Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. L161 — 1141 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/detaiis/unciviiizedraces02wood_0 / '4 •-,V- >• A IIEFKESE^’TATION OF UNCIVILIZED ISLANDERS AND INDIANS. THE UNCIVILIZED EACES OF MEN IN ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD ; A COMPEEIIEWSIVE ACCOUE'T OF THEIB MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS, AND OF THEIB PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, MENTAL, MOBAL AND BELIGIOUS CHABACTEBISTICS. Lev. J. (1. WOOD, I.A., E.L.S. AUTHOR OF “illustrated NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS,” “ANECDOTES OF ANIMAL LIFE,” “HOMES WITHOUT HANDS,” “ BIBLE ANIMALS,” “COMMON OB.IECTS OF THE COUNTRY AND SEASHORE,” ETC. WITH NEW DESIGNS BY ANGAS, DANBY, WOLF, ZWECKEE, •iisr TWO VOL. II. Etc., 1. iv,,. e rv S?' o/ r A. HARTFORD:^ THE J. B. BURR PUBL.ISHING CO, 18 7 5 . 4 . • 5 ‘: ^ \j\]3bxx j.Z. PREFACE. In this volume will be found a selection of the most interesting uncivilized tribes that inhabit, or once inhabited, America and the vast number of islands which lie between that country and the eastern coast of Asia, including among them the great groups of Australia and New Zealand. A short notice is given of the long-perished Lake-dwellers of Switzerland, and the partial civilization of India, China, Japan and Siam is also represented. * My best thanks are due to the Geographical and Anthropological Societies, for the constant access permitted to their libraries, and to the Curator of the ‘‘ Christy Collection,” for the assistance which he rendered in the illustration of the work. 879907 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. Ctap, Page. AUSTRALIA. LXIX. Appearance and Character OF Natives 694 LXX. Dress — Food 703 LXXI. Weapons 719 LXXIL — Concluded 727 LXXIII. War — Amusements 744 LXXIV. Domestic Life 755 LXXV. From Childhood to Manhood 761 LXX VI. Medicine — Surgery — Dispo- sal OF Dead 769 LXXVII. Dwellings — Canoes 784 NEW ZEALAND. LXX Yin. General Remarks. .......... 792 LXXIX. Drt^ss 800 LXa.X. Dress — Concluded 807 LXXXI. Domestic Life 816 LXXXII. Food and Cookery 826 LXXXIII. War 838 LXXXIV. Canoes 852 LXXXV. Religion 856 LXXXVI. The Tapu 863 LXXXVII. Funeral Ceremonies — Archi- tecture 869 NEW CALEDONIA. LXXXYin. Appearance — Dress — War- fare.... 883 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. LXXXIX. Origin of Natives — Appear- ance — Character — Educa- tion 888 NEW GUINEA. XC. Papuans and Outanatas 898 XCI. The Alfoers or Haraforas. 905 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. XCII. The Ajitas or Ahitas 919 FIJI. XCITI. Appearance — Dress 922 XCIV. Manufactures 929 XCV. Government — Social Life. . . 934 XCVI. War — Amusements 948 XCVIT. Religion — Funeral Rites... 960 SOLOMON ISLANDS AND NEW HEBRIDES. XCVin. Character— Dress— Customs, 968 Chap. Page. TONGA. XCIX. Government— Gradations of Rank 976 C. War and Ceremonies 984 CL Sickness — Burial— Games. . . 997 SAMOA, OR NAVIGATOR’S ISLAND. CII. Appearance — Character — Dress 1008 cm. War 1016 CIV. Amusements — Marriage — Architecture 1028 HERVEY AND KINGSMILL ISLANDS. CV. Appearance — Weapons — G of^ ERNMENT MARQUESAS ISLANDS. CVT. Dress — Amusements — War — Burial 1044 NIUE, OR SAVAGE ISLANDS. evil. Origin — Costume — Laws — Burial 1052 SOCIETY ISLANDS. C Vm. Appearance — Dress — Social Customs 1057 CIX. Religion 1064 CX. History — ,War — Funerals — Legends 1072 SANDWICH ISLANDS. CXI. Climate — Dress — Ornaments — Women 1081 CXII. War— Sport — Religion 1088 CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO. CXni. Dress, — Architecture, — Amuse- ments— War 1100 BORNEO. CXIV. The Dyaks, Appearance and Dress 1110 CXV. War 1119 CXVI. War — Concluded 1128 exvn. Social Life 1137 CXVin. Architecture, Manufactures,1149 CXIX. Religion— Omens— Funerals, 1157 CONTENTS, Chap. Page- TIEEKA DEL EUEGO. CXX. Appearance — Architecture — Manufactures 1161 PATAGONIANS. CXXI. Appearance — Weapons — Horsemanship 1172 CXXIL Domestic Life 1183 AEAUCANIANS. CXXIII. Dress — Etiquette — Govern- ment 1190 CXXIY. Domestic Life 1196 CXXV. Games— Social Customs 1201 THE GEAN CHACO. CXX VI. Appearance — Weapons — Character 1211 THE MUNDHEUCHS. CXXVn. Manufactures — Social Cus- toms 1215 THE TEIBES OF GUIANA. CXXVIII. Weapons 1221 CXXIX. W^EAPOifS — Concluded 1228 CXXX. War— Superstition 1239 CXXXL Architecture — Social Cus- toms 1245 CXXXn. Dress— Amusements .1255 CXXXIII. Eeligion — Burial 1263 MEXICO. CXXXrV. History — Eeligion— Art — 1271 NOETH AMEEICAN INDIANS. CXXX V. Government — Customs 1 273 CXXXYI. War 1281 CXXXYII. Hunting— Amusements 1293 CXXXYIII. Eeligion — Superstition 1301 - CXXXIX. Social Life 1316 ESQUIMAUX. CXL. Appearance — Dress — Man- ners 1333 Chap. Page. CXLI. Hunting — Eeligion — Buri- al, 1338 YANCOUVEE’S ISLAND. CXLH. The Ahts, and Neighboring Tribes 13.54 CXLIII. Canoes — Feasts — Dances 1362 CXLIY. Architecture — Eeligion — Disposal of Dead 1369 ALASKA. CXLY. Malemutes — Ingeletes — Co- YUKONS 1374 SIBEEIA. CXLYI. TheTchuktchi— Jakuts— Tun- Gusi 1377 CXLYII. The Samoiedes — Ostiaks 1381 INDIA. CXL Yin. The Sowrahs and Khonds — 1385 CXLIX. Weapons 1395 CL. Sacrificial Eeligion 1407 CLI. The Indians, with relation TO Animals 1416 TAETAEY. CLH. The Mantchu Tartars 1422 CHINA. CLHI. Appearance — Dress — Food, 1426 CLIY. Warfare 1433 CLY. Social Characteristics 1441 JAPAN. CLYI. Dress — Art — Amusements . .1449 CLYH. Miscellaneous Customs 1458 SIAM. CLYIII. Government — Dress — Eeli- gion 1467 ANCIENT EUEOPE. CLIX. The Swiss Lake-Dwellers.. .1473 CHAPTEE LXIX. AUSTRALIA. THE NATIVE AUSTRALIANS — THE GENERAL CONFORMATION OF THE HEAD AND FJCA^URES — THEIR AVERAGE STATURE AND FORM — THE WOMEN AND THEIR APPEARANCE — CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES — THEIR THIEVISH PROPENSITIES — THEIR CUNNING, AND POWER OF DISSIMULATION — A PAIR OF CLEVER THIEVES — THE “GOOD NATIVE” — A CLEVER OLD WOMAN — INCENTIVES TO ROBBERY — HIDEOUS ASPECT OP THE OLD WOMEN — A REPULSIVE SUBJECT FOR AN ARTIST — YOUNGER WOMEN OF SAME TRIBE — THEIR STRANGE DRESS — THE CIRCULAR MAT CLOAK AND ITS USES — THE NATIVE BASKET — TREACHEROUS CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES — MR. BAINES’S NARRATIVE — THE OUTRIGGER CANOE OP NORTH AUSTRALIA, AND ITS PROBABLE ORIGIN — PIPE, AND MODE OF SMOKING — THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA, AND THEIR MARSUPIAL CHARACTER — CONFUSION OF NOMENCLATURE — EFFECT OF THE ANIMALS ON THE HUMAN INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTRY — PRIMARY USE OF WEAPONS. Following up the principle of taking the least civilized races in succession, we natu- rally pass to the great continent of Austra- lia and its adjacent islands. This wonderful country holds a sort of isolated position on the earth, owing to the curious contrast which reigns between it and all the lands with which we are familiar. It is situated, as my readers will see by ref- erence to a map, just below the equator, and extends some forty degrees southward, thus having at its northern extremity a heat which is tropical, and at its southern point a climate as cold as our own. But there is perhaps no country where the temperature is so variable as Australia, and there is one instance recorded where the thermometer registered a change of fifty degrees in twen- ty-five minutes. This sudden change is owing to the winds, which if they blow from the sea are cool, but if they blow toward the coast, after passing over the heated sand-wastes of the interior, raise the tem- perature in the extraordinary manner which has been mentioned. Still, the climate, changeable though it be, is a pleasant one; and the colonists who visit England nearly always grumble at the damp climate of the mother country, and long to be back again in Australia. Both the animal and vegeta- ble products of this country are strangely unlike those of other lands, but, as we shall have occasion to describe them in the course of the following pages, they will not be mentioned at present; and we will proceed at once to the human inhabitants of Aus tralia. It is exceedingly difficult, not to say im- possible, to treat of the aborigines of Aus- tralia with much accuracy of system. Dif- fering as do the tribes with which we are acquainted in many minor particulars, they all agree in general characteristics; and, whether a native be taken from the north or south of the vast Australian continent, there is. a similitude of habits and a cast of features which point him out at once as an Australian. The plan that will he adopted will there- fore be to give a general sketch of the na- tives, together with an account of those habits in which they agree, and then to glance over as much of Australia as trav- ellers have laid open to us, and to mention briefiy the most interesting of the manners and customs which exist in the several tribes. In color the Australians are quite black, as dark indeed as the negro, but with noth- ing of the negro character in the face. The forehead does not recede like that of the negro; and though the nose is wide, the mouth large, and the lips thick, there is none of that projection of jaw which renders the pure negro face so repulsive. The eye is small, dark, .and, being deeply sunken, it gives to the brows a heavy, overhanging sort of look. The hair is by no means close and woolly, like that of the negro, but is plenti- ful, rather long, and disposed to curl, mostly C694) PHYSICAL CIIAKACTEIUSTICS. G95 undulating, and sometimes even taking the form of ringlets. In texture it is very coarse and harsh, but cannot be described as wool. The beard and moustache are very thick and full, and the men take a pride in these ornaments, sometimes twisting the beard into curious shapes. Indeed, as a rule they are a hairy race. There is now before me a large collection of photographs of native Australiflns, in many of which the men are remarkable for the thickness of the beard, and some of them have their faces so heavily bearded that scarcely the nose is perceptible among the mass of hair that covers the cheeks nearly up to the eyes. Several of the elder men are very remarkable for the de- velopment of the hair, which covers the whole of the breast and arms with a thick coating of pile, and looks as if they were clothed with a tightly-fitting fur garment. The illustration Ko. 1, on the 698th page, will give a good idea of the features of the Aus- tralian. It is exactly copied from photo- graphic portraits; and although the subjects have disfigured themselves by putting on European dress, and the woman has actually combed her hair, the general cast of the fea- tures is well preserved. Ill stature the Australian is about equal to that of the average Englishman — say five feet eight inches, although individuals much below and above this height may be seen. The bodily form of the Australian savages is good, and their limbs well made. There are several well-knov.^n drawings of Australians, which have been widely circulated on ac- count of their grotesqueness, and which have been accepted as the ordinary form of this curious people, and they have given the idea that the native Australian is distinguished by a very large head, a very small body, and very long and attenuated limbs ; in fact, that he is to the European what the spider-mon- key is to the baboon. Such drawings are, however, only taken from exceptional cases, and give no idea of the real contour of the native Australian. Indeed, Mr. Pickering, who traversed the greater part of the world in search of anthro- pological knowledge, writes in very strong terms of the beautiful forms which can be seen- among these natives. “ The general form, though sometimes defective, seemed on the average better than that of the negro, and I did not find the undue slenderness of limb which has been commonly attributed to the Australians. Strange as it may ap- pear, I would refer to an Australian as the finest model of human proportions I have ever met with, in muscular development combining perfect symmetry, activity, and strength; while his head might have com- pared with an antique bust of a philosopher.” Those of my readers who happened to see the native Australians that came over to England as cricketers and athletes in general must have noticed the graceful forms for which some of the men were lemarkable, while all were possessed of great cleganco of limb. The disadvantageous effect of European clothing on the dark races was well shown in these men, who seemed to undergo a posi- tive transformation when they laid aside their ordinary clothes for a costume which represented, as far as possible, the light and airy apparel of the native Australian. Dressed in gray, or clad in the cricketer’s costume, there was nothing remarkable about them, and in fact they seemed to be very ordinary persons indeed. But with their clothes they threw of their common- place look, and, attired only in tight “ fiesh- ings,” dyed as nearly as possible the color of their black skins, with a piece of fur wrapped round their loins and a sort of fur cap on their heads, they walked with a proiu\, elastic step that contrasted strangely with their for- mer gait. It may perhaps be said that this change of demeanor was only the natural result of re- moving the heavy clothing and giving free- dom to the limbs. This was not the case, for several professional English athletes con- tended with the Australians, and, when they came to run or leap, wore the usual light attire of the professional acrobat. In them, however, no such improvement took place, and, if anything, they looked better in their ordinary dress. The women are, as a rule, much inferior to the men in appearance. Even when young, although they possess symmetrical forms, their general appearance is not nearly so pleasing as that of the young African girl, and, when the woman becomes old, she is, if possible, even more hideous and hag-like than the African. This deterioration may partly be due to the^Bxceedingly hard life led by the women, or “ gins ” — in which word, by the way, the g is pronounced hard as in “ giddy.” -That they have to do all the hard work, and to carry all the heavy weights, including the children, while their husbands sit or sleep, or, if on the march, burden them- selves with nothing more weighty than their weapons, is to be expected, as it is the uni- versal practice among natives. But it is not so much the hard work as the privation which tells upon the woman, who is treated with the same contemptuous neglect with which a savage treats his dog, and, while her hus- band, father, or brother, is feasting on the game which she has cooked, thinks herself fortunate if they now and then toss a nearly cleaned bone or a piece of scorched meat to her. Like most savages, the Australian natives are adroit and daring thieves, displaying an amount of acuteness in carrying out their designs which would do honor to the most expert professional thief of London or Paris. In his interesting ,y/ork entitled “ Savage Life and Scenes,” Mr. G. F. Angas has re- 696 AUSTRALIA. lated several anecdotes respecting this pro- pensity. “ Leaving Rivoli Bay, we fell in with two very droll natives, the only ones who had made hold to approach our camp ; both were in a state of nudity. One of these fellows was a perfect supplejack; he danced and capered about as though he were filled with quicksilver. We mounted them on horses, from which they were continually tumbling off, and they travelled with us all clay. “When we encamped at an old resting- place, near Lake Howden, they, by signs, requested permission to remain by our fires, which we allowed them to do, and gave them for supper the head and refuse of a sheep that was just killed and hung up to a tree near the tents. They showed great surprise on seeing our various utensils and articles of cookery. So modest and well-behaved did these artful gentlemen appear, that they would not touch the slightest article of food without first asking permission by signs; and they so far gained our confidence that one of them was adorned with a tin plate, suspended round his neck by a string, on which was inscribed ‘ Good Native.’ “ In the dead of the night we were all aroused by the unusual barking of the dogs. At first it was supposed that the wild dogs were ‘ rushing ’ the sheep ; but as the tumult increased, the Sergeant-Major unwrapped his opossum rug, and looked around for his hat, to go and ascertain the cause of the dis- turbance. To his surprise, he found that his hat had vanished. The hat of his companion, who lay next him near the fire, was also no- where to be found; and, casting his eyes to the spot where the sheep hung suspended from the tree, he saw in a moment that our fond hopes for to-morrow’s repast were blighted, for the sheep too had disappeared. The whole camp was roused, when it was ascertained that forks, spoons, and the con- tents of the Governor’s canteen, pannikins and other articles, were likewise missing, and that our two remarkably docile natives had left us under cover of the night. “ A council of war was held. Black Jimmy protested that it was useless to follow their tracks until the morning, and that from the nature of the country they had doubtless taken to the swamps, walking in the water, so that pursuit was in vain. Wc had been completely duped by these artful and clever fellows, who probably had a large party of their colleagues lying in ambush amid the sur- rounding swamps, ready to assist in carrying away the stolen property. Retaliation was useless; and we contented ourselves by giving utterance to our imprecations and commenting on the audacity and cunning of the rogues until daybreak.” Another instance of theft — in this case single-handed — occurred not long before the robbery which has just been recorded. Wiile the exploring party was on the march, they fell in with a number of natives who were cooking their food. “ At our approach, they flew down the de- scent, and hid among the bulrushes; but one old woman, unable to escape as speedily as the rest, finding flight useless, began to chat- ter very loud and fast, pointing to her blind eye, and her lean and withered arms, as objects of commiseration. Damper was given to her and she continued in terror to chew it very fast without swallowing any, until she was almost choked; when suddenly she got hold of Gisborne’s handkerchief and made off with it. With a vigorous leap she plunged into the mud and reeds beneath, effecting her escape by crawling into the swamp and joining her wild companions, to whom she doubtless recounted her adventures that night over a dish of fried tadpoles.” The dish of fried tadpoles, to which al- lusion has been made, is quite a luxury among this wretched tribe, and, when the exploring party pushed on to the spot where the people had been cooking, it was found that they had been engaged in roasting a dish of water-beetles over a fire. It is impossible to withhold admiration for the skill displayed by these sable thieves in stealing the property which they coveted, and, in excuse for them, it must be remem- bered that the articles which were stolen were to the blacks of inestimable value. Food and ornaments are coveted by the black man as much as wealth and titles by the white man, and both these articles were ready to hand. The temptation to which these poor people was exposed seems very trifling • to us, but we must measure it, not from our own point of view, but from theirs. The strange visitors who so suddenly ap- peared among them possessed abundance of the very things which were dearest to them. There was a whole sheep, which would en- able them to enjoy the greatest luxury of which they could form any notion, i. e. eating meat to repletion; and there was store of glittering objects which could be worn as ornaments, and would dignify them forever in the eyes of their fellows. The happy possessor of a spoon, a fork, or a tin plate, which would be hung rourd the reck and kept highly polished, would be exalted above his companions like a newly ennobled man among ourselves, and it should not be ex- pected that such an oprortunity, which could never again be looked for, Avould be allowed to pass. The temptation to them was much as would be a title and a fortune arnong our- selves, and there are many civilized men who have done worse than the savage Aus- tralian when tempted by such a bait. Reference has been made to the haggard appearance of the old woman who so in- geniously stole the handkerchief, the love of finery overcoming the dread of the white man in spite of her age and hideous aspect, which would only be made more repulsive Oi' Qi ■ , \ ■ ' :\r~; ■* ^ ■ :;,vv5' ♦ ' h (1.) AUSTRALIAN MAN AND WOMAN. (See page 695.) (2.) WOMEN AND OLD MAN OF THE LOWER MURRAY AND THE LAKES. (See page 099.) ASPECT OF THE OLD WOMEK G99 by any attempt at ornament. It is scarcely possible to imagine the depths of ugliness into which an Australian woman descends after she has passed the prime of her life. As we have seen, the old woman of Africa is singularly hideous, but she is quite passa- ble when compared with her aged sister of Australia. The old Australian woman certainly does not possess the projecting jaws, the enor- mous mouth, and the sausage-like lips of the African, but she exhibits a type of hideous- ness peculiarly her own. Her face looks like a piece of black parchment strained tightly over a skull, and the mop-like, un- kempt hair adds a grotesque element to the features which only makes them still more repulsive. The breasts reach to the waist, flat, pendent, and swinging about at every movement; her body is so shrunken that each rib stands out boldly, the skin being drawn deeply in between them, and the limbs shrivel up until they look like sticks, the elbows and knees projecting like knots in a gnarled branch. Each succeeding year adds to the hideous look of these poor creatures, because the feebleness of increasing years renders them less and less useful; and accordingly they are neglected, ill-treated, and contemptuously pushed aside by those who are younger and stronger than themselves, sufiering in their turn the evils which in their youth they carelessly inflicted on those who were older and feebler. Mr. Angas has among his sketches one which represents a very old woman of the Port Fairy tribe. They had built their rude huts or miam-miams under some gum- trees, and very much disgusted the explor- ing party by their hideous appearance and neglected state. There was one old woman in particular, who exemplified strongly all the characteristics which have just been described ; and so surpassingly hideous, filthy, and repulsive was she, that she looked more like one of the demoniacal forms that Callot was so fond of painting than a veritable human creature. Indeed, so very disgusting was her appearance, that one of the party was made as ill as if he had taken an emetic. Hot wishing to shock my readers by the portrait of this wretched creature, I have introduced on page preceding, two younger females of the same tribe. The remarkable point about this and one or two^ other tribes of the same locality and the neighborhood, is the circular mat which is tied on their backs, and which is worn by both sexes. The mat is made of reeds twisted into ropes, coiled round, and fas- tened together very much as the archer’s targets of the present day are made. The fibres by which the reed ropes are bound together are obtained from the chewed roots <>f the bulrush. The native name for this mat is painrihoont. One of the women appears in her ordinary home dress, i. e. wearing the paingkoont and her baby, over wdiose little body she has thrown a piece of kangaroo skin. The mat makes a very good cradle for the child, which, when a^vake and disposed to be lively, puts its head over the mat and surveys the prospect, but wlicn alarmed pops down and hides itself like a rabbit disappearing into its burrow. The old woman, whose portrait is withheld, was clothed in the paingkoont, and wore no other raiment, so that the full hideousness of her form was exposed to view. The woman standing opposite is just start- ing upon a journey. She is better clad than her companion, having beside the paing- koont a rude sort of petticoat. On her back she has slung the net in which she places the roots which she is supposed to dig out of the ground, and, thrust through the end which ties it, she carries the dig- ging-stick, or katta, wdiich serves her for a spade.’ She has in her hand the invariable accompaniment of a journey, — namely, the fire-stick, smouldering amid dry grass be- tween two pieces of bark, and ahvays ready to oe forced into a flame by whirling i': round her head. Behind them is seated an old man, also wearing the mat-cloak, and having by his side one of the beautifully constructed na- tive baskets. These baskets are made, like the mat, of green rushes or reeds, and are plaited by the women. One of these bas- kets is illustrated in an engraving on the 722d page. The reader wdll doubtless ob- serve that the mode of plaiting it is almost identical "with that wdiich is emplo3"ed by the natives of Southern Africa, the rushes being twdsted and coiled upon each other and bound firmly together at short intervals by strong fibrous threads. They are rather variable in shape; some, which are intended to stand alone, being flat-bottomed, and others, which are always suspended by a string, ending in a point. In common with other savage races, the Australians are apt to behave treach- erously to the wdiitc man when they find themselves able to do so with impunity. This behavior is not always the result of ferocity or cruelty, though an Australian can on occasion be as fierce and cruel as any savage. Oftentimes it is the result of fear, the black people standing in awe of the white stranger and his deadly weapons, and availing themselves of their native cun- ning to deprive him of his unfair advan- tages as soon as possible. Ignorant of the object of travel, and hav- ing from infancy been accustomed to con- sieWr certain districts as the property of cer- tain tribes, and any man wdio intruded into the district of another as an enemy, it is but natural that when they see, especially for the first time, a man of different color from AUSTRALIA. "ioo themselves travelling through the country, such strangers must necessarily be enemies, come for the purpose of using against the aborigines the weapons which they possess. Again, a feeling of acquisitiveness has much to do with the treachery. Add to their ideas of the inimical character of the strangers the cupidity that must be ex- cited by ihe sight of the valuable property brought into their country by those whom they consider as enemies delivered into their hand, and there is no reason for wonder that they should take both the lives and the prop- erty of the strangers, and thus secure the valued trophies of war at the same time that they rid their country of strange and powerful enemies, and attain at one stroke an amount of wealth which they could not hope to gain through the labors of a life. This phase of their character is well shown by Mr. T. Baines, in a letter which he has Idndly allowed me to transfer to these pages. Ile^ was one of an exploring expedition, which had also undertaken to convey a num- ber of sheep and horses. “While making the inner passage along the coast, we fell in with several canoes, some of very rude con- struction, being in fact mere logs capable of carrying a couple of men, who, perhaps in terror of the telescopes pointed at them, did not approach us. “ Others were of greater size and power, being large hollowed logs, very straight and narrow, and steadied on either side bj^ other logs, pointed at the ends, and acting as out- riggers, neatly enough attached by pegs driven into them through a framing of bam- boo. Others again were strictly double canoes, two of the narrow vessels being con- nected by a bamboo platform so as to lie par- allel to each other at some little distance apart. “ They were manned by crews of from six to twelve, or even more in number, all. tol- erably fine fellows, perfectly naked, with shock heads of woolly hair and scanty beards. They were ornamented with scars and raised cicatrices tastefully cut on their shoulder and elsewhere. They were armed with long spears, some of them tipped with wood, others with bone, and having Rom one to four points. They also had" bows and ar- roAVs, as Avell as their curious paddles, the looms of Avhich Avere barbed and pointed, so as to be useful as spears. When these weap- ons Avere throAvn at a fish, the OAvner always plunged into the Avater after his Ayeapon, so as to secure the fish the moment that it Avas struck. “ Their arrival caused various emotions among our party. One gentleman ruined his revolver by hurriedly trying to load it, Avhile a little girl, so far from being afraid of them, traded Avith them for almost eveiy- thing they had in their canoes. Just as they dropped astern after reaching us, the cap- tain’s little daughtd^s were being bathed in a tub on the main-hatch, and, naturally enough, jumped out of their bath, and ran aft Avet and glistening in the sunlight, to hide themselves from the strange black fellows who were stretching themselves to look over our loAV bulwarks at the little naked white girls. “We bought spears, bows, arroAvs, tor- toise-shell, &c., for hats, handkerchiefs, and other things; and they were greatly inter- ested in the Avhite baby, Avhich, at their express request, Avas held up for them to look at.” Up to this point we find the natives mild and conciliatory, but Ave jAroceed Avith the letter, and find an unexpected change in their demeanor. “We had here an instance of the capri- ciousness of the natives. We met about a dozen on shore, and endeavored by all friendly signs to induce them to come to terms Avith us. We shoAved them that we had no guns, but our attempts Avere useless. They fell into regular battle array, AAoth their long spears ready shipped on the throwing sticks, six standing in front, and the rest acting as supi^orts l3ehind. As it was unsafe to parley longer, Ave mounted our horses, and again tried to make them understand that Ave Avished to be on friendly terms. It Avas all useless, and the only thing that Ave could do Avas to ride straight at them. They ran like antelopes, and gained the thick bush Avhere we could not folloAv them. B Avanted to shoot one of them, but I Avould not alloAv it. “ The prospect of killing and eating our horses seemed to be their great temjDtation. They made constant Avar upon our stud for a fortnight or three Aveeks, in my camp at Depot Creek, and I had to patrol the coun- try Avith B daily, to keep them from ringing the horses round Avith fire. “The character of the Australian canoe- men is variously spoken of, some reporting them as good-natured and peaceable, while others say that they are treacherous and savage. Both speak the truth from their OAvn experience. A fellow artist, aaLo gen- erally landed from a man-of-Avar’s boat, Avith the ship in the offing, found them peaceable enough, but poor Mr. Strange, the natural' ist, Avas murdered on one of the islands. “ While AA"e Avere on board our vessels, they Avere quite friendly; and even during my boat’s voyage of 750 miles, AA'hile we had a dashing breeze and the boat well under command, Ave found the groups Ave met Avith civil enough. But Avhen Ave Aver(s helplessly becalmed at the entrance, of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and supposed by the natives to be the unarmed survivors of some vessel Avrecked in Torres Straits, Ave Avere deliberately and treacherously attacked. “ We Avatched the preparations for nearly an hour through th.e telescope, and refrained THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA. 701 from giving them the slightest ground even to suspect that we looked on them otherwise than as friends. As soon as they thought they had us in their power, they began to throw spears at ns, so I put a rifle-bullet through the shoulder of the man who threw at us, to teach him the danger of interfering with supposed helpless boats, but did not tire again. The wounded man was led on shore by one of his mates, and we were not mo- lested again. “ These people are very capricious. They have the cunning and the strong passions of men, but in reason they are only children. Life is noit held sacred by them, and, when their thirst for blood is raised, they revel in cruelty.” These Australian canoes, with outriggers attached, indicate a Pol^mesian origin, as indeed do the bows and arrows, which will be fully described on a future page. The tobacco pipes in use in that part of Aus- tralia are curious. One form consists of a hollow tube as thick as a man''s arm, stopped at the ends and having one hole near the bottom into which is introduced the stem of a pipe, and another hole near the top through which the smoke is imbibed. Their use of the pipe is rather singular. When a party desires to smoke, the chief man lights the pipe, places his mouth to the orifice, and continually inhales until the interior of the hollow stem is filled with smoke. The bowl is then removed, and the aperture stopped with a plug which is kept in readiness. The first smoker closes with his thumb the hole through which he has been imbibing the smoke, and passes the pipe to his neighbor, who applies his lips to the hole, fills his lungs with smoke, and then passes the pipe to the next man. In this wa}g the tobacco is made to last as long as possible, and the greatest possible amount of enjoyment is got out of the least possible amount of material. The exterior of the stem is generally carved into the simple pat- terns which are found on nearly all Austra- lian weapons and implements. Before proceeding further with the char- acter and habits of the natives, we will cast a glance at the country which, they inhabit, and the peculiarities which have contributed toward forming that character. It is a very strange country, as strange to us as England would be to a savage Australian. Its vegetable and animal pro- ductions are most remarkable, and are so strange that when the earlier voyagers brought back accounts of their travels they were not believed; and when they exhibited specimens of the flora and fauna, they were accused of manufacturing them for the pur- pose of deception. In the first place, with a single exception, the mammalia are all marsupials, or eden- tates. The solitary exception is the dingo, or native dog, an animal which somewhat resembles the jackal, but is altogether a handsomer animal. Whether it be indig- enous, or a mere variety of the dog modi- fied by long residence in the country, is rather doubtful, though the best zoologists incline to the latter opinion, and say that the marsupial type alone is indigenous to this strange country. Of course the reader is supposed to know that the young of a marsupial animal is born at a very early age, and attains its full development in a supplementary pouch attached to the mother, into which pouch the teats open. The animal which is most characteristic of Australia is the kangaroo. Of this sin- gular type some forty species are known, varying in size from that of a tall man to that of a mouse. Some of them are known as kangaroos, and others as kangaroo-rats, but the type is the same in all. As their form implies, they are made for leaping over the ground, their enormously long legs and massive development of the hind quarters giving them the requisite power, while their long tails serve to balance them as they pass through the air. i^early all the so-called “rats” of Aus- tralia belong to the kangaroo tribe, though some are members of other marsupial fami- lies. Here I may mention that the nomen- clature of the colonists has caused great perplexity and labor to incipient zoologists. They are told in some books that the dingo is the only Australian animal that is not a marsupial or an edentate, and yet they read in books of travel of the bear, the monkey, the badger, the wolf, the cat, the squirrel, the mole, and so forth. The fact is, that, with the natural looseness of diction com- mon to colonists all over the world, the im- migrants have transferred to their new coun- try the nomenclature of the old. To the great trouble of index-searchers, there is scarcely a part of the world inhabited by our colonists where London, Oxford, Boston, and fifty other places are not multiplied. The first large river they meet they are sure to call the Thames, and it is therefore to be expected that natural history should suffer in the same way as geography. Thus, should, in the course of this account of Australia, the reader come across a pas- sage quoted from some traveller in which the monkey or bear is mentioned, he must remember that the so-called “monkey” and “bear” are identical, and that the animal in question is neither the one nor the other, but a marsupial, known to the natives by the name of koala, and, as if to add to the confusion of names, some travellers call it the sloth. The so-called “ badger ” is the wombat, probably called a badger because it lives in holes which it burrows in the ground. The Australian “ wolf” is another marsupial, belonging to the Basyures. and the “cat” 702 AUSTRALIA. belongs to the same group. The “ squirrels ” are all marsupials, and by rights are called phalangists, and it is to this group that the koala really belongs. As to the “ hedgehog,” it is the spiny ant-eater or echidna, and the “ mole ” is the celebrated duck-bill or orni- thorhynchus. With few exceptions these animals are not easily captured, many of them being nocturnal, and hiding in burrows or hollow trees until the shades of night conceal their movements; while others are so shy, active, and watchful, that all the craft of the hun- ter must be tried before they can be cap- tured. Much the same may be said of the birds, the chief of which, the emu, is nearly as large as an ostrich, and is much valued by the natives as food. It is evident, therefore, that the existence of these peculiar animals must exercise a strong influence on the char- acter of the natives, and must make them more active, wary, and quicksighted than the creatures on which they live. Possessing, as he does, the most minute acquaintance with every vegetable which can aflbrd him food, and even knowing where to obtain a pleiitiful supply of food and water in a land where an European could not find a particle of anything eatable, nor discover a drop of moisture in the dry and parched ex- panse, the Australian native places his chief reliance on animal food, and supports him- self almost entirely on the creatures which he kills. His appetite is very indiscriminate ; and although he prefers the flesh of the kan- garoo and the pigeon, he will devour any beast, bird, reptile, or fish, and will also eat a considerable number of insects. Conse- quently the life of the Australian savage is essentially one of warfare, not against his fellow-man, but against the lower animals, and, as the reader will see in the course of the following pages, the primary object of his weapons is the hunt, and war only a secondary use to which they are directed. CHAPTER LXX. AUSTRALIA — Continued, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES — DRESS AND ORNAMENTS OP NORTHERN AUSTRALIA — MODE OF DRESSING THE HAIR — THE “ DIBBI-DIBBI ” — TATTOOING AND CICATRIZING — PATTERN OF THE SCARS — SIGNIFICATION OF THE VARIOUS PATTERNS — POMP AND VANITY — THE NOSE- BONE — NECKLACES — THE GIRDLE AND TASSEL — TATTOOS AND SCARS AMONG THE WOMEN — THE TURTLE SCAR — HIGH SHOULDERS OF THE AUSTRALIANS — INDIFFERENCE TO DRESS — THEIR FUR MANTLES, AND THEIR USES — THE SEA-GRASS MANTLE — FOOD OF THE AUSTRALIANS — VEGETABLE FOOD — MODE OF PROCURING ROOTS — THE BIYU — THE NARDOO PLANT AND ITS USES — THE “burke AND WILLS” EXPEDITION — THE BULRUSH ROOT, ITS USE FOR FOOD AND ROPE MAKING — SUBTERRANEAN WATER STORES — MOLLUSCS, AND MODE OF COLLECTING THEM — HARD WORK FOR THE WOMEN — DIVING FROM THE RAFT — RELAXATION WHEN THEY RETURN HOME — COOKING THE MOLLUSCS AND CRUSTACEA— FISH CATCHING WITH LINE, NET,. AND SPEAR — INSECT FOOD — THE BEE CATCHERS — TREE AND EARTH GRUBS, AND MODE OF CATCHING THEM — THE PILEYAH — THE DUGONG — ITS LOCALITIES, AND MODES OF TAKING AND COOKING IT — CAPTURING AND COOKING THE GREEN TURTLE — CURIOUS USE OF THE SUCKING FISH — TAMING THE TURTLE — THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE, AND MODE OF CATCHING IT — TURTLE OIL AND DRIED FLESH — SALE OF TORTOISE-SHELL — TWO FORMS OF AUSTRALIAN OVENS — COOKING AND EATING SNAKES — CATCHING THE SNAKE ALIVE — THE CLOAK AND THE SHIELD— 7 THE DUGONG, AND ITS CAPTURE — SMALL TENACITY OF LIFE — A SAVORY FEAST. We will now proceed to the various man- ners and customs of the Australians, not separating them into the arbitrary and fluc- tuating distinctions of tribes, but describing as briefly as is consistent with justice, the most interesting of their habits, and men- tioning those cases where any particular custom seems to be confined to any one tribe or district. We have in the illustration No. 1, on page 707, a good example of a native of North W estern Australia. The sketch w^as kindly made by Mr. T. Baines. A profile of the man is given, in order to show the peculiar contour of the face, which, as the reader may see, has nothing of the negro character about it; the boldly prominent nose, the full beard, and the long hair fastened up in a top-knot being the distinguishing features. The man carries in his belt his provisions for the day, namely, a snake and one of the little kangaroo-rats, and having these he knows no care, though of course he would prefer larger game. Bound his neck may* be seen a string. This supports an ornament which hangs upon his breast. Several forms of this or- nament, which is called in the duplicative Australian language a “ dibbi-dibbi,” are employed, and there are in my collection two beautiful specimens made from the shell of the pearl-oyster. The ordinary dibbi-dibbi is fan-shaped, and does not depart very much from the original outline of the shell. There is, however, one kind of dibbi-dibbi which is valued exceedingly, and which is shaped like a crescent. The specimen in my possession is almost as large as a cheese plate, and must have been cut from an enormous shell, economy, whether of material or time, not being un- derstood by these savages. Ov Ing to the shape of the shell, it is slightly convex, and was worn with the concave side next the body. Not being satisfied with the natural smooth polish of the nacre, the native has ornamented the dibbi-dibbi with a simple but tolerably effective pattern. Along the margin of the scooped edge he has bored two parallel rows of small and shallow holes about half an inch apart, and on either side of each row he has cut a narrow line. From the outer line he has drawn a series of scal- loped patterns made in a similar fashion; and, simple as this pattern is, its effect is (703) 704 AUSTRALIA. really remarkable. The man has evidently begun a more elaborate pattern on the broad surface of the shell, but his mind seems to have misgiven him, and he has abandoned it. The cord by which it is suspended round the neck is nearly an inch wide, and is made of string and a sort of rattan plaited to- gether. On the shoulder of the man may be seen a number of raised marks. These are the scars of wounds with which the Australians are in the habit of adorning their bodies, and which they sometimes wear in great profusion. The marks are made by cutting deeply into the skin, and filling the wounds with clay and other substances, so that when the wound heals an elevated scar is made. These scars are made in patterns which partly differ according to the taste of the individual, and partly signifying the dis- trict to which the tattooed person belongs. For example, the scars as shown in the illustration are the mark of a Korthern Australian; and, although he may have plenty other scars on his body and limbs, these will always appear on his shoulder as the distinguishing mark of his tribe. In my photographs, which represent na- tives from various parts of the continent, these scars are very prominent, and there is not an individual who does not possess them. Some have them running longitu- dinally down the upper arm, while others have them alternately longitudinal and trans- verse. They occasionally appear on the breast, and an old man, remarkable for the quantity of hair which covered his breast and arms, has disposed them in a fan shai>e, spreading from the centre of the body to the arms. He has evidently spent a vast amount of time on this adornment, and suf- fered considerable pain, as scars, although not so large as in many other instances, are exceedingly numerous; the man has adorned his arms and shoulders with little scars of the same character arranged in regular lines. In some parts of Australia the scars as- sume a much more formidable appearance, being long and heavy ridges. One chief, who was very proud of his adornments, — as well he might be, seeing that their pos- session must nearly have cost him his life, — was entirely covered from his neck to his knees with scars at least an inch broad, set closely together, and covering the whole of the body. The front of the chest and stom- ach was adorned with two rows of these scars, each scar being curved, and reaching from the side to the centre of the body, where they met. The man was so inordi- nately proud of this ornament that nothing could induce him to wear clothing of any kind, and he stalked about in his grandeur, wearing nothing but his weapons. The photograph of this man has a very singular aspect, the light falling on the polished ridge of the scars having an elfect as if he were clad in a suit of some strange armor. By way of adding to the beauty of their countenances, they are in the habit of per- forating the septum of the nose, and of thrusting through it a piece of bone or stick, the former being preferred on account of its whiteness. It is almost impossible to de- scribe the exceedingly grotesque appearance presented by an Australian dandy, who has his body covered with scars, and his face crossed^ by a wide piece of bone some six inches in length, making his naturally broad nose wider, and seeming as it were to cut his face in half. The hole through which this ornament is tlirust is made when a child is a fortnight old. As to other ornaments, they consist of the usual necklaces, bracelets, and anklets which are common to savage tribes in all parts of the world. Some of these necklaces which are in my collection are really pretty, and some skill is shown in their manufacture. One is made of pieces of yellow reed as thick as quills and almost an inch in length, strung alternately with scarlet reeds; another is made entirely of the same reeds, while a third is, in my oi3inion, the handsomest, though not the most striking of them. At first sight it appears to be made entirely of the reeds already mentioned, but on a closer examination it is seen to be composed en- tirely of the antennae of lobsters, cut into short lengths and strung together. To the necklaces is attached a small mother-of- pearl dibbi-dibbi four inches long and one inch wide, and the pieces of lobster antennae are so disposed that the thinner parts of the antennae, taken from the extremities, come next to the dibbi-dibbi and hang on the breast, while the larger and thicker parts, taken from the base of the antennae, come bn the neck. The native basket in which these necklaces were kept is more than half filled with bright colored seeds of various hues, that are evidently intended for the manufacture of necklaces. Girdles of finely twisted human hair are often worn by the men, and the native who is represented in the engraving Ho. 1, on page 707, is wearing one of these girdles. Sometimes, as in the present instance, a small tassel made of the hair of a phalan- gist or “flying-squirrel,” as it is wrongly termed, is hung to the front of the girdle, by no means as a covering, but as an orna- ment. The scars are so highly valued that the women wear them nearly as profusely as the men. In my photographs, there are por- traits of many women of all ages, not one of whom is without scars. They do not wear them so large as the men, but seem to be more careful in the regularity of the pat- tern. Taking a series of three women, the first has three cuts on the shoulder, showing her THE TURTLE SCAR. 705 northern extraction, and a row of small hor- izontal and parallel scars along the front of the body from the breast-bone downward. The second, in addition to the shoulder cuts, has several rows of scars extending from the breast to the collar-bones, together with a central line as already described, and some similar rows of cuts on the ribs and sides. The third woman, a mere girl of fourteen or so, has been very careful in the arrangement of the scars, which descend in regular and parallel rows from the breast downward, and then radiate fan-wise in six rows from the breast upward to the collar bones. Mr. M’Gillivray, who accompanied II. M. S. Battlesnake in her voyage, writes as fol- lows concerning the scar ornaments and their uses : — “ The Torres Straits islanders are distinguished by a large complicated oval scar, only slightly raised, and of neat construction. This, which I have been told has some connection with a turtle, occupies the right shoulder, and is occasionally re- peated on the left. (See engraving at foot of page 722.) At Cape York, however, the cicatrices were so varied that I could not connect any particular style with an indi- vidual tribe. At the same time, something like uniformity was noticed among the Katchialaigas, nearly all of whom had, in addition to the horned breast mark, two or three long transverse scars on the chest, which the other tribes did not possess. “ In the remaining people the variety of marking was such that it appeared fair to consider it as being regulated more by indi- vidual caprice than by any fixed custom. Many had a simple two-horned mark on each breast, and we sometimes saw upon them a clumsy imitation of the elaborate shoulder mark of the islanders.’' Well-shaped as are these women, they have one defect in form, namely, the high and square shoulder, which detracts so much from feminine beauty, and which is equally conspicuous in the child of six, the girl of thirteen or fourteen, and the old woman. The men also exhibit the same defective form. The reader will have noticed the elaborate manner in which the hair of the Australian savage is sometimes dressed. ^ The style of hair-dressing varies with the locality, and often with the time, fashion having as abso- lute a reign among the native Australians, and being quite as capricious, as among our- selves. Sometimes the hair is twisted up into long and narrow ringlets, and, if the savage should not happen to have enough hair for this fashion, he straightway makes a wig in imitation of it. Now and then the head is shaved, except a transverse crest of hair, and sometimes the natives will take a fashion of rubbing red ochre and turtle-fat into their heads until they are saturated with the compound, and will then twist up the hair into little strands. 35 The men of this part of Australia never wear any dress, and the women are often equally indifierent to costume. At Cape York, however, they mostly wear an apol- ogy for a petticoat, consisting of a tuft of long grass or split pandanus leaves sus- pended to the front of the girdle. On great occasions, and especially in their dances, they wear over this a second petticoat mostly made of some leaf, and having the ends woven into a sort of waistband. The material of the petticoat is generally pan- danus leaf, but, whatever may be the mate- rial, the mode of plaiting it and the general form are the same among all the tribes of Torres Straits. From this useful leaf, the women also make the rude sails for their canoes, which serve the double purpose of sails and coverings under which the natives can sleep in wet weather. The women have rather a curious mode of wearing one of their ornaments. This is a very long belt, composed of many strands of plaited or twisted fibre, and passed round the body in such a manner that it crosses on the breast like the now abolished cross-belts of the soldier. It is drawn rather tight, and may perhaps be of some service in support- ing the bosom. In neither case does cloth- ing seem to be worn as a mode of concealing any part of the body, but merely as a defence against the weather or as an ornament. Even when dress is worn it is of a very slight character, with one or two exceptions. These exceptions are the fur cloaks, with which the women sometimes clothe themselves, and a remarkable garment which presently will be described. The fur cloaks are made almost universally from the skin of the opossum, and, as the animal is a small one, a considerable number are sewed together to make a single robe. The mode of manufacture is exactly similar to that which was described when treating of the kaross of the Kaffir tribes, the skins be- ing cut to the proper shape, laid side by side, and sewed laboriously together with threads formed of the sinews of the kangaroo’s tail, or often with those , which are drawn out of the tails of the very creatures which furnish the skin. Sometimes a piece of kangaroo skin is used for the same purpose, but in neither case does it fulfil the office of a dress according to our ideas. The cloak is a very small one in proportion to the size of the women, and it is worn by being thrown over the back and tied across the chest by a couple of thongs, so as to leave the whole front of the body un- covered. If the garment in question be the skin of the kangaroo, it is slung over one shoulder, and allowed to fall much as it likes, the only object seeming to be that it shall cover the greater part of the back and one shoulder. Occasionally a man wears a fur cloak, but he seems to be very indifferent as to the manner in which it hangs upon his 706 AUSTKALIA. body, sometimes draping it about his shoul- ders, sometimes letting it fall to his waist and gathering it about his loins, and some- times, especially if walking, holding two cor- ners together with his left hand in front of his breast, while his right hand grasps his bundle of weapons. Mr. Angas mentions one instance of a sin- gularly perfect dress in use among the Aus- tralians — the only dress in fact that is really deserving of the name. It is a large cloak made from the zostera or sea grass, a plant that is remarkable for being the only true flowering plant that grows in the sea. It has very long grass-like blades, and is found in vast bedSj that look in a clear sea like lux- uriant hay-fields just before mowing. The fibre of the zostera is long, and won- derfully tough, and indeed the fibre is so good, and the plant so abundant, that the uses to which it is now put, such as packing and stufiing, are far below its capabilities, and it ought to be brought into use for purposes for which a long and strong fibre are needed. Some time ago, when the supply of rags for paper seemed to be failing, there was an at- tempt made to substitute the zostera for rags; and, although it was not a perfectly success- ful experiment, it had at all events the ele- ments of success in it. With this long grass the Australian native occasionally makes a large cloak, which will cover the whole body. It is made by laying the fibres side by side, and lashing them to- gether at regular intervals, much as the well- known htew Zealand mantle is made from the phormium. Anxious to avoid trouble, tlie native only fastens together a sutficient quantity to make a covering for his body as low as the knees, the loose ends of the zostera being left as a kind of long fringe that edges the mantle all round, and really has a very graceful effect. The illustration ]STo. 2, on the next page, shows one of those curious mantles, which was sketched while on the body of the wearer. As the manufacture of such a mantle in- volves much trouble, and the Australian na- tive has the full savage hatred of labor, very few of these cloaks are to be seen. Indeed, nothing but a rather long inclement season will induce a native to take the trouble of making a garment which he will only use for a comparatively short period, and which is rather troublesome to carry about when not wanted. We now come to the food of the natives. As has already been stated, they eat almost anything, but there are certain kinds of food which they prefer, and which will be specially mentioned. As to vegetable food, there *are several kinds of yams which the more civilized tribes cultivate — the nearest approach to labor of which they can be accused. It is almost ex- clusively on the islands that cultivation is found, and Mr. M‘Gillivray states that on the mainland he never saw an attempt at clear- ing the ground for a garden. In the islands, however, the natives manage after a fashion to raise crops of yams. When they want to clear a piece of ground, they strew the surface with branches, which are allowed to wither and dry; hs soon as they are thoroughly dried, fire is set to them, and thus the space is easily cleared from vegetation. The ground is then pecked up with a stick sharpened at the point and hard- ened by fire ; the yams are cut up and planted, and by the side of each hole a stick is thrust into the ground, so as to form a support for the plant when it grows up. The natives plant just before the rainy season. They never trouble themselves to build a fence round the simple garden, neither do they look after the growth of the crops, knowing that the rains which are sure to fail will bring their crops to perfection. There are also multitudes of vegetable pro- ducts on which the natives feed. One of them, which is largely used, is called by them “biyu. ” It is made from the young and tender shoots of the mangrove tree. Tha sprouts, when three or four inches in length, are laid upon heated stones, and covered with bark, wet leaves, and sand. After being thoroughly stewed, they are beaten between two stones, and the pulp is scraped away from the fibres. It then forms a slimy gray- paste, and, although it is largely eaten, the natives do not seem to like it, and only resort to it on a necessity. They contrive, how- ever, to improve its flavor by adding large quantities of wild yams and other vegetable products. Perhaps the most celebrated wild food of the Australians is the “ nardoo,” vrhich has become so familiar to the British reader since the important ex})edition of Burke and Wills. The nardoo is the produce of a cryp- togamous plant which grows in large quali- ties, but is rather local. The fruit is about as large as a pea, and is cleaned for use by being rubbed in small wooden troughs. It is then pounded into a paste, and made into cakes, like oatmeal. The nardoo plant is one of the ferns., and those of my readers who are skilled in bot- any will find it in the genus Marsilea, Like many of the ferns, the plant presents a strangely unfernlike aspect, consisting of upright and slender stems, about twelve inches high, each having on its tips a small quadruple frond, closely resembling a flower. The fruit, or “ sporocarp,” of the nardoo is the part that is eaten; and it is remarkable for its powers of absorbing water, CvUd so increasing its size. Indeed, when the fruit is soaked in water, it will in the course of a single hour swell until it is two hundred times its former size. The nardoo is useful in its way, and, when mixed with more nutritious food, is a valu- (1.) THE HUNTER AND HIS DAY’S PROVISIONS. • (2.) THE SEA GRASS CLOAK. ( 707 ) t •; I i I*. • mV" ., ■ - , i : m • " ' ■ I SUBTERKANEAI^ WATER STORES. 709 able article of diet. Taken alone, however, it has scarcTJly the slightest nutritive powers, and though it distends the stomach, and so keeps off the gnawing sense of hunger, it gives no strength to the system. Even when eaten with fish, it is of little use, and re- quires either fat or sugar to give it the due power of nourishment. With the wonderful brightness of spirit which Mr. Wills managed to keep up, even when suffering the severest hardships, and feeling himself gradually dying, he gives in his diary a curiously accu- rate picture of the effects of living for a length of time on an innutritious substance. . lie liked the nardoo, and consumed considerable quantities of it, but gradually wasted away, leaving a record in his diary that “star- vation on nardoo is by no means unpleas- ant but for the weakness one feels, and the utter inability to rouse one’s self; for as far as appetite is concerned, it gives the greatest satisfaction.” The death of this fine young man affords another proof of the disadvantage at which a stranger to the country is placed while trav- ersing a new land. Many native tribes lived on the route along which the travellers passed, and, from their knowledge of the resources of the country, were able to sup- port themselves; whereas the white travel- lers seem to have died of starvation in the "^lidst of plenty. The chief vegetable food, however, is fur- tiished by the bulrush root, which is to the' A.ustralians who live near rivers the staff ■)f life. As the task of procuring it is a very disagreeable one, it is handed over to the women, who have to wade among the reeds and half bury themselves in mud while procuring the root. It is cooked after the usual Australian manner. A heap of limestones is raised, and heated by fire. The roots are then laid on the hot stones, and are covered with a layer of the same material. In order to pro- duce a quantity of steam, a heap of wet grass is thrown on the upper hayer of stones, and a mound of sand heaped over all. As the root, however well cooked, is very librous, the natives do not swallow it, but, after chewing it and extracting all the soft parts, they reject the fibres, just as a sailor throws aside his exhausted quid; and great quantities of these little balls of fibre are to be found near every encampment. The same fibre is convertible into string, and is used in the manufacture of fishing lines and nets. The singular knowledge of vegetable life possessed by the natives is never displayed with greater force than in the power wliich they have of procuring water. In aTi appar- ently desert place, where no signs of water are to be found, and where not even a pigeon can be seen to wdng its way through the air, as the guide to the distant water toward which it is flying, the native will manage to supply himself with both water and food. He looks out for certain eucalypti or gum- trees, whic^h are visible from a very great distance, and makes his way toward them. Choosing a spot at three or four yards from the trunk, with his katta he digs away at the earth, so as to expose the roots, tears them out of the ground, and proceeds to prepare them. Cutting them into pieces of a foot or so in length, he stands them upright in the bark vessel which an Australian mostly car- ries with him, and waits patiently. Pres- ently a few drops of water ooze from the lower ends of the roots, and in a short time water pours out freely, so that an abundant supply of liquid is obtained. Should the native be very much parched, he takes one of the pieces of root, splits it lengthwise, and chews it, finding that it gives as much juice as a water-melon. The youngest and freshest-looking trees are al- ways chosen for the purpose of obtaining water, and the softest-looking roots selected. After the water has all been drained from them, they are pealed, pounded between two stones, and then roasted; so that the euca- lyptus supplies both food and drink. As, however, as has been stated, the chief reliance of the natives is upon animal food and fish, molluscs, Crustacea, reptiles, and insects form a very considerable proportion of their food. Collecting the shell-fish is the duty of the women, chiefly because it is really hard work, and requires a great amount of diving. Throughout the whole of this vast continent this duty is given to the women; and whether in the Gulf of Car- pentaria, on the extreme north, or in the island of Van Diemen’s Land, in the ex- treme south, the same custom prevails. During Labillardicre’s voyage in search of La Perouse, the travellers came upon a party of the natives of Yan Diemen’s Land while the women were collecting shell-fish, and the author gives a good description of the labors to which these poor creatures were subjected; — “ About noon we saw them prepare their repast. Hitherto we had but a faint idea of the pains the women take to procure the food requisite for the subsistence of their families. They took each a basket, and were followed by their daughters, who did the same. Getting on the rocks that pro- jected into the sea, they plunged from them to the bottom in search of shell-fish. When they had been down some time, we became very uneasy on their account; for where they had dived were seaweeds of great length, among which we observed the fucus pyrif- erus, and we feared that they might have been entangled in these, so as to be unable to regain the surface. “ At length, however, they appeared, and convinced us that they were capable of re- maining under water twice as long as our 710 AUSTRALIA. ablest divers. An instant was sufficient for them to take breath, and then they dived again. This they did repeatedly till their baskets Avere nearly full. Most of them Avere provided Avith a little bit of Avood, cut into the shape of a spatula, and Avith these they separated from beneath the rocks, at great depths, very large sea-ears. Perhaps they chose the biggest, for all they brought Avere of a great size. “ On seeing the large lobsters which they had in their baskets, we Avere afraid that they must have Avounded these poor women terribly with their large claAvs; but Ave soon found that they had taken the precaution to kill them as soon as they caught them. They quitted the Avater only to bring their husbands the fruits of their labor, and fre- quently returned almost immediately to their diving till they had procured a sufficient meal for their families. At other times they stayed a little while to Avarm themselves, Avith their faces toAvard the fire on AAdiich their fish Avas roasting, and other little fires burning behind them, that they might be Avarmed on all sides at once. “ It seemed as if the}'' Avere miAvilling to lose a moment’s time; for AAdiile they Avere Avarming themselves, they Avere employed in roasting fish, some of which they laid on the coals Avith the utmost caution, though they took little care of the lobsters, which they IhreAV anyAvhere into the fire; and Avhen they Avere ready they diA'ided the claAvs among the men and the children, reserving the body for themselves, Avhich they some- times ate before returning into the Avater. “It gave us great pain to see these poor women condemned to such severe toil; while, at the same time, they ran the hazard of being devoured by sharks, or entangled among the Aveeds that rise from the bottom of the sea. We often entreated their hus- ])ands to take a share in their labor at least, but ahvays in \^ain. They remained con- stantly near the fire, feasting on the best bits, and eating broiled fucus, or fern-roots. Occasionally they took the trouble to break boughs of trees into short pieces to feed the fire, taking care to choose the dryest. “From their manner of breaking them we found that their skulls must be very hard; for, taking hold of the sticks at each end with the hand, they broke them over their heads, as we do at the knee, till they broke. Their heads being constantly bare, and often exposed to all weathers in this high latitude, acquire a capacity for resisting such efforts: besides, their hair forms a cushion which diminishes the pressure, and renders it much less painful on the summit of the head than any other part of the body. FeAv of the Avomen, however, could have done as much, for some had their hair cut pretty short, and Avore a string several times round the head; others had only a simple croAvn of hair. W e made the same observa- tion with respect to several of the children, but none of the men. These had the back, breast, shoulders, and arms covered with doAvny hair.” Sometimes a party of Avomen Avill go out on a raft made of layers of reeds, pushing themselves along by means of very long poles. When they arrive at a bed of mus- sels, they Avill stay there nearly all day div- ing from the raft, with their nets tied round their necks, and, after remaining under Avater for a considerable time, come up Avith a heavy load of mussels in their nets. They even manage to cook upon this fragile raft. They make a heap of Avet sand upon the reeds, put a feAv stones on it, and build their fire on the stones, just as if they had been on shore. After remaining until they have procured a large stock of mussels, they pole themselves ashore, and in all probability have to spend several hours in cooking the mussels for the men. The mussels are usually eaten Avith the bulrush root. There is a sort of crayfish Avhich is found in the mud-flats of rivers and lakes. These are also caught by the Avomen, who feel for them in the mud with their feet, and hold them down firmly until they can be seized by the hand. As soon as the creatures are taken, the claAA’-s are crushed to prevent them from biting, and they are afterAvard roasted, Avhile still alive, on the embers of the fire. Tadpoles are favorite articles of diet Avith the Australians, Avho fry them on grass. ’The ordinary limpet, mussel, and other molluscs, are largely eaten by the natives, Avho scoop them out by means of smaller shells, just as is done by boys along our OAvn coasts — a plan Avhich is very efficacious, as I can testify from personal experience. Sometimes they cook the molluscs by the simple process of throAving them on the eml)ers, but as a general rule they eat them in a raAV state, as Ave eat oysters. Fish they catch in various ways. The usual method is by a hook and line; the former of Avhich is ingeniously cut out of the shell of the haAvksbill turtle. Tavo of these hooks are noAV before me, and raise a feel- ing of Avonder as to the fish Avhich could be induced to take such articles into its mouth. It is flat, A’ery clumsily made, and there is no barb, the point being curved very much iuAvard, so as to prevent the fish from slip- ping off the hook. In fact the Avhole shape of the hook is almost exactly identical AA’ith that of the hook which is found throughout Polynesia and extends to New. Zealand. The hook is fastened to a long and stout line, made by cheAving reeds, stripping them into fibres, and rolling them on the thighs. Two of ♦these strings are then tAvisted to- gether, and the line is complete. My OAvn specimen of a line is about as thick as the fish- ing lines used on our coasts, and it is A^ery long, having a hook at either end. The hook is lashed to the line by a very firm but BEE HUNTING. 711 rather clumsy wrapping. Sometimes the line is made of scraped rattan fibres. Another mode of fishing is by the net. This requires at least two men to manage it. The net is many feet in length, and about four feet in width. It is kept extended by a number of sticks placed a yard or so apart, and can then be rolled up in a cylindrical package and be taken to the water. One man then takes an end of the net, unrolls it, and with the assistance of his comrade drops it into the water. As soon as the lower edge of the net touches the bottom, the men wiule toward the shore, drawing with them the two ends of the net and all the fish that happen to be within its range. As soon as they near the shore, they bring the two ends of the net to the land, fix them there, and are then able to pick up and throw ashore all the fish that are in the net. Some of the more active fish escape by leaping over the upper edge of the net, and some of the mud- loving and crafty wriggle their way under the lower edge ; but there is always a suffi- ciency of fish to reward the natives for their labor. Like the fishing line, the net is made of chewed reeds, and the labor of chewing and twisting the string belongs exclusively to the women. A third mode of fishing is by employing certain traps or baskets, ingeniously woven of rattan, and made so that the fish can easily pass into them, but cannot by any possibility get out again, Sometimes fish are speared in the shallow water, the native wading in, and with unerring aim transfixing the fish with his spear. Even the children take part in this sport, and, though armed with noth- ing better than a short stick, sharpened at one end, contrive to secure their fisffi With the same stick they dig molluscs out of the mud, and turn Crustacea out of their holes; and when they can do this, they are supposed to be able to shift for themselves, and their parents take no more trouble about feeding them. They are not more fastidious in the cook- ing of fish than of Crustacea or molluscs, but just throw them on the fire, turn them once or twice with a stick, and when they are warmed through and the outside scorched, they pick them out of the Are, scrape off the burnt scales, and eat them without further ceremony. Insect food is much used among the Aus- tralians. As might be expected, honey is greatly valued by them, and they display great ingenuity in procuring it. When a native sees a bee about the flowers, and wishes to find the honey, he repairs to the nearest pool, selects a spot where the bank shelves very gradually, lies on his face, fills his mouth with water, and patiently awaits the arrival of a bee. These insects require a considerable amount of moisture, as every one knows who has kept them, and the bee- hunter reckons on this fact to procure him the honey which 'he desires. After a while a bee is sure to come and drink, and the hunter, hearing the insect approaching him, retains his position and scarcely breathes, so fearful is he of alarming it. At last it alights, and instantly the native blows the water from his mouth over it, stunning it for the moment. Before it can recover itself, he seizes it, and by means of a little gum at- taches to it a tuft of white down obtained from one of the trees. As soon as it is released, the insect flies away toward its nest, the white tuft serving the double purpose of making it more con- spicuous and retarding its flight. Away goes the hunter after it at full speed, run- ning and leaping along in a wonderful man- ner, his eyes fixed on the guiding insect, and making very light of obstacles. (See illustration No. 1, on the 716th page.) Some- times a fallen tree will be in his way, and if he can he jumps over it; but at all risks he must get over without delay, and so he dashes at the obstacle with reckless activity. Should he surmount it, well and good; but if, as often happens, he should fall, he keeps his eyes fixed, as well as he can, on the bee, and as soon as he springs to his feet he resumes the chase. Even if he should lose sight of it for a moment, he dashes on in the same direction, knowing that a bee always flies in a straight line for its home ; and when he nears it, the angry hum of the hampered insect soon tells him that he has recovered the lost ground. The reader will see that this mode of tracking the bee to its home is far inferior to that of the American bee-hunters, and is rather a business of the legs than of the head. The Australian bee-hunter waits until a bee happens to come to the spot where he lies; the American bee-hunter baits an attractive trap, and induces the insect to come to the spot which he selects. Then the Australian bee-hunter only runs after the single bee; whereas the American bee-hunter economizes his strength by em- ploying two bees, and saving his legs. He puts honey on a flat wooden slab, hav- ing drawn a eircle of white paint round it. The bee alights on the honey, and, after fill- ing its crop, crawls through the white paint and sets off homeward. The hunter follows the “bee-line” taken by the insect, and marks it by scoring or “blazing” a few trees. He then removes his honeyed trap to a spot at an angle with his former station and repeats the process. There is no need for him to race after the flying bee, and to run considerable risk of damaging himself more or less seriously; he simply follows out the lines which the two bees have taken, and, by fixing on the point at which they meet, walks leisurely up to the nest. Having found his bee nest, the Australian loses no time in ascending to the spot, 712 AUSTKALIA. whether it he a cleft in a rock, or, as is usually the case, a hole in a tree. This lat- ter spot is much favored by the bees, as well as by many of the arboreal mammals, of which there are so many in Australia. The sudden and violent tempests which rage in that part of the world tear oft* the branches of trees and hurl them to the ground. Dur- ing succeeding rainy seasons, the wet lodges in the broken branch, and by degrees rots away the wood, which is instantly ftlled with the larv83 of beetles, moths, flies, and other insects that feed upon decaying Avood. Thus, in a few years, the holloAV extends itself until it burroAvs into the tree itself, and sometimes descends nearly from the top to the bottom, thus forming an admirable locality for the bees. Taking with him a hatchet, a basket, and a quantity of dry grass or leaves, the native ascends, lights the grass, and under cover of the smoke chops away the Avood until he can get at the combs, which he places in the basket, Avith Avhich he descends. Should he be too poor to possess even a basket, he extemporizes one % cutting aAA’^ay the bark of the tree; and should the nest be a very large one, he is supplied by his friends from beloAv with a number of vessels, and passes them doAvn as fast as they are filled. Perhaps some of my readers may remark that honey cannot be rightly considered as insect food, and that it ought to have been ranked among the vegetable produc- tions. The Australian, hoAvever, does not content himself Avith extracting the honey from the comb, but eats it precisely in the state in Avhich it is brought from the nest. As the bees are not forced, as amongst Eng- lish bee-masters, to keep their honey-cells distinct from those Avhich contain the hoard and the “ bee-bread,” each comb con- tains indiscriminately bee-bread, young bee- grubs, and honey, and the Australian eats ail three with equal satisfaction. Another kind of insect food is a grub Avhich inhabits the trunks of trees, and of Avhich the natives are inordinately fond. They have a Avonderful faculty of discover- ing the presence of this grub, and tAvist it out of its hole Avith an odd little instrument composed of a hook fastened to the end of a slender tAvig. This implement is carried in the hair so as to project over the ear, like a clerk’s pen, and for a long time puzzled traA^ellers, who thought it to be merely an ornament, and could not understand its very peculiar shape. The larva is the caterpillar of a moth Avhich is closely allied to the goat-moth of our OAvn country, and has the same habit of burroAAung into the.Avood of living trees. The hooked instrument Avhich is used for draAving them out of their holes is called the “pileyah,” and is employed also for hooking beetles, grubs, and other insects out of their holes in the ground. When the pileyah is used for extracting grubs from the earth, the ground is first loosened by means of a wooden scoop that looks some- thing like a hollowed waddy. The pileyah is then tied to the end of a polygonum twig of sufficient length, and by such means can be introduced into the holes. Perhaps the most celebrated of the vari- ous insect banquets in Avhich the Austra- lians delight is that Avhich is furnished by the bugong moth, as the insect is popularly, but wrongly, called. Instead of belonging to the moth tribe, it is one. of the butterflies, and belongs to the graceful family of the Heliconidse. Its scientific name is Ewploea hamata. The bugong is remarkable for the fact that its body, instead of being slender like that of most butterflies, is A^ery stout, and contains an astonishing amount of oily matter. The color of the insect is dark brown, Avith tAvo black spots on the upper Avings. It is a small insect, measuring only an inch and a half across the Avings. It is found in the NeAV South Wales dis- trict, and inhabits a range of hills that are called from the insect the Bugong Moun- tains. The Australians eat the bugong but- terflies just as locusts are eaten in many parts of the Avorld, and, for the short time during which the insect makes its appear- ance, feast inordinately upon it, and get quite fat. The following account is given by Mr. Gr. Bennett; — “ After riding over the lower ranges, we arrived a short distance above the base of the Bugong Mountain, tethered the horses, and ascended on foot, by a steep and rugged path, which led us to the first summit of the mountain: at this place, called Ginandery by the nati\"es, enormous masses of granite rock, piled one upon another, and situated on the A^erge of a Avooded precipice, excited our attention. An extensive and romantic vieAv Avas here obtained of a distant, Avooded, mountainous country. “ This Avas the first place Avhere, upon the smooth sides or crevices of the granite blocks, the bugong moths congregated in such incredible multitudes; but, from the blacks having recently been here, we found but feAV of the insects remaining. At one part of this group of granite rocks were tA\"o pools, apparently holloAved naturally from the solid stone, and filled with cool and clear AA^ater; so, lighting a fire, Ave enjoyed a cup of tea previous to recommencing our further ascent. On proceeding Ave found the rise more gradual, but unpleasant, from the number of loose stones and branches of trees streAved about; several of the deserted bark huts of the natives (Avhich they had temporarily erected Avhen engaged in col- lecting and preparing the bugong) Avere scattered around. Shrubs and plants Avere numerous as AA’-e proceeded, but, Avith few exceptions, did not differ from those seen m other parts of the colon}\ THE BUGONG. 713 “Hear a small limpid stream a species of tiycopodium grew so dense as to form a carpet over which we wer^ able to walk. The timber trees towered to so great an elevation that the prospect of the country we had anticipated was impeded. At last we arrived at another peculiar group of granite rocks in enormous masses and of various forms; this place, similar to the last, formed the locality where the bugong moths congregate, and is called ‘Warrogong’ by the natives. The remains of recent fires apprised us that the aborigines had only recently left the place for another of similar character a few miles further distant. “ Our native guides wished us to proceed and join the tribe, but the day had so far advanced that it was thought more advisa- able to return, because it was doubtful, as the blacks removed from a place as soon as they had cleared it of the insects, whether we should find them at the next group, or removed to others still further distant. “From the result of my observations it appears that the insects are only found in such multitudes on these insulated and pecul- iar masses of granite, for about the other solitary granite rocks, so profusely scattered over the range, I did not observe a single moth, or even the remains of one. Why they should be confined only to these par- ticular places, or for what purpose they thus collect together, is not a less curious than interesting subject of inquiry. Whether it be for the purpose of emigrating, or any other-cause, our present knowledge cannot satisfactorily answer. “The bugong moths, as I have before observed, collect on the surfaces, and also in the crevices, of the masses of granite in in- credible quantities. To procure them with greater facility, the natives make smothered fires underneath these rocks about which they are collected, and suffocate them with smoke, at the same time sweeping them off frequently in bushelfuls at a time. After they have collected a large quantity, they proceed to prepare them, which is done in the following manner. “ A circular space is cleared upon the ground, of a size proportioned to the num- ber of insects to be prepared; on it a fire is lighted and kept burning until the ground is considered to be sufficiently heated, when, the fire being removed, and the ashes cleared away, the moths are placed upon the heated ground, and stirred about until the down and wings are removed from them; they are then placed on pieces of bark, and winnowed to separate the dust and wings mixed with the bodies; they are then eaten, or placed into a wooden vessel called ‘ walbum,’ or ‘ cali- bum,’ and pounded by a piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of fat, and may be compared in color and consistence to dough made from smutty wheat mixed with fat. “ The bodies of the moths are large and filled with a yellowish oil, resembling in taste a sweet nut. These masses (with which the ‘ neibuls,’ or ‘ talabats,’ of the native tribes are loaded during the season of feasting upon the bugong) will not keep more than a week, and seldom even for that time; but by smoking they are able to preserve them for a much longer period. The first time this diet is used by the native tribes, violent vomiting and other debilitating effects are produced, but after a few days they become accustomed to its use, and then thrive and fatten exceedingly upon it. “ These insects are held in such estima- tion among the aborigines, that they assem- ble from all parts of the country to colleet them from these mountains. It is not only the native blacks that resort to the bugong, but crows also congregate for the same pur- pose. The blacks (that is, the crows and the aborigines) do not agree about their respective shares : so the stronger decides the point; for, when the crows (called ‘ara- bul ’ by the natives) enter the liollov/s of the rocks to feed upon the insects, the na- tives stand at the entrance and kill them as they fly out; and they afford them an excel- lent meal, being fat from feeding upon tlie rich bugong. So eager are the feathered blacks or arabuls after this food that they attack it even when it is preparing by the natives; but as the aborigines never consider any increase of food a misfortune, they lay in wait for the arabuls with waddies or clubs, kill them in great numbers, and use them as food.” Reptiles form a very considerable part of an Australian’s diet, and he displays equal aptitude in capturing and cooking them. Turtle is an especial favorite with him, not only on account of its size, and of the quan- tity of meat which it furnishes, but on ac- count of the oil which is obtained from it. On the coast of Australia several kinds of turtle are found, the most useful of which are the ordinary green turtle and the hawks- bill. They are caught either in the watcu’, or by watching for them when they come on shore for the purpose of laying their eggs, and then turning them on their backs before they can reach the sea. As, how- ever, comparatively few venture on the shore, the greater number are taken in tho water. Along the shore the natives have regular watchtowers or cairns made of stones and the bones of turtles, dugongs, and other creatures. When the sentinel sees a turtle drifting along with the tide, he gives tho alarm, and a boat puts out after it. Tho canoe approaches from^ behind, and paddles very cautiously so that the reptile may not hear it. As soon as they come close to it, the chief hunter, who holds in his hand one end of a slight but tough rope, leaps on the turtle’s back, and clings to it with both 714 AUSTRALIA. hands on its shoulders. The startled rep- tile dashes off, but before it has got very far the hunter contrives to upset it, and while it is struggling he slips the noose of the rope over one of its flippers. The creature is then comparatively helpless, and is towed ashore by the canoe. In some districts the turtle is taken by means of a harpoon, which is identical in principle with that which is used by the hip- popotamus hunters of Africa. There is a long shaft, into the end of which is loosely slipped a movable head. A rope is attached to the head, and a buoy to the other end of the rope. As soon as the reptile is struck, the shaft is disengaged, and is picked up by the thrower; while the float serves as an indication of the turtle’s whereabouts, and enables the hunters to tow it toward the shore. One of the natives, named Gi’om, told Mr. M’Gillivray that they sometimes caught the turtle by means of the remora, or sucking- fish. One of these fish, round whose tail a line has been previously made fast, is kept in a vessel of water on board the boat, and, when a small turtle is seen, the remora is dropped into the sea. Instinctively it makes its way to the turtle, and fastens itself so firmly to the reptile’s back that they are both hauled to the boat’s side and lifted in by the fishermen. Only small turtles can be thus taken, and there is one species which never attains any great size which is generally captured in this curious manner. The hawksbill turtle is too dangerous an antagonist to be chased in the water. The sharp-edged scales which project from its sides would cut deeply into the hands of any man who tried to turn it; and even the green turtle, with its comparatively blunt-edged shell, has been known to inflict a severe wound upon the leg of the man who was clinging to its back. The native, therefore, is content to watch it ashore, and by means of long, stout poles, which he introduces leverwise under its body, turns it over with- out danger to himself. When the Australians have succeeded in turning a turtle, there are great rejoicings, as the very acme of human felicity consists, according to native ideas, in gorging until the feasters can neither stand nor sit. They may be seen absolutely rolling on the ground in agony from the inordinate distensioii of their stomachs, and yet, as soon as the pain has abated, they renew their feastings. Mostly they assemble round the turtle, cook it rudely, and devour it on the spot; but in Torres Straits they are more provident, and dry the flesh in order to supply them- selves with food during their voyages. They cut up the meat into thin slices, boil the slices, and then dry them in the sun. During the process of cooking, a consider- able amount of oil rises to the surface, and is skimmed off and kept in vessels made of bamboo and turtles’ bladders. The cook, however, has to exercise some vigilance while performing his task, as the natives are so fond of the oil that, unless they are closely watched, they will skim it off and drink it while in an almost boiling state. The boiling and subsequent drying render the flesh very hard, so that it will keep for several weeks; but it cannot be eaten with- out a second boiling. The shell of the hawksbill turtle is doubly valuable to the natives, who reserve a little for the manufacture of hooks, and sell the rest to shippers or traders, who bring it to Europe, where it is converted into the “ tor- toise-shell ” with which we are so familiar. There is in my collection a beautiful speci- men of one of these scales of tortoise-shell as it was purchased from the natives. It is about eleven inches in length and seven in width, and has a hole at one end by which they string the scales together. There are the scars of eight large limpet shells upon it, showing the singular appearance which the animal must have presented when alive. The cooking of turtle is a far more impor- tant process than that of boiling fish, and a sort of oven is required in order to dress it properly. In principle the oven resembles that which is in use in so many parts of the world, and which has been already described when shewing how the hunters of South Africa cook the elephant’s foot. Instead, however, of digging a hole and burning wood in it, the Australian takes a number of stones, each about the size of a man’s fist, and puts them into the fire. When they are heated, they are laid closely together, and the meat placed upon them. A second layer of heated stones is arranged upon the meat, and a rim or bank of tea-tree bush, backed up with sand or earth, is built round this primitive oven. Grass and leaves are then strewn plentifully over the stones, and are held in their places by the circular bank. The steam is thus retained, and so the meat is cooked in a very effectual manner. In some parts of the country, however, a more elaborate oven is used. It consists of a hole some three feet in diameter and tv/o feet in depth, and is heated in the following manner : — It is filled to within six inches of the top with round and hard stones, similar to those which have already been described, and upon them a fire is built and maintained for some time. When the stones are thought to be sufficiently heated, the embers are swept away, and the food is sirnply laid upon the stones and allowed to remain there until thoroughly cooked. This kind of oven is found oyer a large range of country, and Mr. M‘Gillivray has seen it throughout the shores of Torres Straits, and extending as far southward as Sandv Cape on the eastern side. Although the idea of snake eating is so re- pugnant to our ideas that many persons can- ~ r»i •p ; ■ ' M ^> S \ fryfi ’ pi ' ' ' 0 | . ny . ^'\ ii ^^ iji uiE ' 7 'Cv .,.» /'« vifc‘ "M t r/>-. :iv -''!^?'4 ’-{feii' jV ; . •• ; ;l#lS*'] ''f - •"■■ ' I \yf:^WX‘..),^% >t/.- ' t’s .. '" '■ c; r :t'!' ■' frn . . v^. . ’ '_•■•(': I',- -!j»f i j(c!,Vji.?*‘n-. C ..: •..-, ■— ■ '/' ' (1.) BEE HUNTING. (See page 711 .) (2.) COOKING A SNAKE. (See page 717.) COOKESTG A mAKE. 717 not eat eels because they look like snakes, the Australian knows better, and considers a snake as one of the greatest delicacies which the earth produces. And there is certainly no reason why we should repudiate the snake as disgusting while we accept the turtle and so many of the tortoise kind as delicacies, no matter whether their food be animal or veg- etable. The Australian knows that a snake in good condition ought to have plenty of fat, and to be well flavored, and is always easy in his mind so long as he can catch one. The process of cooking (see page 716) is exactly like that which is employed with fish, except that more pains are taken about it, as is consistent with the superior character of the food. The fire being lighted, the native squats in front of it and waits until the flame and smoke have partly died away, and then carefully coils the snake on the embers, turn- ing it and recoiling it until all the scales are so scorched that they can be rubbed off. He then allows it to remain until it is cooked ac- cording to his ideas, and eats it deliberately, as becomes such a dainty, picking out the best parts for himself, and, if he be in a good humor, tossing the rest to his wives. Snake hunting is carried on in rather a curious manner. Killing a snake at once, unless it should be wanted for immediate con- sumption, would be extremely foolish, as it would be unfit for food before the night had passed away. Taking it alive, therefore, is the plan which is adopted by the skilful hun- ter, and this he manages in a very ingenious way. Should he come upon one of the venomous serpents, he cuts off its retreat, and with his spear or with a forked stick he irritates it with one hand, while in his other he holds the narrow wooden shield. By repeated blows he induces the reptile to attack him, and dexterously receives the stroke on the shield, flinging the snake back by the sudden repulse. Time after time the snake renews the attack, and is as often foiled ; and at last it yields the battle, and lies on the ground completely beaten. The hunter then presses his forked stick on the reptile’s neck, seizes it firmly, and holds it while a net is thrown over it and it is bound securely to his spear. It is then , carried off, and reserved for the next day’s banquet. Sometimes the opossum-skin cloak takes the place of the shield, and the snake is al- lowed to bite it. The carpet snake, which sometimes attains the length of ten or twelve feet, is favorite game with the Australian native, as its large size furnishes him with an abundant supply of meat, as well as the.fat in which his soul delights. This snake mostly lives in holes at the foot of the curious grass-tree, of which we shall see several figures in the course of the following pages, and in many places it is so plentiful that there is scarcely a grass- tree wi^out its snake. As it would be a waste of time to probe each hole in succession, the natives easily as- certain those holes which are inhabited by smearing the earth around them with a kind of white clay mixed witli water, which is as soft as putty. On the following day they can easily see, by the appearance of the clay, when a snake has entered or left its hole, and at once proceed to induce the reptile to leave its stronghold. This is done by putting on the trunk of the tree immediately over the hole a bait, which the natives state to be honey, and waiting patiently, often for many hours, until the serpent is attracted by the bait and climbs the tree. As soon as it is clear of the hole, its retreat is cut off, and the result of the ensuing combat is a certainty. The forked spear which the native employs is called a bo-bo. All the tribes which live along the eastern coast, especially those which inhabit the northern part of the country, are in the habit of capturing the dugong. This animal is very fond of a green, &anchless, marine alga, and ventures to the shore in order to feed upon it. The natives are on the watch for it, and, as soon as a dugong is seen, a canoe puts off after it. Each canoe is furnished with paddles and a harpooner, who is armed with a weapon very similar to that which is used by the turtle catchers, except that no buoy is re- quired. It is composed of a shaft some twelve or fifteen feet in length, light at one end, and heavy at the other. A hole is made at the heavy end, and into the hole is loosely fitted a kind of spear head made of bone, about four inches in length, and covered with barbs. One end of a stout and long rope is made fast to this head, and the other is attached to the canoe. As soon as he is within striking distance, the harpooner jumps out of the boat into the water, striking at the same time with his weapon, so as to add to the stroke the force of his own weight. Disengaging the shaft, he returns to the canoe, leaving the dugong attached to it by the rope. The wounded animal dives and tries to make its way sea- ward. Strange to say, although' the dugong is a large animal, often eight feet in length, and very bulky in proportion to its length, it seldom requires to be struck a second time, but rises to the surface and dies in a few minutes from a wound occasioned by so ap- parently insignificant a weapon as a piece of bone struck some three inches into its body. When it is dead, it is towed ashore, and rolled up the bank to some level spot, where preparations are at once made for cooking and eating it. Those who are acquainted with zoology are aware that the dugong is formed much after the manner of the whale, and that it is covered first with a tough skin and then with a layer of blubber over the muscles. This structure, by the way, renders its sue- 718 AUSTRALIA. cumbing to the wound of the harpoon the more surprising. The natives always cut it up in the same manner. The tail is sliced much as we carve a round of beef, while the body is cut into thin slices as far as the ribs, each slice having its own proportion of meat, blubber, and skin. The blubber is esteemed higher than any other portion of the animal, though even the tough skin can be rendered tolerably palatable by careful cooking. Of all Australian animals, the kangaroo is most in favor, both on account of the excellent quality of the flesh, and the quan- tity which a single kangaroo will furnish. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that with the Australian, as with other sav- ages, quantity is considered rather than qual- ity. A full grown “ boomah ” kangaroo will, when standing upright, in its usual attitude of defence, measure nearly six feet in height, and is of very considerable weight. And, when an j^. ustralian kills a kangaroo, he performs feats of gluttony to which the rest of the world can scarcely find a parallel, and certainly not a superior. Give an Australian a kangaroo and he will eat until he is nearly dead from repletion; and he will go on eating, with short intervals of rest, until he has finished the entire kanga- roo. Like other savage creatures, whether hu- man or otherwise, he is capable of bearing deprivation of food to a wonderful extent; and his patient endurance of starvation, when food is not to be obtained, is only to be excelled by his gluttony when it is plen- tiful. This curious capacity for alternate gluttony and starvation is fostered by the innately lazy disposition of the Australian savage, and his utter disregard for the future. The animal that ought to serve him and his family for a week is consumed in a few hours; and, as long as he does not feel the pain of absolute hunger, nothing can compel the man to leave his rude couch and go ofi* on a hunting expedition. But when he does make up his mind to hunt, he has a bulldog sort of tenacity which forbids him to relin- quish the chase until he has been successful in bringing down his game. CHAPTEE LXXI, AU STR ALIA — Continued. WEAPONS OF THE AUSTRALIANS, THEIR FORMS AND USES — THE CLUB OR WADDY, AND ITS VARIOUS FORMS — USES OF THE WADDY — A DOMESTIC PANACEA — AN AUSTRALIAN DUEL — THICK SKULLS OF THE NATIVES — LOVE OF THE NATIVE FOR HIS WADDY — THE BLACK POLICE FORCE— THE MISSILE WADDY — THE KATTA, OR DIGGING-STICK, AND ITS VARIED USES — HOW AN AUSTRALIAN DIGS A HOLE— THE STONE TOMAHAWK AND ITS USE — THE ASCENT OF TREES — HOW AN AU STRALIAN KNOWS WHETHER AN ANIMAL IS IN A TREE — SMOKING OUT THE PREY — THE BLACK- BOY GUM — THE GRASS-TREE OF AUSTRALIA — THE AUSTRALIAN SAW. As in the course of the following pages all the weapons of the Australian Will have to be mentioned, we will take the opportunity of describing them at once, without troubling ourselves as to the peculiar locality in which each modification is found. We will begin with the club, the simplest of all weapons. Several examples of the club are to be seen in the illustration enti- tled “Australian Clubs,” on the 722d page. All the figures are drawn from actual speci- mens, some belonging to my own collec- tion, some being sketched from examples in the British Museum, and others being taken from the fine collection of Colonel Lane Fox. The simplest form of Australian club is that which is known by the name of “ waddy,” and which is the favorite weapon of an Au- stralian savage, who never seems to be happy ■without a waddy in his hands, no matter ivhat other weapons he may happen to carry. One of these waddies may be seen at fig. 4, and another at fig. 5.. The latter is a specimen in my own collection, and atfords a very good_ example of the true Australian waddy. It is made of the tough and heavy wood of the gum-tree, and is really a most effective weapon, well balanced, and bears marks of long usage. The length is two teet eight inches, and, as the reader may see from the illustration, it is sharpened at the point, so that in close combat it can be used for stabbing as well as for striking. It weighs exactly twenty-one ounces. Four deep grooves run along the waddy, from the point to the spot where it is grasped, and seem to be intended as edges whereby a blow may cut through the skin as well as inflict a bruise. Besides these grooves, there are sundry carvings which the native evidently has thought to be orna- mental. On two of the sides the pattern is merely the double-headed T seen in the illustration, but on the other two sides the ]Daitern is varied. In every case the top figure is the double T ; but on one side there is first a T, then a cross with curved arms, then a T, and then a pattern that looks something like a key, having a bow at each end. The fourth side is evidently unfinished, there being only two patterns on it; the sec- ond, evidently an attempt to imitate the let- ter B, showing that the maker had some acquaintance with civilization. With this waddy the native is better armed than most men would be with the keenest sword that ever was forged, and with it he strikes and stabs with marvellous rapidity, seeming to be actuated, when in combat, by an uncontrollable fury. He can use it as a missile with deadly effect; and if, as is gen- erally the case, he* has several of these wael- dies in his hand, he will hurl one or two of them in rapid succession, and, while the antagonist is still attempting to avoid the flying weapon, precipitate himself upon the foe, and attack him with the waddy which he has reserved for hand-to-hand combat. The waddy is the Australian panacea foi ( 719 ) 720 AUSTKALIA. domestic troubles, and if one of his wives should presume to have an opinion of her own, or otherwise to otfend her dusky lord, a blow on the head from the ever-ready waddy settles the dispute at once by leaving her senseless on the ground. Sometimes the man strikes the offender on a limb, and breaks it; but he does not do this unless he should be too angry to calculate that, by breaking his slave’s arm or leg, he deprives himself of her services for a period. With the Australian man of honor the waddy takes the place which the pistol once held in England and the United States, and is the weapon by which disputes are settled. In case two Australians of reputation should fall out, one of them challenges the other to single combat, sending him a derisive mes- sage to the effect that he had better bring his stoutest waddy with him, so that he may break it on the challenger’s head. Thickness of skull — a reproach in some parts of the world — is among the Austra- lians a matter of great boast, and one Au- stralian can hardly insult another in more contemptuous words than by comparing his skull to an emu’s egg-shell. I have exam- ined several skulls of Australian natives, and have been much surprised by two points: the first is the astonishing thickness and hardness of the bone, which seems capable of resisting almost any blow that could be dealt by an ordinary weapon; and the second is the amount of injury which an Australian skull can endure. Owing to the thickness of the skull, the Australian puts his head to strange uses, one of the oddest of which is his custom of breaking sticks on his head instead of snapping them across the knee. In due time the conibatants appear on the ground, each bearing his toughest and heaviest waddy, and attended by his friends. After going through the usual gesticula- tions and abuse which always precede a duel between savages, the men set definitely to work. The challenged individual takes his waddy, and marehes out into the middle of the space left by the spectators. His adversary con- fronts him, but unarmed, and stooping low, with his hands on his knees, he offers his head to the opponent. The adversary exe- cutes a short dance of delight at the blow which he is going to deal, and then, after taking careful aim, he raises his waddy high in the air, and brings it down with all his force on the head of his foe. The blow would fell an ordinary ox; but the skull of an Australian is made of sterner stuff than that of a mere ox, and the man accordingly raises himself, rubs his head, and holds out his hand to his nearest friend, who gives him the waddy, which he is about to use in his turn. The challenged man now takes his turn at stooping, while the chal- lenger does his best to smash the skull of the antagonist. Each man, however, knows from long experience the hardest part of his own skull, and takes care to present it to the enemy’s blow. In this way they continue to exchange blows until one of them falls to the ground, when the victory is decided to re- main with his antagonist. In consequence of the repeated injuries to which the head of a native Australian is subjected, the skull of a warrior presents, after death, a most extraordinary appear- ance, being covered with dents, fractures, and all kinds of injuries, any one of which would have killed an European immediately, but which seems to have only caused tem- porary inconvenience to the Australian. So fond is the Australian of his waddy, that even in civilized life he cannot be in- duced to part with it. Some of my readers may be aware that a great number of cap- tives are now enrolled among the police, and render invaluable service to the com- munity, especially against the depredations of their fellow-blacks whom they persecute with a relentless vigor that seems rather surprising to those who do not know the singular antipathy which invariably exists between wild and tamed animals, whether human or otherwise. In fact, the Australian native policeman is to the colonist what the “ Totty V of South Africa is to the Dutch and English colonists, what the Ghoorka or Sikh of India is to the English army, and what the tamed elephant of Ceylon or India is to the hunter. These energetic “ black fellows ” are armed with the ordinary weapons of Euro- peans, and are fully acquainted with their use. But there is not one of them who thinks himself properly armed unless he has his waddy; and, when he enters the bush in search of native thieves, he will lay aside the whole of lys clothing, except the cap which marks his office, will carry his gun with him, buckle his cartouch-pouch round his naked waist, and will take his waddy as a weapon, without Avhich even the gun would seem to him an insufficient weapon. This form of waddy (fig. 4), although it is often used as a missile, is not the one which the native prefers for that purpose His throwing waddy or “wadna,” is much shorter and heavier, and very much resem- bles the short missile club used so effectively by the Polynesians. Two other forms of waddy are shown at figs. 3 and 6, the latter of which is generally known by the name of piccaninny waddy,” because it is generally smaller and lighter than the others, and can be used by a child. Hos. 1 and 2 are also clubs, but are made in a different form, and used in a different manner. If the reader will refer to the account of the Abyssinian curved sword, or shotel, he will see that in general form it much resembles this club, the long pointed ■'o: ( 722 ) CLUBS AND TOMAHAWKS. 723 head of each being equally useful in strik- ing downward over a shield. This weapon is not only used in combat, but is employed in the native dances to beat time by repeated strokes on the shield. The reader will notice that many of these clubs have the ends of the handles pointed. This formation is partly for the purpose of increasing their efficiency as offensive weap- ons, and partly for another object. As was the case with the warriors of the Iliad, both combatants will occasionally rest, and give each other time to breathe, before renewing the fight. During these intervals^ the Au- stralian combatants squat down, dig up the earth with the handle of the club, and rub their hands with the dusty soil, in order to ])revent the weapons from slipping out of their grasp. This club is made in a very ingenious way, the artificer taking advantage of some gnarled branch, and cutting it so that the grain of the wood follows the curve, or rather the angle of the head, which adds greatly to its strength. A club of almost the same shape, and cut similarly from the angle of a branch, is used in New Caledonia, and, but for the great superiority of the workmanship, might easily be mistaken for the angular club of the Australian. This particular form of club has a tolera- bly wide range, and among the tribes which inhabit the shores of Encounter Bay is called Marpangye. In many parts of Australia the natives have a curious weapon which much resem- bles a sword. It is from three to four feet in length, is flat, about three inches in width, and has the outer edge somewhat sharpened. Being made of the close-grained wood of the gum-tree, it is very heavy in proportion to its size, and in practised hands is a most formidable ‘weapon. The Australian women carry an .instru- ment which is sometimes thought to be a spear, and sometimes a club, but which' in the hands of a woman is neither, though a man will sometimes employ it for either pur- pose. It is simply a stick of variable length, sharpened at one end and the point hard- ened by fire. It is called by the natives the katta,” and is popularly known by the ap- propriate name of the digging-stick. With this stick the natives contrive to dig up the ground in a most astonishing man- ner, and an English “ navvy,” with his pick, spade, and barrow, would feel considerably surprised at the work which is done by the naked black, who has no tools except a pointed stick. Let, for example, a navvy be set to work at the task of digging out an echidna from its hole, and he would find his powers of digging baffled by*the burrowing capabilities of the animal, which would make its way through the earth faster than could the navvy. In order to sink some six feet deep into the ground, the white man would be obliged to make a funnel-shaped hole of very large size, so as to allow him to work ill it, and to give the pick and spade free play as he threw out the soil. The black man, on the contrary, would have no such difficulty, but knows how to sink a hole without troubling himself to dig a foot of needless soil. This he does by handling the katta precisely as the Bosjes- man handles his digging-stick, i. e. by hold- ing it perpendicularly, jobbing the hardened point into the ground, and throwing out with his hands the loosened earth. In digging out one of the burrowing ani- mals, the black hunter pushes a long and flexible stick down the hole, draws it out, measures along the ground to the spot ex- actly above the end of the burrow, replaces the stick, and digs down upon it’ By the time that he has reached it, the animal has gone on digging, and has sunk its burrow still further. The stick is then pushed into the lengthened burrow, and again dug down upon; and the process is repeated until the tired animal can dig no more, and is captured. The katta also takes the part of a weapon, and can be wielded very effectively by a practised hand, being used either for striking or thrusting. We now come to a curious instrument which is often thought to be a weapon, but which, although it would answer such a pur- pose very well, is seldom used for it. This is the tomahawk, or hammer, as it is generally called. Three yarieties of the tomahawk are given in the illustration “ Tomahawks ” on the 722d page. In all of them the cutting part is made of stone and the handle of wood, and the head and the handle are joined in several different ways, according to the fash- ion of the locality in which the instru- ment is made. The simplest plan is that which is shown in fig. 1. In this instrument, a conveniently shaped piece of stone has been selected for a head, and the handle is made of a flexible stick bent over it, and the two ends firmly lashed together, just as the English blacksmith makes handles for his punches and cold chisels. This weapon was mdde in New South Wales. At fig. 3 is shown a tomahawk of a more elaboi’ate construction. Here the stone head has been lashed to the shaft by a thong, which is 'wrapped over it in a way that ex- actly reserubles the lashing employed by the New Zealander or the Dyak for the same purpose. The tomahawk at fig. 4 is, how- ever, the best example of the instrument, and is taken front' a specimen in the British Museum. The handle and head are shaped much like those of fig. 3, but the fastening is much more elaborate. In the first place, the head is held to the handle by lashings of sinews, which are drawn from the tail of the kangaroo, and always kept in readiness by the Australian savage. The sinews are' steeped in hot 724 AUSTRALIA. water, and pounded between two stones, in order to separate them into fibres; and, while still wet and tolerably elastic, they are wrapped round the stone and the handle. Of course, as they dry, they contract with great force, and bind the head and handle together far more securely than can be done with any other material. Even raw hide does not hold so firmly as sinew. When the sinew lashing is perfectly dry, the native takes a quantity of the peculiar substance called “ black-boy ” wax, and kneads it* over the head and the end of the handle, so as to bind everything firmly together. Another instrument is showm at fig. 2, in which the combination of stone and vege- table is managed in another way. The blade is formed from a piece of quartz about as long as a man’s hand, which has been chipped into the form of a spear-head. The handle, instead of being a piece of wood, is simply a number of fibres made into a bun- dle. The base of the stone head has been pushed among the loose ends of the fibres, and then the whole has been bound firmly together by a lashing of string made of reeds. This is a sort of dagger; and another form of the same instrument is made by simply sharpening a stick about eighteen inches in length, and hardening the sharp- ened end in the fire. It is, in fact, a miniature katta, but is applied to a different purpose. These axes and daggers have been men- tioned together, because they are used for the same purpose, namely, the ascent of trees. Active as a monkey, the Australian na- tive can climb any tree that grows. Should they be of i-^oderate size, he ascends them, not by claspibg the trunk with his legs and arms (the mode which is generally used in England), and which is popularly called “ swarming.” Instead of passing his legs and arms round the tree-trunk as far as they can go, he applies the soles of his feet to it in front, and presses a hand against it on either side, and thus ascends the tree with the ra,pidity of a squirrel. This mode of ascent is now taught at every good gymna- sium in England, and is far superior to the old fashion, which has the disadvantage of slowness, added to the certainty of damaging the clothes. Those who have seen our own acrobats performing the feat called La Perche^ in which one man balances another on the top of a pole, or the extraordinary variations on it performed by the Japanese jugglers, who balance poles and ladders on the soles of their feet, will be familiar with the manner in which one of the performers runs up the ole which is balanced by his companion, t is by this method that the Australian ascends a tree of moderate dimensions, and, when he is well among the boughs, he trav- erses them with perfect certainty and quick- ness. Trees which will permit the man to ascend after this fashion are, however, rather scarce in the Australian forests, and, moreover, there is comparatively little inducement to climb them, the hollows in which the bees make their nests and the beasts take up their diurnal abode being always in the branch or trunk of some old and decaying tree. Some ' of these trees are so large that their trunks are veritable towers of wood, and afford no hold to the hands; yet they are ascended by the natives as rapidly as if they w^ere small trees. ^ By dint of constant practice, the Austra- lian never passes a tree without casting a glance at the bark, and by that one glance he will know whether he will need to mount it. The various arboreal animals, especially the so called o-possums, cannot ascend the tree without leaving marks of their claws in the bark. There is not an old tree that has not its bark covered with scratches, but the keen and practised eye of the native can in a moment distinguish bet’ween the ascend- ing and descending marks of the animal, and can also determine the date at which they w'ere made. The difference between the marks of an ascending and descending animal is easy enough to see when it has once been pointed out. When an animal climbs a tree, the marks of its claws are little more than small holes, with a slight scratch above each, look- ing something like the conventional “tears” of heraldry. But, when it descends, it does so by a series of slippings and catchings, so that the claws leave long scratches behind them. Nearly all arboreal annuals, with the exception of the monkey tribe, leave marks of a similar character, and the bear hunter of North America and the ’possum hunter of Australia are guided by similar marks. Should the native hunter see an ascend- ing mark of more recent date than the other scratches, he knows that somewhere in the tree lies his intended prey. Accordingly, he lays on the ground everything that may im- pede him, and, going to the tree-trunk, he begins to deliver a series of chopping blows with his axe. These blows are delivered in pairs, and to an Englishman present rather a ludicrous reminiscence of the postman’s double rap. By each of these double blows he chops a small hole in the tree, and man- ages so as to cut them alternately right and left, and at intervals of two feet or so. Having cut these notches as high as he can reach, he places the great toe of his left foot in the lowermost hole, clasps the tree with his left arm, and strikes the head of the tomahawk into the tree as high as he can reach. Using the tomahawk as a handle by which he can pull himself up, he lodges the toe of his right foot in the second hole, and is then enabled to shift the toe of the left foot into the third hole. Here he w^aits for a moment, holding tightly by both his feet and TREE CLIMBIKG. 725 the left hand and arm, while he cuts more notches; and, by continuiiig the process, he Boon reaches the top of the tree. When he reaches the first branch, he looks carefully to tind the spot toward which the tell-tale scratches are directed, and, guided by them alone, he soon discovers the hole in which the animal lies hidden. lie tests the dimensions of the hollow by tapping on the trunk with the axe, and, if it should be of moderate depth, sets at work to chop away tlie wood, and secure the inmate. Should, however, the hollow be a deep one, he is obliged to have recourse to an- other plan. Descending the tree by the same notches as those by which he had climbed it, he takes from his bundle of be- longings a fire-stick, i. e. a sort of tiuderlike wood, which keeps up a smouldering lire, like that of the willow “ touchwood ” so dear to schoolboys. Wrapping up the fire-stick in a bundle of dry grass and leaves, he re- ascends the tree, and, when he has reached the entrance of the burrow, he whirls the bundle round his head until the fire spreads through the mass, and the grass bursts into flame. As soon as it is well inflamed, he pushes some of the burning material into the bur- row, so as to fall upon the enclosed animal, and to rouse it from the heavy sleep in which it passes the hours of daylight. He also holds the rest of the torch at the en- trance of the burrow, and manages to direct the smoke into it. Did he not rouse the animal by the burning leaves, he would run a chance of suffocating it in its sleep. This may seem to be a very remote contingency, but in fact it is very likely to happen. I have known a cat to be baked alive in an oven, and yet not to have awaked from sleep, as was evident by the attitude in which the body of the animal was found curled up, with its chin on its paws, and its tail wrapped round its body. Yet the slum- ber of a domesticated cat, which can sleep as often as it likes in the day or night, is not nearly so deep as that which wraps in obliv- ion the senses of a wild animal that is abroad all night, and whose whole structure is in- tended for a nocturnal life. The chopping holes, and getting the toes into them, seems in theory to be rather a tedious business, but in practice it is quite the contrary, the native ascending almost as quickly as if he were climbing a ladder. As the large trees are so capable of containing the animals on which the Australians feed, there is scarcely one which does not exhibit several series of the notches that denote the track of a native. Strange to say, the Au- ^ stralian hunters will not avail themselves of I the notches that have been made by other persons, but each man chops a new series of lioles for himself every time that he wants to ascend a tree. Sometimes a man sees the track of an animal or the indication of a bee’s nest on a tree when he happens not to have an axe in hand. In such a case he is still able to ascend the tree, for he can make use of the dagg-er which has been already described, punching holes in the bark, and pulling him- self up exactly as if he had a tomahawk, the only difference being that the holes are smaller and the work is harder. When the hunter has once found the entrance of the burrow, the capture of the inmate is simply a matter of time, as. the heat and smoke are sure to force i-t into the air, where it has the double disadvantage of being half-choked with smoke and being blind with the flame and the daylight, to which its eyes are unaccustomed. A blow on the head from the tomakawk, or a stab from the dagger, renders it senseless, when it is flung on the ground, and the successful hunter proceeds to traverse the tree in case some other animal may be hidden in it. The skill of the natives in tree climb- ing is also exercised for another purpose besides hunting for bees and animals. The well-known cabbage-palm grows to a very great height, and, like other palms, never grows quite straight, but has always a bend in the trunk. After the manner of the palm-tribe, it grows by a succession of buds from the top, and this bud, popularly called the “ cabbage,” is a favorite article of food. It has been called the prince of vegetables, and one enthusiastic traveller declares that it must have been the am- brosia of the Olympic gods. The removal of the bud causes the death of the tree, and for that reason the vegetable is for- bidden in civilized regions under penalty of a heavy fine. The savage, however, who has no idea of care for the morrow, much less of looking forward to future years, takes the bud wherever he meets it, caring noth- ing for the death of the useful tree. He ascends by means of a little wooden dagger, or warpoo, or makes use of the tomahawk. The quartz dagger which was shown in a previous illustration would not be used for tree climbing, unless the owner could not procure a tomahawk or warpoo. Its chief use is as a weapon, and it can be also em- ployed as a knife, by means of which the savage can mutilate a fallen- enemy, after the manner which will be described when we come to treat of warfare in Australia. The “ black-boy ” gum, which plays so large a part in the manufacture of Austra- lian weapons and implements, is obtained from the grass-tree, popularly called the “ black boy,” because at a distance it may easily be mistaken for a native, with his spear and cloak. It is very tenacious in its own country, but when brought to England it becomes brittle, and is apt to break away from the weapon in fragments, just as does a similar preparation called “ kurumanni ” gum, which is made by the natives of Gui* 7'2G AUSTRALIA. ana. It is quite black, and when dry is extremely hard. •The grass-tree is one of the characteristic plants of Australia, and partakes of the strange individuality of that curious coun- try. The trunk is cylindrical, and looks like that of a palm, while an enormous tuft of long leaves starts from the top and droops in all directions, like a gigantic plume of feath- ers. The flower shoots up straight from the centre; and the long stalk becomes, when dried, so hard, tougli, and light, that it is made into spear shafts. There is in my collection an Australian saw (illustrated on page 722), in the manu- facture of which the black-boy gum plays a considerable part. No one would take it for a saw who did not know the implement, and indeed it looks much more like a rude dagger thai^ a saw. It is made from a piece of wood usually cut' from a branch of the gum-tree, and about as thick as a man’s Anger at the thickest part, whence it tapers gradually to a point. The average length of the saw is fourteen inches, though I have seen them nearly two feet long. Along the thicker end is cut a groove, which is intended to receive the teeth of -the saw. These teeth are made from chips of quartz or obsidian, the latter being pre- ferred; and some makers, who have been brought in contact with civilization, have taken to using fragments of glass bottles. A number of flat and sharp-edged chips are selected as nearly as possible of the same size, and being on an average as large as a shilling. These the natives insert into the groove with their sharp edges uppermost. A quantity of black-boy wax is then warmed and applied to them, the entire wood of the saw being enveloped in it, as well as the teeth for half their depth, so as to hold them firmly in their places. As the chips of stone are placed so as to leave little spaces between them, the gaps are filled in with this useful cement. For Australian work this simple tool seems to answer its purpose well enougln Of course it is very slow in its operation, and no great force can be applied to it, lest the teeth should be broken, or twisted out of the cement. The use of this saw entails great waste of material, time, and labor; but as the first two of these articles are not of the least value to the natives, and the third is of the lightest possible kind, the tool works well enough for its purpose. A perfect specimen of this saw is not often seen in this country, as the black-boy wax flakes off, and allows the teeth to drop out of their place. Even in my own specimen, which has been carefully tended, the wax has been chipped off here and there, while in instruments that have been knocked about carelessly scarcely a tooth is left in its place. Owing to the pointed end of the handle, the saw can be used after the fashion of a dagger, and can be employed, like the war- poo, for the ascent of trees. CHAPTER LXXH. AU STE ALIA — Continued. THE AUSTRALIAN’ SPEAR AND ITS MANY FORMS — THE THROWING-SPEAR OR JAVELIN — A GROUP OP AUSTRALIAN SPEARS — THE LIGHTNESS OF THE SHAFT — THE MANY-POINTED FISH-SPEAR — INGENIOUS MODE OF TIPPING THE POINTS WITH BONE, AND FASTENING THEM TO THE SHAFT — ELASTICITY OF THE POINTS — DOUBLE USE AS PADDLE AND SPEAR — AN ELABORATELY-MADE WEAPON — FLINT-HEADED SPEARS — EXCELLENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN AS A THROWER OF MISSILES — THE CLUB, THE STONE, AND THE “ KANGAROO-RAT ” — THE THROW-STICK, MIDLAH, OR WUMMERAH — PRINCIPLE ON WHICH IT IS CONSTRUCTED — MODES OF QUIVERING THE SPEAR — DISTANCE TO WHICH IT CAN BE THROWN — THE UNDERHAND THROW — ACCURACY OF AIM — SPEARING THE KANGAROO — THE BOW AND ARROW — STRENGTH OF THE BOW — THE RATTAN STRING AND INGENIOUS KNOT — CAREFUL MANUFACTURE OF THE ARROWS — PRESUMED ORIGIN OF THE WEAPONS — THE BOOMERANG AND ITS VARIOUS FORMS — MODE OF THROWING THE WEAPON — ITS PROBABLE ORIGIN — STRUCTURE OF THE BOOMERANG — THE AUSTRALIAN SHIELD, ITS FORMS AND USES — THE WOODEN AND THE BARK SHIELDS. AVe now come to the various forms of the spears which are used by the native Austra- lians. The usual weapon is slight, and scarcely exceeds in diameter the assagai of Southern Africa. It is, however, considerable longer, the ordinary length being from nine to eleven feet. As a general rule, the spear is constructed after a, very rude fashion, and tlie maker seems to care but little whether the shaft be perfectly straight, so that the weapon be tolerably well balanced. There are several specimens of Australian spears in my collection, one of which (a weapon that has evidently been a favorite one, as it shows marks of long usage) is twice bent, the second bend counteracting the former, and so bringing the weapon tolerably straight. The butt of the Australian spear, like that of the South African assagai, is very slight, the shaft tapering gradually from the head, which is about as large as a man’s fin- ger, to the butt, where it is hardly thicker than an artist’s pencil. This, being one of the common spears, is simply sharpened at the end, and a few slight barbs cut in the wood. I have, however, specimens in which there is almost every variety of material, dimensions, and structure that can be found in Australia. ^ Some of these -are made on the same prin- ciple as that which has just been described, but differ from it in having a separate head, 36 made of hard and heavy wood. This‘ is deeply cut with barbs; so that the weapon is a more formidable one than that which is made simply from one piece of ivood. The head of one of these spears is shown at fig. 7 in the illustration “ Ileads of Spears,” on page 731. Several of the spears are perfectly plain, being simply long sticks, pointed at the larger end. These, however, have been scraped very carefully, and seem to have had more pains bestowed upon them than those with more elaborate heads. These spears are about eight feet in length. Then there are other spears with a varia- ble number of heads, and of variable dimen- sions. The commonest form of multiheaded spears has either three or four points; but in every other respect, except number, the spear heads are constructed in the same manner. One of these spears, now before me, has a shaft about nine feet in length, and rather more than an inch in diameter at the thickest part, which, as is usual with Aus- tralian spears, is just below the head. The wood of which it is made is exceedingly light and porous; but this very quality has unfortunately made it so acceptable to the ptilinus beetles that they have damaged it sadly, and rendered it so brittle that a very slight sliock would snap it. Indeed, the shaft of one of them was broken into three pieces by a little child stumbling against it while coming down stairs. ( 727 ) 728 AUSTRALIA. The four points which constitute the head are cut from the gum-tree, the wood of which is hard and dural)le, and can be trimmed to a very sharp point without dan- ger of breakage. Each of them is twenty inches in length, and they are largest in the middle, tapering slightly at one end so as to permit of their being fastened to the shaft, and being scraped to a tine point at the other end. On examination I find that the large end of the shaft has been cut into four grooves, in each of which is placed the butt end of one of the points, which is fixed temporarily by black-boy gum. Wedgelike pegs have then been pushed between the points, so as to make them diverge properly from each other, and, when they have assumed the proper position, they have been tightly bound together with cord. A layer of black- boy gum has then been kneaded over the string, so as to keep all firmly together. So much for the mode of putting on the points, the end of one of which may be seen at fig. 3 in the illustration. My own speci- men, however, is better made than that from which the sketch has been taken. The reader will perceive that there is a barb attached to the point, and lashed in its place by string. In my specimen the barb is made of a piece of bone about as long as a skewer, and sharply pointed at both ends. In the example shown in the illustration, the barb merely projects from the side of the point, whereas in my specimen the bone answers the purpose both of point and barb. In order to enable it to take the proper direction, the top of the wooden point is bevelled off, and the piece of bone lashed to it by the middle, so that one end becomes the point of the weapon, and the other end does duty for the barb. Wishing to see how this was done, I have cut away part of the lashings of one of the four points, and have been much struck with the ingenuity displayed by the maker in fastening the bone to the point, so as to make it discharge its double duty. The barbs are all directed inward, so that, when the native makes a stroke at a fish, the slippery prey is caught between the barbs, and held there just as is an eel between the prongs of the spear. The elasticity of the four long points causes them to diverge when they come upon the back of a fish, and to contract tightly upon it, so that the points of the barbs are pressed firmly into its sides. This spear also stands the native instead of a paddle, and with it he contrives to guide his fragile bark with moderate speed. How he manages to stand erect in so frail a vessel, to paddle about, to strike the fish, and, lastly, to haul the struggling prey aboard, is really a marvel. The last-men- tioned feat is the most wonderful, as the fish are often of considerable size, and the mere leverage of their weight at the end of a ten-foot spear, added to the violent strug- gles which the wounded fish makes, seems sufficient to upset a far more stable vessel. Yet the natives manage to pass hour after hour without meeting with an accident, and in one of their tiny boats, which seem scarcely large enough to hold a single European, even though he should be accustomed to the narrow outrigger skiff, or the com- paratively modern canoe, two men will be perfectly comfortable, spearing and hauling in their fish, and even cooking them with a fire made on an extemporized hearth of wet sand and stones in the middle of the canoe. Night is the favorite time for fish spear- ing, and then the sight of a number of na- tives engaged in the watery chase is a most picturesque one. They carry torches, by means of which they see to the bottom of the water, and which have also the advan- tage of dazzling the fish; and the effect of the constantly moving torches, the shifting glare on the rippled water, and the dark figures moving about, some searching for fish, others striking, and others struggling with the captured prey, is equally pictu- resque and exciting. The torches which they use are made of inflammable bark; and the whole scene is almost precisely like that which is witnessed in “ burning the water,” in North America, or, to come nearer home, “ leistering ” in Scotland. In the daytime they cannot use the torch, and, as the slightest breeze will cause a ripple on the surface of the water that effec- tually prevents them from seeing the fish, they have an ingenious plan of lying flat across the canoe, with the upper part of the head and the eyes immersed in the water, and the hand grasping the spear ready for the stroke. The eyes being under the rip- ple, they can see distinctly enough. I have often employed this plan when desirous of watching the proceedings of sub- aquatic animals. It is very effectual, though after a time the attitude becomes rather fatiguing, and those wlio are not gymnasts enough to be independent as to the relative position of their heads and heels are apt to find themselves giddy from the determina- tion of blood to the head. Another spear, also used for fishing, and with an elaborate head, is seen at fig 8. In this spear one point is iron, and the other two are bone. The weapon is remarkable for the manner in which the shaft is allowed to project among the points, and for the peculiar mode in which the various parts are lashed together. This specimen comes from the Lower Murray River. There is in my collection a weapon which was brought from Cape York. It is a fish- ing spear, and at first sight greatly resem- bles that which has just been described. It is, however, of a more elaborate character, and deserves a separate description. It is seven feet in length, and very slender, the AUSTRALIAN AS A THROWER OF MISSILES. 729 thickest part of the shaft not being more than half an inch in diameter. It has four { )oints, two of which are iron and without )arbs, the iron being about the thickness of a crow-quill, and rather under three inches in length. The two bone points are made from the flat tail-bone of one of the rays, and, being arranged with the point of the bone in front, each of these points has a double row of barbs directed back- ward, one running along each edge. At fig. 6 of the same illustration is seen a very formidable variety of the throwing- spear. Along each side of the head the native warrior has cut a groove, and has stuck in it a number of chips of flint or quartz, fastened in their places by the black- boy gum, just as has been related of the saw. The workmanship of this specimen is, however, far ruder than that of the saw, the pieces of flint not being the same size, nor so carefully adjusted. Indeed, it seems as if the saw maker laid aside the frag- ments of flint which he rejected for the tool, and afterward used them in arming the head of his spear. One of these weapons in my collection is armed on one side of the head only, along which are arranged four pieces of obsidian having very jagged edges, and being kept in their places by a thick coating of black-boy gum extending to the very point of the spear. At figs 4 and 5 of the same illustration are seen two spear heads which remind the observer of the flint weapons which have of late years been so abundantly found in va- rious parts of the world, and which belonged to races of men now long extinct. The spear heads are nearly as large as a man’s hand, and are made of flint chipped care- fully into the required shape. Tlfey are flat, and the maker has had sufficient knowl- edge of the cleavage to enable him to give to each side a sharp and tolerably uniform edge. It will be observed that fig. 5 is much darker than fig. 4. This distinction is not accidental, but very well expresses the vari- ety in the hue of the material employed, some of the spear heads being pale brown, and some almost black. The weapons are, in fact, nothing but elongations of the dagger shown in fig. 2, of the “ tomahawks,” on page 722. If the reader will look at figs. 1 and 2 of the illustration, he will see that there are two heads of somewhat similar construc- tion, except that one is single and the other double. These spears were brought from Port Essington. ^ Specimens of each kind are in mf collec- tion. They are of great size, one being more than thirteen feet in length, and the other falling but little short of that measure- ment. In diameter they are as thick as a man’s wrist; and, however light may be the wood of which they are made, they are exceedingly weighty, and must be very in- ferior in efficiency to the light throwing- spears which have already been described. Of course such a weapon as that is meant to be used as a pike, and not as a missile. Be- sides these, I have another with three heads, and of nearly the same dimensions as the two others. In every case the head and the shaft are of diflerent material, the one being light and porous, and the other hard, compact, and heavy. Instead of being lashed together with the neatness which is exhibited in the lighter weapons, the head and shaft are united with a binding of thick string, wrapped carefully, but yet roughly, round the weapon, and not being covered with the coating of black-boy gum, which gives so neat a look to the smaller weapons. In the three-pointed spear, the maker has exer- cised his ingenuity in decorating the weapon with paint, the tips of the points being painted with red and the rest of the head white, while the lashing is also painted red. In his wild state the Australian native never likes to be without a spear in his hand, and, as may be expected from a man whose subsistence is almost entirely due to his skill in the use of weapons, he is a most accomplished spear thrower. Indeed, as a thrower of missiles in general the Australian stands without a rival. Putting aside the boomerang, of which we shall presently treat, the Australian can hurl a spear either with his hand or with the “ throAv-stick,” can fling his short club Avith unerring aim, and, even should he be deprived of these missiles, he has a singular faculty of throAving stones. Many a time, before the character of the natives was knoAvn, has an armed soldier been killed by a totally unarmed Australian. The man has fired at the native, Avho, by dodging about, has prevented the enemy from taking a correct aim, and then has been simply cut to pieces by a shoAver of stones, picked up and hurled Avith a force and precision that must be seen to be be- lieved. When the first Australian discov- erer came home, no one would believe that any weapon could be flung and then return to the throAver, and even at the present day it is difficult to make some persons believe in the stone-throAving poAvers of the Austra- lian. To fling one stone Avith perfect pre- cision is not so easy a matter as it seems, but the Australian Avill hurl one after the other Avith such rapidity that they seem to be poured from some machine; and as he throAvs them he leaps from side to side, so as to make the missiles converge from dif- ferent directions upon the unfortunate ob- ject of his aim. In order to attain the wonderful skill which they possess in avoiding as Avell as in throwing spears, it is necessary that they should be in constant practice from child- hood. Accordingly, they are fond of get- 730 AUSTRALIA. ting lip sham fights, armed with shield, throw-stick, and spear, the latter weapon being headless, and the end blunted by being split and scraped into filaments, and the bushy filaments then turned back, until they form a soft fibrous pad. Even with this protection, the weapon is not to be despised; and if it strike one of the com- batants fairly, it is sure to knock him down; and if it should strike him in the ribs, it leaves him gasping for breath. This mimic .spear goes by the name of “ matamoodlu,” and is made of various sizes according to the age and capabilities of the person who uses it. There is one missile which is, I believe, as peculiar to Australia as the boomerang, though it is not so widely spread, nor of such use in war or hunting. It is poiDularly called the “ kangaroo-rat,” on account of its pe- culiar leaping progression, and it ma}^ be familiar to those of my readers who saw the Australian cricketers who came over to England in the spring of 1868. Tlie “kan- garoo-rat” is a piece of hard ivood shaped like a double cone, and having a long flexi- ble handle projecting from one of the points. The handle is about a yard in length, and as thick as an artist’s drawing-pencil, and at a little distance the weapon looks like a huge tadpole with a much elongated tail. In Australia the natives make the tail of a flexible twig, but those who have access to the resources of civilization have found out that whalebone is the best substance for the tail that can be found. When the native throws the kangaroo- rat, he takes it by the end of the tail and swings it backward and forward, so that it bends quite double, and at last he gives a sort of underhanded jerk and lets it fly. It darts through the air with a sharp and men- acing hiss iike the sound of a rifle ball, its greatest height being some seven or eight feet from the ground. As soon as it touches the earth, it springs up and makes a succes- sion of leaps, each less than the preceding, until it finally stops. In fact, it skims over the ground exactly as a flat stone skims over the water when boys are playing at “ ducks and drakes.” The distance to which this instrument can be thrown is really astonish- ing. I have seen an Australian stand at one side of Kennington Oval, and throw the “kangaroo-rat.” completely across it. Much depends upon the angle at which it first takes the ground. If thrown too high, it makes one or two lofty leaps, but traverses no great distance; and, if it be thrown too low, it shoots along the ground, and is soon brought up by the excessive friction,. When properly thrown, it looks just like a living animal leaping along, and those who have been accustomed to traverse the country say that its movements have a wonderful resem- blance to the long leaps of a kangaroo-rat fleeing in alarm, with its long tail trailing as a balance behind it. A somewhat similarly shaped missile i.s used in Fiji, but the Fijian instrument has a stiff shaft, and it is propelled by placing the end of the forefinger against the butt, and throwing it underhanded. It is only used in a game in which the competitors try to send it skimming along the ground as far as pos- sible. To return to our spears. It is seldom that an Australian condescends to throw a spear by hand, the native always preferring to use the curious implement called by the aborigines a “ wummerah,” or “ midlah,” and by the colonists tlie “ throw-stick.” The theory of the throw-stick is simple enough, but the practice is very difficult, and requires a long apprenticeship before it can be learned with any certainty. The principle of this implement is that of the sling; and the throw-stick is, in fact, a sling made of wood instead of cord, the spear taking the place of the stone. So completely is the throw-stick associated with the spear, that the native would as soon think of going without his spear as without the instrument whereby he throws it. The implement takes different forms in different localities, al- though the principle of its construction is the same throughout. In the illustration entitled “ Throw-sticks,” on page 731, the reader may see every variety of form which the throw-stick takes. He will see, on in- specting the figures, that it consists of a stick of variable length and breadth, but alwa 3 ^s having a barblike projection at one end. Before describing the manner in which 'the instrument is used, I will proceed to a short notice of the mode of its construction, and the various forms which it takes. In the first place, it is always more or less flattened; sometimes, as in fig. 3, being almost leaf-shaped, and sometimes, as in fig. 6, being quite narrow, and throughout the greater part of its length little more than a flattened stick. It is always made of some hard and elastic wood, and in many cases it is large and heav^’^ enough to be serviceable as a club at close quarters. Indeed, one very good specimen in my collection, which came from the Swan River, was labelled, when it reached me, as an Indian club. This form of the throw-stick is shown at fig. 3. "This particular specimen is a trifle under two feet in length; and in the broadest part it measures four inches and a half in width. In the centre it is one-sixth of an inch in thickness, and diminishes graduall}^ to the edges, which are about as sharp as those of the wooden sword already mentioned. Tow- ard the end, however, it becomes thicker, and at the place where the peg is placed it is as thick as in the middle. Such a weapon would be very formidable if used as a club — scarcely less so, indeed, than the well-known “ merai ” of Kew Zealand. HEADS OF AUSTRALIAN SPI:ARS. (See page 727.) THROW-STICKS. (See page 7.30.) BOOMERANGS. (See page 737.) ( 731 ) THE THROW- STICK. 733 That it has been used for this purpose is evident from a fracture, which has clearly been caused by the effect of a severe blow. The wood is split from one side of the handle half along the weapon, and so it has been rendered for a time unserviceable. The care- ful owner has, however, contrived to mend the fracture, and has done so in a singularly ingenious manner. He has fitted the broken surfaces accurately together, and has then bound them with the kangaroo-tail sinews which have already been mentioned. The sinews are flat, and have been protected by a thick coating of black-boy gum. Perhaps the reader may be aware that, when catgut is knotted, the ends are secured by scorching them, which makes them swell into round knobs. The sinew has the same property, and the native has secured the ends pre- cisely as an English artisan would do. The wood is that of the tough, hard, wavy- grained gum-tree. Whether in consequence of much handling by greasy natives, or whether from other causes, I do not know, but I cannot make a label adhere to it. To each of the specimens in my collection is attached a catalogue number, and though I have tried to affix the label with paste, gum, and glue, neither will hold it, and in a few days the label falls off of its own accord. This specimen has been cut from a tree which has been attacked by some boring insect, and the consequence is, that a small hole is bored through it edgewise, and has a very curious appearance. The hole looks exactly like that of our well-known insect, the great Sirex. The peculiarly-shaped handle is made entirely of black-boy gum, and, with the' exception of a tendency to warp away from the wood, it is as firm as on the day when it was first made. The peg which fits into the butt of the spear is in this case made of wood, but in many throw-sticks it is made of bone. Figs. 1 and 2 are examples of this flattened form of midlah, and were drawn from specimens in Southern Australia. At figs. 4 and 5 may be seen examples of the throw-stick of Port Essington, one of which, fig. 4, is remarkable for the peculiarly-shaped handle. That of fig. 5 seems to be remark- ably inconvenient, and almost to have been made for the express purpose of preventing the native from taking a firm hold of the weapon. Fig. 6 is an example of the throw- stick of Queensland, and, as may easily be seen, can be used as a club, provided that it be reversed, and the peg end used as a handle. There is another form of throw-stick used in Korthern Australia, an example of which may be seen at fig. 6. It is a full foot longer than that which came from the Murray, and is one of the “ flattened sticks ” which have been casually mentioned. It has a wooden spike for the spear-butt, and a most remark- able handle. Two pieces of melon-shell have been cut at rather long ovals, and have been fixed diagonally across the end of the weapon, one on each side. Black-boy gum has been profusely used in fixing these pieces, and the whole of the interior space between the shells has been filled up with it. A diagonal lashing of sinew, covered with the same gum, passes over the shells, and the handle is strongly wrapped with the same material for a space of five inches. We will now proceed to sec how the native throws the spear. Holding the throw-stick by the handle, so that the other end projects over his 'shoul- der, he takes a spear in his left hand, fits a slight hollow in its butt to the peg of the midlah, and then holds it in its place by passing the forefinger of the right hand over the shaft. It will be seen that the leverage is enormously increased by this plan, and that the force of the arm is more than doubled. Sometimes, especially when hunting, the native throws the spear without further trouble, but when he is engaged in a fight he goes through a series of performances which are rather ludicrous to an European, though they are intended to strike terror into the native enemy. The spear is jerked about violently, so that it quivers just like an African assagai, and while vibrating strongly it is thrown. There are two ways of quivering the spear; the one by merely moving the right hand, and the other by seizing the shaft in the left hand, and shak- ing it violently while the butt rests against the peg of the throw-stick. In any case the very fact of quivering the spear acts on the Australian warrior as it does upon the Afri- can. The whirring sound of the vibrating weapon excites him to a pitch of frenzied excitement, and while menacing his foe with the trembling spear, the warrior dances and leaps and yells as if he were mad — and indeed for the moment he becomes a raving madman. The distance to which the spear can be thrown is something wonderful, and its as- pect as it passes through the air is singu- larly beautiful. It seems rather to have been shot from some huge bow, or to be fur- nished with some innate powers of flight, than to have been flung from a human arm, as it performs its lofty course, undulating like a thin black snake, and writhing its graceful way through the air. As it leaves the thro w^-stick,. a slight clashing sound is heard, which to the experienced ear tells its story as clearly as the menacing clang of an archer’s bowstring. To me the distance of its flight is not nearly so wonderful as the precision with which it can be aimed. A tolerabl}’ long throw-stick gives so powerful a leverage that the length of range is not so very astonish- ing. But that accuracy of aim should be attained as well as length of flight is reaUy 734 AUSTEALIA. wonderful. I have seen the natives, when engaged in mock battle, stand at a distance of eighty or ninety yards, and throw their spears with such certainty that, in four throws out of six, the antagonist was obliged to move in order to escape the spears. Beside the powerful and lofty throw, they have a way of suddenly flinging it under- hand, so that it skims just above the ground, and, when it touches the earth, proceeds with a series of ricochets that must be pecul- iarly embarrassing to a novice in that kind of warfare. The power of the spear is never better shown than in the chase of the kangaroo. When a native sees one of these animals engaged in feeding, he goes off to a little distance where it cannot see him, gathers a few leafy boughs, and ties them together so as to form a screen. lie then takes his spears, throw-stick, and waddy, and goes off in chase of the kangaroo. Taking advantage of every cover, he slips noiselessly forward, always taking care to approach the animal against the wind, so that it shall not be able to detect his presence by the nostrils, and gliding along with studied avoidance of withered leaves, dry twigs, and the other natural objects which, by their rustling and snapping, warn the animal that danger is at hand. As long as possible, the hunter keeps under the shelter of natural cover, but when this is impossible, he takes to his leafy screen, and trusts to it for approaching within range. Before quitting the trees or bush behind which he has been hiding himself, he takes liis spear, fits it to the throw-stick, raises his arm with the spear ready poised, and never moves that arm until it delivers the .spear. Holding the leafy screen in front of him with his left hand, and disposing the second spear and other weapons which cannot be hidden so as to look like dead branches grow- ing from the bush, he glides carefully toward the kangaroo, always advancing while it stoops to feed, and crouching quietly behind the screen whenever it raises itself, after the fashion of kangaroos, and surveys the sur- rounding country. At last he comes within fair range, and with unerring aim he transfixes the un- suspecting kangaroo. Sometimes he comes upon several animals, and in that case his second spear is rapidly fixed in the midlah and hurled at the flying animals, and, should he have come to tolerably close quarters, the short missile club is flung with certain aim. Having thrown all the missiles which he finds available, he proceeds to despatch the wounded animals with his waddy. In the illustration No. 1, on the 739tli page, the action of the throw-stick is well shoAvn, and tAvo scenes in the hunt are depicted. In the foreground is a hunter who has succeeded in getting tolerably close to the kangaroos by creeping toAvard them behind the shadow of trees, and is just poising his spear for the fatal throAv. The reader will note the curi- ous bone ornament Avhich passes through the septum of the nose, and gives such a curi- ous character to the face. In the background is another hunter, Avho has been obliged to have recourse to the bough screen, behind AAdiich he is hiding himself like the soldiers in “ .Vlacbeth,” Avhilc the unmspecting kan- garoos are quietly feeding AA'ithin easy range. One of them has taken alarm, and is sitting upright to look about it, just as the squirrel will do AA’^hile it is feeding on the ground. The reader will noAv see the absolute necessity of an accurate aim in the throAver — an accomplishment AA’hich to me is a prac- tical mystery. I can hurl the spear to a con- siderable distance by means of a throAA'-stick, but the aim is quite another business, the spear seeming to take an independent course of its OAvn AAuthout the least reference to the Avishes of the throAver. Yet the Australian is so good a marksman that he can make good practice at a man at the distance of eighty or ninety yards, making due allow- ance for the Avind, and calculating the curve described by the spear Avith AA’onderful ac- curacy; Avhile at a short distance his eye and hand are equally true, and he will transfix a kangaroo at tAventy or thirty yards as cer- tainly as it could be shot by an experienced rifleman. In some parts of Australia the natives use the boAV and arroAv; but the employment of such Aveapons seems to belong chiefly to the inhabitants of the extreme north. There are in my collection specimens of boAvs and arrows brought from Cape York, Avhich in their Avay are really admirable Aveapons, and Avould do credit to the archers of Polynesia. The bow is more than six feet long, and is made from the male, i. e. the solid bamboo. It is very stiff, and a poAverful as Avell as a practised arm is needed to bend it properly. Like the spear shaft, this boAv is greatly subject to being AAwm-eaten. My OAvn speci- men is so honeycombed by these tiny borers that Avhen it arrived a little heap of yelloAV poAvder fell to the ground Avherever the bow Avas set, and, if it Avere sharply struck, a cloud of the same poAvder came from it. Fortunately, the same looseness of texture AAdiich enabled the beetle to make such havoc served also to conduct the poisoned spirit which I injected into the holes; and noAV the ravages have ceased, and not the most vora- cious insect in existence can touch the Avea- pon. The string is very simply made, being nothing but a piece of rattan split to ihe re- quired thickness. Perhaps the most ingen- ious part of this boAv is tlie manner in which the loop is made. Although unacquainted vAuth the simple yet effective boAvstring knot, Avhich is so AA^ell knoAvn to our archers, and Avhich would not suit the stiff and harsh rat- tan^ Te native has invented a knot AAdiich is THE BOW AND AllIlOWS. 735 Cfuite as efficacious, and is managed on the same principle of taking several turns, with the cord round itself just below the loop. In order to give the rattan the needful flexibility ic has been beaten so as to separate it into fibres and break up the hard, flinty coating which surrounds it, and these fibres have then been twisted round and round into a ) ort of rude cord, guarded at the end with a wrapping of the same matHidal in order to preserve if from unravelling. The arrows arc suitable to the bow. They are variable in length, but all are much longer than those which the English bow- men were accustomed to use, and, instead of being a “ cloth yard ” in length, the shortest measures three feet seven inches in length, while the longest is four feet eight inches from butt to point. They are without a vestige of feathering, and have no nock, so that the native archer is obliged to hold the arrow against the string with his thumb and finger, and cannot draw the bow with the fore and middle finger, as all good English archers have done ever since the bow was known. The shafts of the arrows are made of reed, and they are all headed with long spikes of some dark and heavy wood, which enable them to fly properly. Some of the heads are plain, rounded spikes, but others are elabo- rately barbed. One, for example, has a sin- gle row of six barbs, each an inch in length, and another has one double barb, like that of the “ broad arrow ” of England. Another has, instead of a barb, a smooth bulb, ending gradually in a spike, and serving no possible purpose, except perhaps that of ornament. Another has two of these bulbs; and another, the longest of them all, has a slight bulb, and then an attempt at carving. The pattern is of the very simplest character, but it is the only piece of carving on all the weapons. The same arrow is remarkable for having the point covered for some two inches with a sort of varnish, looking exactly like red sealing-wax, while a band of the same ma- terial encircles the head about six inches nearer the shaft. The sailor who brought the weapons over told me that this red var- nish was poison, but I doubt exceedingly whether it is anything but ornament. The end of the reed into which the head is inserted is guarded by a wrapping of rattan fibre, covered with a sort of dark var- nish, which, however, is not the black-boy gum that is so plentifully used in the manu- facture of other weapons. In one instance tlie place of the wrapping is taken by an inch or so of plaiting, wrought so beauti- fully with the outside of the rattan cut into flat strips scarcely wider than ordinary twine, that it betrays the Polynesian origin of the weapons, and confirms me in the belief that the bow and arrow are not in- digenous to Australia, but have only been imported from New Guinea, and have not made their way inland. The natives of Northern Australia have also evidently bor- rowed much from Polynesia, as we shall see in the coursb of this narrative. The bow is usually about six feet in length, though one in my possession is somewhat longer. Owing to the dimen- sions of the bow and arrows, a full equip- ment of them is very weighty, and, together with the other weapons which an Austra- lian thinks it his duty to cany, must be no slight burden to the warrior. Ferocity of countenance is very charac- teristic of the race, and, as we shall see when we come to the canoes and their occu- pants, the people are very crafty; mild and complaisant when they think themselves overmatched, insolent and menacing when they fancy themselves suj)erior, and tolera- bly sure to commit murder if they think they can do so with impunity. The only mode of dealing with these people is the safe one to adopt with all savages: i. o. never trust them, and never cheat them. We now come to that most wonderful of all weapons, the boomerang. This is essen- tially the national weapon of Australia, and is found throughout the W est country. As far as is known, it is peculiar to Australia, and, though curious missiles are found in other parts of the world, there is none which can be compared with the boomerang. On one of the old Egyptian monuments there is a figure of a bird-catcher in a canoe. He is assisted by a cat whom he has taught to catch prey for him, and, as the l)irds fly out of the reeds among which he is pushing his canoe, he is hurling at them a curved missile which some persons have thought to be the boomerang. I cannot, however, see that there is the slightest reason for such a supposition. No weapon in the least like the boome- rang is at present found in any part of Africa, and, so far as I know, there is no example of a really efficient weapon having entirely disappeared from a whole continent The harpoon with which the Egyptians of old killed the hippopotamus is used at the present day without the least alteration; the net is used for catching fish in the same manner; the spear and shield of the Egyp- tian infantry were identical in shape with those of the Kanemboo soldier, a portrait of whom may be seen on page (512; the bow and arrow still survive; and even the whip with which the Eg}'-ptian task masters beat their Jewish servants is the “khoorbash’* with which the Nubian of the present day beats his slave. In all probability, the curved weapon which the bird-catcher holds in his hand, and which he is about to throw, is nothing more than a short club, analogous to the knob-kerry of the Kaffir, and having no returning power. Varying slightly in some of its details, the boonierang fs identical iu 736 AUSTKALIA. principle wherever it is made. It is a flat- tish curved piece of wood, various examples of whicli may be seen in the illustration on the 731st page;* and neither by its shape nor nniterial does it give the least idea of its wonderful powers. The material of which the boomerang (or bommereng, as the word is sometimes ren- dered) is made is almost invariably that of the gum-tree, which is heavy, hard, and tough, and is able to sustain a tolerably severe shock without breaking. It is slightly convex on the upper surface, and flat below, and is always thickest in the middle, being scraped away toward the edges, whic h are moderately sharp, especially the outer edge. It is used as a missile, and it is one of the strangest weapons tha,t ever was invented. In the old fairy tales, with which we are more or less acquainted, one of the strange gifts which is presented by the fairy to the hero is often a weapon of some wonderful power. Thus we have the sword of sharp- ness, which cut through every thing at which it was aimed, and the coat of mail, which no weapon would pierce. It is a pity, by the way, that the sword and the coat never seem to have been tried against each other. Then there are arrows (in more modern tales modified into bullets) that always struck their mark, and so on. And in one of the highest flights of fairy lore we read of arrows that always returned of their own accord to the archer. In Australia, however, we have, as an actual fact, a missile that can be thrown to a considerable distance, and which always returns to the thrower. By a pecuiiar mode of hurling it the weapon circles through the air, and then describes a circular course, falling by the side of or behind the man who threw it. The mode of throvdng is very simple in theory, and very difficult in practice. The weapon is grasped by the handle, which is usually marked by a num- ber of cross cuts, so as to give a firm hold, and the flat side is kept downward. Then, with a quick and sharp fling, the boomerang is hurled, the hand at the same time being drawn back, so as to make the weapon revolve with extreme rapidity. A billiard- player will understand the sort of move- ment when told that it is on the same prin- ciple as the “screw-back” stroke at billiards. The weapon must be flung with great foia*e, or it will not perform its evolutions properly. If the reader 'would like to practice throw- ing the boomerang, let me recommend him, in the first place, to procure a genuine weapon, and not an English imitation there- of, such as is generally sold at the toy-shops. He should then go alone into a large field, where the ground is tolerably soft and there are no large stones about, and then stand facing the wind. Having grasped it as described, he should mark with his eye a spot on the ground at the distance of forty yards or so, and hurl the boomerang at it. Should he throw it rightly, the weapon will at first look as if it were going to strike tlio ground; but, instead of doing so, it will shoot off at a greater or less angle, accord- ing to circumstances, and will rise high into the air, circling round with gradually' dimin- ishing force, until it falls to the ground. Should sufficient force have been imparted to it, the boomerang will fall some eight or ten yards behind the thrower. It is necessary that the thrower should be alone, or at least have only an instructor with him, when he practises this art, as the boomerang will, in inexperienced hands, take all kinds of strange courses, and will, in all probability, swerve from its line, and strike one of the spectators; and the force with which a boomerang can strike is almost incredible. I have seen a dog killed on the spot, its body being nearly cut in two b}^ the boomerang as it fell; and I once saw a brass spur struck clean off the heel of an incau- tious spectator, who ran across the path of the weapon. It is necessary that he choose a soft as well as spacious field, as the boomerang has a spcr cial knack of selecting the hardest spots on which to fall, and if it can find a large stone is sure to strike it, and so break itself to pieces. And if there are trees in the way, it will get among the boughs, perhaps smash itself, certainly damage itself, and probably stick among the branches. The learner should throw also against the wind, as, if the boomerang is thrown with the wind, it does not think of coming back again, but sails on as if it never meant to stop, and is sure to reach a wonderful distance before it falls. Nearly thirty years ago, I lost a boome- rang by this very error. In company wilh some of my schoolfellows, I was throwing the weapon for their amusement, when one of them snatched it up, turned round, and threw it with all his force in the direction of the wind. The distance to which the weapon travelled I am afraid to mention, lest it should not be believed. The ground in that neighborhood is composed of suc- cessive undulations of hill and vale, and we saw the boomerang cross two of the valleys, and at last disappear into a grove of lime- trees that edged the churchyard. In vain we sought for the weapon, and it was not found until four years afterward, when a plumber, who had been sent to re- pair the roof of the church, found it stick- ing in the leads. So it had first traversed that extraordinary distance, had then cut clean through the foliage of a lime-tree, and lastly had sufficient force to stick into the leaden roofing of a church. The boome- rang was brought down half decayed, and wrenched out of its proper form by the shock. Should the reader wish to learn the use THE BOOMEllANG. 737 of the weapon, he should watch a native throw it. The attitude of the man as he hurls the boomerang is singularly graceful. Holding three or four of the weapons in his left hand, he draws out one at random with his right, while his eyes are fixed on the object v/hich he desires to hit, or the spot to which the weapon has to travel. Bal- ancing the boomerang for a moment in his hand, he suddenly steps a pace or two for- ward, and with a quick, sharp, almost angry stroke, launches his weapon into the air. Should he desire to bring the boomerang back again, he has two modes of throwing. In the one mode, he flings it high in the air, into which it mounts to a wonderful height, circling the while with a bold, vigorous sweep, that reminds the observer of the grand flight of the eagle or the buzzard. It flies on until it has reached a spot behind the thrower, wlien ail life seems suddenly to die out of it; it collapses, so to speak, like a bird shot on the wing, topples over and over, and falls to the ground. There is another mode of throwing the returning boomerang which is even more remarkable. The thrower, instead of aim- ing high in the air,- marks out a spot on the ground some thirty or forty yards in ad- vance, and Inirls the boomerang at it. The weapon strikes the ground, and, instead of being smashed to pieces, as might be thought from tlie violence of the stroke, it springs from the ground AntDeus-like, seeming to attain new vigor by its contact with the earth. It flies up as if it had been shot from the ground by a catapult; and, taking a comparatively low elevation, performs the most curious evolutions, whirling so rapidly that it looks like a semi-transparent disc with an opaque centre, and directing its course in an erratic manner that is very alarming to those who are unaccustomed to it. I have seen it execute all its manoeu- vres within seven or eight feet from the ground, hissing as it passed through the air with a strangely menacing sound, and, when it finally came to the ground, leaping along as if it were a living creature. We will now examine the various shapes of boomerangs, as seen in the illustration on the 731st page. Some of the specimens are taken from the British Museum, some from the collection of Colonel Lane Fox, some from my own, and the rest are drawn by Mr. Angas from specimens obtained in the country. I have had them brought to- gether, so that the reader may see how the boomerang has been gradually modified out of the club. At fig. 4 is the short pointed stick which may either answer the purpose of a minia- ture club, a dagger, or an instrument to be used in the ascent of trees. Just below it is a club or waddy, with a rounded head, and at fig. 6 the head has been developed into a point, and rather flattened. If the reader will refer to figs. 6 and 7, he will sec two clubs which are remarkable for having not only the knob, but the whole of the handle flattened, and the curve of the head extended to the handle. The transition from this club to the l)Oome- rang is simple enough, and, indeed, we have an example (fig. 1) of a weapon which looks like an ordinary l)oomerang, but is in fact a club, and is used for hand-to-hand combat. These figures show pretty clearly the pro- gressive structure of the boomerang. The flattened clubs were probably made from necessity, the native not being able to find a suitable piece of wood, and taking the best that he could get. If, then, one of these clubs were, on the spur of the moment, hurled at an object, the superior value which this flatness conferred upon it as a missile would be evident as well as the curved course which it would take through the air. The native, ever quick to note anything which might increase the power of his weapons, would be sure to notice this latter peculiarity, and to perceive the valuable uses to which it could be turned. He would therefore try various forms of flattened mis- siles, until he at last reached the true boom- erang. The strangest point about the boomerang is, that the curve is not uniform, and, in fact, scarcely any two specimens have precisely the same curve. Some have the curve so sharp that it almost deserves the name of angle, for an example of which see fig. 8; others, as in fig. 9, have the curve very slight; while others, as in fig. 2, have a ten- dency to a double curve, and there is a spec- imen in the British Museum in which the double curve is very boldly marked. The best and typical form of boomerang is, how- ever, that which is shown at fig. 3. The spec- imen which is there represented was made on the banks of the river Darling. The natives can do almost anything with the boomerang, and the circuitous course which it adopts is rendered its most useful characteristic. Many a hunter has wished that he only possessed that invaluable weapon, a gun which would shoot round a corner, and just such a Aveapon does the Australian find in his boomerang. If, for example, he should see a kangaroo in such a position that he cannot come within the range of a spear Avithout showing himself and alarming the animal, or say, for ex- ample, that it is sheltered from a direct attack by the trunk of a tree, he Avill steal as near as he can without disturbing the ani- mal, and then Avill throAV his boomerang in such a manner that it circles round the tree, and strikes the animal at which it is aimed. That such precision should be obtained with so curious a weapon seems rather re- markable, but those of my readers Avho are accustomed to play at boAvls will call to 738 AUSTRALIA. mind the enormous power which is given to them by the “ bias,” or weighted side of the bowl, and the bold curves which they can force the missile to execute, when they wish to send the bowl round a number of obsta- cles which are in its way. The boomerang is used as a sort of aerial bowl, with the advantage that the expert thrower is able to alter the bias at will, and to make the weapon describe almost any curve that he chooses. It is even said that, in case there should be obstacles which prevent the boomerang from passing round the tree, the native has the power of throwing it so that it strikes the ground in front of the tree, and then, by the force of the throw, leaps over the top of the branches, and descends upon the object at which it is thrown. On page 739 is shown a scene on the river Murray, in which the natives are drawn as they appear when catching the shag, a spe- cies of cormorant, which is found there in great numbers. They capture these birds in various ways, sometimes by climbing at night the trees on which they roost, and seizing them, getting severely bitten, by the way, on their naked limbs and bodies. They have also a very ingenious mode of plant- ing sticks in the bed of the river, so that tliey project above the surface, and form convenient resting-places for the birds. Fatigued with diving, the cormorants are sure to i)erch upon them; and as they are doz- ing while digesting their meal of fish, the native swims gently up, and suddenly catches them by the wings, and drags them under water. He always breaks the neck of the bird at once. They are so wonderfully skilful in the water, that when pelicans are swimming unsuspectingly on the surface, the natives approach silently, dive under them, seize the birds by the legs, jerk them under w^ater, and break l)oth the wings and legs so rapidly that the unfortunate birds have no chance of escape. Sometimes, as showm in the illustration, the natives use their boomerangs and clubs, knock the birds off the branches on which they are roosting, and secure them before they have recovered from the stunning blow of the w'eapon. When approaching cormo- rants and other aquatic birds, the native has a very ingenious plan of disguising himself. He gathers a bunch of weeds, ties it on his head, and slips quietly into the water, keep- ing his whole body immersed, and only al- lowing the artificial covering to be seen. The bird being quite accustomed to see patches of v/eeds floating along the water, takes no notiee of so familiar an object, and 80 allows the disguised man to come within easy reach. To return to the boomerang. The reader may readily have imagined that the manu- facture of so remarkable an implement is not a very easy one. The various points which constitute the excellence of a boome- rang are so light that there is searcely an European who can see them, especially as the shape, size, and weight of the weapon differ so much according to the locality in which it was made. The native, when employed in making a boomerang, often spends many days over it, not only on ac- count of the very imperfect tools which he possesses, but by reason of the minute care which is required in the manufacture of a good weapon. Day after day he may be seen with the boomerang in his hand, chipping at it slowly and circumspectly, and becoming more and more careful as it approaches completion. When he has settled the curve, and nearly flattened it to its proper thickness, he scarcely makes three or four strokes without balancing the w'eapon in his hand, looking carefully along the edges, and making move- ments as if he were about to throw it. The last few chips seem to exercise a wonderful effeet on the powers of the weajDon, and about them the native is exceedingly fastid- ious. Yet, with all this care, the weapon is a very rough one, and the marks of the flint axe are left without even an attempt to smooth them. In a well-used boomerang the projecting edges of the grooves made by various cuts and chips become quite pol- ished by friction, while the sunken portion is left rough. In one fine specimen in my possession the manufacturer has taken a curious advantage of these grooves. Be- sides marking the handle end by covering it with cross-scorings as has already been de- scribed, he has filled the grooves with the red ochre of which the Australian is so fond, and for some eight inches the remains of the red paint are visible in almost eveiy groove. So delicate is the operation of boomerang making, that some men, natives though they be, cannot turn out a really good weapon, while others are eelebrated for their skill, and can dispose of their weapons as fast as they make them. One of the native “ kings ” was a well-known boomerang maker, and his weapons were widely distributed among the natives, who knew his handiwork as an artist know^s the touch of a celebrated painter. To this skill, and the comparative wealth which its exercise brought him, the king in ques- tion owed the principal part of his author- ity. A fair idea of the size and weight of the boomerang maj’^ be gained by the measure- ments of the weapon which has just been mentioned. It is two feet nine inches long when measured with the curve, and two feet six inehes from tip to tip. It is exactly two inches in width, only narrowing at the tips, and its weight is exactly eleven ounces. This, by the way, is a war boomerang, and is (1.) SPEAKING THE KANGAROO. (See page 734.) (2.) CATCHING THE CORMORANT. (See page 738.) ( 739 ) AUSTRALIAN SHIELDS. 741 shaped like that which is shown in “ Boome- rangs ” on page 731, fig. 3. Another speci- men, which is of about the same weight, is shaped like that of fig. 8. It measures two feet five inches along the curve, two feet one inch from tip to tip, and is three inches in width in the middle, diminishing gradu- ally toward the tij^s. In order to enable them to ward off these various missiles, the natives are armed with a shield, which varies exceedingly in shape and dimensions, and, indeed, in some places is so unlike a shield, and apparently so in- adequate to the office of protecting the body, that when strangers come to visit my collec- tion I often have much difficulty in persuad- ing them that such strange-lboking objects can by any possibility be shields. As there is so great a variety in the shields, I have collected together a number of examples, which, I believe, comprise every form of shield used throughout Australia. Two of them are from specimens in my own collec- tion, several from that of Colonel Lane Fox, others are drawn from examples in the British Museum, and the rest were sketched by Mr. Angas in the course of his travels through Australia. As a general fact, the shield is very solid and heavy, and in some cases looks much more like a club with which a man can be knocked down, than a shield whereby he can be saved from a blow, several of them hav- ing sharp edges as if for the purpose of in- flicting injury. If the reader will look at the row of shields on page 742, he will see that figs. 2 and 3 ex- hibit two views of the same shield. This is one of the commonest forms of the weapon, and is found throughout a considerable por- tion’ of W estern Australia. It is cut out of a solid piece of the ever useful gum-tree, and is in consequence very hard and very heavy. As may be seen by reference to the illustra- tion, the form of the shield is somewhat triangular, the face which forms the front of the weapon being slightly rounded, and the handle being formed by cutting through the edge on which the other two faces converge. The handle is very small, and could scarcely be used by an ordinary European, though it h amply wide enough for the small and deli- cate looking hand of the Australian native. My own is a small hand, but is yet too large to hold the Australian shield comfortably. The reader will see that by this mode of forming the handle the w^rist has great play, and can turn the shield from side to side with the slightest movement of the hand. This faculty is very useful, especially when the instrument is used for warding off the spear or the club, weapons which need only to be just turned aside in order to guide them away from the body. One of these shields in my own collection is a very fine example of the instrument, and its dimensions will serve to guide the reader as to the usual form, size, and weight of an Australian shield. It measures exactly two feet seven inches in length, and is five inches wide at the middle, which is the broadest part. The width of the hole wliicli receives the hand is three inches and three-eighths, and the weight of the shield is rather more than three pounds. The extraordinary weight of the shield is needed in order to enable it to resist the shock of the boomerang, the force of which may be estimated by its weight, eleven ounces, multiplied by the force with which it is hurled. This terrible weapon cannot be merely turned aside, like the spear or the waddy, and often seems to receive an addi- tional impulse from striking any olfiect, as the reader may see by reference to page 737, in which the mode of throwing the boome- rang is described. A boomerang must be stopped, and not merely parried, and more- over, if it be not stopped properly, it twists round the shield, and with one of its revolv- ing ends inflicts a wound on the careless warrior. Even if it be met with the shield and stopped, it is apt to break, and the two halves to conv^erge upon the body. The very fragments of the boomerang seem able to inflict almost as much injury as the entire weapon; and, in one of the skirmishes to v-hich the nativ^es are so addicted, a man was seen to fall to the ground with his body cut completely open by a broken boomerang. It is in warding off the boomerang, there- fore, that the chief skill of the Australian is shown. When he sees the weapon is pursu- ing a course which will bring it to him, he steps forward so as to meet it; and, as the boomerang clashes against the shield, he gives the latter a rapid turn with the wrist. If this manoeuvre be properly executed, the boomerang breaks to pieces, and the frag- ments are struck ai)art by the movement of the shield. Perhaps some of my readers may remenv- ber that “ Dick-a-dick,” the very popular member of the Australian cricketers who came to England in 1868, among other ex- hibitions of his quickness of eye and hand, allowed himself to be pelted with cricket balls, at a distance of fifteen yards, liaving nothing wherewith to protect himself but the shield and the leowal, or angular club, the former being used to shield the body, and the latter to guard the legs. The force and accuracy with wdflch a practised crick- eter can throw the ball are familiar to all Englishmen, and it was really wonderful to see a man, with no Clothes but a skin-tight elastic dress, with a piece of wood five inches wide in his left hand, and a club in his right, quietly stand against a positive rain of cricket-balls as long as any one liked to throw at him, and come out of the ordeal unscathed. 742 AUSTKALIA. Not the least surprising part of the per- formance was the coolness with which he treated the whole affair, and the almost in- stinctive knowledge that he seemed to pos- sess respecting the precise destination of each ball. If a ball went straight at his body or head, it was met and blocked by the shield; if it were hurled at his legs, the club knocked it aside. As to those which were sure not to hit him, he treated them with contemptuous indifference, just moving his head a little on one side to allow the ball to pass, which absolutely ruffled his hair as it shot by, or lifting one arm to allow a ball to pass between the limb and his body, or, if* it were aimed but an inch wide of him, taking no notice of it whatever. The shield which he used with such skill was the same kind as that which has just been described, and was probably selected because its weight enabled it to block the balls without the hand that held it feeling the shock. To all appearances, the natives expend much more labor upon the shield than upon the boomerang, the real reason, however, being that much ornament would injure the boomerang, but can have no injurious effect grooves, and each groove has been filled with red ochre. The space between is filled in with a double zigzag pattern, and the effect of all these lines, simple as they are, is perfectly artistic and consistent. The pattern, by the way, is one that seems common to all savage races of men, wher- ever they may be found, and is to be seen on weapons made by the ancient races now long passed away, among the Kaffir tribes of South Africa, the cannibal tribes of Central W estern Africa, the inhabitants of the vari- ous Polynesian islands, the savages of the extreme north and extreme south of Amer- ica, and the natives of the great continent of Australia. At fig. 7 of the accompanying illustration may be seen a shield made of solid wood, in which the triangular form has been devel- oped in a very curious manner into a quad- rangular shape. The handle is made in the same manner as that of the former shield, i. e. by cutting through two of the faces of the triangle, while the front of the shield, instead of being a tolerably round face, is flattened out into a sharp edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine any instrument SHIELDS. upon the shield. By reference to the illus- tration, the reader will see that the face of the shield is covered with ornament, Avhich, simple in principle, is elaborate in detail. There is a specimen in my collection which is ornamented to a very great extent on its face, the sides and the handle being perfectly plain. It has a number of lines drawn transversely in bands, which, how- ever, are seven instead of five in number. Each band is composed of three zigzag that looks less like a shield than does this curious weapon, which seems to have been made for the express purpose of presenting as small a surface as possible to the enemy. The fact is, however, that the Southern Australian who uses these shields has not to defend himself against arrows, from which a man can only be defended by con- cealing his body behind shelter which is proof against them: he has only to guard against the spear and boomerang, and occa- THE MULABAKKA SHIELD. 743 sionally the missile club, all which weapons he can turn aside with the narrow shield that has been described. One of these shields in my collection is two feet seven inches in length, rather more than six inches in width, and barely three inches thick in the. middle. Its weight is just two pounds. Such a Aveapon seems much more like a club than a shield, and, indeed, if held by one end, its sharp edge might be used with great effect upon the head of an enemy. Like most Australian shields, it is covered with a pattern of the same character as that which has alread}'' been mentioned, and it has been so thor- oughly painted with ochre that it is of a reddish mahogany color, and the real hue of the Avood can only be seen by scraping off some of the stained surface. The name for this kind of shield is tamarang, and it is much used in dances, in Avhich it is struck at regular intervals Avith the Avaddy. In the British Museum is a shield A\diich is much more solid than either of those Avhich have been described. The manufac- turer evidently found the labor of chipping the Avood too much for him, and accordingly made much use of fire, forming his shield by alternate charring and scraping. The handle is rather curiously made by cutting tAvo deep holes side by side in the back of the shield, the piece of AA^ood betAveen them being rounded into a handle. As is the case with most of the shields, the handle is a A^ery small one. The face of the sliield is much wider than either of those wliicli have been noticed, and is very slightly rounded. It is ornamented Avith carved greoA^es, but rough usage has obliterated most of them, and the whole implement is as rough and unsightly an article as can well be imagined, in spite of the labor Avhich has been bestowed upon it. We noAv come to another class of shield, made of bark, and going by the title of Mul- abakka. Shields in general are called by the name of Ilieleman. Some of these bark shields are of considerable size, and are so wide in the middle that, when the OAvner crouches behind them, they protect the greater part of his body. As the compara- tively thin material of AA^hich they are com- posed prevents the handle from being made by cutting into the shield itself, the native is obliged to make the handle separately, and fasten it to the shield by various methods. The commonest mode of fixing the handle to a Mulabakka shield is seen at figs. 4 and 5, on pa,ge 742, which exhibit the front and profile views of the same shield. Another Mulabakka is shoAvn at fig. 6. The faces of all the Mulabakka shields are covered with ornamented patterns, mostly on the usual zigzag principle, but some having a pattern in Avhich curves form the chief element. CHAPTEK LXXm. AUSTRALIA — Continued. REAL. WAR UNKNOWN TO THE AUSTRALIANS — FEUDS AND THE CAUSES OF THEM — A SAVAGE TOURNA- MENT — VENGEANCE FOR DEATH — THE TROPHY OF VICTORY — AUSTRALIAN VENDETTA — FIRE- SIGNALS — DEATH OF TARMEENIA — ORDEAL OF BATTLE — CANNIBALISM AS AN ADJUNCT OF WAR — DANCES OF THE ABORIGINES — THE KURI DANCE AND ITS STRANGE ACCOMPANIMENTS — THE PALTI DANCE — THE CONCLUDING FIGURE — DANCE OF THE PARNKALLA TRIBE — ORDINARY COB- ROBBOREES— THE KANGAROO DANCE — TASMANIAN DANCE. The mention of these various weapons nat- urally leads ns to warfare; and that they are intended for that purpose the existence of the shields is a proof. Offensive weapons, such as the spear and the club, may be used merely for killing game; but the shield can only be employed to defend the body from the weapons of an enemy W ar, however, as we understand the word, is unknown among the Australians. They have not the intellect nor the organization for it, and so we have the curious fact of skilled warriors who never saw a battle. No single tribe is large enough to take one side in a real battle; and, even supposing it to possess sufficient numbers, there is no spirit of discipline by means of which a force could be gathered, kept together, or directed, even if it were assembled" Yet, though real war is unknown, the Australian natives are continually fighting, and almost every tribe is at feud with its neighbor. The cause of quarrel with them is almost invariably the possession of some territory. By a sort of tacit arrangement, the various tribes have settled themselves in certain districts; and, although they are great wanderers, yet they consider them- selves the rightful owners of their own dis- trict. It mostly happens, however, that members of one trilie trespass on the district of another, especially if it be one in w’hich game of any kind is plentiful. And sometimes, when a tribe has gone off on a travelling expedition, another tribe will settle themselves in the vacated district; so that, when the rightful owners of the soil return, there is sure to be a quarrel. The matter is usually settled by a skirmish, which bears some resemblance to the melee of ancient chivalry, and is con- ducted according to well-understood regula- tions. The aggrieved tribe sends a challenge to the offenders, the challenger in question bearing a bunch of emu’s feathers tied on the top of a spear. At daybreak next morn- ing the warriors array themselves for battle, painting their bodies in various colors, so as to make themselves look as much like de- mons, and as much unlike men, as possible, laying aside all clothing, and arranging' their various weapons for the fight. Having placed themselves in battle array, at some little distance from each other, the opposite sides begin to revile each other in quite a Homeric manner, taunting their an- tagonists with cowardice and want of skill in their weapons, and boasting of the great deeds which they are about to do. AYhen, by means of interposing these taunts with shouts and yells, dancing from one foot to the other, quivering and poising their spears, and other mechanical modes of exciting themselves, they have worked themselves up to the requisite pitch of fury, they begin to throw the spears, and the combat becomes general. Confused as it appears, it is, how- FEUDS AND THEIR CAUSES. 745 ever, arranged with a sort of order. Each warrior selects his antagonist; so that the fight is, in fact, a series of duels rather than a battle, and the whole business bears a curi- ous resemblance to the mode of fighting in the ancient days of Troy. Generally the combatants stand in rather scattered lines, or, as we should say, in wide skirmishing order. The gestures with which they try to irritate their opponents are very curious, and often grotesque; the chief object being apparently to induce the antagonist to throw the first spear. Some- times they stand with their feet very widely apart, and their knees straight, after the manner which will be seen in the illustra- tions of the native dances. While so stand- ing, they communicate a peculiar quivering movement to the legs, and pretend to offer themselves as fair marks. Sometimes they turn their backs on their adversary, and challenge him to throAV at them; or they drop on a hand and knee for the same pur- pose. Mr. M’Gillivray remarked that two spear- men never threw at the same combatant; but, even with this advantage, the skill of the warrior is amply tested, and it is surpris- ing to see how, by the mere inflection of the body, or the lifting a leg or arm, they avoid a spear which otherwise must have wounded them. While the fight is going on, the women and children remain in the bush, watching the combat, and uttering a sort of wailing chant, rising and falling in regular cadence. Sometimes the fight is a very bloody one, though the general rule is, that when one man is killed the battle ceases, the tribe to which the dead man belonged being consid- ered as having been worsted. It might be thought that a battle conducted on such principles would be of very short duration; but the Australian warriors are so skilful in warding off the weapons of their antago- nists that they often fight for a considerable time before a man is killed. It must be remembered, too, that the Australian natives can endure, without seeming to be much the worse for them, wounds which would kill an European at once. In such a skirmish, however, much blood is spilt, even though only one man be actually killed, for the barbed spears and sharp-edged boomerangs inflict terrible wounds, and often cripple the wounded man for life. Other causes beside the quarrel for terri- tory may originate a feud between two tribes. One of these cases is a very curious one. A woman had been bitten by a snake; but, a^ no blood flowed from the wound, it was thought that the snake was not a veno- mous one, and that there was no danger. However, the woman died in a few hours, and her death was the signal for a desperate war between two tribes. There seems to be but little connection between the two events, but according to Australian ideas the feud was a justifiable one. The natives of the part of Australia where this event occurred have a curious idea concerning death. Should any one die without apparent cause, they think that the death is caused by a great bird called marralya, which comes secretly to the sick person, seizes him round the waist in his claws, and squeezes him to death. Now the marralya is not a real bird, but a magical one, being always a man belonging to a hostile tribe, who assumes the shape of the bird, and so finds an opportunity of doing an injury to the tribe with which he is at feud. Having made up his mind that the snake which "bit the woman was not a veno- mous one, her husband could not of course be expected to change his opinion, and so it was agreed upon that one of a neighboring tribe with whom they were at feud must have become a marralya, and killed the woman. The usual challenge was the con- sequence, and from it came a series of bloody fights. Like most savage nations, the Australians mutilate their fallen enemies. Instead, however, of cutting off the scalp, or other trophy, they open the body, tear out the fat about the kidneys, and rub it over their own bodies. So general is this custom, that to take fat ” is a common paraphrase for kill- ing an enemy; and when two antagonists are opposed to each other, each is sure to boast that his antagonist shall furnish fat for him. As far as can be learned, they have an idea that this practice endues the victor with the courage of the slain man in addition to his own; and, as a reputation for being a warrior of prowess is the only dis- tinction that a native Australian can achieve, it may be imagined that he is exceedingly anxious to secure such an aid to ambition. Not from deliberate cruelty, but from the utter thoughtlessness and disregard of in- flicting pain which characterizes all savages, the victorious warrior does not trouble him- self to wait for the death of his enemy before taking his strange war trophy. Should the man be entirely disabled it is enough for the Australian, who turns him on his back, opens his body with the quartz knife which has already been described, tears out the coveted prize, and rubs himself with it until his whole body and limbs shine as if they were burnished Oftentimes it has happened that a wounded man has been thus treated, and has been doomed to see his conqueror adorn himself before his eyes. Putting aside any previous injury, such* a wound as this is necessarily mortal; but a man has been known to live for more than three days after receiving the injury, so wonder- fully strong is the Australian constitution. Sometimes these feuds spread very widely, and last for a very long time. Before the declaration of war, the opposing tribes 740 AUSTRALIA. refrain from attacking each other, but, after that declaration is once made, the greatest secrecy is often observed, and the warrior is valued the highest who contrives to kill his enemy without exposing himself to danger. Sometimes there is a sort of wild chivalry about the Australians, mingled with much that is savage and revolting. A remarkable instance of these traits is recorded by Mr. M’Gillivray. An old man had gone on a short expedi- tion in his canoe, while the men of his tribe were engaged in catching turtle. He was watched by a party belonging to a hostile tribe, who followed and speared him. Leav- ing tlieir spears in the body to indicate their identity, they returned to shore, and made a great fire by way of a challenge. Seeing the signal, and knowing that a column of thick smoke is almost always meant as a challenge, the men left their turtling, and, on finding that the old man was missing, instituted a search after him. As soon as they discovered the body they lighted another fire to signify their acceptance of the challenge, and a party of them started off the same evening in order to inflict reprisals on the enemy. They soon came upon some natives who l)elonged to the inimical tribe, but who had not been concerned in the anurder, and managed to kill the whole party, consisting of four men, a woman, and a girl. They cut off the heads of their victims, and returned with great exultation, shouting and blowing conch-shells to announce their victory. Tlie heads were then cooked in an oven, and the eyes scooped out and eaten, together with portions of the cheeks. Only those who had been of the war-party were allowed to partake of this horrible feast. When it was over the victors began a dance, in which they worked themselves into a per- fect frenzy, kicking the skulls over the ground, and indulging in all kinds of hide- ous antics. Afterward the skulls were hung up on two cross sticks near the camp, and allowed to remain there undisturbed. Fire, by the way, is very largely used in making signals, which are understood all over the continent. A large fire, sending up a great column of smoke, is, as has already been mentioned, almost invariably a sign of defiance, and it is sometimes kin- dled daily until it is answered by another. If a man wishes to denote that he is in want of assistance, he lights a small fire, and, as soon as it sends up its little column of smoke, he extinguishes it suddenly by throwing eairth on it. This is repeated until the required assistance arrives. Some years ago, when the character and habits of the natives were not known so well as they are now, many of the settlers w'ere murdered by the natives, simply through their system of fire-signalling. One or two natives, generally old men or women, as causing least suspicion, and being entirely unarmed, would approach the farm or camp, and hang about it for some days, asking for food, and cooking it at their own little fires. The white men had no idea that every fire that was lighted was a signal that was perfectly well understood by a force of armed men that was hovering about them under cover of the woods, nor that the little puffs of smoke which occasionally arose in the distance were answers to the signals made by their treacherous guests. When the spies thought that their hosts were lulled into security, they made the battle- signal, and brought down the whole force upon the unsuspecting whites. The Australians are wonderfully clever actors. How well they can act honesty and practise theft has already been mentioned. They have also a way of appearing to be unarmed, and yet having weapons ready to hand. They will come out of the bush, with green boughs in their hands as signs of peace, advance for some distance, and ostenta- tiously throw down their spears and other weapons. They then advance again, appa- rently unarmed, but each man trailing a spear along the ground by means of his toes. As soon as they are within spear range, they pick up their weapons with their toes, wdiich are nearly as flexible and useful as fingers, hurl them, and then retreat to the spot where they had grounded their weapons. The Australians have a tenacious memory for injuries, and never lose a chance of reprisal. In 1849, some men belonging to the Badulega tribe had been spending Wo months on a friendly visit to the natives of Miiralug. One of their hosts had married an Italega woman, and two of the brothers were staying with her. The Badulegas happened to remember that several years before one of their own tribe had been insulted by an Italega. So they killed the woman, and tried to kill her brothers also, but only succeeded in murdering one of them. They started at once for their home, taking the heads as proof of their victory, and thought that they had done a great and praiseworthy action. A similar affair took place among some of the tribes of Port Essington. A Monobar native had been captured when thieving, and was imprisoned. He attempted to escape, and in so doing was shot by the sen- tinel on duty. By rights his family ought to have executed reprisals on a white man; but they did not venture on such a step, and accordingly picked out a native who was on good terms with the white man, and killed him. The friends of the murdered man immediately answered by killing a Mon- obar, and so the feud Avent on. In each case the victim was murdered while sleep- ing, a number of natives quietly surrounding THE AUSTRALIAN YENDETTxi. 747 him, and, after spearing him, heating him with their waddies into a shapeless mass. Should the cause of the feud be the unex- plained death of a man or woman, the duty of vengeance belongs to the most formidable male warrior of the fixmily. On such occa- sions he will solemnly accept the office, adorn himself with the red war-paint, select his best weapons, and promise publicly not to return until he has killed a male of the inimical tribe. How pertinaciously the Au- stralian will adhere to his bloody purpose may be seen from an anecdote related by Mr. Lloyd. lie was startled one night by the furi- ous barking of his dogs. On taking a lan- tern he found lying on the ground an old black named Tarmeenia, covered with wounds inflicted by spears, and boomerangs, and waddies. He told his story in the strange broken English used by the natives. The gist of the story was, that he and his son were living in a hut, and the son had gone out to snare a bird for his father, who was ill. Presently a “ bungilcarney coolie,” i. e. an enemy from another tribe, entered the hut and demanded, “ Why did your son kill my wife? I shall kill his father.” Whereupon he drove his spear into the old man’s side, and was beating him to death, when he was disturbed by the return of his son. The young man, a singularly power- ful native, knowing that his father would be certainly murdered outright if he remained in the hut, actually carried him more than four miles to Mr. Lloyd’s house, put him down in the yard, and left him. A hut was at once erected close to the house, and Tarmeenia was installed and attended to. He was very grateful, but was uneasy in his mind, begging that the con- stable might visit his hut in his nightly rounds, “ ’cos same bungilcarney coolie cum agin, and dis time too much kill ’im Tarmeenia.” The alarm of the old man seemed rather absurd, considering the posi- tion of the hut, but it was fully justified. About three weeks after Tarmeenia had been placed in the hut, Mr. Lloyd was aroused at daybreak by a servant, who said that the old black fellow had been burned to death. Dead he certainly was, and on examining the body two fresh wounds were seen, one by a spear just over the heart, and the other a deep cut in the loins, through which the “ bungilcarney ” had torn the trophy of war. Occasionally a man who has offended against some native law has to engage in a kind of a mimic warfare, but without the advantage of having weapons. Mr. Lloyd mentions a curious example of such an ordeal. “ The only instance I ever witnessed of corporeal punishment being inflicted — evi- dently, too, by some legal process — was upon the person of a fine sleek young black, who, having finished his morning’s repast, 37 rose in a dignified manner, and, casting his rug from his shoulders, strode with Mohi- can stoicism to the appointed spot, divested of his shield, waddy, or other means of de- fence. Nor, when once placed, did he utter one word, or move a muscle of his graceful and well-moulded person, but with folded arms and defiant attitude awaited the fatal ordeal. “ A few minutes only elapsed wlicn two equally agile savages, each armed with twQ spears and a boomerang, marched with stately gait to within sixty yards of the cul- prit. One weapon after another was hurled at the victim savage, with apparently fatal precision, but his quick eye and wonderful activity set them all at defiance, with the exception of the very last cast of a boome- rang, which, taking an unusual course, sev- ered a piece of flesh from the shoulder- blade, equal in size to a crown-piece, as if sliced with a razor, and thus finished the affair.” The lex talionis forms part of the Austra- lian traditional law, and is sometimes exer- cised after a rather ludicrous fashion. A young man had committed some light of- fence, and was severely beaten by two natives, who broke his arm with a club, and laid his head open with a fishing spear. Considerable confusion took place, and at last the elders decided that the punishment was much in excess of the offence, and that, when the wounded man recovered, the two assail- ants were to offer their heads to him, so that he might strike them a certain number of blows with his waddy. In the description of the intertribal feuds, it has been mentioned that the men who assisted in killing the victims of reprisal par- took of the eyes and cheeks of the murdered person. This leads us to examine the ques- tion of cannibalism, inasmuch as some trav- ellers have asserted that the Australians are cannibals and others denying such a pro- pensity as strongly. That the flesh of human beings is eaten by the Australians is an undeniable fact; but it must be remarked that such an act is often intended as a ceremonial, and not merely as a means of allaying hunger or gratifying the palate. It has been ascer- tained that some tribes who live along the Murray River have been known to kill and eat children, mixing their flesh with that of the dog. This, however, only occurs in sea- sons of great scarcity; and that the event was exceptional and not customary, is evident from the fact that a man was pointed out as having killed his children for food. Now it is plain, that, if cannibalism was the custom, such a man would not be sufficiently con- spicuous ■ to be specially mentioned. These tribes have a horrible custom of killing little boys for the sake of their fat, with which they bait fish-hooks. Another example of cannibalism is de- 748 AUSTRALIA. scribed by Mr. Angas as occurring in New South W ales. A lad had died, and his body was taken by several young men, who pro- ceeded to the following remarkable cere- monies. They began by removing the skin, together with the head, rolling it round a stake, and drying it over the fire. While this was being done, the parents, who had been uttering loud lamentations, took the flesh from the legs, cooked, and ate it. The remainder of the body was distributed among the friends of the deceased, who carried away their portions on the points of their spears ; and the skin and bones were kept by the parents, and always carried about in their wallets. It may seem strange that the mention of the weapons and mode of fighting should lead us naturally to the dances of the Au- stralians. Such, however, is the case; for in most of their dances weapons of some sort are introduced. The first which will be men- tioned is the Kuri dance, which was de- scribed to Mr. Angas by a friend who had frequently seen it, and is illustrated on the next page. This dance is performed by the natives of the Adelaide district. It seems to have one point in common with the cotillon of Europe, namely, that it can be varied, shortened, or lengthened, according to the caprice of the players; so that if a spec- tator see the Kuri dance performed six or seven times, he will never see the move- ments repeated in the same order. The fol- lowing extract describes a single Kuri dance, and from it the reader may form his impres- sions of its general character : — “ But first the dramatis personce must be introduced, and particularly described.^ The performers were divided into five distinct classes, the greater body comprising about twenty-five young men, including five or six boys, painted and decorated as follows: in nudity, except the yoodna, which is made expressly for the occasion, with bunches of gum-leaves tied round the legs just above the knee, which, as they stamped about, made a loud switching noise. In their hands they held a katta or wirri, and some a few gum-leaves. The former were held at arm’s length, and struck alternately with their legs as they stamped. They were painted, from each shoulder down to the hips, with five or six white stripes, rising from the breast; their faces also, with white perpendicular lines, making the most hide- ous appearance. These were the dancers. “ Kext came two groups of women, about five or six in number, standing on the right and left of the dancers, merely taking the part of supernumeraries; they were not painted, but had leaves in their' hands, which they shook, and kept beating time with their feet during the whole perform- ance, but never moved from the spot where they stood. “Kext followed two remarkable charac- ters, painted and decorated like the dancers, but with the addition of the palyertatta — a singular ornament made of two pieces of stick put crosswise, and bound together by the mangna, in a spreading manner, having at the extremities feathers opened, so as to set it oft‘ to the best advantage. One had the palyertatta stick sideways upon his head, while the other, .in the most wizard- like manner, kept waving it to and fro be- fore him, corresponding with the action of his head and legs. “ Then followed a performer distinguished by a long spear, from the top of which a bunch of feathers hung suspended, and all down the spear the mangna was wound; he held the koonteroo (spear and feathers) with both hands behind his back, but occasion- ally altered the position, and waved it to the right and left over the dancers. And last came the singers — two elderly men in their usual habiliments; their musical in- struments were the katta and wirri, on which they managed to beat a double note; their song was one unvaried, gabbling tone. “The night was mild; the new moon shone with a faint light, casting a depth of shade over the earth, which gave a som- bre appearance to the surrounding scene that highly conduced to enhance the effect of the approaching play. In the distance, a black mass could be discerned under the gum-trees, whence occasionally a shout and a burst of flame arose. These Vvere the performers dressing for the dance, and no one approached them while thus occupied. “ Two men, closely wrapped in their opos- sum-skins, noiselessly approached one of the ivurlies, where the Kuri was to be per- formed, and commenced clearing a space for the singers; this done, they went back to the singers, but soon after returned, sat down, and began a peculiar harsh and monotonous tune, keeping time with a katta and a wirri by rattling them together. All the natives oT the difterent icurlies flocked round the singers, and sat down in the form of a horse-shoe, two or three rows deep. “ By this time the dancers had moved in a compact body to within a short distance of the spectators; after standing for a few minutes in perfect silence, they answered the singers by"a singular deep shout simul- taneously: twice this was done, and then the man with the koonteroo stepped out, his body leaning forward, and commenced with a regular stamp ; the two men with i\\Qpalyer- tattas followed, stamping with great regular- ity, the rest joining in: the regular and alter- nate stamp,' the waving of the palyertatta to and fro, with the loud switching noise of the gum leaves, formed a scene highly char- acteristic of the Australian natives. In this style they approached the singers, the spec- tators every now and then shouting forth (2.) PALTl DANCE, Oli COUROBOKEE. (See page 732.) ( 749 ) DIFFERENT DANCES. 751 their applause. For some time they kept stamping in a body before the singers, which had an admirable effect, and did great credit to their dancing attainments; then one by one they turned round, and danced their way back to the place they first started from, and sat down. The palyertatta and Jcoonteroo men were the last who left, and as these three singular beings stamped their way to the other dancers they made a very odd appearance. “ The singing continued for a short time, and then pipes were lighted; shouts of ap- plause ensued, and boisterous conversation followed. After resting about ten minutes, the singers commenced again; and soon after the dancers huddled togetlier, and responded to the call by the peculiar shout already men- tioned, and then performed the same feat over again — with this variation, that the palyertatta men brought up the rear, instead of leading the way. Four separate times these parts of the play were performed with the usual effect; then followed the conclud- ing one, as follows: after tramping up to the singers, the man with the koonteroo com- menced a part which called forth unbounded applause; with his head and body inclined on one side, his spear and feathers behind his back, standing on the left leg, he beat time with the right foot, twitching his body and eye, and stamping with the greatest precision; he remained a few minutes in this position, and then suddenly turned round, stood on his right leg, and did the same once with his left foot. “ In the mean while the two men with the mystic palyertatta kept waving their instru- ments to and fro, corresponding with the motions .of their heads and legs, and the silent trampers performed their part equally well. The koonteroo man now suddenly stopped, and, planting his spear in the ground, stood in a stooping position behind it; two dancers stepped up, went through the same manoeuvre as the preceding party with wonderful regularity, and then gave a final stamp, turned round, and grasped the spear in a stooping position, and so on with all the rest, until every dancer was brought to the spear, so forming a circular body. “ The palyertatta men now performed the same movement on each side of this body, accompanied with the perpetual motion of the head, leg, and arm, and then went round and round, and finally gave the arrival stamp, thrust in their arm, and grasped the spear : at the same time all sunk on their knees and began to move away in a mass from the singers, with a sort of grunting noise, while their bodies leaned and tossed to and fro ; when they had got about ten or twelve yards they ceased, and, giving one long semi-grunt or groan (after the manner of the red kan- garoo, as they say), dispersed. “ During the whole performance, the sing- ing went on in one continued strain, and, after the last act of the performers, the rat- tling accompaniment of the singing ceased, the strain died gradually away, and shouts and acclamations rent the air.” • There are many other dances among the Australians. There is, for example, the Frog-dance. The performers paint them- selves after the usual grotesque manner, take their wirris in their hands, beat them to- gether, and then squat down and jump after each other in circles, imitating the move- ments of the frog. Then there is the emu- dance, in which all the gestures consist of imitation of emu-hunting, the man who enacts the part of the bird imitating its voice. In some parts of Australia they have the canoe dance, one of the most graceful of these performances. Both men and women take part in this dance, painting their bodies with white and red ochre, and each furnished with a stick which represents the paddle. They begin to dance by stationing themselves in two lines, but with the stick across their backs and held by the arms, while they move their feet alternately to the tune of the song with which the dance is accompanied. At a given signal they all bring the sticks to the front, and hold them as they do paddles, swaying themselves in regular time as if they were paddling in one of their light canoes. Another dance, the object of which is not very certain, is a great favorite with the Moorundi natives. The men, having pre- viously decorated their bodies with stripes of red ochre, stand in a line, Avhile the women are collected in a group and beat time together. The dance consists in stamp- ing simultaneously with the left foot, and shaking the fingers of the extended arms. This dance is called Pedeku. There is a rather curious dance, or move- ment, with which they often conclude the performance of the evening. They sit cross- legged round their fire, beating time with their spears and wirris. Suddenly they all stretch out their arms as if pointing to some distant object, rolling their eyes fearfull/ as they do so, and finish by leaping on theii feet with a simultaneous yell that echoes for miles through the forest. In his splendid work on South Australia, Mr. Angas describes a rather curious dance performed by the Parnkalla tribe, in which both sexes take part. Each man carries a belt made either of human hair or opossum fur, holding one end in each hand, and keep- ing the belt tightly strained. There is a slight variation in the mode of performing this dance, but the usual plan is for all the men to sit down, while a woman takes her place in the middle. One of the men then dances up to her, jumping from side to side, and swaying his arms in harmony with his movements. The woman begins j umping as her partner approaches, and then they dance 752 AUSTRALIA, back again, 'vyhen their place is taken by a fresh couple. Some persons have supposed that this dance is a religious ceremony, because it is usually held on clear moonlight evenings. Sometimes, however, it is performed during the day-time. The commonest native dance, or “ corrob- boree,” is that which is known as the Palti, and which is represented on the 749th page. It is always danced by night, the fitful blaze of the fire being thought necessary to bring out all its beauties. Before beginning this dance, the perform- ers prepare themselves b}^ decorating their bodies in some grotesque stjde with white and scarlet paints, which contrast boldly with the shining black of their skins. The favor- ite pattern is the skeleton, each rib being marked by a broad stripe of white paint, and a similar stripe running down the breast and along the legs and arms. The face is painted in a similar fashion. The eftect produced by this strange pattern is a most startling one. Illuminated only by the light of the fire, the black bodies and limbs are scarcely vis- ible against the dark background, so that, as the performers pass backward and forward in the movements of the dance, they look exactl}^ like a number of skeletons endued with life by magic powers. This eftect is increased by the curious quivering of the legs, which are planted firmly on the ground, bih to which the dancers are able to impart a rapid vibratory movement from the knees upward. The wirris, or clubs, are held in the hands, as seen in the illustration, and at certain intervals they are brought over the head, and clashed violently together. The Palti, as well as the Kuri dance is conducted by a leader, who gives the Avord of command for the ditferent move- ments. Some of the dancers increase their odd appearance by making a fillet from the front teeth of the kangaroo, and tying it round their foreheads. Once in a year, the natives of some districts haA^e a very grand dance, called the “cob- bongo corrobboree,” or great mystery dance. This dance is performed by the natives of the far interior. An admirable account of this dance was published in the Illustrated Lon- don News of October .S, 1863, and is here given. “The time selected for this great event is every tAvelfth moon, and during her declination. For several days previous a number of tribes Avhose territories adjoin one another congregate at a particular spot, characterized by an immense mound of earth covered Avith ashes (known amongst the white inhabitants as ‘a black’s oven’) and surrounded by plenty of ‘ couraAvay ’ or Avater holes. To this place they bring numbers of kangaroos, ’ possums, emus, and Avild ducks, and a large quantity of wild honey, together Avith the grass from the seeds of which they make a sort of bread. “Upon the evening on Avhich the ‘cor- robboree’ is celebrated, a number of old men (one from each tribe), called by the natives ‘ wammaroogo,’ signifying medicine men or charm men, repair to the top of the mound, Avhere, after lighting a fire, they Avalk round it, muttering sentences and throAving into it portions of old charms which they have Avorn round their necks for the past twelve months. This is con- tinued for about half an hour, when they descend, each carrying a fire-stick, Avhich he places at the outskirts of the camp, and which is supposed to prevent evil spirits approaching. As soon as this is o\"er, du- ring which a most profound silence is ob- served by all, the men of the tribe prepare their toilet for the ‘ corrobboree,’ daubing themselves OA^er with chalk, red ochre, and fat. “While the men are thus engaged, the gentler sex are busy arranging themselves in a long line, and in a sitting posture, Avith rugs made of ’possum skins doubled round their legs, and a small stick called ‘ nulla- nulla ’ in each hand. A fire is lighted in front of them, and tended by one of the old charmers. As the men are ready, they seat themseh^es cross-legged like tailors, and in regular ‘ serried file,’ at the opposite side of the fire to the Avomen, while one of the medi- cine men lakes up his position on the top of the mound to AA^atch the rising of the moon, Avhich is the signal for ‘ corrobboree.’ All is noAv still; nothing disturbs the silence save the occasional jabber of a Avoman or child, and even that, after a fcAv minutes, is hushed. The blaze of the fire throAA’S a fitful light along the battalion-like front of the black phalanx, and the hideous faces, daubed AAuth paint and smeared Avith grease, shoAv* out at such a moment to anything but advantage. “ As soon as the old gentleman aa'Iio has been ‘ taking the lunar’ announces the ad- vent of that planet, which seems to exercise as great an influence over the actions of these people as over many of those amongst ourselves, the ‘ corrobboree ’ commences. The Avomen beat the little sticks together, keeping time to a peculiar monotonous air, and repeating the Avords, the burden of Avhich Avhen translated may be — “ ‘The kangaroo is SAvift, but SAvifter is Kgoyullo- man ; The snake is cunning, hut more cunning is Ngoyulloman,’ &c., each Avoman using the name of her husband or favorite in the tribe. The men spring to their feet Avith a yell that rings through the forest, and, brandishing their spears, boome- rangs, &c., commence their dance, flinging themselves into all sorts of attitudes, hoAvl- ing, laughing, grinning, and singing; and this they continue till sheer exhaustion com- pels them to desist, after Avhich they roast and eat the product of the chase, gathered THE GREAT CORRORBOREE. 753 for the occasion, and then drop off to sleep one by one.” The reader will see that this great mystery “ coiTobboree ” combines several of the pe- culiar movements which are to bo found in the various dances that have already been described. A dance of somewhat similar character used to be celebrated by the Tasmanians at the occasion of each full moon, as is described by Mr. G. T. Lloyd. The various tribes as- sembled at some trystinlait, with which he, encircles the tree and his own waist, ily means of a single chop of the tomahawk he makes a slight notch in the bark, into which he puts his great toe, raises himself by it, and simultaneously jerks the grass liand up the trunk of the tree. Notch after notch is thus made, and the native ascends with in- credible rapidity, the notches never being less than three feet six inches apart. Often, the opossum, alarmed at the sound of the tomahawk, leaves its nest, and runs along some bare bough, projecting horizon- tally from eighty to a hundred feet above the ground. The native walks along the bough upright and firm as if the tree were his native place, and shakes the animal into the midst of his companions who are assem- bled under the tree. The natives never, in their wild state, wear clothes of any kind. They manufacture cloaks of opossum and kangaroo skins, but only in defence against cold. The}' are won- derful hunters, and have been successfully employed by the colonists in tracing sheep that had strayed, or the footsteps of the thief who had stolen them. The slightest scratch tell its tale to these quick-eyed people, who know at once the very time at which the impression was made, and, having once seen it, start off at a quick pace, and are certain to overtake the fugitive. The untimely end of the aboriginal Tas- manians is greatly to be attributed to the conduct of a well-known chief, called Mos- quito. He was a native of Sydney, and; hav- ing been convicted of several murders, was, by a mistaken act of lenity, transported to Tasmania, when he made acquaintance with the Oyster Bay tribe. Being much taller and stronger than the natives, he was unan- imously elected chief, and took the command. His reign was most disastrous for the Tas- manians. He ruled them with a rod of iron, punishing the slightest disobedience with a blow of his tomahawk, not caring in the least whether the culprit were killed or not. He organized a series of depredations on the 754 AUSTRALIA. property of the colonists, and was peculiarly celebrated for his skill in stealing potatoes, teaching his followers to abstract them from the ridges, and to rearrange the ground so as to look as if it had never been disturbed, and to obliterate all traces of their footmarks with boughs. Under the influence of such a leader, the natives became murderers as well as thieves, so that the lives of the colonists were always in peril. It was therefore necessary to take some decided measures with them; and after sundry unsuccessful expeditions, the natives at last submitted themselves, and the whole of them, numbering then (1837) scarcely more- than three hundred, were removed to Flin- der’s Island, where a number of comfortable stone cbttages were built for them, infinitely superior to the rude bough huts or niiam- miams of their own construction. They were liberally supplied with food, clothing, and other necessaries, as well as luxuries, and the Government even appointed a res- ident surgeon to attend them when ill. All this care was, however, useless. Contact with civilization produced its usual fruits, and in 1861 the native Tasmanians were only thirteen in number. Ten have since died, and it is not likely that the three whoT sur- vived in 1867 will perpetuate their race. That the singularly rapid decadence of the Tasmanians was partly caused by the con- duct of the shepherds, and other rough and uneducated men in the service of the colo- nists, cannot be denied. But the white of- fenders were comparatively few, and quite unable themselves to effect such a change in so short a time. For the real cause we must look to the strange but unvariable laws of progression. Whenever a higher race occu- pies the same grounds as a lower, the latter perishes, and, whether in animate or inani- mate nature, the new world is always built on the ruins of the old. CHAPTER LXXrV. AUSTKALIA — Continued. DOMESTIC LIFE. MABRIAOE— PURCHASE AND EXCHANGE OF WIVES — A ROUGH WOOING — TREATMENT OF THE WIVES — A BRUTAL HUSBAND — NARROW ESCAPE — A FAITHFUL COMPANION — AUSTRALIAN MOTHERS — TREATMENT OF THE NEW-BORN INFANT — PRACTICE OF INFANTICIDE — THE MOTHER AND HER DEAD CHILD. W E will now proceed to the domestic life of the native Australian, if, indeed, their mode of existence deserves such a name, and will begin with marriage customs. Betrothal takes place at a very early age, the girl being often promised in marriage when she is a mere child, her future husband being perhaps an old man with two or three wives and a number of children. Of course the girl is purchased from her father, the price varying according to the means of the husband. Articles of European make are now exceedingly valued; and as a rule, a knife, a glass bottle, or some such article, is considered as a fair price for a wife. Exchange is often practised, so that a young man who happens to have a sister to spare will look out for some man who has a daughter unbetrothed, and will effect an ami- cable exchange with him, so that a man who possesses sisters by his father’s death is as sure of a corresponding number of wives as if he had the means wherewith to buy them. Until her intended husband takes her to wife, the betrothed girl lives with her parents, and during this interval she is not watched with the strictness which is generally exer- cised toward betrothed girls of savages. On the contrary, she is tacitly allowed to have as many lovers as she chooses, provided that a conventional amount of secrecy be ob- served, and her husband, when he marries her, makes no complaint. After marriage, however, the case is altered, and, if a former lover were to attempt a continuance of the acquaintance, the husband would avenge himself by visiting both parties with the se- verest punishment. There is no ceremony about marriage, the girl being simply taken to the hut of her husband, and thenceforth considered as his wife. In some parts of Australia, when a young man takes a fancy to a girl he obtains her after a rather curious fashion, which seems a very odd mode of showing affection. Watch- ing his opportunity when the girl has strayed apart from her friends, he stuns her with a blow on the head from his waddy, carries her off, and so makes her his wife. The father of the girl is naturally offended at the loss of his daughter, and complains to the elders. The result is almost invariably that the gallant offender is sentenced to stand the ordeal of spear and boomerang. Furnished with only his narrow shield, he stands still, while the aggrieved father and other relatives hurl a certain number of spears and boome- rangs at him. It is very seldom that he allows himself to be touched, but, when the stipulated number of throws has been made, he is considered as having expiated his offence, whether he be hit or not. Polygamy is of course practised, but to no very great extent. Still, although a man may never have more than two or three wives at a time, he has often married a considerable number, either discarding them, when they are too old to please his taste, or perhaps killing them in a fit of anger. The last is no uncommon mode of 756 AUSTRALIA. getting rid of a wife, and no one seems to think that her husband has acted cruelly. Indeed, the genuine native would not be able to comprehend the possibility of being cruel to his wife, inasmuch as he recognizes in her no right to kind treatment. She is as much his chattel as his spear or hut, and he would no more think himself cruel in beating his wife to death than in breaking the one or burning the other. Since white men came to settle in the country the natives have learned to consider them as beings of another sphere, very powerful, but unfortunately possessed with some unaccountable prejudices. Finding, therefore, that breaking a wife’s limb with a club, piercing her with a spear, or any other mode of expressing dissatisfaction, shocked the prejudices of the white men, they ceased to mention such practices, though they did not discontinue them. Quite recently, a native servant was late in keeping his appointment with his mas- ter, and, on inquiry, it was elicited that he had just quarrelled with one of his wives, and had speared her through the body. On being rebuked by his master he turned off the matter with a laugh, merely remarking that white men had only one wife, whereas he had two, and did not mind losing one until he could buy another. Considering and treating the women as mere articles of property, the men naturally repose no confidence in them, and never condescend to make them acquainted with their plans. If they intend to make an attack upon another tribe, or to organize an expedition for robbery, they carefully conceal it from the weaker sex, thinking that such inferior animals cannot keep se- crets, and might betray them to the objects of ' the intended attack. The utter contempt which is felt by the native Australians for their women is well illustrated by an adventure which occurred after a dance which had been got up for the benefit of the white men, on the under- standing that a certain amount of biscuit should be given to the daneers. When the performance was over, the biscuit was in- judiciously handed to a woman for distribu- tion. A misunderstanding at once took place. The men, although they would not hesitate to take away the biscuit by force, would not condescend to ask a woman for it, and therefore considered that the prom- ised payment had not been made to them. Some of them, after muttering their discon- tent, slipped away for their spears and throw ing-sticks, and the whole place was in a tur- moil. Fortunately, in order to amuse the na- tives, the white visitors, who had never thought of the offence that they had given, sent up a few rockets, which frightened the people for a time, and then burned a blue light. As the brilliant rays pierced the dark recesses of the forest, they disclosed numbers of armed men among the trees, some alone and others in groups, but all evidently watching the movements of the visitors whose conduct had so deeply^ in- sulted them. A friendly native saw their danger at once, and hurried them off to their boats, saying that spears would soon be thrown. There was much excuse to be found for them. They had been subjected to one of the grossest insults that warriors could re- ceive. To them, women were little better than dogs, and, if there were any food, the warriors first satisfied their own hunger, and then threw to the women any frag- ments that might be left. Therefore, that a woman — a mere household chattel — should be deputed to distribute food to warriors was a gross, intolerable, and, as they natu- rally thought, intentional insult. It was equivalent to degrading them from their rank as men and warriors, and making them even of less account than women. No wonder, then, that their anger was roused, and the only matter of surprise is that an attack was not immediately made. Australian warriors have their own ideas of chivalry, and, like the knights of old, feel themselves bound to resent the smallest aspersion cast upon their honor. Mr. M’Gillivray, who narrates this anec- dote makes a few remarks which are most valuable, as showing the errors which are too often committed when dealing with sav- ages, not only those of Australia, but of other countries. “ I have alluded to this occurrence, trivial as it may appear, not without an object. It serves as an illustration of the policy of respecting the known customs of the Au- stralian race, even in ap])arently trifling mat- ters, at least during the early period of intercourse with a tribe, and shows how a little want of judgment in the director of our party caused the most friendly inten- tions to be misunderstood, and might have led to fatal results. “ I must confess that I should have con- sidered any injury sustained on our side to have been most richly merited. Moreover, I am convinced that some at least of the collisions which have taken place in Au- stralia between the first European visitors and the natives of any given district have originated in causes of offence brought on by the indiscretion of one or more of the party, and revenged on others who were innocent.” Mr. McGillivray then proceeds to mention the well-known case of the night attack on Mr. Leichhardt’s expedition. For no ap- parent reason, a violent assault was made on the camp, and Mr. Gilbert was killed. The reason of this attack did not transpire until long afterward, when a native at- tached to the expedition divulged, in a INFANTICIDE. 757 state of intoxication, the fact that he and a fellow-countryman had grossly insulted a native woman. Yet, in spite of this brutal treatment, the women often show a depth of affectionate feeling which raises them far above the brutai savages that enslave them. One re- markable instance of this feeling is men- tioned by Mr. Bennett. She had formed an attachment to an escaped convict, who became a bushranger, and enabled him, by her industry and courage, to prolong the always precarious life of a bushranger be- yond the ordinary limits. The chief dangers that beset these ruf- fians are the necessity for procuring food, and the watch which is always kept by the police. Her native skill enabled her to sup- ply him with food, and, while he was lying concealed, she used to fish, hunt, dig roots, and then to cook them for him. Her native quickness of eye and ear enabled her to detect the approach of the police, and, by the instinctive cunning with which these blacks are gifted, she repeatedly threw the pursuers off the scent. He was utterly un- worthy of the affection which she bestowed on him, and used to beat her unmercifully, but, undeterred by his cruelty, she never flagged in her exertions for his welfare; and on one occasion, while he was actually engaged in ill-treating her, the police came upon his place of refuge, and must have captured him, had she not again misled them, and sent them to a spot far from the place where he was hidden. At last, he ventured out too boldly, during her acci- dental absence, was captured, tried and hanged. But up to the last this faithful creature never deserted him, and, even when he was imprisoned, she tried to fol- low him, but was reclaimed by her tribe. When a native woman is about to become a mother she retires into the bush, some- times alone, but generally accompanied by a female friend, and, owing to the strong constitution of these women, seldom re- mains in her retirement more than a day or so. Among the natives of Victoria, the ceremony attending the birth of a child is rather curious, and is amusingly described by Mr. Lloyd: “ While upon the subject of the Australian aborigines, I must not omit to describe the very original modus operandi of the indigenous sage femme. “ The unhappy loobra (native woman) retired with her wise woman into some lone secluded dell, abounding with light sea-sand. A fire was kindled, and the wretched miam- miam speedily constructed. Then came the slender repast, comprising a spare morsel of kangaroo or other meat, supplied with a sparing hand by her stoical coolie (male na- tive), grilled, and graced with the tendrils of green opiate cow-thistles, or the succulent roots of the bulbous leaf ‘ mernong.’ “ The sable attendant soon entered upon her interesting duties. One of the first was, to light a second fire over a quantity of pre- pared sand, that had been carefully divested of all fibrous roots, pebbles, or coarser mat- ter. The burning coals and faggots were removed from thence, upon some nice cal- culation as to the period of the unfortunate little nigger’s arrival. When the miniature representative of his sable father beheld the light of day, a hole was scratched in the heated sand, and the wee russet-brown thing safely deposited therein, in a state of per- fect nudity, and buried to the very chin, so effectually covered up as to render any objectionable movement on his or her part utterly impossible. “ So far as any infantine ebullitions of feeling are concerned, the learned sages femmes appeared to have a thorough knowl- edge as to the world-wide method of treat- ing the mewling and puking importunities of unreasoning nurslings. They knew well that a two-hours’ sojourn in the desert sand, warm as it might be, would do much to cool the new comer, and temper it into compli- ance. At the expiration of that time, hav- ing acquired so much knowledge of earthly troubles, the well-baked juvenile was con- sidered to be thoroughly done, and there- upon introduced to his delighted loobra mamma.” Following the custom of many savage na- tions, the Australians too often destroy their children in their first infancy. Among the Muralug tribes the practice is very common. It has already been mentioned that the girls live very unrestrainedly before marriage, and the result is, that a young woman will sometimes have several children before her marriage. As a general rule, these children are at once killed, unless the father be desir- ous of preserving them. This, however, is seldom the case, and he usually gives the order “ Marana teio,” i. e. Throw it into the hole, when the poor little thing is at once buried alive. Even those children which are born after marriage are not always pre- served. In the first place, a woman will scarcely ever take charge of more than three children, and many a female child is destroyed where a male would be allowed to live. All children who have any bodily defect are sure to be killed, and, as a general rule, half-caste children are seldom allowed to live. The mothers are usually ashamed to acknowl- edge these murders, but in one case the unnatural parent openly avowed the deed, saying that the infant was like a waragul, i. e. the native dog or dingo. The fact was that its father was a sailor who had fiery red hair, and his offspring partook of the same rufous complexion. Of course there are excep- tions to the rule, one of which may be found in the case of the poor woman who was so faithful to her convict mate. She had a male child, which was brought up by 758 AUSTEALIA. the tribe to which she belonged, and they were so fond of him that they refused to give him up when some benevolent persons tried to obtain possession of him in order to educate him in civilization. If, however, the child is allowed to live, the Australian mother is a very atfectionate one, tending her oflspring with the greatest care, and in her own wild way being as lov- ing a parent as can be found in any part of the world. The engraving No. 2, on the next i>age, illustrates this devotion of Au- stralian mothers to their children. In nothing is this affection better shown than in the case of a child’s death. Al- though she might have consigned it when an infant to a living grave without a pang of remorse, yet, when it dies after having been nurtured by her, she exhibits a steady sorrow that exhibits the depth of affection with which she regarded the child. When it dies, she swathes the body in many wrap- pers, places it in her net-bul, or native wallet, and carries it about with her as if it were alive, ^he never parts with it for a mo- ment. When she eats she offers food to the dead corpse, as if it were still alive, and when she lies down to sleep, she lays her head upon the wallet, which serves her as a pillow. The progress of decay has no effect upon her, and though the body becomes so offensive that no one can come near her, she seems unconscious of it, and never dreams of abandoning the dreadful burden. In process of time nothing is left but the mere bones, but even these are tended in the same loving manner, and even after the lapse of years the mother has been known to bear, in addition to her other bur- dens, the remains of her dead child. Even when the child has been from six to seven years old she will treat it in the same man- ner, and, with this burden on her back, will continue to discharge her heavy domestic duties. (1.) AN AUSTRALIAN FEAST. (See page 763.) (2.) AUSTRALIAN MOTHERS. (See page 758.) ( 769 ) m THs: -•.' < is-.' y. m TH' MAKING KOTAIGA. 767 ■which is sometimes presented by the men when they have successfally passed through their various ordeals. The name of the man was Mintalta, and he belonged to the Nauo tribe, which lives near Coffin’s Bay. In his hand he holds the waddy, and, by way of apron, he wears a bunch of emu feathers. Across his breast are seen the bold ridges which mark his rank as a man, and others are seen upon his arms. His beard is gath- ered into a long pointed tuft, and decorated with a little bunch of white cockatoo feathers at the tip. In his hair he wears two curious ornaments. These are not feather plumes, as they seem to be in the illustration, but are simply slender sticks of white wood, scraped so as to let the shavings adhere by one end. Indeed, they are made exactly like those little wooden brooms that are some- times hawked by German girls about the streets, or, to use a more familiar simile, like the curly-branched trees in children’s toy- boxes. Many of the particulars which have been and will be related of the domestic life of the Australians were obtained in a very curious manner. In the autumn of 1849 some per- sons belonging to H.M.S. Battlesnake were out shooting, when they came across a na- tive woman, or gin, dressed rather better than the generality of native women, as she wore a narrow apron of leaves. To their astonish- ment, the supposed gin addressed them in English, saying that she was a white woman, and desired their help. They immediately furnished her with some clothing, and brought her on board the Battlesnake^ where she contrived to make known her sad story. Her name was Thomson, and she was the widow of the owner of a small vessel. Cruis- ing one day in search of a wreck, the pilot missed his way, a gale of wind came on, and the vessel was dashed on a reef on the East- ern Prince of Wales Island. The men tried to swim on shore through the surf, but were drowned, while the woman was saved by a party of natives, who came on board the wreck after the gale had subsided, and took her ashore. The tribe into whose hands she had fallen was the Kowrarega, which inhabits Mura- lug, on the Western Prince of Wales Island. When she got ashore, one of the principal men, who fully held the popular idea that the white men are the ghosts of dead na- tives, recognized in Mrs. Thomson a daugh- ter named Gi’om, who had long ago died. He accordingly took her home as his daugh- ter, she was acknowledged by the tribe as one of themselves, and was forced to become the wife of one of the natives, called Bo- roto. For nearly five years she was kept pris- oner by the blacks, and, although she could see many English ships pass within a few miles, she was so closely watched that escape "was hopeless. At last, when the smoke sig- nals told the tribe that another vessel was approaching, Gi’om cleverly worked on the cupidity of the aborigines, and persuaded them to take her to the mainland, promising them to procure plenty of axes, knives, to- bacco, and other things which an Australian savage values above all things, and saying that she had lived so long with the natives that she could -not think of leaving them. When she was safely lodged on board, many of her friends came to see her, bringing presents of fish and turtle, but always ex- pecting an equivalent. Boroto was one of the visitors, and in vain tried to persuade her to return. When she definitely refused, he became very angry, and left the ship in a passion, declaring that, if he or any of his friends could catch her ashore, they would take .off her head and carry it to Mu- ral ug. Not feeling the least doubt that the threat would be fulfilled, she never ventured on shore near those parts of the coast which the Kowraregas seemed likely to visit. Being a woman of no education, she had in the course of her sojourn among the na- tives almost forgotten how to express her- self in her native tongue, and for some time mixed Kowrarega words and phrases with English in a very curious manner. A vast amount of valuable information was ob- tained from her, but, when she was restored to civilization, she forgot the language and customs of savage life with singular rapid- ity, her untrained mind being unable to comprehend the mutual relationship of ideas, and utterly incapable of generalization. From her was learned the curious but dreadful fact that many of the really unpro- voked assaults on ships’ crews while unsus- pectingly visiting the shore were instigated by white men, who had degraded them- selves into companionship with native tribes, and, by reason of their superior knowledge, had gained a supremacy over them. One of these men had lived with the Badu tribe many years, and, having heard of a white woman among the Kowraregas, visited Mu- ralug, and tried to induce Gi’dm to leave Boroto and share his fortunes. Who he was is not known. He goes by the name of Wini, and is supposed to be an escaped con- vict, who repels the visits of English ships, lest he should be captured and sent back to prison. By means of his instigations, the Badu people became so violently opposed to all white men that an}'- European who vis- ited that part of the country would do so at the imminent hazard of his life. Among many of these tribes, there is a custom which is common also to many sav- ages in all parts of the world. This is the custom of making “ kotaiga,” or brother- hood, with strangers. When Europeans visit their districts, and behave as they ought to do, the natives generally unite themselves in bonds of fellowship with the strangers, each selecting one of them as 768 AUSTRALIA. his kotaiga. The new relations are then considered as having mutual responsibili- ties, each being bound to forward the wel- fare of the other. The memory of the natives is wonderful, and, even if a ship does not repeat a visit until after a lapse of several years, no sooner does she arrive than the natives swarm on board, and at once pick out their kotaigas. They bring presents to their guests while on board; they accompany them joyfully to the shore; they carry their bags and haver- sacks for them; they take them on hunting, shooting, and fishing excursions, point out the game, retrieve it, no matter where it may have fallen, and carry it home on their shoulders rejoicing. Of course they expect biscuit and tobacco in return for their kind offices, but the wages are very cheap, and their services are simply invaluable. The rescue of Mr. McGillivray and his party from the threatened attack of the natives was owing to the fact that one of them, the friendly native who gave him warning, and saw him and his party safely off in their boats, was his kotaiga, and bound in honor to save him. CHAPTER LXXVI. AUSTKALIA — Continued, MEDICINE, SURGERY, AND THE DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. BILBOS, OR NATIVE DOCTORS — WOUNDS AND BRUISES — A STRANGE CURE — TREATMENT OF THE HEAD- ACHE — A DREAM AND ITS RESULTS — THE MAGIC CRYSTAL, OR DOCTOR-STONE — ITS EFFECTS ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN — THE DOCTOR-HOUSE — SUCTION AS A MEANS OF CURE — BELIEF IN CHARMS — THE PARENT’S SKULL — CEREMONIES OF MOURNING — CUTTING THE HEAD AND BODY' AS A SIGN OF WOE — DRIVING AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS — FEAR OF GHOSTS — BURIAL AMONG THE PARNKALLAS AND NAUOS — THE TOMB OF SKULLS — A SUMMARY MODE OF BURIAL — FUNERAL OF BOYS — THE TREE-TOMBS SMOKING THE WARRIORS — INCONSISTENT BEHAVIOR — BURLYL OF OLD WOMEN — THE WIDOWS’ CAPS — RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF THE ABORIGINES — THE VARIOUS EVIL SPIRITS — THE BUN YIP — ROCK AND CAVE PAINTINGS — THEORY OF TRANSMIGRATION. We will now see how the Australian na- tives treat sickness of various kinds. Among them are certain personages called bilbos, Or doctors, to whom the sick usually appeal in cases of illness or pain. It is not known, however, whether the mere fact of age gives a man the rank of bilbo, or whether it is at- tained by sundry ceremonials, as is the case with the Africans and other savages. The most usual mode of treating any local disease or pain is by pressing the hands upon the affected pa,rt, and kneading it, a remedy Avhich is found in every part of the Avorld, and Avhich is really efficacious in many complaints, especially in rheumatic affections, or in sprained or over-exerted muscles. If a limb be wounded, bruised, or sore, the native practitioners tie a fillet tightly above it, for the purpose, as they say, of preventing the malady from reaching the body. Headaches are treated by tying a bandage firmly round the temples, and, if the pain be obstinate, the doctors bleed the patient under the arm, using a sharp piece of quartz as a lancet. The fiowing blood is never allowed to be Avasted, but is received on the body of the operator, and diligently rubbed into the skin, under the notion that by this process both parties are strength- ened. This depends, however, on the sex of the patient, women being never bled, nor alloAved to have the blood of any other person sprinkled upon them. About 1832, a curious disease broke out among the natives of Wellington Valley, 38 resembling the small-pox in many things, and yet displaying symptoms Avhich scarcely belong to that dread disease, the one fatal scourge of savage tribes. It Avas preceded by headache, fever, sore-throat, &c., and accompanied by pustules very much resem- bling those of the small-pox. It was, how- ever, scarcely virulent enough for the real disease, though it Avas probably a milder form of it^ and was subject to the poAver of vaccine matter. It Avas not limited to the natives, but attacked many Europeans just like the genuine small-pox, and in one case Avas fatal. It is here mentioned on account of the mode of cure adopted by the native doctors. They punctured the pustules with sharp fish-bones, and squeezed them Avell Avith the blunt end of their rude lancets, and it is a noteworthy fact that the rate of mortal- ity Avas very much reduced. Of course the doctors used other modes, whereby they gave their patients confidence in their powers. The chief of these Avas performed by means of a number of slender rods, six to nine feet in length, which were stuck in the ground in the form of a crescent, and addressed with long speeches and many mysterious gestures. Among the Austra- lians, this disease, whatever it may be, does not strike the abject terror Avith Avhich it is usually accompanied. Although they know that it is infectious, they do not abandon the sick person, unless perhaps the doctor pronounces the patient incurable; in Avhich ( 769 ) 770 AUSTRALIA. case they save him prolonged pain, and themselves useless trouble, by burying him alive. The native term for this disease is “ thunna-thunna,” and it is known to have existed when the country was first discov- ered, so that it is not imported from civilized countries. Another remarkable kind of cure for the headache is mentioned by Mr. Angas. The patient being seated on the ground, a string is tied round his head, the knot being care- fully adjusted to the middle of the forehead. The operator, who is always a woman, seats herself opposite the patient, places the line between her lips, and frets them with it until they bleed freely. The idea is that the disease, attracted by the blood, passes along the line from the patient’s head, and is cast out together with the blood. A very remarkable instance of this mode of cure is related in Tyerman and Bennett’s “Voyage round the World.” A man had dreamed that he had been speared in the side, and had died in consequence of the wound. Although, when he woke, he knew it was but a dream, he was so frightened that he became very ill, retired to his hut, chose the place of his burial, and lay down to die. Nearly a v/eek elapsed, during which he could take no food, grew worse and worse, and it was plain that nature would not hold out much longer. The priests — or rather sorcerers, for it cannot be ascertained that the New Hollanders have any other kind of j)riests, having, in fact, no religious worship — came to do what they could for him with their enchantments. By their order he was carried down to the side of a running water, and tumbled into the stream, where it was pretty deep, head foremost. When taken out, he was rolled in the sand till his body was quite encased with it. This again was washed off by pouring water over him. “ Meanwhile a young woman of the com- pany was perceived plaiting a cord of kan- garoo’s hair, which, when completed, was bound round his chest, and a knot, very cunningly implicated by one of the opera- tors, was placed over that part of his side into which the spear of his dream had en- tered. From this knot a line was passed to the young w'oman who had prepared the bandage. This she drew through her mouth backward and forward (as children some- times do with a piece of packthread) until she began to spit blood, which was said to be sucked by that process from the v/ound in the sick man’s side. There it was now perceptible that, from whatever cause, a considerable swelling had arisen under the knot. Toward this one of the sorcerers began to stroke the man’s flesh from all the adjacent regions of the back, belly, and chest, as though to force the blood thither. He then applied his mouth to the swelling, and, with hideous noises, sometimes sucked it with his lips, sometimes pressed it violently with his hands, till forth came the point of a spear, four inches in length, which he pre- sented to the astonished spectators and the expecting sufferer, as verily extracted from the man’s side. “ Then he applied his mouth again to the swollen part, from which, although there was no visible wound, he appeared to draw blood and corrupt matter, stains of both being soon seen on the swarthy skin. At length, with distended cheeks, as though he had filled his mouth with the abominable matter, he ran about, anxiously looking for a fit place to discharge it upon; but, affect- ing to find none, he crossed the water, and deposited the nauseous extract behind a bush. The poor man’s hopes revived, and he now believed that he should get well again. Mr. Dunlop thereupon sent him some tea, which, however, he would not drink, but requested that it might be given to the sorcerer, and, if he drank it, then it would do himself (the patient) good. He was deceived, disappointed, and died.” The Australians are tolerably good sur- geons in a rough-and-ready sort of way, and are clever at setting broken limbs. After bringing the broken ends of the bone to- gether, they support the limb by several pieces of wood which act as splints, and then make the whole secure by bandages, which they often strengthen with gum, exactly as is done in modern surgery. One of the most powerful remedies em- ployed by the native practitioners is the “ doctor-stone.” This is nothing but a com- mon quartz cr}'Stal; but the doctors aver that they manufacture it themselves, and that the ingredients are kept secret. Like the witarna, mentioned on page 747, women are never allowed even to look upon the doctor-stone, and are impressed with the belief that, if they dared to set their eyes upon the forbidden object, they would be immediately killed by its radiant powers. The larger the crystal, the more valuable is it; and a tolerably large one can scarcely be procured from the natives at any price. The doctors say that this stone is not only fatal to women, but also destroys men if flung at them with certain incantations. An European settler once challenged a native doctor to say as many charms as he liked, and throw the magic stone as much as he pleased. This offer, however, he declined, giving the usual excuse of savages, that the white man belonged to a totally different order of beings, and, although the poor black fellow would die from the effects of the doctor-stone, the white man was much too powerful to be hurt by it. The mode in which the crystal is used is very curious, and has been described by an eye-witness. A native of the Tumat country, named Golong, was sufiering from a spear wound THE DOCTOE-STOXE. 771 received in a skirmish with a hostile tribe, and was brought to a bilbo, named Bara- mumbup, to be healed. The patient being laid on the ground outside the encamp- ment so that women could not run the risk of death through the accidental sight of the crystal, the doctor began a close ex- amination of the wound, and sucked it. He then retired to a distance from the patient, muttered some magic words for a minute or so, and placed the crystal in his mouth. Having retained it there for a short time, he removed it, spat on the ground, and with his feet trampled on the saliva, press- ing it deepl}^ into the ground. This was repeated several times, and the doctor took his leave. For several successive evenings the whole of the process was gone through, and the recovery of the patient, which was really rapid, was attributed by all parties to the wonderful efficacy of the doctor-stone. “ On making inquiry,” writes Dr. Bennett, “ why the physician is so careful in trampling the saliva discharged from his mouth into the ground, no satisfactory reason could be ob- ; tained, a vague answer only being returned to the query. But it is not improbable that they consider, by this practice, that they finally destroy the power of the evil spirit, extracted by the operation through the vir- tues of the stone. Some such reason for this proceeding may be inferred from an observation made to any European who maybe present at this part of the ceremony, Hhat he (i. e. the disease) may not come up again.’ ” It is remarkable that a ceremony almost exactly identical in principle is employed by the Guaycura tribe of Brazil. Among them the doctors, or payes, cure local ailments, whether wounds or otherwise, by sucking the part affected, spitting into a hole dug in the ground, and then filling in the earth, as if to bury the complaint. The Australian doctors make great use of the principle of suction, and employ it in all kinds of cases. If, for example, a patient has a bad pain in his stomach from over- eating, or suffers more than he thinks right from the blow of a waddy, the doctor sucks at the afflicted part vigorously, and at last produces from his mouth a piece of bone, or some other hard substance, which he asserts to be the concentrated essence of the pain, or other ailment. The reader may remark that the bones with which the gums of youths are lanced in the ceremonies of initi- ation are supposed to be produced from the bodies of the operators by means of suction. A very remarkable curative agent is shown in the illustration Xo. 3, page 765, which is taken from a sketch by Mr. Baines. It consists of a stone building, which at first sight looks so like an ordinary Druid- ical remain that it might be taken for one, except for its dimensions. Instead, however, of being composed of huge stones, each weighing several tons, it is quite a tiny edifice, scarcely larger tlian the grotto which children erect with oyster-shells. The patient lies in, or rather under it, the aper- ture being just wide enough to admit his body, and the small roof only covering a very small portion of the inmate. Sundry superstitious rites are employed at the same time, and the remedy is efficacious, like the crystal already mentioned, in consequence of enlisting the imagination of the sufferer. These little buildings are found along the Victoria Elver, and for a considerable time the object for which they were built greatly puzzled the discoverers. A medicine scarcely less efficacious than the doctor’s stone is human fat, which is carefully preserved, and administered by being rubbed in and around the affected part. As, however, it is highly valued by the warriors it is not easily procured, and, had it to be taken solely from the bodies of slain enemies, would in all probability never be used at all. The efficacy of this repulsive remedy does not depend on the individual from whom it is taken, that of a child or woman being quite as useful as that of a warrior. According to Mr. G. T. Lloyd, the prac- tice of deserting the helpless is found in Australia as well as in other countries, and is practised exactly as is the case in Africa. When a person is ill the relations, as a rule, do not trouble themselves to visit the sick person, and, when there is no apparent hope of recovery, a supply of food and firing enough to last them for several days is left near them, and they are then abandoned to their fate. Even in the case of poor old Tarmeenia, mentioned on page 747, the son, although he carried his wounded father more than four miles in order to place him in safety, never once came to see him. Seeing that the natives place such implicit fiiitli in the healing power of the doctor’s stone, it is natural that they should also believe in sundry charms as preservatives against disease and misfortune. One of these charms is a sort of girdle, several inches wide in the middle, and tapering to a mere thong at each end. If it be made of string prepared from the bulrush root, it is called Taara or Kuretti; and if made of human hair, it goes by the name Godlotti. It is used more as a curative than a preven- tive, and is mostly found among the tribes of the lower Murray Eiver. The hair, when twisted into thread, is wound upon a curious spindle, consisting of two slender pieces of wood placed across each other at right angles. Another charm is shown in the illustra- tion Xo. 2, on the 765th page, slung round the neck of the boy. It is the beak of the black swan, which, from its scarlet color, contrasts well with the black skin of the 772 AUSTRALIA. wearer. The little boy’s name is Rimmilli- peringery, and Mr. Gr. F. Angas remarks that he was an engaging little fellow, and had the largest and sottest pair of dark eyes that could be imagined. The elder figure is that of a young man named Tyilkilli, belong- ing to the Parnkalla tribe of Port Lincoln. He has been selected as a favorable exam- ple of the Australian young man in good circumstances, well-fed, careless, and gay with the unthinking happiness of mere ani- mal life, which finds a joy in the very fact of existence. Among many of the tribes may be seen a strange sort of ornament, or rather utensil; namely, a drinking-cup made of a human skull. It is slung on cords and carried by them, and the owner takes it wherever he or she goes. These ghastly utensils are made from the skulls of the nearest and dearest relatives; and wdien an Australian mother dies, it is thought right that her daughter should form the skull of her motlier into a drinking-vessel. The prepa- ration is simple enough. The lower jaw is removed, the brains are extracted, and the whole of the skull thoroughly cleaned. A rope handle made of bulrush fibre is then attached to it, and it is considered fit for use. It is filled with water through the ver- tebral aperture, into which a wisp of grass is always stuffed, so as to prevent the water from being spilled. Inconsistency is ever the attribute of sav- age minds. Although they consider that to convert the skull of a parent into a drink- ing vessel, and to carry it about with them, is an important branch of filial duty, they seem to have no very deep feelings on the subject. In fact, a native named Wooloo sold his mother’s skull for a small piece of tobacco. His mind was evidently not com- prehensive enough to admit two ideas to- gether, and the objective idea of present tobacco was evidently more powerful than the comparative abstraction of filial rever- ence. Mr. Angas saw one which was carried by a little girl ten years of age. Like “ Little Nell,” she Avas in attendance upon an old and infirm grandfather, and devoted her little life to him. In nothing Avas the differ- ence of human customs shoAvn more plainly than in the use of the mother’s skull as a drinking vessel — an act AAdiich we should consider as the acme of heathen brutality, but Avith these aborigines is held to be a duty OAved by the child to the parent. Perhaps my classical readers Avill remem- ber a chapter in Herodotus Avhich bears on this A^ery subject. He finds fault Avith Cam- byses for breaking into the temples of the Cabeiri, burning their idols, and so hurting the religious feelings of the people-, and remarks that he Avas Avary in offending against any religious sentiment, hoAvever absurd it might appear to himself. He then proceeds to tell an anecdote of Darius, \\dio had at his court some Indians called Calla- tians,” and some Greeks. He asked the Greeks (who always burned their dead, as the Hindoos do now), what bribe would induce them to eat the bodies of their dead parents, and they naturally replied that for no bribe could they perform so horrible a deed. Then, in the presence of the Greeks, he asked the Callatians, who ate their dead (as several savage nations do now), for Avhat sum they would consent to burn the bodies of their dead. They, as it aiDpears from the style of their answer, were even more shocked than the Greeks at the idea of such horrible sacrilege, and would not deign to give a direct answer, but begged Darius to “ speak words of good omen.” (See Thalia, xxxvii. 8.) A somewhat similar proceeding is narrated in the life of Nussir-er-deen, the la,te king of Oude. His native ministers, jealous of the influence exercised over him by some of his European friends, complained that the Eng- lish guests treated the monarch Avith dis- respect, by retaining their shoes in his roj’al presence. The king, AAdio, ener\Med as he Avas by vanity, dissipation, self-indulgence, and flattery, Avas no fool, immediately pro- posed a compromise. “ Listen to me, naAvab ; and you, general, listen to me. The King of Englrnd is my master, and these gentlemen Avould go into his presence Avith their shoes on. Shall they not come into mine, then? Do they come before me Avith their hats on? AnsAver me, your excellency.” “ They do not, your majesty.” “ No, that is their Avay of shoAving respect. They take oft' their hats, and you take off your shoes. But come noAV, let us haA^e a bargain. Wallah ! but I will get them to take off their shoes and leave them Avithout, as you do, if you will take oft' your turban and leave it without, as the}'^ do.” (See Knighton’s “Private Life of an Eastern King.”) We now come naturally to the burial of the dead, and the A^arious ceremonies Avhich accompany the time of mourning. Although the relatives seem so careless about the sick person, they really keep a Avatch, and, as soon as death actually takes place, they an- nounce the fact by loud cries. The Avomen are the principal mourners, and tliey con- tinue to sob and shriek and moan until theA' are forced to cease from absolute exhaustion. They cut their bodies until the blood streams freely from their Avounds, and some of them chop their OAvn heads Avith their tomahawks until their shoulders and bodies are covered Avith blood. The reader AAdll probably have noticed hoAv AA'idely s})read is this custom of Avounding the body as a sign of mourning, and especiall}' as a lamentation for the dead. We have seen that it exists in Africa, and Ave shall see that it is practised in many oth er countries. That BUEIAL OF THE DEAD. 773 it was practised in ancient days by the peo- ple among wliom the Jews lived, we see from several passages of Scripture. See for ex- ample Deut. xiv. 1: “ Ye shall not cut your- selves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.” Also Jer. xvi. 6: “They shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make them- selves bald for them.” There is also the well-known passage concerning the sacrifice that the priests of Baal oftered, in the course of whicli they “ cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” The body is not disposed of at once, but is suffered to remain for a considerable time, during which decomposition takes place, and is allowed to work its course until the flesh is separated from the bones. The body is watched carefully during tlie night; and if a passing meteor should appear in the sky, the people shout and wave firebrands in order to drive away a certain evil spirit named Yiimhurhar, which is thought to be the real though invisible cause of death and all calami- ties, and to haunt the spot where a dead body lies for the purpose of feeding upon it. When decomposition has done its work, the bones are carefully collected, cleaned, and painted red, after which they are wrapped up in bark, and carried about with the tribe for a time. This term being fulfilled, they are finally disposed of in various ways, ac- cording to the customs of the tribe to which they belonged. Some tribes scoop holes in soft rocks, and place the remains therein, while others prefer hollow trees for that pur- pose. Sometimes the body is placed in the cave without being reduced to a skeleton, and in some places the soil is of such a na- ture that the body becomes dried before decomposition can proceed very far. During the Exhibition of 1862 one of these desic- cated bodies was exhibited in England, and called the “ petrified ” man. It w^as, how^- ever, nothing but a shrivelled and dried-up body, such as is often found in very dry soils. Near the Murrumbidgee Eiver, in the Wellington Valley, there is a remarkable sta- lactitic cavern, divided into several “ halls.” This cavern is, or has been, a favorite bury- ing-place of the aborigines, who seem fo have employed it for the same purpose that Abra- ham purchased the cave of Machpelah. In consequence of the use of the cavern as a burial place, the natives are rather nervous about entering it, and they flatly refuse to venture into the darker recesses, for fear of the “ dibbil-dibbil.” When Dr. Bennett visited it in 1832, he found in a small side cave the skeleton of a woman. The bones had been placed there nearly tw^enty years before. The Parnkalla and Nauo tribes have an- other mode of burial, which somewhat re- sembles that which is employed by the Be- chuanas. The body is placed in a crouching or squatting position, such as is employed by the natives when sitting, the knees being drawm up to the chin, tlie legs close to the body, and the hands clasped over the legs. Examples of this attitude imiy be seen in many of the illustrations. A circular jnt or grave, about five feet in depth, is then dug, and after the body is lowered into the pit a number of sticks arc laid over the grave, nearly touching one another. A thick layer of leaves and another of grass are then placed on the sticks, and over all is heaped the earth which has been dug out of the pit, so that the grave looks something like a huge anthill. In Northern Australia the natives have a curious method of disposing of the dead. They gather the skulls together, and heap them into a circular mound, placing stones round them to keep them in their places. They do not cover the skulls, but make the tomb in an open and conspicuous place. Such a tomb is illustrated on page 765. The blacks of the Clarence Eiver build monuments which are somewdiat similar in appearance, but are made of difierent ma- terials. They place a number of stones in a circle, and in the centre they erect an up- right slab of stone. They can give no reason for this custom, but only say that “ black- fella make it so,” or “ it belong to black-fella.” The former reply signifies that the custom has ahvays prevailed among the natives; and the second, that the tomb shows that a native lies buried beneath the upright stone. Some of the tribes along the Clarence Eiver have a curious mode of disposing of the dead — a mode which certainly has its advan- tages in its great economy of trouble. When an old man feels that the hand of death is on him, he looks out for a hollow tree, climbs it, lets himself downi to the bottom of the hol- low, and so dies in his tomb. In New^ South Wales the young people are buried beneath small tumuli, but the adults are buried in a rather curious fashion. A pile of dry wood, leaves, &c. is built, about three feet in height and six or seven in length. On the pile the body is laid on its back, hav- ing the face directed tow^ard the rising sun. The fishing apparatus, spears, and other w^ea- pons and implements of the dead man are next laid on the pile, and the body is then covered over with large logs of wood. The pile is fired by the nearest relative, and on the following day, when the place is cool, the ashes of the dead are collected, and carefully buried. Should a woman die, leaving an unweaned child, the poor little creature is buried together with the ashes of its mother. The natives defend this practice as a humane one, saying, with savage justice, that it is better to kill the child speedily than to allow it to pine to death from starvation. As is the case with many tribes in difier- ent parts of the world, as soon as any one 774 AUSTRALIA. dies the name borne by the deceased is no more mentioned. So strictly is this rule observed, that if another member of the tribe should happen to bear the same name, it must be abandoned, and a new name taken, by which the bearer will ever afterward be known. Mr. x\ngas, to whom we are indebted for so much of our knowledge of the Austra- lians, gives an interesting account of the burial of a bo}", as described to him by an eye-witness : “ Previously to burying the corpse of the boy, a contest with clubs and spears took place, out no injury was done to the parties engaged. The body was placed in a bark canoe, cut to the proper length, a spear, a fishing-spear, and a throwing-stick, with several other articles, being placed besides the corpse. The women and children made great lamentations during the ceremony, and the father stood apart, a picture of silent grief. “ The canoe was placed on the heads of two natives, who proceeded with it slowly toward the grave; some of the attendants waving tufts of dried grass backward and forward under the canoe and amongst the bushes as they passed along. The grave being dug, a native strewed it with grass, and stretched himself at full length in the grave, first on his back and then on his side. As they were about to let down the child into the grave, they first pointed to the de- ceased and then to the skies, as though they had a vague idea that the spirit had ascended to another world. “The body was then laid in the grave, with the face looking toward the rising sun, and, in order that the sunshine might fall upon the spot, care was taken to cut down all shrubs around that could in any way obstruct its beams. Branches were placed over the grave, grass and boughs on them, and the whole was crowned with a log of wood, on which a native extended himself for some minutes, with his face to the sky.” At the beginning of this description is mentioned a sham fight. This is held in consequence of a curious notion prevalent among the aborigines, that death from na- tural causes must be ransomed with blood. It suffices if blood be drawn even from a friend, and the mode by which they make the required offering, and at the same time gratify their combative nature, is by get- ting up a sham fight, in which some one is nearly sure to be wounded more or less severely. Sometimes the body of the dead man is disposed of rather oddly. In some parts of Australia the* natives, instead of consuming the body by fire, or hiding it in caves or in graves, make it a peculiarly conspicuous object. Should a tree grow favorabh^ for their purpose, they will employ it as the" final resting-place of the dead body. Lying in its canoe coffin, and so covered over with leaves and grass that its shape is quite disguised, the body is lifted into a convenient fork of the tree, and lashed to the boughs by native ropes. 1^0 further care is taken of it, and if, in process of time, it should be blown out of the tree, no one will take the trouble of re- placing it. Should no tree be growing in the selected spot, an artificial platform is made for the body, by fixing the ends of stout branches in the ground, and connecting them at their tops by smaller horizontal branches. Such are the curious tombs which are represented in the illustration No. 3, on page 775. These strange tombs are mostl}^ placed among the reeds, so that nothing can be more mourn- ful than the sound of the wind as it shakes the reeds below the branch in which the corpse is lying. The object of this aerial tomb is evident enough, namely, to protect the corpse from the dingo, or native dog. That the ravens and other carrion-eating birds should make a banquet upon the body of the dead man does not seem to trouble the survivors in the least, and it often happens that the traveller is told by the croak of the disturbed ravens that the body of a dead Australian is lying in the branches over his head. The aerial tombs are mostl}^ erected for the bodies of old men who have died a natural death; but when a young warrior has fallen in battle the body is treated in a very different manner. A moderately high platform is erected, and ux)on this is seated the body of the dead warrior, with the face toward the rising sun. The legs are crossed, and the arms kept extended by means of sticks. The fat is then removed, and, after being mixed with red ochre, is rubbed over the body, which has previously- been carefully denuded of hair, as is done in the ceremiony of initiation. The legs and arms are cov- ered with zebra-like stripes of Ted, white, and yellow, and the weapons of the dead man are laid across his lap. The body being thus arranged, fires are lighted under the platform, and kept up for ten days or more, during the whole of which time the friends and mourners remain by the body, and are not permitted to speak. Sentinels relieve each other at appointed intervals, their duty being to see that the fires are not suffered to go out, and to keep the flies away by waving leafy^ boughs or bunches of emu feathers. When a body has been treated in this manner, it becomes hard and mummy-like, and the strangest point is, that the wild dogs will not touch it after it has been ^ long smoked. It re- mains sitting on the platfoimi for two months or so, and is then taken down and buried, with the exception of the skull, which is made into a drinking-cup for the nearest relative, as has already been men- tioned. (1.) CARVED FEATHER BOX, NEW ZEALAND. (See page 813.) (2.) SMOKING THE BODIES OF SLAIN WARRIORS. (See page 777.) (3.) TREE TOMBS OF AUSTRALIA. (See page 774.) ( 775 ) •■’''• ‘ • \ li-ty. w tfi, pS;.;<'-- Of m »S » »»,*^nrj •• ■ :''J i'U' ;:.: i ; - ..=_■ w.: ‘i V . In’ proportion to the dimensions of New Zealand, the population is very small; and, even in the earliest days of our acquain- tance with it, the land seems to have been but thinly inhabited. That such should be the case is veiy remarkable, as a very thin population is generally found in those coun- tries wliere, as in Australia, the inhabitants live principall}^ by the chase, and therefore require a very large tract of land to support them. The New Zealanders, however, do not live by the chase, for the simple reason that there are no animals which are worth the trouble of hunting; so that a family of twenty or so, even if they had the entire country as a hunting-ground, would find themselves in very great straits were they obliged to procure tiieir food by the chase. The reasons for this thin population will be presently seen. According to Dieffenbach’s calculation, the native poioulation of the entire country may be reckoned rather below one hundred and fifteen thousand. These are divided into twelve great tribes, which are again subdi- vided into sub-tribes, or clans, each of which has its separate name, and is supposed to l)elong to a certain district. The fighting men, or warriors, form about one-fourth of the whole population; the remaining three- fourths being made up of old men, women, and children. Since this calculation the numbers of the aborigines have considerably lessened. The most important of the tribes seems fe Ije the Waikato, which is divided intq_,^i^- teen^ll%an^Js^^ large proportion of the country. This tribe alone can bring into the field six thousand fight- ing men; so that the entire number of the tribe may be calculated at twenty-four thou- sand or so. The Waikato clans have managed to pre- serve their individuality better than the others, and, though brought much in con- tact with civilization, and having adopted some of the habits of their white visitors, they have still retained many of their ancient customs, and, as Dieffenbach re- marks, have preserved much of their ancient vigor and original virtues. The tribe that is strongest in mere num- ])ers is the Nga-te-kahuhuna, which inhab- its the east coast, and may be reckoned at thirty-six thousand strong. In fact, these two tribes alone outnumber the whole of the others taken collectively. One tribe, the Eangitani, is interesting from the fact that it was described by Captain Cook. In his days it was evidently a large and flour- ishing tribe, but some few years ago it could scarcely muster three hundred warriors, representing a total number of twelve hun- dred. The decadence of this tribe is prob- ably owing to the destructive wars in which the New Zealanders engage, and which are often so fierce as to erase a tribe entirely. The government of the New Zealanders is a curious mixture of simplicity and corn- plication. Monarchy is unknown, each tribe having its own great chief, while an inferior chief presides over each clan, or sub-tribe. The whole of the population may be roughly divided into three ranks. Eirst come the nobility, then the free men, and lastly the slaves. The nobility go by the general name of Kangatira — a title which is always given to officers, missionaries, and other white men who are placed in command over others. In each tribe one of the Kangatira is the Ariki, or principal chief; but, as he is neces- sarily a Kangatira, he is always addressed by that title, and, in consequence, a stran- ger finds some difficulty, even after a pro- longed visit, in ascertaining who is the Ariki. Among the New Zealanders there is no Salic law, so that the Ariki need not be a warrior, and may be a woman. The office is hered- itary, and the existing Ariki is always held in the highest veneration in virtue of his descent. Even the hostile tribes respect an Ariki, and in most cases, if he should be captured in battle, the victors will s]Dare his life. One or tw^o of the most powerful chiefs living have been captured and after- ward released, whereas, had they been com- mon men, or even ordinary Kangatiras, they would have been killed, their bodies eaten, and their heads dried and fixed as trophies on the houses of their conquerors. A sort of tax,- or tribute, is paid by the oifibrent families, though the tax is entirely a voluntary one, and may be great or small, or withheld altogether, at pleasure. Mostly the Ariki is a man of considerable mental powers, and, in such a case, he exercises great authority over the tribe, either as a priest or a warrior. There is nothing to prevent the Ariki from assuming the office of priest, and in many instances he has been able to exercise a far greater influence by spiritual than by physical means. The Kangatira are the great men, or nobles, of the land, and with them, as with the Ariki, the rank is hereditary. The law of succession is very remarkable, the eldest son being the heir to his father’s rank; but if the child dies, the youngest, and not the next eldest, becomes the lawfiil successor. These two heirs, the eldest and the young- est sons, are called by a name which signifies the fat of the earth. Each Kangatira is independent of his fellows, though they collectively form a sort of body which we may compare with the House of Peers in England. Any Kanga- tira who has sufficient influence may gather together the members of his clan, build a fortified village, or pah, and become a petty sovereign in his own dominions. It is in this way that the various clans, or sub- tribes, are formed, each gathering round a noble of more than usual ability, and adopt- ing a name by which the members will ever afterward be known. THE LAND QUESTION. 707 The free men form the great body of the warriors; some of them being the sons of llangatira, and others merely having the privilege of free birth; which carries with it the right of tattooing the face. Some- times a free man who is remarkable for his generalship and courage will take the com- mand of an expedition, even though men of higher rank than himself should be engaged in it. Last come the slaves. These are always procured from two sources: they are either captives taken in battle, or are the children of such captives. The value of such slaves is very great. All savages are idle, but the New Zealander is one of the laziest of mor- tals in time of peace. In war he is all fire and spirit; but in peace he lounges listlessly about, and will not do a stroke of work that can possibly be avoided. He may, perhaps, condescend to carve the posts of his house into some fantastical sem- blance of the human form, or he may, per- chance, employ himself in slowly rubbing a stone club into shape, or in polishing or adorning his weapons. Whatever real work is to be done is left to the women or the slaves, and a man who values his wife or daughter will endeavor to procure slaves who will relieve her of the drudgery. There are slaves of both sexes, to whom the appropriate work is allotted. They are considered the absolute property of their owner, who may treat them as he pleases, and, if he prefers to kill them, may do so without attracting any attention. Of course he would not do so except for very good reasons, as he would deprive himself of a valuable article of property. There have been cases, as we shall presently see, when the owner of slaves has deliberately mur- dered them for the sake of selling their heads. Once a slave, always a slave. Should one of these unfortunates manage to escape and get back to his own tribe, his owner would apply for him, and he would be given up, the right of the master to his slave being universally recognized. Still, as a rule, the slaves are treated well, and some of them, who have attained excellence' in certain arts, often become richer men than their owners. So great is the value of slaves, that many a war has been undertaken for the mere purpose of slave hunting, and some of the most disastrous and obstinate feuds have originated in the slave hunt. Connected with the government of the New Zealanders is the land question. This is a strangely complicated business, as every inch of ground has an actual owner, while there are usually several claimants who al- low their rights, real or imagined, to lie in abeyance as long as the land is owned by one who can hold his own, while they will all prefer their claims at his death, or even during a lengthened absence. So it has often happened that the white inen, while desiring to act according to law and honor, have involved themselves in a very net of difficulties. A chief, for ex- ample, may agree to sell a portion of terri- tory, will receive the price, and will sign a deed, which will be witnessed by natives as well as by Europeans. No sooner has he done so, than a claimant comes forward, declaring that the chief in question had no real right to the land, and therefore had no right to sell it. Ilis claim will be inquired into, and, if it seems to be tolerably consistent with likeli- hood, the man will be paid an additional sum for his consent to the sale. The mat- ter, however, is not at an end, for such is the jealousy with which the natives regard land, that, as long as a foreigner holds an inch of ground, so long will there be a na- tive who prefers a claim to it. Strange as it may seem, the white man would incur less odium by taking the land by force, and seizing it by right of conquest, than by trying to act according to justice and equity. War is a fertile source of misunderstand- ing about land. A tribe may be driven out of a district, and their land given to others, who hold it as long as they can keep it, the original possessors being sure to reconquer it if possible. It has sometimes happened that a chief to whom such lands have been presented has transferred them to another chief, and he, in his turn, has sold them to European settlers, the bargain being ratified by his own followers, who are considered as having a share in such property. The colonists take the land, clear it, culti- vate it, and when the crops are fairly in the ground, the dispossessed tribe will come for- ward and prefer their claim to it. Those to whom it was sold have already received their price, and do not trouble themselves to oppose the claim; and the consequence is, that the colonists are obliged either to make a second payment or to run the risk of war. As to the claims themselves, they are of the most curious and unexpected character, such as no European would be likely to an- ticipate. According to Dieffenbach, “ There exists a very distinct notion of the rights of landed property among the natives, and every inch of land in New Zealand has its proprie- tor. Sometimes land is given to a strange tribe, either as pay, or from other consider- ations, but the proprietor reserves certain rights, some of which are what we should term manorial. “ It was formerly very common that the fat of the native rats (Kiore) killed on such lands should be given to the principal pro- prietor, and in many cases a title to land seems to have been derived from the fact of having killed rats on it. Thus a chief will say, ‘This or that piece of land is mine; I have killed rats on it.’ Generally, how- 798 NEW ZEALAND. ever, land descends, as with us, by inheri- tance.” Such being the complicated tenure on which land is held — a tenure which is often puzzling to the natives themselves — it is no matter of wonder that English settlers should have found themselves in difficulties. It is said that the colonists tried to make Ihemselves masters of the land by unfair means, i. e. either by forcibly taking posse.s- sion of it, or by inveigling the ignorant na- tives into signing documents which they did not understand, and thus selling their pater- nal estates for rum, tobacco, and a few blan- kets. This may to some extent have been the case when the colonists first came to settle in the countiy. But the natives are far too intelligent to remain long ignorant of the power of pen, ink, and paper, and there is no doubt that in many cases they intention- ally outwitted the purchaser, either by put- ting forward a sham owner of the ground, who had no right to sell it, and who van- ished with his share of the prize as soon as the bargain was concluded, or by asserting ignorance of the meaning of the document which had been signed, and refusing to carry out its conditions. That the white men succeeded too often in cheating the natives is unfortunately true, but it is no less true that the natives as often cheated the col- onists. Law among the New Zealanders seems to be of the simplest kind, and, as far as we know, is not so well developed as among some of the tribes of Southern Africa. The Ihree offences of which the law takes cog- nizance are murder, theft, and adultery. For the first of these offences a sort of Tex toUonis holds good, the relatives of the slain man being sure, sooner or later, to kill the inurderer, unless he manages to compromise with them. Even theft is punished in a similiar fashion, the thief being robbed in his turn. As to the third offence, it is punishable in various ways; but both the offending parties are supposed to have forfeited their lives to the husband. If, therefore, the fact be dis- covered, and the culprit be a person of low rank, he seeks safety in flight, while, if he be a man of rank, he expects that the of- fended husband will make war upon him. Sometimes, if a wife discovers that her hus- band has been unfaithful to her, she will kill Ids paramour, or, at all events, disgrace her after the native custom, by stripping off all h(‘r clothes, and exposing her in public, l^lven the husband is sometimes subjected to this punishment by the wife’s relations; and so much dreaded is this disgrace that men have been known to commit suicide when their offence has been discovered. Suicide, by the way, is not at all uncommon among the New Zealanders, who always think that death is better than disgrace, and sometimes destroy themselves under the most trivial provocation. One such case is mentioned by Mr. Angas. “ On arriving at the village or kainga of Ko Nghahokowitu, we found all the natives in a state of ex- traordinary excitement. We had observed numbers of people running in that direc- tion, along the margin of the river, from the different plantations, and, on inquiry, we learned that an hour previously to our ar- rival the son of an influential chief had com- mitted suicide by shooting himself wdth a musket. “ Our fellow-travellers, wdth Wisihona their chief, were all assembled, and we fol- lowed them to the shed where the act had been perpetrated, and where the body still lay as it fell, but covered with a blanket. The mourners were gathered round, and the women commenced crying most dolefully, wringing their hands, and bending their bodies to the earth. We approached the body, and were permitted to remove the blanket from the face and breast. The countenance was perfectly placid, and the yellow tint of the skin, combined with the tattooing, gave the corpse almost the appear- ance of a wax model. The deceased was a fine and well-made young man. He had placed the musket to his breast, and delib- erately pushed the trigger with his toes, the bullet passing right through his lungs. Blood was still oozing from the orifice made by the bullet, and also from the mouth, and the body was still warm.” The cause of this suicide was that which has already been mentioned.* The }"Oung man had been detected in an illicit corre- spondence Avith the wife of another man in the same Aullage. The woman had been sent away to a distant settlement, a pro- ceeding which had already made her lover sullen and gloomy; and, on the day Avheii Mr. Angas visited the place, he had become so angry at the reproaches which Avere lev- elled at him b}^ some of his relations, that he stepped aside and shot himself. The determined manner in which the Ncav Z ealanders AAdll semetimes commit suicide AA'as exemplified by the conduct of another man, Avho deliberately Avrapped himself up in his blanket, and strangled himself with liis OAvn hands. The crime Avas perpetrated in the common sleeping-house, and Avas achicA^ed Avith so much boldness that it was not dis- covered until the man had been dead for some time. A remarkable instance of this phase of Ncav Zealand laAv took place Avhen Mr. Dieftenbach visited the Waipa district. He Avas accompanied by a chief, avIio called a girl to him, and handed her over to the police magistrate as a murderess. The fact Avas, that her brother, a married man, had formed an intimacy Avith a slave girl, and, fearing the vengeance of his Avife’s relatives, had killed himself. His sister, in order to THE SISTER’S VENGEANCE. 799 avenge the death of her brother, found out the slave girl in the bush, and killed her. The strangest part of the business was, that the accused girl was the daughter of the chief who denounced her. The girl pleaded her own cause well, say- ing, what was perfectly true, that she had acted according to the law of the land in avenging the death of her brother, and was not amenable to the laws of the white man, which had not yet been introduced into her country. As might be imagined, her plea was received, and the girl was set at liberty; but her father was so earnest in his wish to check the system of retaliatory murder, that he actually offered himself in the place of his daughter, as being her nearest rela- tion. CHAPTER LXXIX, NEW ZEALAND — Continued. DRESS. DRESS Am> ORNAMENTS OF THE NEW ZEALANDER — THE TATTOO OR THE MOKO — ITS FORMIDABLH CHARACTER — THE TATTOO A MARK OF FREEDOM — THE TATTOO OF THE FACE, AND ITS DIFFER- ENT PORTIONS — COST OF THE OPERATION — THE IMPLEMENTS, AND MODE OF USING THEM — TIME OCCUPIED IN COMPLETING IT — PAYMENT OF THE OPERATOR, AND THE TATTOO SONG — SOURCE WHENCE THE PIGMENT IS OBTAINED — SCARLET PAINT, AND MODE OF MAKING IT — THE NEW ZEALAND BELT — SYMBOLISM OF THE TATTOO — PRESERVING THE HEADS OF WAR- RIORS — THE TRAFFIC IN HEADS — A COOL BARGAINER. We will now proceed to the appearance and dress of the natives of New Zealand, or Maories, as they term themselves. As the most conspicuous part of the New Zea- lander’s adornment is the tattooing with which the face and some other portions of the body are decorated, we will begin our account with a description of the moko, as it is called by the natives. There are many parts of the world where the tattoo is employed, but in none is it of so formidable a descri])tion as among the New Zealanders. As the reader is probably aware, the tattoo consists of patterns made by introducing certain coloring matters under the skin; charcoal, variously pre- pared, being the usual material for the purpose. We have already seen among the Kaffirs examples of ornamenting the skin by cutting it deeply so as to form scars, and in Australia a similar but more cruel custom })re vails. In neither of these countries, how- ever, is there any attempt at producing an artistic effect, while in New Zealand beauty of design is the very object of the tattoo. There is a distinction between the tattoo of the New Zealanders and the Polynesians; that of the latter people being formed by rows of little dots, and that of the former by lines cut completely through the skin. On account of this distinction, though a New Zealander and a Polynesian be covered from head to foot with tattoo marks, there is no possibility of mistaking the one for the other. The moko of the New Zealander is a mark of rank, none but slaves being without a more or less complete tattooing of the face. In the present day, even the chiefs have begun to discontinue the ancient custom, chietly owing to the exertions of the mis- sionaries, wdio objected to the practice as a mark of heathendom. Consequently, several of the most powerful convert chiefs present a very curious, not to say ludicrous, aspect, which can hardly have a good effect in recommending Christianity to the people. Having been converted before the moko was completed, and being unwilling to con- tinue the process and unable to obliterate those portions which were already drawn, they appear with one half of their faces tat- tooed and the other half plain, or perhaps with a solitary ring round one eye, and a couple of curves round one side of the mouth. As, however, the present work treats only of the native customs, and not of modern civilization, the New Zealanders will be described as they were before they had learned to abandon the once-prized tattoo, to exchange the native mat for the English blanket, the picturesque war canoe for tlie commonplace whaling boat, and the spear and club for the rifle and bayonet. The principal tattoo is that of the face and upper part of the head, which, wdien com- pleted, leaves scarcely an untouched spot on which the finger can be placed. "When finished, the whole face is covered with spiral scrolls, circles, and curved lines; and it is remarkable, that though a certain order is observed, and the position of the principal marks is the same in every case, no two per- sons are tattooed in precisely the same man- ner, the artists being able to produce an infinite variety with the few materials at his command. For example, the first portion of the tat- too is always a series of curved lines, reach- ing from the corners of the nose to the chin, THE TATTOO, OR THE MOKO. 801 and passing round the mouth. This portion of the tattoo goes by the name of rerepi. Next comes a spiral scroll on the cheek- bone; and below it is another spiral, reach- ing as low as the jaw-bone. These are called respectively kakoti and korohaha. Next come four lines on the middle of the forehead, called titi; and besides these there are several lines which run up the centre of the nose and cover its sides, some which spread over the forehead, others which oc- cupy the chin; and even the lips, eyelids, and ears are adorned with this singular ornament. Besides possessing these marks, a great chief is seldom content unless he can cover his hips with similar lines, each of which has, like those of the face, its proper name. • Although the moko was considered as a mark of rank, there were no sumptuary laws which forbade its use. Any one, pro- vided he were not a slave, might be tattooed as much as he pleased; but the expense of the operation was so great, that none but men of position could afford a complete suit of moko. No man could tattoo himself, and the delicacy of touch and certainty of line was so difficult of attainment, that tattooing became an art or science, which was left in the hands of a few practitioners, who derived a good income from their business. Some of those who had attained much reputation for their skill used to command very high fees when called in to decorate a client, and their services could therefore only be se- cured by the men of high position. It is rather remarkable that some of the most celebrated operators were slaves, men who were forbidden to wear the tattoo on their own persons. The mode of operation is as follows. The patient lies on his back, and places his head between the knees of the operator, who squats on the ground after the usual native fashion. The latter then takes a little of the black pigment, and draws on the face the line of the pattern which he intends to fol- low; and in some cases he slightly scratches them with a sharp instrument, so as to make a sketch or outline drawing. The object of this scratching is to prevent the pattern from being obliterated by the flowing blood and the black pigment which is rubbed into tlie wounds. Next, he takes his instrument or chisel, which is usually made of teeth, or the bone of a bird, and with it follows the pattern, cutting completely through the skin. Some- times, when engaged in tattooing the face, a careless operator has been known to cut completely through the cheek, so as to put a temporary check to smoking, the suferer experiencing some difficulty in getting the smoke into his mouth at all, and then find- ing it escape through the holes in his cheek. On page 722 the reader may find an illustra- tion which gives a good idea of the different forms of the tattooing chisel. As the opera- tor proceeds, he continually dips the edge of his chisel in the black pigment, and, when he has cut a line of a few inches in length, he rubs more of the pigment into the wound, using a little bunch of fibre by way of a brush or sponge. The cutting is not done as with a knife, but by placing the edge of the chisel on the skin, and driving it along the lines of the pattern by repeated blows with a small mallet. As may be imagined, the pain caused by this operation is excruciating. It is painful enough to have the skin cut at all, even with the keenest blade, as any one can testify who has been unfortunate enough to come under the surgeon’s knife. But when the instrument employed is a shark’s tooth, or a piece of bone, when it is driven slowly through the skin by repeated blows, and when the wound is at once filled with an irritating pigment, it may be imagined that the torture must be dreadful. It is, however, reckoned a point of honor to endure it without giving any signs of suffer- ing. Owing to the character of the tattoo, the destruction of the skin, and the consequent derangement of its functions, only a small portion can be executed at a time, a com- plete moko taking from two to three years, according to the constitution of the individ- ual. Dreadful swellings are always caused by it, especially of the glands in the neigh- borhood of the wounds, and the effects are so severe that men have died when too large a portion has been executed at one time. Every stroke of the chisel or uki leaving an indelible mark, it is of the greatest con- sequence that the operator should be a man of skill, and devote all his energies to trac- ing a clear, though elaborate pattern, in which the lines are set closely together, sweep in regular curves, and never interfere with each other. While a man is being tattooed, his friends and those of the operator sing songs to him, in which he is encouraged to endure the pain bravely, and to bear in mind the lasting beauty which will be conferred upon him when the pattern is completed. The songs of the operator’s friends contain some very broad hints as to the scale of payment which is expected. Although, as has been stated, the best of tattooers are paid very highly, there is no definite fee, neither is any bar- gain made, the operator trusting to the liberality of his client. But, as a m"an would be contemned as a skulking fellow if he were to ask the services of a good operator and then pay him badly, the practical result is that a good tattooer always secures good pay. Moreover, he has always the opportunity of avenging himself. As only a small por- tion of the moko can be executed at a time — say, for example, the spiral curve on one 802 NEW ZEALAND. choek — if the operator be badly paid for the first portion of bis work, he will take care to let the chisel slip out of its course when he proceeds to the second part, or will cut his lines coarsely and irregularly, thus disfigur- ing the stingy man for life. Mr. Taylor gives a translation of one of these tattooing songs : “ He who pays well, let him be beautifully orna- mented ; But he who forgets the operator, let him be done carelessly. Be the lines wide apart. O hiki Tangaroa! O hiki Tangaroa! Strike that the chisel as it cuts along may sound. O hiki Tangaroa! Men do not know the skill of the operator in driving his sounding chisel along. O hiki Tangaroa! The reader will see that the song is a very ingenious one, magnifying the skill of the operator, promising a handsome moko to the liberal man, and threatening to disfigure him if he be niggardly in his payments. While the operation of tattooing is going on, all persons in the pah, or enclosure, are under the tabu, or tapu, lest any harm should happen to them ; the work of tattooing being looked upon with a kind of superstitious reverence. The meaning of the word ‘ tapu ’ will be explained when we come to treat of the religious system of the New Zealander. The effect of the moko on the face is well shown in illustration No. 2, on the next page, which represents a chief and his wife. The reader will probably observe that on the face of the Avoman there are marks which resemble the tattoo. They are, how- ever, the scars left by mourning over the body of some relative, a ceremony in which the women cut themselves unmercifully. The dress worn by both persons Avill be presently described. The pigment used in tattooing is made from the resin of the kauri pine, and the greater part of it is made at one spot, where the tree grows plentifully. There is a rocky precipice, and a little distance from its edge a deep and narrow pit is sunk. A channel is cut through the foce of the cliff into the pit, and the apparatus is complete. When a native wishes to make a supply of tattooing pigment, he cuts a quantity of kauri wood, places it in the pit, and sets fire to it, thus causing the burnt resin to fall to the bottom of the pit, whence it is scraped out through the channel. Scarlet paint is much employed by the na- tives, especially Avhen they decorate them- selves for battle. It is obtained from an ochreous substance which is deposited in many places where Avater has been alloAved to become stagnant. Some spots are cele- brated for the excellence of the ochre, and the natives come from great distances to pro- cure it When they AAUsh to make their scarlet paint, they first carefully dry and. then burn the ochre; the result of Avhich operation is, that a really fine vermilion is obtained. This paint is used for many purposes, and before being used it is mixed with oil ob- tained from the shark. The natives are fond of decorating flieir houses with it, and by means of the scarlet lines increase, according to their OAvn ideas, the beauty of the carved work with which every available point is adorned. Even their household goods are painted after a similar manner, the fash- ionable mode being to paint all the hollows scarlet, and the projecting portions black. Their canoes and wooden ornaments are pro- fusely adorned with red paint. But the most valued use of this pigment is the part which it plays in the decoration of a warrior when he goes to battle. In such cases paint constitutes the whole of his costume, the mats in which he takes so great a pride in time of peace being laid aside, many Avarriors being perfectly naked, and with the others the only covering of any kind being a belt made of plaited leaves. One of these belts in my collection is seven feet in length, and only three and a half in- ches wide in the broadest part; while at either end it diminishes to a mere plaited thong. It is folded fourfold, and on opening it the mode of construction is plainly seen; all the loose ends being tucked inside. The material is phormium leaf cut into strips an inch in width, each alternate strip being dyed black. Each strip is then divided into eight little strips or thongs, and they are so plaited as to produce an artistic check- ered pattern of black and white. The in- genuity in forming so elaborate a pattern Avith so simple a material is extreme ; and, as if to add to the difficulty of his task, the dusky artist has entirely changed the pattern at either end of the belt, making it run at right^ angles to the rest of the fabric. The belt is also used in lieu of clothing when the men are engaged in paddling a canoe. The paint, therefore, becomes the charac- teristic portion of the NeAv Zealander’s war dress, and is applied for the purpose of mak- ing himself look as terrible as possible, and of striking terror into his enemies. It is, however, used in peace as well as in war, being regarded as a good preservative against the bites and stings of insects, especially the sandflies and mosquitoes. It is also used in mourning, being rubbed on the body as a sign of grief, precisely as ashes are used among some of the Oriental nations. Some travellers haA"e thought that the continual use of this pigment gives to the NeAV Zea- landers the peculiar softness and sleekness of skin for Avhich they are remarkable, and which distinguishes them from the Fijians, Avhose skin feels as if it had been roughened Avith a file. This theory, however, is scarcely tenable, the soft texture of the skin being (1.) NEW ZEALAND WOMAN AND HEE BOY. (2.) TATTOOED CHIEF AND HIS WIFE. (See page 795.) (See page 802.) ( 803 ) .■i . >.r^ ■ UBR''«Y OF THS WJElSrTs' 0f 'M!?’"’" PRESERVIKG THE HEADS OF WARRIORS. 80 o evidently due to physical and not to external causes. A warrior adorned in all the pride of the tattoo and scarlet paint is certainly a terrific object, and is well calculated to strike terror into those who have been accustomed to regard the Maori warriors with awe. When, however, the natives found that all the paint- ing in the world had no effect u])on the dis- ciplined soldiers of the foreigner, they aban- doned it, and contented themselves with the weapons that none are more able to wield Ilian themselves. Moreover, the paint and tattoo, however well it might look on a warrior armed after tlie primitive fashion, has rather a ludicrous effect when contrasted with the weapons of civilization. There is now before me a por- trait of a Maori chief in full battle array. Except a bunch of feathers in his hair, and a checked handkerchief tied round his loins, evidently at the request of the photographer, li3 has no dress whatever. He is tall, splen- didly made, stern, and soldierlike of aspect. But instead of the club, his proper weapon, he bears in his hand a Belgian rifle, with fixed bayon^, and has a cartouche-box fas- tened by a belt round his naked body. His face is tattooed, and so are his hips, which are covered with a most elaborate pattern, that contrasts boldly with his really fair skin. Had he his club and chiefs staff in his hands, he would look magnificent; having a rifle and a cartouche-box, he looks absurd. Even a sword would become him better than a rifle, for we are so accustomed to associate a ride with a private soldier, that it is difficult to understand that a powerful chief would carry such a weapon. The curious mixture of native and Euro- pean dress which the Maories are fond of wearing is well described by Mr. Angas. “ Raupahara’s wife is an exceedingly stout woman, and wears her hair, which is very stiff and wiry, combed up into an erect mass upon her head about a foot in height, some- what after the fashion of the Tonga islanders, which, when combined with her size, gives her a remarkable appearance. “ She was well dressed in a flax mat of native manufocture, thickly ornamented with tufts of cotton wool; and one of her nieces wore silk stockings and slippers of patent leather. This gay damsel was, moreover, a very pretty girl, and knew how to set off her charms to advantage; for over an Eu- ropean dress she had retained her native ornaments, and had wrapped herself coquet- tislily in a beautiful, ‘ kaitaka,’ displaying her large hazel eyes above its silky folds.” It has often been thought that the warrior regarded his moko, or tattoo, as his name, permanently inscribed on his face; and this notion was strengthened by two facts: the one, that in the earlier times of the colo- nists the natives signed documents by ap- pending a copy of their moko; and the other, that each man knows every line of his tattoo, and sometimes carves a wooden bust on which he co])ies with admirable fidelity every line which appears on his own head or face. Such a work of art is greatly valued by the Maories, and a man who has carved one of them can scarcely be induced by any bribe to part with it. Moreover, the moko of a warrior is often accepted as the conventional representation of himself. For example, on the pillars of a very celebrated house, which we shall presently describe, are numerous human figures which represent certain great chiefs, while men of lesser mark are indicated by their moko carved on the posts. Thus it will be seen that the moko of a chief is as well known to others as to himself, and that the practised eye of the native discerns among the various curves and spirals, which are common to all free men, the characteris- tic lines which denote a man’s individuality, and in producing which the tattooers’ skill is often sorely tried. It has already been mentioned, that when a warrior falls in battle, and his body can be carried off by the enemy, the head is pre- served, and fixed on the dwelling of the con- queror. Ko dishonor attaches itself to sucli an end; and, indeed, a Maori warrior would feel himself direfully insulted if he were told that in case of his death in the field his body would be allowed to remain untouched. In fact, he regards his moko precisely in the same light that an American Indian looks upon his scalp-lock; and, indeed, there are many traits in the character of the Maori warrior in which he strangely resem- bles the best examples of North American savages. In order to preserve the head of a slain warrior, some process of embalming must evidently be pursued, and that which is commonly followed is simple enough. The head being cut off, the hair is re- moved, and so are the eyes; the places of which are filled up with pledgets of tow, over which the eyelids are sewed. Pieces of stick are then placed in the nostrils in order to keep them properly distended, and the head is hung in the smoke of the wood fire until it is thoroughly saturated with the pyroligneous acid. The result of this mode of preparation is, that the flesh shrinks up, and the features become much distorted; though, as the Maori warrior always distorts his countenance as much as possible before battle, this effect is rather realistic than otherwise. It is often said that heads prepared in this fashion are proof against the attacks of in- sects. This is certainly not the case, as I have seen several specimens completely riddled by the ptilinus and similar crea- tures, and have been obliged to destroy the little pests by injecting a solution of corro- sive sublimate. In spite of the shrivelling 80G NEW ZEALAND. to which the flesh and skin are subject, the tiittooing retains its form; and it is most curious to observe how the finest lines com- pletely retain their relative position to each other. Not only are the heads of enemies treated in this fashion, but those of friends are also preserved. The diflerence is easily perceptible by looking at the mouth, which, if the head be that of a friend, is closed, and if of an enemy, is widely opened. Some years ago, a considerable number of these preserved heads were brought into Europe, having been purchased from the natives. Of late years, however, the trade in them has been strictly forbidden, and on very good grounds. In the first place, no man who was well tattooed was safe for an hour, unless he were a great chief, for he might at any time be watched until he was off* his guard, and then knocked down, killed, and his head sold to the traders. Then, when the natives became too cautious to render head hunting a profitable trade, a new expedient was discovered. It was found that a newly tattooed head looked as well when preserved as one which had been tattooed for years. The chiefs were not slow in taking advantage of this discovery, and immediately set to work at killing the least valuable of their slaves, tattooing their heads as though they had belonged to men of high rank, drying, and then selling them. One of my friends lately gave me a cu- rious illustration of the trade in heads. His father wanted to purchase one of the dried heads, but did not approve of any that were brought for sale, on the ground that the tat- too was poor, and was not a good example of the skill of the native artists. The chief allowed the force of the argument, and, pointing to a number of his people who had come on board, he turned to the intending purchaser, saying, “ Choose which of these heads you like best, and when you come back I will take care to have it dried and ready for your acceptance.” As may be imagined, this speech put an abrupt end to all head purchasing, and gave an unexpected insight into the mysteries of trading as con- ducted by savage nations. CHAPTER LXXX. KEW ZEALAND — Continued, DRESS AND ORNAMENTS. THE “mats” op the NEW ZEALANDERS — THE MATERIAL OF WHICH THEY ARE MADE — THE NEW ZEALAND FLAX, OR PHORMIUM — MODE OF MAKING THE MATS — VARIOUS KINDS OF MATS — THE RAIN MAT AND ITS USES — THE OPEN-WORKED MAT — THE DIFFERENT ORNAMENTS OF THE MAT: STRINGS AND TAGS, SCARLET TUFTS AND BORDERS — WAR CLOAKS OF THE CHIEFS — THE DOGS’- HAIR MAT — THE CHIEF PARAtENE IN HIS CLOAK — MODE OF MAKING THE WAR CLOAKS — BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE CHIEF — AMUSING INSTANCE OF VANITY IN A CHIEF — SUBSTITUTION OF THE BLANKET AND ITS ATTENDANT EVILS — ORNAMENTS Of’ THE NEW ZEALANDER’S HEAD — FEATHERS, AND FEATHER BOXES — VARIOUS DECORATIONS OF GREEN JADE — TIKIS AND EAR- RINGS — A REMARKABLE AMULET — THE SHARK’S TOOTH — MODES OF DRESSING THE HAIR — HAIR-CUTTING AND SHAVING — A PRIMITIVE RAZOR. We now come to the costume of the New Zealanders. This is of a rather remarkable character, and may he characterized by the generic title of mat, with the exception of the belt which has just been described. The costume of the New Zealander consists of a square or oblong mat, varying considerably in size, though always made on the same principle. In this mat the natives envelop themselves after a very curious fashion, generally muffling themselves up to the neck, and often throwing the folds round them after the fashion of a conventional stage villain. These mats are of various textures, and differ as much in excellence and value as do the fabrics of more civilized lands. The material is, however, the same in all cases, and even the mode of wearing the garment, the value being estimated by the fineness of the material, the amount of labor bestowed upon it, and the ornaments introduced into it. The material of which the mats are made is the so-called New Zealand “ flax,” scien- tifically known by the name of Phormium tenax. It belongs to the natural family of the Liliaceae and the tribe Asparagaceee. The plant has a number of showy yellow flowers arranged on a tall branch-panicle, and a number of straightish leaves, all start- ing from the root, and being five or six feet long, and not more than two inches wide at the broadest part. The fibres which run along these leaves are very strong and fine, and, when properly dressed and combed, have a beautiful silky look about them. At one time great quan- tities of New Zealand flax, as it was called, were imported into Europe, and the plant was cultivated in some of the southern parts of the Continent. Strong, however, as it may be, it has the curious fault of snapping easily when tied in a knot, and on this account is not valued so much in Europe as in its own country. I have before me a large roll of string made by natives from the phormium. It is very strong in propor- tion to its thickness, and much of it has been used in suspending various curiosities in my collection; but it cannot endure being made into a knot. It is useful enough in hitches, especially the “ clove-hitch ; ” but as soon as it is tied into a knot, it will hardly bear the least strain. The principle on which the mats are made is very simple. A weaving frame is erected on sticks a foot or so from the ground, and upon it is arranged the weft, made of strings or yarns, placed as closely together as possible, and drawn quite tight The weft is double, and is passed under and over each yarn, and the upper one is always passed between the ends of the under weft before it is drawn tight. The mat is there- fore nothing more 'than a number of parallel strings laid side by side, and connected, at intervals of an inch or so, by others that pass across them. More care is taken of the edges, which are turned over, and the yarns are so interwoven as to make a thick and strong border. When the wefts are hauled tight, they are beaten into their place by means of a bone 808 KEW ZEALAND. instrument, very much like a paper knife in shape; and in every respect the weaving of a New Zealander most strongly reminds the spectator of the process of making the Gobe- lin tapestries. In both cases there is a fixed warp on which the weft is laboriously woven by hand, and is kept straight and regular by being struck with an instrument that passes between the threads of the warp. Although at the present day the warp of the Gobelin tapestry is stretched perpendicularly, in former times it was stretched longitudinally in a low frame, exactly similar in principle to that which is employed by the New Zea- lander. The reader will perceive that the process of weaving one of these rfiats must be a work of considerable time, and an industri- ous woman can scarcely complete even a common mat under eighteen months, while one of the more elaborate robes will occupy twice that time. The illustration No. 1 on the next page, is drav/n from a sketch of a house belonging to one of the great chiefs, and in it are seen some wnmen busily employed in making mats. One of them is scraping the leaves with a shell or stone, wiiile another is engaged at the primitive loom. The mat is represented as nearly completed, and the woman is seen with the four ends of the double w^eft in her hand, passing them across each other before she draws them tight. A heap of dressed leaves of the piiormium is seen in the background, and a bundle of the long swordlike leaves is strewn on the lloor. Various baskets and other implements, made of the same mate- rial, are liung from the rafters; and in front is one of the curiously carved poles which support the roof. It has been mentioned that there is but one principle on wiiicli all the mats are made, but that there is a very great variety in making them. There is, for example, the rain mat, wiiich is used in wet weather. As the structure proceeds, the manufacturer inserts into each knot of the weft an un- dressed blade of* the phormium upon wdiich the epidermis has been allowed to remain. When wrnpped round the body, the leaves all fall over each other, so as to make a sort of ]ienthouse, and to allow' the rain to run over their smooth and polished surfaces until it falls to the ground. When rain comes on, and a number of natives are seen squatting on tlie ground, each wearing his rain mat, they have a most absurd appearance, and look like a number of human beings who had hidden themselves in haycocks. On page 803 may be seen the figure of a chief wearing one of these dresses. The name of the mat is E mangaika. I have seen another kind of mat, wLich is made in a kind of open-work pattern, pro- duced by crossing every fifth strand of the I warp. This mat is of the very best quality, and, considering the nature of the material of which it is made, is wonderfully light, soft, and pliant. Another kind is the woman’s mat, of wLich there are several varieties. It is of larger size than that employed by the men, and is capable of enveloping the entire figure from head to foot. It is of ratlu^r lighter material than the rain mat, and is decorated on the exterior with a number of strings, varying in length from a few^ inches to three feet or so. A variety of this mat is distinguished by having the strings wdiite instead of black. Specimens of both these mats are in my collection, and the gen- eral efiect of them can be seen by reference to any of the illustrations which represent the native women. Strings or tags are undoubtedly the most characteristic portion of the dress, and there is scarcely a mat of any description that is not ornamented wdth them. One variety of mat, which is called E w'akaiwa, is covered with long cylindrical ornaments that look very much as if they w'cre made of porcu- pine quills, being hard, and colored alter- nately black and 3 'ellow. The ornaments are, however, made of the phormium leaf in a very ingenious manner. The epidermis is carefully scraped off the under side of the leaf with a sharp-edged shell, and the leaf is then turned over. On the upper side the epidermis is removed at regular intervals, so as to expose the fibres. The next process is to put the scraped leaf into a dye made of a decoction of kinan bark, and to let it remain for a definite time. When it is taken o'ut, the dye has stained the exposed fibres a deep glossy' black, while it has not been able to touch the polished yellow epidermis that is allow'ed to remain. The dyed leaves are next rolled up until they form cjdinders as large as goose quills, and are thenw'oven in regular row's into the material of a mat. As the w^earer moves about, the cylinders rustle and clatter against each other, producing a sound which seems to be peculiarly grateful to the ears of the natives. Such a mat or cloak is highly prized. Several of these mats are in my col- lection, and verj' curious examples of native art they are. ^ One of these has cost the w^eaver an infin- ity of trouble. It is nearly five feet w'ide and three in depth. The w^arp has been dyed black, wdiile the weft is white; and the effect of the w^eft passing in reverse lines across the W’-arp is very good. Every other line of weft is decorated wntii the cylindri- cal tassels each of Avhich is nine inches in length, and is divided into four parts b}' the removal of the epidermis. These tassels begin at the fourth line of warp, and are regularl}" continued to the lower edge, wiience they hang so as to form a fringe. On account of their number, they w^ould (1.) WOMEN MAKING MATS. (See pag-e 808.) (2.) THE TANGI. (See page 824.) ( 809 ) THE WAR CLOAK. 811 qualify the garment as a rain mat on an emergency; and the rattling they make as the mat is moved is very much like that which is produced by a peacock when it rus- tles its train. Along the upper edge, which passes over the shoulders, the strings have been rolled together into ropes as thick as the finger, and then plaited so as to form a thick and soft border which will not hurt the neck. The portion of the mat which comes between the edge and the first row of tassels is orna- mented with scraps of scarlet wool plaited into the weft. This wool is a favorite though costly ornament to the natives, being pro- cured from seamen’s woollen caps, which they unpick, and the yarns used to ornament the dress. One of these mantles brought from Kew Zealand by Stiverd Yores, Esq., is adorned very largely with scarlet wool. It is com- pletely bordered with the precious material, a narrow line of scarlet running under the upper edge, a broader under the lower, while the two sides are decorated with a band nearly four inches in width. In this case the wool has been arranged in a series of loops ; but in another specimen the loops are cut so as to form a fringe. In this latter mantle the tags, instead of being cylindrical and alternately black and ellow, are entirely black, each rolled leaf eing wholly divested of its epidermis, and the fibres radiating from each other in tas- sel fashion. I rather think that the object of this mode of treatment is to prevent the eye from being distracted by the jangling yellow tags, and so to permit the scarlet bor- der to exhibit its beauties to the best ad- vantage. Scarlet worsted is, of course, a compara- tively late invention, and has only been introduced since the visits of Europeans. In former days the natives were equally fond of ornamenting their cloaks, and were obliged to use the plumage of birds for the purpose. The feathers taken from the breast of the kaka (a species of nestor) were mostly used for this purpose. Although the colored ornaments are generally disposed in lines, they are sometimes arranged in tufts, which are disposed in regular intervals over the whole of the dress. Examples of this kind of decoration may be seen in several of the costumes which are drawn in this work. The yarns or strings of which the warp is made are not twisted or plaited, but consist merely of the phormium fibres as they lie in the leaf. The leaves are prepared for this purpose by scraping off the epidermis on both sides, and then beating them on a flat stone with a pestle made of the hard volcanic stone employed in the manufacture of adzes and other tools. The most valuable of all the dresses are the war cloaks of the great chiefs. They are very large, being sometimes nearly six feet in depth, and wide enough to be wrapped over the entire body and limbs. Their na- tive name is Parawai. Before making one of these great war mats, the weaver collects a large quantity of dog’s hair, which she assorts into parcels of different colors. She then sets up her sim- ple loom, and fixes the warp as usual. 13ut with every knot or mesh which she makes with the weft she introduces a tuft of hair, taking care to make each tuft long enough to overlap and conceal the insertion of the tufts in the next row. She is also careful about the regular arrangement of the hues, so that when a complete mat is made by a skilful weaver, it looks exactly as if it was composed of the skin of some large animal, the vegetable fibres which form the fabric itself being entirely concealed by the tufts of hair. One of these mats is the result of some four years’ constant labor, aiAl causes some surprise that a people so naturally indolent as the Maories should prove themselves capa- ble of such long and steady industry. But the fact is, the mat maker is a wmman and not a man, and in consequence is obliged to work, whether she likes it or not. In the next place, mat weaving scarcely comes under the denomination of labor. The woman is not tied to time, nor even bound to produce a given number of mats within a given period. Her living, too, does not depend upon the rate of her work, and whether she takes eighteen months or two years to produce a garment is a matter of total indifference to all parties. Besides, she never works alone, but is always accompa- nied by friends, one of whom, perhaps, may be occupied in a similar manner, another may be employed in scraping the phormium leaves, and another is engaged in pounding and softening the fibres, or drying those that have just been dyed black. But, whatever their hands may be doing, the weavers’ tongues are never still. A continual stream of talk flows round the looms, and the duty of mat making is thus changed into an agreeable mode of enjoy- ing the pleasures of conversation while the hands are employed in a light and easy labor. Very great ingenuity is displayed by the woman to whom is entrusted the onerous task of making a war mat. Ko two are alike, the weaver exercising her discretion respecting the colors and their arrangement. Some of them are made on the same princi- ple as the Bechuana kaross, — namely, dark- est in the centre, and fading into the lightest hues round the edges. Others are white or pale in the middle, and edged with a broad band of black or dark brown hair. Some- times the colors are arranged in a zigzag pattern, and several mats are striped like tiger skins. They always have a sort of 812 KEW ZEALAND. collar, composed of strips of fur, which hang about six inches over the shoulders. In New Zealand there are one or two dresses which are made almost entirely of fur, the skins being dressed with the hair adhering to them, and then sewed together. A very remarkable mat is possessed by a powerful chief named Paratene Maioha. It is made of strips of dogs’ fur sewed over a large flaxen mat. Of this garment he is very proud, and reserves it to be worn on grand occasions. A portrait of this cele- brated chief is given in the illustration No. 1, on the 820th page, partly to show the aspect of a Maori chief in time of peace, and partly to give the reader an idea of the peculiar look of the war cloak. There is also before me a photographic portrait of Paratene, authenticated by his autograph, in which he is represented as clad in a different manner. He wears two mats or cloaks, the lower being of the finest flax, and called by the natives kaitaka. A description of this kind of cloak will be pre- sently given. Over the kaitaka he wears a very remarkable war cloak, which is made of dogs’ fur sewed upon a flax mat. It reaches a little below the knees, and is made in perpendicular stripes alternately dark and pale, and is furnished with a thick collar or cape of the same material. This cape, by the way, bears a curious resemblance to the ornament which is worn by the Abyssinian chiefs. Unfortunately for the general effect of the picture, Paratene has combed, divided, and brushed his hair in European fashion; and muffled up as he is to the chin, it is too evi- dent that he is wearing a complete European suit under his mats. The cape has fallen off a little on the right side, and we have the absurd anomaly of a face profusely tattooed surmounted with hair that has just been brushed and combed, a dog-skin war mat, from which protrudes a bare right arm, a jade earring six inches long, and a black cravat and turn-down collar. In his right hand he grasps his cherished merai; his staff of office, or E’hani, rests against his shoulder; and by his side is his long battle- axe, adorned with a tuft of feathers and dog- skin. This same Paratene is a man of great mark among the Maories. As is the case with natives of rank W'ho have associated with Europeans, he is known by several names. The following account of him is given by Mr. G. F. Angas : “ Paratene (Broughton), whose native name was Te Maihoa, is a cousin of Te Whero-whero, and one of the leading men of the Ngatimahuta branch of the W aikato tribes. He generally resides in a village (or kainga) on the northern bank of the picturesque little harbor of Waingaroa, on the west coast of the Northern Island; and the correctness of his general conduct, and the gravity of his demeanor, have obtained for him a marked ascendancy over many of his equals in rank. “ Eccentricity is the principal feature in the character of this chief; and the scrupu- lous attention which he invariably pays to those trifling circumstances which constitute his notions of etiquette often renders his conduct highly curious. He has gained, by unwearied application, a smattering of arith- metic, and one of his most self-satisfactory exploits is the correct solution of some such important problem as the value of a pig of a certain weight, at a given price per pound, making the usual deduction for the offal. His erudite quality and the dignified gravity of his carriage have commanded the defer- ential respect of his people, and encouraged them to consider him quite an oracle. “ One little incident will place the harm- less foible of this chiei’s character in a strik- ing light. When the author was about to employ his pencil in the delineation of his figure, Paratene desired to be excused for a few moments. Having gained his point, he sought an interview with Mrs. W’^ells, the missionary’s wife (under whose hospitable roof his portrait was taken), and, preferring his request with some solemn intimations of its paramount importance, begged ‘Mother’ to lend him a looking-glass, that he might compose his features in a manner suitable to his own idea of propriety ere he took his stand before the easel of the artist.” It may be observed, by the way, that “ Mother ” is the term always employed by the natives when addressing the wife of a missionary. The autograph of Paratene, to which allusion has already been made, is written with pencil, and is perfectly intel- ligible, though the characters are shaky, large, and sprawling, and look as if they had been made by fingers more accustomed to handle the club than the pencil. The last kind of mat which will be men- tioned is the kaitaka. This garment is made of a peculiar kind of flax, cultivated for the express purpose, and furnishing a fibre which is soft and fine as silk. The whole of the mat is plain, except the border, which is in some cases two feet in depth, and which is most elaborately woven into a vandyked pattern of black, red, and white. At the present day a good kaitaka is scarcely any- where to be seen, the skill required in mak- ing them being so great that only a few weavers can produce them, and European blankets being so easily procured that the natives will not take the trouble of weav- ing garments that take so much time and trouble. Handsome as are these native garments, they are not very pleasant to wear. As the threads are only laid parallel to each other, and are not crossed, as in fabrics W'oven in the loom, they form scarcely any protection "against the wind, although they may serve to keep out the rain. The mats are very OKX AMENTS. 813 heavy, my own small specimen of the waikawa cloak weighing live pounds and a half, and so stiff that they cannot be con- veniently rolled up and packed away when out of use. An English blanket, on the contrary, is close-textured, resists the wind, is very light, and can be rolled up into a small compass; so that it is no wonder that the natives prefer it. Unfortunately for them, it is not nearly so healthy a garment as that which is made by themselves, as it is worn for a long time without being washed, and so becomes satu- rated with the grease and paint with which the natives are fond of adorning their bodies. In consequence, it fosters several diseases of the skin to which the Maories are subject, and it has been found that those who wep blankets are much more subject to such ail- ments than those who adhere to the native raiment. In some parts of the country, where the ground is hard and stony, the natives plait for themselves sandals or slippers, which very much resemble those which are used by the Japanese. They consist of the ever-use- ful phormium fibres, which are twisted into cords, and then plaited firmly into the shape of a shoe sole. We now proceed from the dress to the ornaments worn by the New Zealanders. In some respects they resemble those which are in use among other dark tribes. Feathers are much valued by them, and among the commonest of these adornments is a bunch of white feathers taken from the pelican, and fastened to the ears so as to fall on the shoulder. An example of this may be seen in the portrait of the old warrior on page 794. Sometimes the skin of a small bird is rudely stuffed, and then suspended as an earring, and sometimes one wing will be placed at each side of the head, the tips nearly meeting above. The most prized of these adornments are the tail feathers of the bird called by the natives E Elia, or E Huia {Neomorplia Goul- dii). It is allied to the hoopoos, and is ro^ markable for the fact that the beak of the male is straight and stout, while that of the female is long, slender, and sickle-shaped. The color of the bird is a dark glossy green of so deep a hue that in some lights it seems to be black. The tail feathers, however, are tipped with snowy white, so that when the bird spreads its plumage for flight, the tail looks at a little distance as if it were black, edged with white. The bird is only found in the hills near Port Nicholson, and, as it is very wary, can scarcely be obtained except by the help of a native, who imitates its cry with wonderful perfection. The name E Elia is said to be merely an imitation of the long shrill whistle of the bird. The birds are so valued by the Maories that in all probability the species 40 would have been extinct by this time, but for the introduction of European customs, which to a certain degree have driven out the ancient customs. The feathers of the tail are the parts of the bird that are most valued by the chiefs, who place them in their hair on great occasions. So much do they prize these feathers, that they take the trouble to make boxes in which they are kept with the greatest care. These boxes are made by the chiefs themselves, and are covered with the most elal)orate carvings, some of them being the finest spec- imens of art that can be found in New Zea- land. They are of various shapes, but a very good idea of their usual form may be obtained from the illustration No. 3, on page 775. The usual forms are similar to that of the illus- tration, but in some cases the boxes are oblong. There is now before me a drawing of one of these boxes, which is covered with an equally elaborate pattern, in which the lines are mostly straight instead of curved, the pattern being of a vandyked character, similar to that upon the kaitaka cloak. There is a projecting handle upon the lid, and an almost similar handle upon each end. The natives do not, however, confine them- selves to wearing the tail feathers, but, when they can obtain so valuable a bird, are sure to use every portion of it. The head seems to be thought of next importance to the tail, and is suspended to the ear by a thong. Perhaps the most characteristic ornaments that are worn by the New Zealanders are those which are made of green jade. This mineral, called by the natives Poonamu, is mostly found near the lakes in the Middle Island, and is valued by them with almost a superstitious reverence. If a very large piece be found, it is taken by some chief, who sets to work to make a club from it. This club, called a merai, will be described when we come to treat of war as conducted by the Maories. In the illustration No. 1, on page 841, are represented some of the most characteristic jade ornaments. Fig. 1 is a flat image bearing the rude sem- blance of a human being, and made of various sizes. That which is here given is rather smaller than the usual dimensions. It is called by the natives Tiki, and is at the same time one of the commonest and the highest prized articles among the New Zealanders. A new one can be purchased for a sum which, though it would be considered absurdly high in England for such an object, is in New Zealand really a low price, and scarcely repays the trouble of carving it. Jade is an extremely hard mineral, rank- ing next to the ruby in that respect, and, in consequence of its extreme hardness, taking a peculiar glossy polish that is seen on no other substance. The time which is oc- cupied in carving one of these ornaments is necessarily very great, as the native does 814 NEW ZEALAND. not possess the mechanical means which render its manipulation a comparatively easy task to the European engraver, and can only shape his ornaments by laboriously rubbing one piece of stone upon another. That ornaments made of such a material should be highly prized is not a matter of surprise, and it is found that a wealthy chief will give an extraordinarily high price for a handsome jade ornament. There is in my collection a very ancient Buddhist amulet, made of the purest green jade, and beauti- fully carved, the remarkable portion of it being a revolving Avheel with spiral spokes, the wheel being cut out of the solid jade. The amulet was found in the apartments of the Queen of Oude, and had evidently been imported from China, where it was en- graved, the whole character of the work belonging to a very ancient epoch of Chi- nese art. It was shown to a Maori chief, who was then visiting England, and who was intensely pleased with it, saying that, if it were sent to New Zealand and offered for sale to one of the great chiefs, it would be purchased for £20 or <£25 of English money. It has been just mentioned that, in spite of the labor bestowed on the ornament, a new tiki can be purchased for a moderate sum. Such, however, wouM not be the case were the tiki an old one. These ornaments are handed down from father to son, and in process of time are looked upon with the greatest reverence, and treated as heirlooms which no money can buy. One of these tikis was seen by Mr. Angas lying on the tomb of a child, where it had been placed as an offering by the parents. It had lain there for a long time; but, in spite of the value of the ornament, no one had ventured to touch it. It was a very small one, even less in size than the draw- ing in the illustration, and had in all proba- bility been worn by the child on whose tomb it lay. Most of these tikis are plain, but some of them have their beauty increased by two patches of scarlet cement with which the sockets of the eyes are filled. The tikis are worn on the breast, sus- pended by a cord round the neck; and almost every person of rank, whether man or woman, possesses one. They are popu- larly supposed to be idols, and are labelled as such in many museums; but there is not the least reason for believing them to fulfil any office except that of personal decora- tion. The Maories are fond of carving the human figure upon everything that can be carved. Their houses are covered with hu- man figures, their canoes are decorated with grotesque human faces, and there is not an im- plement or utensil which will not have upon it some conventional representation of the human form. It is therefore not remarkable that when a New Zealander finds a piece of jade which is too small to be converted into a weapon, and too flat to be carved into one of the cylindrical earrings which are so much valued, he should trace upon it the same figure as that which surrounds him on every side. The most common forms of earring are those which are shown at figs. 4 and 5, the latter being most usually seen. It is so strangely shaped that no one who did not know its use would be likely to imagine that it was ever intended to be worn in the ear. Two rather remarkable earrings are worn in New Zealand as marks of rank; one being a natural object, and the other an imitation of it. This earring is called mako tamina, and is nothing but a tooth of the tiger shark. Simple though it be, it is greatly prized, as being a mark of high rank, and is valued as much as a plain red button by a Chinese mandarin, or, to come nearer home, the privilege of wearing a piece of blue ribbon among ourselves. Still more prized than the tooth itself is an imitation of it in pellucid jade. The native carver contrives to imitate his model wonderfully well, giving the peculiar curves of a shark’s tooth with singular exactness. Such an ornament as this is exceedingly scarce, and is only to be seen in the ears of the very greatest chiefs. Anything seems to serve as an earring, and it is not uncom- mon to see natives of either sex wearing in their ears a brass button, a key, a button- hook, or even a pipe. There is very little variety in the mode of dressing the hair, especially among women. Men generally keep it rather short, having it cut at regular intervals, while some of the elders adhere to the ancient custom of wear- ing it long, turning it up in a bunch on the top of the head, and fastening it with combs. These are formed after a fashion common to all Polynesia, and extending even to W estern Africa. The teeth are not cut out of a single piece of wood, but each is made separately, and fastened to its neighbor by a strong cross-lashing. The teeth, although slight, are strong and elastic, and are well capable of enduring the rather rough hand- ling to which they are subjected. Children of both sexes always wear the hair short like the men; but as the girls grow up, they allow the hair to grow, and permit it to flow over their shoulders on either side of the face. They do not part it, but bring it down over the forehead, and cut it in a straight line just above the eye- brows. When they marry, they allow the whole of the hair to grow, and part it in the middle. They do not plait or otherwise dress it, but merel}'^ allow it to hang loosely in its natural curls. Hair-cutting is with the New Zealanders a long and tedious operation, and is con- ducted after the fashion which prevails in so many parts of the world. Not knowing the A PEIMITIYE KAZOR. 815 use of scissors, and being incapable of pro- ducing any cutting instrument with an edge keen enough to shave, they use a couple of shells for the operation, placing the edge of one under the hair that is to be cut, and scraping it with the edge of the other. Although this plan is necessarily a very slow one, it is much more efficacious than might be imagined, and is able not only to cut the hair of the head, but to shave the stiff beards of the men. In performing the latter operation, the barber lays the edge of the lower shell upon the skin, and presses it well downward, so as to enable the upper shell to scrape off the hair close to the skin. Beard-shaving is necessarily a longer pro- cess than hair-cutting, because it is not possible to cut more than one or two hairs at a time, and each of them takes some little time in being rubbed asunder between the edges of the shells. CHAPTEE LXXXI. NEW ZEALAND— Contact. DOMESTIC LIFE. CEREMONIES ATTENDANT ON BIRTH — PREVALENCE AND CAUSES OF INFANTICIDE — A CURIOUS IN- STANCE OF SUPERSTITION — NAMES AND THEIR SIGNIFICATION — THE CEREMONY OF SPRINKLING — THE RECITATIONS — CHANGES OF NAME — MARRIAGE — COURTSHIP AND WIFE-SNATCHING — AMUSEMENTS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS — THE SWING, OR GIANT STRIDE — DRAUGHTS AND OTHER SEDENTARY GAMES — CHILDREN’S StORTS — TOP-SPINNING, KITE-FLYING — AND CAT’S- CRADLE — SWIMMING AND DIVING — CURIOUS PETS: DOGS, PIGS, AND PARROTS — BALL-PLAYING — MUSIC and singing — CHARACTER OF THE SONGS — MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS — THE FIFE, THE WAR TRUMPET, AND THE WAR BELL — CURIOUS MODE OF SALUTATION — THE “tANGI,” AND ITS LUDICROUS APPEARANCE — ITS WEARISOME EFFECT ON A FOREIGNER — UNCERTAIN TEMPER OF THE MAORIES — STRENGTH OF MEMORY, AND CURIOSITY, We will now examine the domestic life of the New Zealander, and begin at the begin- ning, i. e. with his birth. As is mostly the case in those nations which do not lead the artificial life of civili- zation, there is very little trouble or cere- mony about the introduction of a new mem- ber of society. The mother does not trouble herself about medical attendants or nurses, but simply goes off into some retired place near a stream, and seldom takes with her even a companion of her own sex. When the baby is born, the mother bathes her child and then herself in the stream, ties the infant on her back, and in a short time resumes the business in which slie was engaged. Until the child is named the mother is sacred, or “tapu,” and may not be touched by any one. The New Zealand women are too often guilty of the crime of infanticide, as indeed might be imagined to be the case in a land where human life is held at so cheap a rate. Various causes combine to produce this result. If, for example, the child is de- formed or seems sickly, it is sacrificed as an act of mercy toward itself, the Maories thinking that it is. better for the scarcely conscious child to be destroyed at once than to die slowly under disease, or to live a despised life as a cripple. Kevenge, the leading characteristic of the Maori mind, has caused the death of many an infant, the mother being jealous of her husband, or being separated from him longer than she thinks to be necessary. Even a sudden quarrel will sometimes cause the woman, maddened by anger, to destroy her child in the hope of avenging herself upon her husband. Slave women often syste- matically destroy their children, from a desire to save them from the life of servi- tude to which they are born. In many cases the life of the child is sacrificed through superstitious terror. A very curious example of such a case is given by Dr. Diefienbach. A recently mar- ried wife of a j'oung chief was sitting near a pah or village, on the fence of which an old priestess had hung her blanket. As is gen- erally the case with New Zealand garments, the blanket was infested with vermin. The young woman saw one of these loathsome insects crawling on the blanket, caught it, and, according to the custom of the country, ate it. The old woman to whom the gar- ment belonged flew into a violent passion, poured a volley of curses on the girl for meddling with the sacred garment of a priestess, and finished by prophesying that the delinquent would kill and eat the child which she was expecting. The spirit of revenge was strong in the old hag, who renewed her imprecations whenever she met the young woman, and ^ succeeded in terrifying her to such a degree that she was alniost driven mad. Immedi- ■ ately after the child was born the old woman ; found out her victim, and renewed her threats, until the young mother’s mind was ' so completely unhinged, that she hastily dug a hole, threw her child into it, and buried it alive. She was, however, filled with remorse for the crime that she had THE CEREMONY OF SPRINKLING. 817 committed; and before very long both she and her husband had emancipated them- selves from their superstitious thraldom, and had become converts to Christianity. It is seldom, however, that a mother kills her child after it has lived a day; and, as a general rule, if an infant survives its birth but for a few hours, its life may be consid- ered as _safe from violence. Both parents seem equally fond of infants, the father nursing them quite as tenderly as the mother, lulling it to sleep by simple songs, and wrapping its little naked body in the folds of his mat. Soon after its birth the child is named, either by its parents or other relatives, the name always having some definite significa- tion, and mostly alluding to some supposed quality, or to some accidental circumstance which may have happened at the time of birth. Much ingenuity is shown in the invention of these names, and it is very seldom found that the son is named after his father or other relative. All the names are harmonious in sound, and end with a vowel; and even in the European names that are given by the missionaries at bap- tism the terminal syllable is always changed into a vowel, in order to suit the native ideas of euphony. When the child is about two or three months old, a ceremony is performed which is remarkable for its resemblance to Chris- tian baptism. The origin of the ceremony is not known, and even the signification of the words which are employed is very ob- scure. Very few persons are present at the ceremony, which is carried on with much mystery, and is performed by the priest. The three principal parts of the rite are that the child should be laid on a mat, that it should be sprinkled with water by the priest, and that certain words should be used. As far as has been ascertained, the mode of conducting the ceremony is as follows: The women and girls bring the child and lay it on a mat, while the priest stands by with a green branch dipped in a calabash of water. A sort of incantation is then said, after which the priest sprinkles the child with water. The incantation dif- fers according to the sex of the child, but the sense of it is very obscure. Indeed, even the natives cannot explain the mean- ing of the greater part of the incantation: so that in all probability it consists of obso- lete words, the sounds of which have been retained, while their sense has been lost. As far as can be ascertained, the incanta- tion consists of a sort of dialogue between the priest and the women who lay the child on the mat. The following lines are given by pieffenbach, as the translation of the beginning of the incantation said over female children. He does not, however, guarantee its entire accuracy, and remarks that the true sense of several of the words is very doubtful. The translation runs as follows : Girls. “We wish this child to be im- mersed.” — Priest. “ Let it be sprinkled.” Girls. “We wish the child to live to womanhood.” — Priest. “ Dance for Atua.” Girls. “ Me ta nganahau.” (These words are unintelligible.) — Priest. “ It is spnnkled in the waters of Atua.” Girls. “ The mat is spread.” — Priest. “ Dance in a circle.” “ Thread the dance.” The reader must here be told that the word “ Atua ” signifies a god, and that the word which is translated as “ womanhood ” is a term that signifies the tattooing of the lips, which is performed when girls are admitted into the ranks of women. The above sentences form only the commence- ment of the incantation, the remainder of which is wholly unintelligible. When the child is old enough to under- take a journey to the priest’s house, another ceremony takes place, in which the baby name that the parents have given to the infant is exclianged for another. Accord- ing to Mr. Taylor’s interesting account, when the child has arrived at the house of the priest, the latter plants a sapling as a sign of vigorous life, and holds a w^ooden idol to the ear of the child, wdiile he enu- merates a long string of names which had belonged to its ancestors. As soon as the child sneezes, the priest stops, the name which he last uttered being that which is assumed by the child. W e are left to infer that some artificial means must be used to produce sneezing, as otherwise the task of the priest would be rather a tedious one. After the requisite sign has been given, and the child has signified its assent to the name, the priest delivers a metrical address, differing according to the sex. Boys are told to clear the land and be strong to work; to be bold and courageous in battle, and comport themselves like men. Girls are enjoined to “ seek food for themselves with panting of breath,” to weave garments, and to perform the other duties which belong to their sex. Even this second name is not retained through life, but may be changed in after life in consequence of any feat in war, or of any important circumstance. Such names, like the titles of the peerage among ourselves, supersede the original name in such a man- ner that the same person may be known by several totally distinct names at different periods of his life. There seems to be no definite ceremony by which the young New Zealand lad is admitted into the ranks of men. The tat- too is certainly a sign that his manhood is acknowledged; but this is a long process, extending over several years, and cannot be considered as an initiatory rite like those which are performed by the Australians. 818 NEW ZEALAND. When a young man finds himself able to maintain a wife, he thinks about getting married, and sets about it very deliberately. Usually there is a long courtship, and, as a general fact, when a young man fixes his afiections on a girl, he is sure to marry her in the end, however much she or her friends may object to the match. He thinks his honor involved in success, and it is but sel- dom that he fails. Sometimes a girl is sought by two men of tolerably equal pretensions; and when this is the case, they are told by the father to settle the matter by a pulling match. This is a very simple process, each suitor taking oue of the girl’s arms, and trying to drag her away to his own house. This is a very exciting business for the rivals as well as for the friends and spectators, and indeed to every one except the girl herself, who is al- ways much injured by the contest, her arms being sometimes dislocated, and always so much strained as to be useless for some time. In former times the struggle for a wife as- sumed a more formidable aspect, and sev- eral modern travellers have related in- stances where the result has been a tragic one. If a young man has asked for a girl and been refused, his 011I3" plan is to take her by force. For this purpose he assembles his male friends, and makes up his mind to carry the lady ofi' forcibly if he cannot obtain her peacefully. Her friends in the mean- time know well what to expect, and in their turn assemble to protect her. A fierce fight then ensues, clubs, and even more danger- ous weapons being freely used; and in more than one case the intended bride has been killed by one of the losing side. Sometimes, though not very often, a girl is betrothed when she is quite a child. In that case she is as strictly sacred as if she were actually a married woman, and the extreme laxity of morals which has been mentioned cannot be imputed to such betrothed maidens. Should one of them err, she is liable to the same penalties as if she were actually mar- ried. The New Zealanders seldom have more than one wife. Examples are known where a chief has possessed two and even more wives; but, as a general rule, a man has but one wife. Among the Maories the wife has very much more acknowledged influence than is usually the case among uncivilized people, and the wife always expects to be consulted by her husband in every impor- tant undertaking. Marriage usually takes place about the age of seventeen or eighteen, sometimes at an earlier age in the case of the woman and a later in the case of the man. As to the amusements of the New Zea- landers, they are tolerably varied, and are far superior to the mere succession of sing- ing and dancing, in which are summed up the amusements of many uncivilized races. Songs and dances form part of the amuse- ments of this people, but only a part, and they are suplemented by many others. One of the most curious was seen by Mr. Angas in the interior of the country, but never on the coasts. A tall and stout pole, generally the trunk of a pine, is firmly set in the ground on the top of a steep bank, and from the upper part of the pole are sus- pended a number of ropes made of phor- mium fibre. The game consists in seizing one of the ropes, running down the bank, and swinging as far as possible into the air. Sometimes they even run round and round the pole as if they were exercising on the giant stride; but as they have not learned to make a revolving top to the pole or swivels for the ropes, they cannot keep up this amusement for any long time. They have a game which is very similar to our draughts, and is played on a check- ered board with pebbles or similar objects as men. Indeed, the game bears so close a resemblance to draughts, that it may proba- bly be a mere variation of that game, which some New Zealander has learned from an European, and imported into his country. There is also a game which much re- sembles the almost universal “ inorro,” and which consists in opening and closing the hand and bending the elbow, performing both actions very sharply, and accompany- ing them with a sort of doggrel recitation, rvliich has to be said in one breath. The children have man}^ games which are very similar to those in use among our- selves. They spin to]:s, for example, and lly kites, the latter toy being cleverly made of the flat leaves of a kind of sedge. It is triangular in form, and the cord is made of the universal flax fibre. Kite-flying is alwaj^s accompanied by a song; and when the kites are seen flying near a village, they are a sign that the village is at peace, and may be approached with safety. Perhaps the chief amusement of the chil- dren is the game called Maui, which is in fact a sort of “ cat’s-cradle.” The Maori children, however, are wonderful proficients at the game, and would look with contempt on the few and simple forms which English children produce. Instead of limiting them- selves to the “ cradle,” the “ pound of can- dles,” the “ net,” and the “ purse,” the New Zealander produces figures of houses, canoes, men and women, and various other patterns. They say that this game was left to them as an inheritance by Maui, the Adam of New Zealand, and it appears to be intimately connected with their early traditions. The elder children amuse themselves with spear-throwing, making their mimic w^eapons of fern-stems bound at the end. These they throw with great dexterity, and emulate each other in aiming at a small target. Swimming is one of the favorite amuse' ,■ ' / '' ■ ■ ■' / . ( 820 ) AMUSEMENTS. 821 mcnts of the New Zealanders, who can swim almost as soon as they can walk, and never have an idea that the water is an unfriendly element. Both sexes swim alike well, and in the same manner, L e. after the fashion which we call swimming like a dog,” pad- dling the water with each arm alternately. Being constantly in the water, they can keep up the exertion for a long time, and in their bathing parties sport about as if they were amphibious beings. They dive as well as they swim, and the women spend much of their time in diving for crayfish. Ill those parts of the country where hot springs are found the natives are fond of bath- ing in the heated water. Mr. Angas makes the following observations on this custom : — “ Upon the beach of the lake, near Te Rapa, there is a charming natural hot bath, in which the natives, especially the young folks, luxuriate daily. Sunset is the favorite time for bathing, and I have frequently seen of an evening at least twenty persons squat- ting together in the water, with only their heads above the surface. “ Boiling springs burst out of the ground, close to a large circular basin in the volcanic rock, which, by the assistance of a little art, had been rendered a capacious bath. The boiling stream is conducted into this reser- voir gradually, and the temperature of the water is kept up or decreased by stopping out the boiling stream with stones, through which it trickles slowly, whilst the main body runs steaming into the lake. “The medicinal properties of these hot mineral springs preserve the natives in a healthy state, and render their skins beauti- fully smooth and clear. Indeed, some of the finest people in the island are to be observed about Taupo, and the beauty and symmetry of the limbs of many of the youtli would render them admirable studies for the sculp- tor.” Perhaps the oddest amusement with which the New Zealanders have ever recreated themselves is one that only occurred some sixty years ago, and is not likely to be re- produced. About that date Captain King took away two New Zealanders to Norfolk Island for the purpose of teaching the set- tlers the art of flax-dressing. When he came back to restore them to their homes, he planted a quantity of maize, which was then new in the country, and presented the natives with three pigs. Most of them had never seen any animal larger than a cat, and the others, who had a vague recollection of seeing horses on board Captain Cook’s ves- sel, naturally mistook them for those animals. Thinking them to be horses, they treated them as horses, and speedily rode two of them to death. The third did not come to a better end, for it strayed into a burial-ground, and was killed by the indignant natives. Nowadays the Maories understand pigs far too well to ride them. Pigs have be- come quite an institution in New Zealand. Every village is plentifully populated with pigs, and, as may be seen in the illustration of a village which will be given on a future page, one of the commonest objects is a sow with a litter of pigs. Little pigs may be seen tottering about the houses, and the natives, e^^cially the women, pet pigs exactly as women pet dogs and cats. Tliey c?/vry their arms, fondle and pet th.fm; and not^i!^» more common than to see a youmr fold her mantle and discover a pj^ under its folds. Such a girl, brexaii] ^^ the one who is represented i* the 'ij! tion No. 2, on the preceding pi;-g be very likely indeed to have a pig .^'mer arms under the shelter of her mantle.*"^ The figure in question is tBe portrait of the daughter of a chief. Her name is Tienga, and she is the daughter 3f a very powerful and celebrated chief. H^r costume is, like her character, an odd mixture of civ- ilization and nature. Her mantl^, is the native flax mat, under which she may prob- ably wear a muslin, or even silken, garment, articles of dress of which the young la