The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1904-03-04
NEW TRIBE is FOUND
Grange 4 ace. Of People Discovered
inyAustralia..
pcacefalIy Disposed and Exec fnsiS
SIM, In Customs-Rece.ve
white Explorers CeN-
daily.

the existence III tHo AuA HSi Va
ple who had never previously seen
white man. The discoverers, reports the
London Globe, were DR. Roth, tne
Queensland protector Of northern apo-
rhymes WI. is, perhaps, more famlilar
with aboriginal life and character tnah
ia any other individual In the common
wealth. and Charles Hedley, the con-
chologist of the Sydney museum. lhey
were making a scientific tour OF the Gull
of Carpentaria and Of the wellesley
archipelago ct the southern end Oh the
gulf. Movnington island, which has an
area of ten by 40 miles, was discovered
by Capt. Matthew Flinders in l8oz whlle
surveying and mapping out the guit,
but he does not appear to have lahdeo
on it. Since that time the island mas
been known only by name. is not an
inviting place for the settler, the SOIL
being poor, with extensive tracts Oh
marshy country. There is plenty OF
bush and coarse forest, and this anords
shelter to large numbers OF kangaroos
and other ANIMALS, which furnish
plentiful supply Of food for the island
ers
Dr. Roth and Mr.. Hedley experienced
no difficulty in effecting landing, and
found the islanders, scientifically
speaking, an interesting people, their
modes Of living and general character
istics showing that they had been separ
rated from the mainland natives for
many generations. With one exception,
an aboriginal who had visited the
shores Of the gulf, none of the islanders
had ever seen a white man, and the use
of clothing, however scanty, was un-
known to both sexes alike. The visitors,
together with some tame" blacks
that is, natives who have been educated
at the mission station In northern
Queensland and elsewhere-remained
on the island three days, employing the
tame" blacks az guides and scouts, and
1t was speedily discovered that the latter
could converse in fashion with the
islanders, whose language was a dia-
lectical version ri that of the gulf ma
tives Great caution had to be observed
by the visitors, who we're always armed,
the islanders having spears and few
boomerangs, but always running away
as the white men advanced At last,
however, couple OF the islanders were
induced to make friends with the two
explorers, whom they regarded with
stolid gaze, as If their unexpected ap-
pearance was an every day occurrence.
This seeming Indifference Is an aborig
inal characteristic. Their assumed
apathy vanished the moment that DR..
Roth and Mr., Hedley lighted their pipes.
They stared In bewilderment and, ac-
cording to the tame" boys, declared
that the white men were burning their
mouths.
They were equally astonished when
match was used for lighting fire and a
billy" employed for boiling water.
Mr., Hedley distributed among them
number of penny whistles which he had
brought from Sydney, and soon the bush
began to be filled with sounds to which
1t had previously been stranger.
The islanders, who form race new
to ethnologists, are supposed to be
retrograde type, or else more primitive
type than the ordinary Australian abo-
riginal. They do not make huts, as do
the natives on the mainland, but simply
collect heaps of grass and sleep on the
bare ground to the leeward of them, Ar
ticles which have to be carried from one
place to another are wrapped In bark,
the use of baskets being unknown, as Is
that of canoes, the water craft employed
being rudely constructed RATS, consist
ing each OF a couple of logs with some
light weed propelled by branches as
paddles, Compared with the natives
on the mainland the islands seemed far
behind in knowledge of even the rudest
aboriginal appliances. They have, how
ever stringent system of tribal classi-
ilcation, intended to represent different
degrees of relationship and to assist In
preventing too close intermsrriage. The
origin of this system, SO prevalent
among all classes of Australian aborig-
lnals, remains an unsolved mystery. Its
existence ON Mornington island was dis
covered by Dr. Roth when one of the
islanders refused to speak to one OF the
tame boys because he was his father
ln-law"
Only members Of the tribe belonging
to the same class are allowed to marry,
and much to the amusement OF the two
explorers, they found an island woman
flirting with one of the tame" blacks.
she having ascertained that both be-
longed to the same class and that she.
therefore, could marry him II he were
willing, Notwithstanding the rough
nature of life among the islanders they
looked strong and healthy, although
somewhat understood, and were appar-
ent of . peaceful disposition, They were
ignorant of the arts of cultivation, their
food consisting OF wild fruits fish and
meat fire being obtained by rubbing a
couple of sticks together. Except their
weapons and a few cooking appliances
there is no personal property, almost
everything being shared in common.
II is probable that second visit may be
paid to the island few months hence,
when some further information respect
ing the islanders win be proeurahle.
there being an opinion that further in
yestigation will assist in throwing some