The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-28

The pituri is a shrub, or bush. six to
II feet high, and found only on a ridge
of barren sand hills 60 miles wide by
100 TO $50 miles long. running in a north
to south direction, west of the Mulligan
river, in northwestern Queensland,
Australia. The nearest civilized point
to the pituri district is on the gulf of
Carpentaria, which is 600 miles north of
it. It grows on the immediate crest of
the sand hills. 1t will not grow on their
sides, nor On the slopes OF the lowlands,
and it has never been found in the
valleys between these low. barren
ridges. The tree does not grow in large
bodies, but in small patches of from
three to eight plants. The stem is
small. Some of them grow as large
as three inches at the butt, and Il or so
feet tall. These large ones are rare,
however. The average shrub is four to
six feet with trunks about two inches
thick It is similar in appearance to
the sandal wood brush but the leaf is
more elongated and OF a waXy, light
grayish tinge. The stems of the young
shoots have a reddish tinge of color
About a month or so after the trop-
ical rains have fallen the aboriglnes
make pilgrimages to this section and
piuck the young shoots. These run
from six inches to q foot in length. The
sprigs make their first growth in Win
ter. then, receiving the full beneht OF
the warm tropical rains, shoot forth
Young and luXuriant tendrils
After the blacks have gathered these,
they line themselves out in skirmlsnlng
order. and set fire to the spinifeX IA
sort of porcupine or turpen1ne grass
which. being lightly charged with ma
tive volatile matter, burns, no matter
how green 1t isl. This firing serves two
purposes. One of these purposes is TO
hnnt out the game which takes shelter
on the sand hills; the other, ana Iar
more important purpose served, is the
scorching of the trunks and limbs OF
the pituri shrub This causes shoots
70 spr-ing from the roots and butts for
the next years crop. After the sprigs
or shoots have been pulled and col
Iected. large fires are made on
the deep sands of the lowlands near
their cafaps When the brushwood of
these fires is burnt into coal, these
and the ashes are mixed with the
sand; the newly gathered pituri. IS
distributed regularly and placed in a
he'd of this sand made for that pur-
nose. 1t is then covered over with the
mixture CT hot sand and ashes. This
serves two purposes also. The one IS
70 dry the pituri 50 that 1t is easily
carried: the other, to cook IL and re-
tain its virtue, as in drying tea. The
herb is then ready for use, in trade
The virtue of the plant is in the cooked
leaves and the tender portion Of the
stem. The blacks then start away
with it for tribal use and barter. and
II finds its way through the nomadic
tribes hundreds of miles away over
western Australia, and to the Darling
river in New South Wales. which is
nearly 1000 miles from where it is
gathered. All along the Paroo, War
rego tributaries Of the Darling) and
on the Butler and BarcOe. in Queens
land. I found the tribesmen using and
trafficking in this sleep-giving drug of
the Pituri tribes of North Queensland.
I have only spoken of its preparation
for commercial purposes.
The ingenious race prepare il, fur
Their. for private use, in the following
manner: The leaves and tendrils are
broken into minute pieces by the
blacks with their fingers, and then put
into their mouths to be dampened
After wetting, as above. the particles
prepared for that purpose. The leaves
of the sidyah "a species of acacia) or
those OF any species of the mamosa
are taken and dried in hot ashes, then
put in the flames of q fire-an ordi-
nary fire made from any substance--to
light them AS these gidyah or ma
1nosa' leaves burn they are held over
the wet pituri on the stone so that
the white ashes Of the burning leaves
fail on the dampened stuff beneath.
This process finished, these ashes and
the pituri are well mixed together by
violent rubbing.
The strange drug is then ready for
use