Evening star., 1901-11-22
ABoRlGINEs OF AUSTRALIA
suPERsTITTONs, SONGS, CUSTOMS AND
HABITS OF MAORIs.
Being Driven by Civilization Into the
Burning Heart of the
Continent.
Sydney Correspondence London Standard.

The Australian aboriginal will soon be q
scientific curiosity. For some years he
may exc out a miserable existence in that
mysterious far north country out Of which
come thrilling stories Of raiding and cat
tie spearing and attacks on solitary sta
tions. In Queensland. too, he may still be
a menace to the mining prospector and
| stock drover. But his doom is certain.
Driven deeper and deeper into the burning
heart Of the continent. he must disappear.
The "black fellows" we have seen in towns
like Albany, Brisbane and Sydney are not
likely to awaken regrets. There is nothing
Of the noble savage about them. Tne
women are bundles Of bones, held together
with dirty kangaroo skins and filthy blan-
kets, beneath which crawl legs no thicker
than broomsticks. The men are more nu-
man. Tall. deep-chested. with undevslopea
calves and thighs, broad. massive heads
covered with wavy black hair, fiat-nosed.
thick-lipped, dark and brilliant Of eye, they
form a distinct ethnic group. race apart
from the rest OF mankind Ihey were at
their best in the corrobborees at Brisbane
and Sydney, to which the Duke and Duch-
ess of Cornwall were invited. No one seems
decided as to the meaning of corroboo-
rec. Some say 1t Is war dance--others
a pagan rite. From what 1 could learn in
talk with the natives, the corrobboree at
Brisbane was dance to celebrate recovery
from the eating of poisonous fish.
in row. singing a plaintive chant, to the
cadence of which they beat time with their
fists on opossum skins rolled tightly to-
gether and held like drum between the
knees. The men lay on the ground as II
dead. About their lofns were gtrdles OF
skin, and their bodies were painted in fan
ciful designs. Two white lines stretched
from shoulder to waist; two or three white
stripes were drawn around the upper arm;
each eye was crcled with white, broad
band Of white ran along the side Of the
nose; on forehead and cheeks were white
dots. Some of the young men wore TUFTS
of emu feathers in their hair, the glossy
blackness of which was hidden under daubs
of red, and from their knees hung green
boughS. AS the women sang and beat
upon the "planggi' they rolled their eyes
and showed white cleaning teeth. Sud
denly the men sprang to their feet, and,
moving in rhythmic measure, swelied the
chorus. Each carried two waddtes, or
clubs, which he struck together At first
the music was slow and grave. but as the
dance went on it grew wilder and wilder,
until measure and cadence were lost, ana
the men flung themselves into an excited
mob, brandfshng weapons and shouting
deep-toned ugh that sounded like an
echo of the Maori war cry.
DenseIy Ignorant.
1 tried in vain to get copy a transla-
ton of the song. 1t would seem that the
natives themselves do not understand what
they sing. At any rate, they find 1t diff
cult to explain the meaning. The Austria
liam aborigine has no records, written or
pictorial. unless some significance can be
attach to the 'red hands impressed on
the roofs of rock shelters, such as those
at Port Hacking, Of which Mr.. Walter X.
Harper has given an interesting account
before the Linnean Society OF New South
Wales. Apart from few primitive weap-
ons and ornaments, which give no indica-
tion Of originality Of progressive inge-
nuty, the race have left nothing by which
- fa ltxy Of
invention appears to have been wanting,
and their physical habits and requirements
seem to have been little higher than those
of the animals they hunted on the grassy
plains Their dwellings never got beyond
few boughs rudely thrown together as
protection against wind and rain. They
never domesticated any animal, unless the
dinge, wild dog, may be included in that
category. The soil they never cultivated,
being content to live on roots Of fern and
the flesh of wallaby and kangaroo, and on
shellhsh. or. failing these, on the hesh OF
their fellows. All attempts to bring them
within the pale of civilization have failed.
Many thousands of pounds and the lives
and energies of many missionaries have
been spent in the effort, but no permanent
results have been attained.
AS race they have proved irreclaimable,
and If they are less savage than their fore
fathers it is only because the presence OF
white people has set limits to the opportu-
mites Of barbarism. The degraded and
primitive state in which the aborigines
have remained Is the more remarkable be-
cause their language and tribal system
give evidence of growth and organization.
Their language, as Mr.. George Taplin has
shown, Is singular for the complexity Of
its structure, for the number of its inflec-
tionS and the precision with which 1t
be used I'VE find says Mr.. Taplin, 1.-The
dual number throughout. We also have six
cases in each declension of nouns and pro-
nouns. and double set of personal pro-
nouns for the sake Of euphony and express
sion. Verbs are regularly formed from
roots consisting either Of vowel and
two consonants or of two yowels and three
consonants. The names Of human relation
ship are far more copious than in English.
In many respects they have niceties Of
preston that we do not find in own
language" The absence Of abstract and
generic phrases Is marked, and there are
no traces of fgurative or poetic speech
common among the Maoris and other races
who have just emerged out Of barbarism.
If the development Of language and the
complexities of grammar are mark of
civilization, it might be inferred that the
Australian "black fellow" sprang orfgi-
nally from people who had made some
advance toward civilization. This reason
ing receives not little support from many
customs, the purpose and meaning of which
have long been forgotten.
Tribal Manners.
Before the arrival of the white man,
each tribe exercised territorial rights over
districts whose boundaries were known and
respected At the head Of every clan was
an elective chief. who led them in war and
administered justice with the aid OF
council Of elders. Degrees of kinship were
reckoned very much after the manner
among North American Indians and the
Tamails and Telugus Of southern India.
Relationship was dependent on sex, and
not on consanguinity. Thus. uncles on the
fathers side are called father" while
the sisters of the father are one degree re-
moved, and are "aunts' or 'barno." The
mothers sisters are 'nainkowa" or ''moth-
ers," and the mothers brothers are wan
owe'' uncles. The children of the faith
ers brothers are called brothers and
SISTERS" while the children of the moth
ers sisters and of the fathers sisters are
cousins" The principle of consanguinity
is carried through all the degrees of at
finity. Children are named after the place
in which they are born. but names are
changed at will and without apparent rea-
son. The totem system is observed, and
none may marry his own totem. the tribal
symbol of which is a bird, beast, a rep
tile fish, or an insect. Marriage is made
by barter Of females, the woman having
ST.