Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-29

are also run down with dogs and spears.
The natives trap birds of all kinds and In
all sorts of ways, They catch pigeons by
throwing nets over them as they sit
about the water holes. They go into the
water with bushes about their heads and
sneak upon the ducks and cranes which
are swimming there. They also catch fish
with nets, and sometimes poison the water
with certain plants and capture the fish
as they rise to the surface. They catch
catfish by tramping through the streams
and getting the fish under their feet In
such cases the native kills the fish by Bit
ing deeply into it's flesh just back of the
head. He then throws it out upon the
bank knowing that it will not wriggie its
way back into the water, and feels about
for more.
The Question of Cannfbals.
There is no doubt but that the Australian
aborigines are more or less cannibals The
records show that they have always been
So and that the eating Of human flesh ex-
lists in some parts of Australia today. Carl
Lumholtz, to whom 1 am indebted for
some of the information in this letter, has
written book entitled Among the Canni-
balls" picturing his travels through the
camps of the Australian aborigines; the
government records also contain instances
of cannibalism. About twelve years
ago a man named Edwards saw the ma
tives roasting infant in one of their
ovens. He watched the blacks open the
body and begin eating the fat, but the
sight made him SO faint that he was not
able to continue his observations.
Lumholtz says the natives especially
like the flesh of a black man, and that
any sort of a human being is eaten
as the choicest delicacy. There are
parts of this state of Queensland where
children who die suddenly are roasted. and
there proofs that native children nave
been killed for food. In western Queens
Ian he HaSh of he
ferred, but half-caste children are roasted
and eaten. 1t is said. however, that the
people do not care for white mans flesh,
although they are by no means adverse to
a rare bit of Chnaman. There is one in
stance recorded of ten Cinnamon being eat
en- at one dinner and the statement is
made that the preference for such meat
over that of the white man is because the
white man eats animal food. while the Chi
nese confine themselves largely to rice and
vegetables.
Throwing the Boomerang.
I bought several boomerangs the other
day paying about 80 cents apiece for them.
They are merely little fiat bows made of
wood, each about two inches wide and from
twenty inches to a yard long. They have
a natural twist in them and are so shaped
that when thrown they return to the own
The natives display great skill In
throwing them, but do not, as l had sup
posed, use them to any extent as a weapon
of war, For fighting and for all heavy
hunting they prefer spears and lances.
They have spears which weigh as much as
four or five pounds, and which are eight or
nine feet in length Some spears
barbed with bone, flint iron. The ma
tives throw them with great skill. and are
so treacherous in their that the
plorer has to watch out that he does not
receive a spear in his back The BOOM
erang is sometimes used for killing small
birds, but it is to a large extent play
thing.
Ghosts and Witch Doctors.
AS far 1 can learn, the aborigines have
no Great Father like that of our Indians,
although they believe in a future state and
happy hunting grounds. They have a great
dread of ghosts and demons and think that
certain places, such as caves and thickets,
are haunted by them. They have witch
doctors who cure their diseases which they
think come from the spirits. The doctors
pretend to locate the demon, and they suck
pieces of wood out of the body where the
pain is. They believe that most of their
woes are due to Sorcery, and that certain
men can cause others to fall sick and die
If they 50 wish. They believe their medi-
cine men can make rain, and hold them re-
sponsihle for all their sufferings. They
nave all sorts of charms to bring on and
ward off evil spirits, and of late have an
nounced their belief that the white settlers
are dead natives come to life again and
that they themselves will after death again
appear as white men.
Queer Methods of Burial.
The future state of the aborigine depends
largely on how he is buried, and the men
are very careful to inter their dead after
certain rites. As to the women and chill
dren, they are of no account either dead
or alive, and their remains are usually
rolled up in rugs or between sheets of bark
and thus buried woman will often car
ry dead child for a month before she
buries it, laying the body under her head
at night and sleeping upon it, notwth-
standing the horrible odor
The men are usually bundled up before
burial The knees of the corpse are forced
up 10 It's neck and tied there, the arms are
tied to the sides and the calves forced IN
TO the thighs and there tied. Then a rug
or some pieces of bark are fastened about
the body, and 1t is buried three or four feet
deep In the sand, mound covered with
logs being erected above it,
In other parts of Australia cremation 10
practlced. while In other sections the dead
bodies are dried before the fire until thew
turn into mummies. Some tribes Law the
DEAD out upon platforms in the trees and
allow the birds to clean the bones lust es
the fhrsees DO upon their Towers of ST.
renee at Bombay. After this the bones are
buried In the earth or dropped into a ho1.
10" tree. FRANK G. CARPENTER
WHY MEN BECOME DRINK
fhflosophy of Inebriety Considered
by Learned Writer.