Iguana.
The iguana eats any kind of flesh-meat; he catches birds or rats, or any dead thing; he lives in the holes of trees, and makes his nest in the ground: he has a good many eggs. Blackfellow not know how many. The iguana never sits upon her eggs; the young ones come out without that; the mother does not feed her young ones. The blacks generally keep out of the way of the iguana when it is savage or angry. When it is very angry it makes a hissing noise. It will sometimes run after any one who is trying to kill it.
Fish.
The reason why blackfellow catch many fish sometimes and sometimes not many is because the fish in cold weather go into the deep and in summer they come up.
No-yang or Eel.
The eel is mostly found in weedy places. It goes up the rivers to put its young ones; sometimes it goes out into the sea—generally in the summer-time. Blacks think they go to sea to hide themselves, because they like to stop in weedy or deep places. The eel feeds upon little fish, and will eat young eels and also shrimps or crabs.
Thurrung or Snake.
There are many different kinds of snakes. There is the Ninballa nark, or black-backed snake; the Thurrung, or grey snake; and the Galang, a small red-looking snake. The snake has a good many eggs—about ten. When the young ones come out of the eggs, they go down the mother's throat, for sometimes blackfellow finds them inside the mother when he kills the snake. The snake makes a hole in the ground; some get into a hole in a tree; and some go up very high trees. Snakes like a place where there is plenty of grass. When a snake bites any one, he leaves his tooth in the place where he bites. Blackfellow can get cured of the bite of the snake by the black doctor singing over him. Many blackfellows have been saved in that way.
Habits of Native Animals, according to accounts given to the Rev. A. Hartmann by the natives of Lake Hindmarsh:—
The Platypus.
The platypus lives both on the land and in the water. It can keep under water a long time, say half an hour. It burrows holes into the bank of the river, some ten or fifteen feet, slanting towards the surface of the ground, branching off on either side in short passages, with a nest here and there. The nests are made of layers of rushes and grass. They cast their young ones in autumn, and give them suck. They have from six to ten young ones, which are grown up towards the end of winter, when they are taken out by the mother and taught to shift for themselves. They live chiefly on small cray-fish and other fish. They dive for the fish and catch them in their claws. When leaving the hole in search of food, they cover the entrance with clay: in fact, it is always kept closed. They appear to come out only in the morning and evening, except in cloudy or rainy weather, when they are seen during the day. When attacked, the platypus defends itself with its claws.
The Kangaroo.
They take their rest chiefly during the day; and they are very wary. Even when they sleep, lying on their side, the ears are constantly moving. The hearing of the kangaroo is very acute. I was told that, in trying to sneak near them, the cracking of your ankle-bones they hear at a distance of one hundred and fifty yards. They always feed with the head with the wind, and thus are not easily surprised. When startled, they give a rap with the foot on the ground, to give notice to the others. They fight also a good deal, uttering a sort of grunting ha ha, catching hold of one another, hitting with their fore-paws and kicking with their hind ones, but never killing one another. Their usual feeding-time is in the night. As to the mode of breeding, the blacks are not sure whether the kangaroo is born or not. What they have found to be the case is this: a small, small kangaroo—the size of the first joint of the finger—hanging on the teat in the bag. The teat seems to be grown together with the mouth, and is gradually separated on the growing of the young one: the little thing, pulled away from the teat, dies. The kangaroo feeds its young only by means of the teat; when they grow bigger they eat grass. The old kangaroo, when hunted by dogs, throws its young one out of the bag to save its own life, but dogs generally do not care about the young ones, except they are already pretty big. Number of young—one. Breed once a year. The breeding-time begins about June, and in about six months the young leaves the bag, but even after that the young will stick to its mother for years. The strength of the kangaroo is in its tail; when broken, it can neither fight nor run much. The kangaroo makes no proper nest, but, in the heat of summer, he scratches a hole in the ground to fit his own body, to lie in to keep himself cool. When resting or sleeping in that hole, he keeps throwing dust on his head with his fore-paws to keep off flies and other insects. The red kangaroo catches the big flies that come near him; and if these flies have come from a man just then sneaking near him, he smells the presence of the man in the fly, and makes off at once.
The white and red kangaroo, sleeping very fast, have their own way to guard themselves against being surprised. They make their young ones keep watch, and these young ones sit up, looking like a log. You would not distinguish them from the same.
The Lizard.
The lizard lays its eggs in a nest of grubs (which the blacks eat). It does not any more care about its eggs. They lie about ten months among the grubs before being hatched. The big lizards feed on the small ones and other things they can get, such as frogs, &c. All the lizards, and the snakes too, get blind in the middle of summer, and keep so for a month, when they go into holes; but before doing so they throw off their outer coat, and for the space of a month you see no lizards or snakes. They go into the water too, and can keep under water for a little time.
The Eel.
The eel is not found at Lake Hindmarsh.
The Snake.
Snakes are not numerous here. The black snake, diamond snake, and deaf-adder, a snake like the diamond with a very black head, and another black snake with yellow stripes. All of them are poisonous, but especially the one with the black head. The diamond with the black head and the striped ones live only in the Mallee. They live chiefly among the roots of trees. They can keep under water for a long time.
Fish.
The blacks have no particular reason to give why fish are plentiful at one time and scarce at another. They simply say, "This is not the time for fish."
Note.—Mr. Hartmann says, in a letter to me, that it is a difficult matter to get a long and minute account of the habits, &c., of the animals mentioned in my memorandum. About the lizard and snake he could hardly get anything from the blacks, in spite of asking a great many questions.
Habits of Native Animals, according to accounts given to the Rev. F. A. Hagenauer, of Lake Wellington, Gippsland:—
The Platypus.
The duck-billed platypus makes no nests, but lives in holes on the banks of rivers; it gets its young ones like the water-rats, always in summer, and has never more than two young ones at one time; it suckles its young ones like rats. When the young ones are full grown, they are very good for eating, but not before.
The Kangaroo.
The Lizard.
The lizard feeds on worms and flies; it lays its eggs in holes and soft ground, and leaves them; when the young ones are out of the egg, they care for themselves. Both the lizards and their eggs are good for eating.
Eels.
The eels generally live in water-holes, rivers, and swamps; but often, when the grass is wet, they travel long distances over it. Eels are very good for eating.
Snakes.
The common sort of snakes are to be found or met with everywhere; they sleep in winter and travel in summer. Before the snakes changed their heads with the turtles they were not dangerous, but now, if they bite, nearly always is death certain. Some snakes were good for eating long ago, but now beef and mutton are better.
Habits of Native Animals, according to accounts given to Mr. John Green, of the Coranderrk Station (Yarra River):—
The Platypus.
The blacks say that the platypus has but one young at a time, and that it gives birth to it in the same way as a dingo, and suckles it. It is in the spring of the year that they have their young. They make a nest in a hole in the ground on the bank of a creek.
Snakes.
The blacks say that they do not know anything about snakes.
The Lizard.
The small lizards lay their eggs in old logs, and they are hatched by the heat of the sun. The large lizards lay their eggs in the roots of hollow trees, and then clay up the hole. About the middle of summer they return, and remove part of the clay, leaving only a small or thin crust over the eggs, which the young ones can easily remove themselves.
Fish and Eels.
The blacks say they do not know how fish and eels breed.
Kangaroo.
They say that the young are formed first in the womb, and when they are born the mother puts them into the pouch.
* ↑ A squatter holding stations in the north-eastern part of Victoria informs me that a station in his district, which at one time carried twenty thousand sheep, but has since been neglected, and has now on it not more than four thousand, is overrun with kangaroos, opossums, wild cats, and wild dogs. Mobs (consisting of hundreds) of kangaroos eat the grass that should feed sheep. The marsupials have increased in a far greater degree than their natural enemy, the dingo, which lives in this locality a life of ease and pleasure. The run is common ground for all the wild animals of the neighbourhood. There they have their abode, but from time to time they visit neighbouring tracts, and destroy much produce the result of cultivation. The native dog has been almost exterminated in the more open parts of Victoria; and other animals formerly his prey have multiplied exceedingly. I have seen mobs of kangaroos in the Western district so large as to defy even an attempt to make an approximation to the numbers. Professor McCoy referred to this subject in his essay (Recent Zoology and Palæontology of Victoria) in 1866-67.
* ↑ "These great public hunts or battues are conducted under certain rules. The proprietor of the land must have invited the other natives, and must be present himself; for should these regulations be violated, a very bloody fight is certain to take place. The first spear which strikes a kangaroo determines whose property the dead animal is to be; it being no matter how slight the wound may have been; even if a boy threw the spear, the rule holds good; and if the animal killed is one which, by their laws, a boy is not allowed to eat, then his right passes on to his father or eldest male relation."—Grey, vol. II., p. 272. Fair-play characterises the actions of the natives as well in their amusements as in battles and disputes.
* ↑ Manners and Customs of the Natives of the Port Lincoln District, by C. Wilhelmi, 1860.
* ↑ Grey, vol. II., pp 273-4.
* ↑ The true rock wallaby (P. penicillata) is not known, Professor McCoy says, so far south as the Lakes in Gippsland. The species named by the Rev. Mr. Bulmer may be a second local name for H. ualabatus.
* ↑ Professor McCoy informs me that the black opossum is known only in Tasmania. The animal named Brak is perhaps the black flying opossum, Petaurista taguanoides.
* ↑ Journal of Expeditions, vol. II., p. 284.
* ↑ The flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) is caught and eaten by the natives of North Australia. The flesh is said to be very good. On some of the islands these bats appear in prodigious numbers, and they may be seen flying in the bright sunshine, a thing unusual in nocturnal animals.—Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, 1852, vol. I., p. 97.
* ↑ Central Australia, by Ernest Giles, 1875, pp. 43 and 71.
* ↑ When I was travelling over the plains of the Western district on one occasion, I had an opportunity of putting to the test this strange habit of the wild turkey. We saw several with their young feeding on a wide, open, grassy plain, and selecting one old bird for experiment, we drove round him in our carriage, gradually decreasing the distance, the bird turning round and staring stupidly all the while at the vehicle, until the driver was almost within reach of him with his whip. We could have secured him if we had had a noose.
* ↑ Interior of Eastern Australia, by Major T. L. Mitchell, F.G.S., 1838.
* ↑ Eyre states that the natives commonly used the tat-tat-ko—a long rod with a noose at the end—for snaring water-fowl.—Journal, vol. II., p. 285.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri, p. 30.
* ↑ The natives plant stakes in the water, in places where there are no natural resting-places for the shags and cormorants, and when the birds perch on these, they swim quietly up to them and seize them. They also knock them off the branches of the stranded trees and withered stumps on which they sit with sticks or with the boomerang.
* ↑ Grey, vol. II., p. 282.
* ↑ Professor McCoy informs me that the leathery turtle (Sphargis coriacea) comes as far south as Portland; the hawk's-bill turtle (Caretta squamata) and green turtle (Chelonia virgata) are not known to him south of Sydney.
* ↑ On the north-western and north-eastern coasts the natives are adroit in taking both the green turtle and the hawk's-bill turtle. The former are usually surprised on the beach when they come to lay their eggs, but sometimes they are attacked in the water when they are asleep. In pursuing this dangerous sport, the native has to exercise great caution in order to avoid the sharp edges of the shells, those of the females being especially keen. When he sees a turtle that he thinks he may venture to attack, he slips gently from his canoe, swims under the turtle, and by a strong effort turns it on its back, at the same time wrenching the fore flipper so as to prevent it from swimming. With the assistance of his companions, the sportsman then attaches a string to the turtle and secures it. It is taken also, Mr. J. G. Wood says, in some places with the harpoon. But the most remarkable method of all is that described by the Messrs. Jardine:—"A singular mode of taking the hawk's-bill turtle is followed by the natives here. This custom, though said to be known so long back as the time of the discovery of America by Columbus, is so strangely interesting that I will give a short account of it as I have seen it practised. A species of sucking-fish (Remora) is used. On the occasion to which I allude, two of these were caught by the blacks in the small pools in a coral reef, care being taken not to injure them. They were laid in the bottom of a canoe, and covered over with wet sea-weed, a strong fishing-line having been previously fastened to the tail of each. Four men went in the canoe—one steering with a paddle in the stern, one paddling on either side, and one in the fore part looking out for the turtle and attending to the fishing-lines, while I sat on a sort of stage fixed amidships, supported by the outrigger poles. The day was very calm and warm, and the canoe was allowed to drift with the current, which runs very strong on these shores. A small turtle was seen, and the sucking-fish was put into the water. At first it swam lazily about, apparently recovering the strength which it had lost by removal from its native element; but presently it swam slowly in the direction of the turtle, till out of sight. In a very short time the line was rapidly carried out, there was a jerk, and the turtle was fast. The line was handled gently for two or three minutes, the steersman causing the canoe to follow the course of the turtle with great dexterity. It was soon exhausted and hauled up to the canoe. It was a small turtle, weighing a little under 40 lbs.; but the sucking-fish adhered so tenaciously to it as to raise it from the ground when held up by the tail; and this some time after being taken out of the water. I have seen turtle weighing more than 100 lbs. which had been taken in the manner described. Though large numbers of the hawk's-bill turtle are taken by the Cape York natives, it is very difficult to procure the shell from them; they are either too lazy to save it, or, if they do so, it is bartered to the islanders of Torres Straits, who use it for making masks and other ornaments." —Description of the Neighbourhood of Somerset, by John Jardine, Esq., Police Magistrate, Somerset, Cape York, 1866. "Turtle forms an important article of food, and four different kinds are distinguished at Cape York and the Prince of Wales Islands. Three of these can be identified as the green, the hawk's-bill, and the loggerhead species, and the fourth is a small one which I never saw. This last, I was informed by Gi'om, is fished for in the following extraordinary manner:—A live sucking-fish (Echeneis remora), having previously been secured by a line passed round the tail, is thrown into the water in certain places known to be suitable for the purpose. The fish, while swimming about, makes fast by its sucker to any turtle of this small kind which it may chance to encounter, and both are hauled in together. . . . . One day some of us, while walking the poop, had our attention directed to a sucking-fish, about two and a half feet in length, which had been made fast by the tail to a billet of wood, by a fathom or so of spun yarm, and turned adrift. An immense striped shark, apparently about fourteen feet in length, which had been cruizing about the ship all the morning, sailed slowly up, and turning slightly on one side, attempted to seize the apparently helpless fish; but the sucker, with great dexterity, made himself fast in a moment to the shark's back. Off darted the monster at full speed, the sucker holding on fast as a limpet to a rock, and the billet towing astern. He then rolled over and over, tumbling about, when, wearied with his efforts, he lay quiet for a little. Seeing the float, the shark got it into his mouth, and disengaging the sucker by the tug on the line, made a bolt at the fish; but his puny antagonist was again too quick, and fixing himself close behind the dorsal fin, defied the efforts of the shark to disengage him, although he rolled over and over, lashing the water with his tail until it foamed all round. What the final result was we could not clearly make out."—Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, by John Macgillivray, 1852, vols. I. and II. Dampier makes mention of a sucking-fish; and no doubt the fishling referred to by Pliny, in the opening chapter of his 32nd book, was of the nature of the creature above described. The common Remora, Professor McCoy says in a note to me, is eight or ten inches long, and is occasionally found on sharks and other fish. He adds, in reference to the account given by Mr. Jardine:—"It seemed to me that the natives successfully catching turtle by use of the Echeneis remora of our seas was as mythical as the old classical fable referred to of these little sucking-fishes stopping ships in full sail; but, as Mr. Jardine has seen it, the matter is of course settled, although he omits to mention how the line is attached to the Remora so as not to impede its locomotion and yet stop that of a turtle. There is no doubt that the fish attaches itself to turtle, as well as sharks and other fish, so firmly that the body may be torn sooner than the sucker be detached."
* ↑ Buckley says, in his narrative, that on one occasion, when the natives set fire to the grass and scrub of the forest for the purpose of enclosing and catching kangaroos, wombats, opossums, native cats, wild dogs, lizards, snakes, &c., they found "a monster snake, having two distinct heads, separating about two inches from the body, black on the back, with a brownish-yellow belly, and red spots all over. It had been about nine feet long, but the fire had burnt the body in two, and, being such an unnatural-looking monster, the natives were terribly frightened at its appearance." Professor McCoy states that young snakes with two heads (monsters) occasionally occur of the different species. One was lately sent to Melbourne.
* ↑ Much interesting information is given by Eyre respecting the several methods employed by the natives in catching fish. He says he has seen them dive down in the river, without net or implement of any kind, and bring up good-sized fish, which they had caught with their hands at the bottom.—Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, 1845, Vol. II., p. 261.
* ↑ Wilhelmi, p. 175.
* ↑ The Natural History of Man, vol. II., p. 19.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri (Lower Murray), by the Rev. Geo. Taplin, p. 30.
* ↑ Encounter Bay Tribe (South Australia), by H. E. A. Meyer, pp. 6-7.
* ↑ Interior of Eastern Australia, by Major T. L. Mitchell, F.G.S., 1838, vol. I., p. 266.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri, by the Rev. Geo. Taplin, 1874.
* ↑ Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay, by Clement Hodgkinson, 1845.
* ↑ "La pèche leur est familière, et la fouène est l'instrument que nous leur avons vu employer de préférence: ils dressent aussi des pièges, pour le même objet, sur les bords de la rivière Vasse."—M. F. Péron, Vol. III., p. 162, 1800-1804.
* ↑ Lower Murray Aborigines, by Peter Beveridge, 1861.
* ↑ New South Wales, by Lieut.-Col. Collins, 1804.
* ↑ Our Antipodes, by Lieut.-Col. Mundy, 1857.
* ↑ Eastern Australia, 1838.
* ↑ The Aborigines of Australia, 1865, pp. 19-20.
* ↑ A. F. Sullivan, MS.
* ↑ New South Wales, by Lieut.-Col. Collins, 1804.
* ↑ A fish-hook used by the natives of the Louisiade is figured and described in Macgillivray's Narrative of the Voyage of the Rattlesnake. It is seven inches in length, is made of some hard wood, and has an arm four and a half inches long, turning up at a sharp angle, and tipped with a slightly-curved barb of tortoise-shell, projecting horizontally inwards an inch and a half. It somewhat resembles the fish-hook of the New Zealanders.
* ↑ "A whale" says Grey, "is the greatest delicacy that a native can partake of, and whilst standing beside the giant frame of one of these monsters of the deep, he can only be compared to a mouse standing before a huge plum-cake; in either case the mass of the food compared to that of the consumer is enormous. . . . . . . . When a native proprietor of an estate in Australia finds a whale thrown ashore upon his property, his whole feelings undergo a sudden revulsion. Instead of being churlishly afraid of the slightest aggression on his property, his heart expands with benevolence, and he longs to see his friends about him; so he falls to work with his wives, and kindles large fires to give notice of the joyful event. This duty being performed, he rubs himself all over with the blubber, then anoints his favorite wives, and thus prepared, cuts his way through the blubber into the flesh or beef, the grain of which is about as firm as a goose-quill; of this, he selects the nicest morsels, and either broils them on the fire, or cooks them as kabobs, by cutting them into small pieces, and spitting them on a pointed stick. By-and-by, other natives come gaily trooping in from all quarters: by night they dance and sing, and by day they eat and sleep; and for days this revelry continues unchecked, until they at last fairly eat their way into the whale, and you see them climbing in and about the stinking carcass, choosing tit-bits. In general, the natives are very particular about not eating meat that is fly-blown or tainted, but when a whale is in question this nicety of appetite vanishes. . . . . . . They remain by the carcass for many days, rubbed from head to foot with stinking blubber, gorged to repletion with putrid meat, out of temper from indigestion, and therefore engaged iu constant frays, suffering from a cutaneous disorder by high feeding, and altogether a disgusting spectacle. There is no sight in the world more revolting than to see a young and gracefully-formed native girl stepping out of the carcass of a putrid whale."—North-West and Western Australia, vol. II., pp. 277-8.
* ↑ North-West and Western Australia, vol. II., p. 276.
* ↑ From Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay, p. 229.
* ↑ "At Moorunde, when the Murray annually inundates the flats, fresh-water cray-fish make their way to the surface of the ground, from holes where they have been buried during the year, in such vast numbers that I have seen four hundred natives live upon them for weeks together, whilst the numbers spoiled, or thrown away, would have sustained four hundred more."—Eyre's Journal, vol. II., p. 252.
* ↑ History of New South Wales, by Thomas Henry Braim, 1846, vol. II., p. 248.
* ↑ The Bugong moths collect on the surfaces of granite rocks on the Bugong Mountains of New South Wales, and in such manner as to admit of their being caught in great numbers. Mr. G. Bennett says:—"To procure them with greater facility, the natives make smothered fires underneath those rocks about which they are collected, and suffocate them with smoke, at the same time sweeping them off frequently in bushelfuls at a time. After they have collected a large quantity, they proceed to prepare them, which is done in the following manner. A circular space is cleared upon the ground, of a size proportioned to the number of insects to be prepared; on it a fire is lighted, and kept burning until the ground is considered to be sufficiently heated, when, the fire being removed, and the ashes cleared away, the moths are placed upon the heated ground, and stirred about until the down and wings are removed from them; they are then placed on pieces of bark, and winnowed to separate the dust and wings mixed with the bodies; they are then eaten or placed in a wooden vessel called Walbum or Calibum, and pounded by a piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of fat, and may be compared in color and consistence to dough made from smutty wheat mixed with fat. The bodies of the moths are large, and filled with a yellowish oil, resembling in taste a sweet nut. These masses (with which the netbuls or talabats of the native tribes are loaded during the season of feasting upon the Bugong) will not keep more than a week, and seldom even for that time; but by smoking they are able to preserve them for a much longer period. The first time this diet is used by the native tribes, violent vomiting and other debilitating effects are produced, but after a few days they become accustomed to its use, and then thrive and fatten exceedingly upon it. These insects are held in such estimation among the Aborigines that they assemble from all parts of the country to collect them from these mountains. It is not only the native blacks that resort to the Bugong, but the crows also congregate for the same purpose." The natives attack the crows, kill them, and eat them, and like them very much after they have fattened on the moths. Eyre mentions this moth. Not only the natives but their dogs also fattened on it.
* ↑ "The eggs of birds are extensively eaten by the natives, being chiefly confined to those kinds that leave the nest at birth, as the leipoa, the emu, the swan, the goose, the duck, &c. But of others, where the young remain some time in the nest after being hatched, the eggs are usually left, and the young taken before they can fly. The eggs of the leipoa, or native pheasant, are found in singular-looking mounds of sand, thrown up by the bird in the midst of the scrubs, and often measuring several yards in circumference. The egg is about the size of the goose egg, but the shell is extremely thin and fragile. The young are hatched by the heat of the sand and leaves, with which the eggs are covered."—Eyre's Journal, vol. II,, p. 274.
* ↑ Life and Adventures of William Buckley, 1852, p. 85.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri, p. 31.
* ↑ Our Antipodes, pp. 79-80.
* ↑ Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Land, by Lieut. Breton, R.N., 1830-33.
* ↑ "The Portulaceæ are all innoxious plants, possessed of very little either smell or taste, and not remarkable for any active properties. Their leaves are for the most part fleshy, and often edible. The common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is cultivated on the continent as a dietetic vegetable, and esteemed, notwithstanding its insipidity, for the readiness with which it takes the flavor of more sapid viands. The seeds of purslane are said to be anthelmintic. . . . The Da-t-kai of Caffraria, the roots of which are eatable, is a purslane."—Outlines of Botany. Burnett, p. 740. The Government Botanist is to be commended for drawing attention to the properties of this plant. Every explorer and every bushman should make himself acquainted with it.
* ↑ Oxley states in his Journal (1817-18) that he saw the natives eating the roots of thistles (Galu-nur).
* ↑ Wilhelmi, p. 173.
* ↑ North-West and Western Australia, vol. II., p. 296.
* ↑ On the Systematic Position of the Nardoo Plant, and the Physiological Characteristics of its Fruit, 1862.
* ↑ The Dieyerie Tribe, p. 32.
* ↑ Icones Plantarum, by Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H., Vol. VI., 1854.
* ↑ Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine, p. 76.
* ↑ The History of Australian Discovery and Colonization, by Samuel Bennett, Sydney, 1867, pp. 268-9.
* ↑ Illustrations of the Manners, &c., of the North American Indians, by George Catlin, vol.II., p. 167.
* ↑ Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay, 1845, p. 112.
* ↑ Queensland, Australia, by Richard Daintree, p. 82.
* ↑ Some Particulars of the General Characteristics, Astronomy, and Mythology of the Tribes in the Central Part of Victoria, by W. E. Stanbridge, F.E.S., 1861.
* ↑ On the Weir-Malleè, a Water-yielding Tree, &c., by John Cairns, Esq., 1858.
* ↑ Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, vol. I., p. 350.
* ↑ Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, vol. I., pp. 31 and 197.
* ↑ Discoveries in Australia, by J. Lort Stokes, Commander R.N., 1846, p. 13.
* ↑ A. Thozet, 1866. See Catalogue annexed.
* ↑ Since the above was written, the Government Botanist has addressed a letter to the editor of the Australian Medical Journal respecting this plant. He says:—"Some weeks ago I was asked by our last president about the origin of the Pitury, a stimulant said to be of marvellous power, and known to be in use by the Aborigines of Central Australia. It so happened that after years of efforts to get a specimen of the plant, I at last, this week, obtained leaves, and although I have seen neither flowers nor fruits, and although these leaves are very similar to those of various otherwise widely disallied plants, I can almost with certainty, after due microscopic examination, pronounce those of the Pitury as derived from my Duboisia Hopwoodii, described in 1861 (Fragm. Phytogr. Austr. II., 138). This bush extends from the Darling River and Barcoo to West Australia, through desert scrubs, but is of exceedingly sparse occurrence anywhere. In fixing the origin of the Pitury, now a wide field for further enquiry is opened up, inasmuch as a second species of Duboisia (D. myoporoides, R. Br.) extends in forestland from near Sydney to near Cape York, and is traced also to New Caledonia, and lately by me also to New Guinea. In all probability this D. myoporoides shares the properties of D. Hopwoodii, as I now find that both have the same burning acrid taste. Though the first known species is so near to us, we never suspected any such extraordinary properties in it as are now established for the later discovered species. Moreover the numerous species of the allied genus Anthocercis, extending over the greater part of the Australian continent and to Tasmania, should now also be tested, and further, the many likewise cognate Schwenkeas of South America should be drawn into the same cyclus of research, nothing whatever of the properties of any of these plants being known. The natives of Central Australia chew the leaves of Duboisia Hopwoodii, just like the Peruvians and Chilians masticate the leaves of the Coca (Erythroxylon Coca), to invigorate themselves during their long foot journeys through the deserts. I am not certain whether the Aborigines of all districts in which the Pitury grows are really aware of its stimulating power. Those living near the Barcoo travel many days' journeys to obtain this, to them, precious foliage, which is carried always about by them broken into small fragments and tied up in little bags. It is not improbable that a new and perhaps important medicinal plant is thus gained. The blacks use the Duboisia to excite their courage in warfare; a large dose infuriates them. Administered medicinally, it dilates the pupil, just as Anthocercis does."
* ↑ Overland Expedition: Northern Queensland, p. 84.
* ↑ Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, 1852, vol. I., p. 126.
* ↑ This name was given in allusion to the heel of a native; the fruit, when ripe, resembling that part of the foot.
* ↑ Diminutive of Mondo.
* ↑ The late James Murrell was a wrecked sailor, who lived seventeen years amongst one of the Cleveland Bay tribes, in Northern Queensland, Australia.
* ↑ Savage Africa, by Winwood Reade, 1863.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri, p. 90.
* ↑ Manners and Customs of the Australian Natives, in particular of the Port Lincoln District, p. 176.
* ↑ North-West and Western Australia, vol. II., p. 237.
* ↑ Australian Discovery and Colonization, p. 253.
* ↑ Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.
* ↑ Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes, 1800-1804, vol. II., p. 154.
* ↑ Eastern Australia, vol. II., p. 81.
* ↑ North-West and Western Australia, vol. I., p. 110.
* ↑ King's Australia, vol. I., p. 87.
* ↑ Mr. Frank Stephen informs me that in digging into one of the shell-mounds at Frankston Point a stone tomahawk was found at a depth of six feet from the surface. The numerous shell-mounds between St. Kilda and Point Nepean contain, no doubt, many such relics; and the more ancient implements are likely to be of great interest to the ethnologist.
* ↑ Geographic Travels in Central Australia, 1872-4, by Ernest Giles, p. 171.
* ↑ North-West and Western Australia, vol. I., p. 227.
* ↑ Journals of Expeditions of Discovery, by Eyre, vol. II., p. 365.
* ↑ Remarks on the probable Origin and Antiquity of the Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales, by a Colonial Magistrate, 1846, p. 18.
* ↑ Our Antipodes, by Lieut.-Col. Mundy, 1857, p. 48.
* ↑ The Natural History of Man, vol. II., p. 62.
* ↑ The Narrinyeri, p. 2.
* ↑ Overland Expedition, 1867, p. 12.
* ↑ Eastern Australia, 1838, vol. II., p. 344.
* ↑ Bamarook is the oval shield with which reed-spears or boomerangs are warded off. Turn-numy is the long narrow shield with which blows from the waddy are stopped.
* ↑ Billy the Bull, a stout black, of Lake Tyers, and perhaps the strongest blackfellow here.
* ↑ Echidna.
* ↑ Eyre quotes the official report of Mr. Protector Sievewright, of Lake Tarong (Port Phillip district), published in August 1844, in which some details are given of an instance of cannibalism that are almost too shocking to record. The natives seem to have fallen upon the dead body of their enemy with a ferocity surpassing that of the most savage amongst carnivorous animals. The liver and viscera were torn from the corpse and eaten raw!—Journals of Expeditions of Discovery, vol. II., pp. 257-8.
* ↑ The Ornithorhyncus is an ovoviviparous animal, and suckles its young. Its burrow and nest are made much in the way described by the natives. It usually feeds in the mud at the bottom of streams, where it finds very small shell-lish, river insects, river weeds, &c. When engaged in feeding, it uses its mandibles in the same manner as a duck. It is stated by naturalists that the spur is not used as a weapon of offence, and that a scratch given by the spur causes no such effects as those described by the natives of Lake Tyers. It is not likely, however, that the natives would make a mistake in such a matter. A recent case of poisoning is mentioned as having occurred near Jerry's Plains, in the Maitland district. A man whilst fishing in the river found a platypus entangled in his net, and in attempting to disengage it, the animal, it is said, struck its spur into his forefinger. The wound caused intense pain, the hand and arm became swollen; and medical aid was sought. The sufferer was treated as for snake-poisoning, and recovered.
* ↑ The blacks and the whites, as a rule, are ignorant of the mode in which the young of the kangaroo is placed in the pouch. From the observations of naturalists of the highest repute, it appears that, after parturition, the mother opens her pouch with her fore-paws, and uses her mouth to carry and place the young one on the nipple. A very young kangaroo—say twelve hours after birth—is only one inch and two lines in length, and is nearly transparent. I have myself detached a young one less than two inches in length from the nipple of a dead kangaroo—killed in a kangaroo hunt; and to me it seemed impossible that the mother could have carried and attached it to the nipple; yet there is irrefragable evidence of this being the mode in which it is placed in the marsupium. It is stated that in one instance a very young kangaroo, forcibly removed from the nipple and left in the bag, was replaced by the mother. The fœtus itself could not regain the nipple. The account taken down by the Rev. Mr. Hartmann is very interesting. The natives evidently rarely or never investigate for the purpose of satisfying curiosity or gaining knowledge that would not be of use to them.