The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-06-22


Net Ewes tAs Ysg Leaf wern-Usiy -
Losthsoneness.
Synopsis Of lecture BY Carl Lsmholtz-
The lecture was confined TO Northern
Qeensiand- This part OF Australia, he
said. IL noted for its forests and scenery. to
which there Is nothing superiorin the vide
world The whites have not penetrated
there ~ yet, because there ID nothing to
attract them. The inhabitants are ia the
most primitive state OF any people in the
world All their utensils and weapons are
wood, and they are just emerging into the
stone age. In their accomplishments they
rank with the qaarternary period. Not
scures their persons. As soon a.
they have been in contact
with the whites awhile they show the
effects OF civilization in using tobacco and
affecting clothes. particularly the nat. At
tempfs were made 70 kill the explorer
many times. The only safeguards he had
were tobacco and firearms. With the
former he created fond attachment. with
the latter . due respect Every time he
went % bed he refreshed their memories
BY firing his baby gun" Whenever be
aimed IL 81 an object be must needs hit it or
his life would be forfeited.
The natives are chocolate brown with Jet
black hair. When it gets iong they barber
IL with burning sticks. Their food is chiefly
OF snakes. lixarts, grasshoppers and ell
kinds OF animals save leeches. Their ideal
OF goodness is fat. They paint and scarify
their bodies in every conceivable manner
which Is not altogether unpicturesque.
When they have the toothache they get .
fellow 70 knock il out with o sharp wedge.
Physically they are puny and ugly, they
lack muscular development. but are 1.-THE
I'm M sek fRp - vryy
20 them until they begin 10 wear clothes.
Then the habit of wearing them day time
and discarding them 1t night Is productive
OF consumption. The nose is angular and
hat, indented by . hole for ornament
When they were ct 4 loss as how 10 carry
their pipes from lack Of pockets, they hit
upon the happy idea OF sticking them in
the holes of their nostrils.
When they want to track animals they
smell the soil and never get left Their
senses are abnormally sharp They are
ugly 10 l0afhs0me degree, and yet some
OF the females have the charms Of their sex
in form and queeniy stride. The men are
the better appearing OF the two. and the
old women are hideous beyond the power
OF description.
They are Mormonistic in their taste and
deem life worth living to the extent of the
plurality they acquire. There are several
ways OF acquiring wives. The chief way Is
by robbery. A man who is strong enough
PUSHES of with another mans frau, who
shows her appreciation by the liveliest
sortof . row. Then follows a row between
the men, There are periodical "borbobies"
or tournaments. where men adjust their
wife quArrels with wooden swords and
shields. Another method OF marriage Is
BY inheritance, and another the Yankee
trick OF swapping sister or mother for .
heipmeet.
The vegetables arcs poisonous and have
to be cooked several days and soaked in
water before they are eatabIe. C0nse-
euently, the chief articles Of diet are flesh.
Larvm form the principal de!icacy. The
snakes liver Is another. In the human
line it Ii not Ia mode to eat relatives.
though this Is sometimes done. When
they come in contact with whites they
make secret Of their cannibalism. White
flesh they positively abhor as unpalatable;
hence the Old myth OF feeding on mission
aries won't wash.
There is no worship among them to speak
OF. What little they have Is confined TO
the realm OF feeling. They have q great
fear OF the devil. and feel that he may be
incarnate In grasshoppers. In some part
Of Queensland . certain disposition Is
made Of dead bodies. but In other parts
not missionary in all Queensland, which
Is as large as France. The natives are
easy learners. and IL separated from their
surroundings young could be converted
There are 5000 Of these aborigines in Aus
t.aiia, but the number is rapidly
diminishing. The whites exterminate
them as rapidly Is possible. since
their animals are made frantic by the smell
Of the natives. They know no gratitude.
and II used sternly run away. II is hard
study to live with them and preserve ones
lite. II you treat them kindly they will
kill. The lecturer lived over year among
them. but during the latter part OF his stay
was in constant jeopardy Of his life. Never
theess. he stayed there long enough to
make large acquisitions in natural history
and science, In whose cause he went. On
his departure IL was with vague uneasi-
ness until the disappearance OF the land:
then the glorious amenities of civilization
burst Ipon him anew and the traces Of saw
age life were obliterated from HRS conscious