Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-28
A Dying Race : Aus
trali0n BuShrncn.

The race of the red Indian In this
country is usually pictured as a pathetic
instance of a dying people, yet the In
dams have increased rather than dimin.
ished In numbers during the past 10
years. On the other hand, several Inn
portant races are swiftly passing out OF
existence, and will soon be known to his
tory only. OF these the most interesting
Is, perhaps, the race Of aboriginal blacks
of Australia and the islands close to the
smallest of the worlds continental
masses of land. Scientists estimate that
another century will see the last Of the
Australians.
Their customs are very different from
those of the black races Of Africa, and
1t Is evident that the migration must
have taken place thousands Of years
back, If the Australian blacks did not In
habit their native soil at a time when
Australia was Joined to the Asian main
land by a narrow chain of lofty noun
tains whose rocky tops even now lie not
very far below the surface of the Pacific
Ocean.
As far as religious feelings go the
Australian black employs devil worship In
its crudest form. The devil, or ''Jingy,"
as the natives term the evil spirit, is con-
stantly avoided, and the curious fact that
the blacks never stop in any one camp
for more than three days is based on
the supposition that the devil is always
on his track hunting him. The number
three is the mystic figure in the dull
brains of these. natives, and the 'rule of
three" is the one by which their every
act is governed. Thus they stay In each
bush-camp for three days. They dig
g.. IL. A., NA-wr. t.
der to fool "Jingy." The body is placed
in the middle grave upon a thick bed Of
leaves and the knees are tied up against
the breast with lashlngs of tree boughs
and the arms are crossed over the breast.
The head Is turned toward the east, and
In this the native worship of the sun Is
alone visible. Spears and the dead mans
boomerang are piled on top the inch of
earth thrown over the grave and the
burial is done with. The black man OF
Australia can count up to three, but be-
yond that his brain seems impossible to
lead.
The race is anything but a, handsome
one and is made even horrible In ap-
pearance by number of deforming
customs. The men are rudely tatooed.
and these places frequently tester and
turn into bad sores. The women show
the left shoulder and breast, which has
queer Jumps of fesh nearly white in
color. When a girl child is born the
women take 1t and, with sharp hlnts,
cash the left shoulder and breast, and
white sand is put into the wounds On
healing these gashes turn almost white
and form hideous Jumps These are the
distinctive marks of beauty and fashion
for the woman black Of Australia.
With the males their prime ornament Is
to wear the thin splinter bone OF the hind
leg of the kangaroo. This is usually four
inches long, and is bored straight through
the part of the nose separating the nos
trlls This is the sign OF bachelor
among these natives. For diet they like
kangaroo, 'pOssum, dog, fish, whale, seal,
lizards, grubs and, In fact, almost any
thing viii do, as these careless, lazy
people often starve to death where human
beings of even fair intelligence would not
experience any hardships When food Is
plenty they stun until Ill and waste
more than they eat.
The weapons used for the chase and
war are the same and very poor. As a
matter of fact the Australian blacks
never put up any fight against the white
men. They are not at to be compared
with the American red men, but ran like
rabbits from the first white settlers. They
rank among the lowest OF the human
races. being above only the pgmies In
Central Africa and the tree people Of the
Philippine Islands They use stone
headed spear, weak and short, but are
quick in thrusting and throwing with
these weapons. The boomerang, or kliey,
Is the only interesting weapon they have,
and with the coda. OF stone hatchet. are
the only weapons they had invented when
turned out by white settlers.
They never wore clothes In their natural
state. but occasionally a kangaroo skin Is
put on by chiefs as an ornament or sign
OF power and pride. The babies are swung
on the mothers back IN a skin OF kan
garoo called the ''booka" The men are
allowed all the wives that each can sup
port. and on a mans death the women
simply migrate 70 the family Of some
other native, usually near relative OF
the dead man. There are nov about 1000
natives employed by white settlers IN
Australia near the Wilder Bacti0na of the