Transcriber’s Note
In the following transcription, italic text is denoted by
_underscores_. Small capitals in the original text have been
transcribed as ALL CAPITALS.
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————————————— Start of Book —————————————
[Illustration:
THE ABORIGINES
OF
AUSTRALIA
BY
RICHARD SADLEIR, R.N., J.P.
]
THE ABORIGINES
OF
AUSTRALIA.
BY
RICHARD SADLEIR, R.N., J.P.
SYDNEY: THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.
1883.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
Origin—Language—Marriage formalities—Infanticide—Relationships
—Population—Spitting Tribe—Encounter Tribe—Tribal divisions
—Intelligence—Laws—Customs—Ceremony of Depilation—Funeral
customs 7
CHAPTER II.
Religion—Massacre of the crew of the “Maria”—Traditions—Cave
Figures—Superstitions—Sorcery—Diseases—Poison revenge
—Native songs—Wit and humour—Fidelity—Amusements—Corroborees
—Weapons—Manufactures—The Bogan Tribes—Native Fruits—Dwellings 14
CHAPTER III.
First settlement of the Colony—Claims of the Aborigines—Extracts
from Collins’s works—Bennillong and Cole-be—Dangerous proceedings
of the Aborigines—Frightful massacre by the Blacks—Notes by a
University Man—Mr. Trollope’s remarks—Aboriginal Police—Doom of
the Queensland Savage—Massacre on Liverpool Plains—South
Australian Aboriginals 22
CHAPTER IV.
Efforts made to civilize the Aborigines—Rev. L. E. Threlkeld—Results
of Missions—Government support of Missions—Society for propagating
the Gospel in Foreign Parts—Population in the Port Phillip District
—Examination before the Legislative Council on the Aboriginal
Question—Lieut. Sadleir’s evidence—Rev. L. E. Threlkeld’s evidence
—Captain Grey’s opinion 31
CHAPTER V.
Aborigines of Victoria—Mr. Westgarth’s remarks—Mr. Lloyd’s remarks
—Buckley’s residence among the Aboriginals 42
CHAPTER VI.
Aboriginal Friends’ Association—Mission to Lake Alexandrina
—Rev. Mr. Binney’s remarks—Extract from Mr. Foster—The Bishop of
Adelaide’s visit to the Native Institution—Report of the Committee
of the Legislature—Evidence of the Bishop—The Chief Protector
—The Right Rev. Dr. Hale’s Mission—The Poonindie Mission
—The Queensland Mission—The Maloga and Warangesda Missions
—The Government appointments—The Church of England Board of
Missions—The Queen’s Instructions—The assistance rendered
to the Aborigines by the Government 46
CHAPTER VII.
The last of the Sovereigns of the Sydney tribe, “King Bungaree”
—His son 56
CHAPTER VIII.
The aboriginal Jackey Jackey 63
CHAPTER IX.
Tasmania—The Blacks—Mr. G. A. Robinson—The capture and
transportation of the Aborigines to Flinders Island
—Their gradual decay and extinction—Lalla Rookh,
the last native 65
THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Shortly after my arrival in the Colony in 1826, I was appointed to a
Commission of Inquiry into the state of the Aborigines. Previous to
that, martial law had been proclaimed about Bathurst, where the blacks
had been committing serious aggressions under Monday, their chief.
My journey, extending over 1,600 miles, occupied six months. I lived
partly with these people, so as to ascertain their number, language,
habits, &c., and proposed a scheme of reserves, as in Canada, a border
police, and missionary education, but the cost, £6,000 per annum, was
considered too much, and my suggestion was therefore not acted on.
I was subsequently examined, together with MR. ROBINSON and the REV.
MR. THRELKELD, before the Committee of the Legislative Council, about
1837, from which much information was acquired.
The present work is part of a large manuscript, and I have thought
it a favourable opportunity to publish it, now that fresh interest
is awakened about these people, devoting any profits to the Missions
lately established within New South Wales.
R. S.
CHAPTER I.
Origin—Language—Marriage formalities—Infanticide—Relationships
—Population—Spitting Tribe—Encounter Tribe—Tribal divisions
—Intelligence—Laws—Customs—Ceremony of Depilation—Funeral customs.
The origin of this race is difficult to trace; they seem to have no
traditions, and, although the country abounds in gold, copper, and
iron, they never appear to have reached the metal implement age. Living
principally on the chase, agriculture was not carried on by them, and
their only domestic animal was the dingo. There are no remains of
architecture amongst them; yet the same painted hand as is found in
South America affords some faint trace of their connection with that
country. The language, however, furnishes some clue; the grammatical
structure of all Australian aboriginal dialects is the same. A few
words show a connection with the Aryan rather than the Turanian race,
and are, in fact, allied, both in sound and meaning, to words used by
nations deriving their speech from the Sanscrit.
Many examples may be given of the affinity of the aborigines’ language
and those spoken by the various Aryan nations. Possibly this may have
been caused by the intercourse with Malays, who from time to time
visited the northern coast. The diversity of dialects of the Australian
language is deemed to be proof of their high antiquity as a race, as
it is thought that a great length of time must have elapsed since they
had but one tongue. Their numbers are small in proportion to the extent
of the country, but this may have arisen from the want of food, in
the absence of any cultivation, although in a fine country with few
hardships from climate or other causes.
Some may be descended from the Arabs who spread themselves beyond the
Indian Archipelago. From the mixture of Arab words, and the rites of
circumcision in some tribes, and from the extensive spread of the Arab,
there may be reason to suppose they have a large infusion of that blood.
The people of the adjoining islands resemble closely the aboriginals.
They go naked, have no fixed habitation, use bone and stone implements,
have no knowledge of metals or pottery, and in stature, colour, and
appearance are similar; but they resemble more the Tasmanians, who
are of purer blood. The natives lived under fixed laws, so when the
whites arrived, and those that occupied the shore could not fall
back, as their intrusion would have added to the wants of those
behind them, they were therefore obliged to stand their ground and
take the consequences of meeting a superior race, so that their
skeletons were found in abundance in caves and amidst projecting rocks,
having fallen victims to famine, especially about Sydney, and to the
small-pox.—_Collins._
The Rev. Dr. Lang enters largely into the origin of this people. He
conceives they must have been originally a martial people. One thing is
remarkable, they have no idol worship.
The aborigines afford us some information upon the original condition
of mankind—that they have descended from a higher state of existence,
and not risen from a lower state of barbarism. Their language is one
proof that it is far above, as some assert to be, the original language
of man, that of the imitation merely of the brute creation. It is
remarkable for its complexity of structure and the precision with which
it can be used. It is evidently derived from one root, although there
are different dialects. The term for river is Mawersal; so with eye,
Meyl. It is very euphonious and significant, combining great power with
simplicity. Thus, the term for a cloud is both elegant and expressive,
“Gabley maar,” the well of the sky or the fountain of the firmament.
“Moorang toeen” is to weep, the same import as “gabley maar.” The “ong”
of the Hebrew is of frequent use among these people. They have the dual
number throughout, six cases in each declension of nouns and pronouns,
and verbs with regular roots. They have names for relationship far
more copious than we have in English. If they were only developed from
a lower creation they would never have constructed this language.
They must have descended, and their language is a remnant of their
higher ancestry. Next their customs: these are of a most laborious and
cumbersome character, having many curious rites observed with great
exactness; yet they can give no account of their origin or even of
their uses, so that we may well conclude that they descended to them,
and were not invented by them. Of inventions: the present natives have
no power of invention, and have no idea of numerals; yet we find the
boomerang, and throwing-stick for the spear (woomera), the former on
scientific principles, and other things which must have descended to
them and not been invented by them, denoting a higher ancestry, from
which they still draw much, handed down by use and tradition.
We have in these particulars strong evidence that the savages are upon
the descending scale; while from the remains of animals that once
inhabited the country, we have another evidence that in all these
kingdoms there is a retrogression rather than a progression, except
where man is elevated by copying and improving on the arts of nature
to a certain extent in painting, architecture, statuary, &c., or where
Christianity has elevated the human race. And so it is with these
natives who have embraced Christianity; they build houses and churches,
read, write, and learn agriculture, and thereby rise above the common
degeneration.
In fact, the very ruins of past nations show that mankind has sprung
from an intellectual source and gradually descended, as with all the
Eastern nations, and more so in social proportion as they lost the
knowledge of the true God. The very licentiousness under heathen
dominion, and the very cruelties of heathen rites, the degradation of
the female sex, and constant wars, have all a downward tendency. So
that however high Greece and Rome rose, they had within them the germs
of decay. Hence the value of missions for conveying civilization and
moral exaltation, renewing as it were the life of man upon the earth,
regenerating humanity.
The Bishop of Perth, in his appeal on behalf of the aborigines,
says:—“The darkness of ignorance is dark indeed, but far darker is
their state when to the darkness of ignorance has been added the
degradation of the chequered vices of civilization, the consciousness
of being treated and held as serfs of a race above them, while all
illumination of soul or conscience has been denied them. The primitive
state of these people was far better than their present debauched,
degraded, perishing condition.”
The Bishop says that in the Roebourne District, which has now been for
some years occupied with cattle and sheep for some 300 miles along the
coast, there is a population of nearly 2,000 aborigines. The majority
of them are in the employ of the settlers, either on their stations
or the pearl fisheries, of which the port of Cossack is the centre,
while, in the Gascoyne and newly discovered Kimberley Districts the
natives are very numerous, although mostly in their wild state. They
are, through the Northern Districts, a fine, intelligent, able-bodied
race, and when, as in the Roebourne District, they have been brought
into the employment of the settlers, have proved valuable as shepherds,
shearers, and divers. A solitary lady (the only labourer) it appears
has gathered a few native children about her for instruction.
The Bishop then enters into the question of missions. Says he has £500
in hand, also £500 promised, hopes to obtain collections, and that
the Government has promised every assistance in its power, such as
reserves of land and pecuniary aid. There is therefore some promise of
commencement here.
While they allow polygamy, they do not permit marriages within a
certain descent, and it is a crime worthy of death to marry one of
the wrong sort; the distinction of tribes by name is the distinction
of marriage. Ippai may marry Kapota or any Ippata but his own sister,
Murri may marry Buta only, Kumbo may marry Mata only. An infraction
of these laws is death. Marriage is not conducted, as generally
represented, as a forcible act, at least not in all the tribes. The
female is given in marriage at an early age (ten or twelve years old).
It is a kind of exchange; the man who obtains a wife promises to give
his sister or other relative in exchange; the parties may never have
seen each other.
These marriages are always of different tribes. During the ceremony the
relatives camp apart. A man takes a fire-stick and conducts the bride
into the midst of the parties and gives her away, walking silently away
with downcast looks. As soon as they approach the hut is given up. The
bride and bridegroom are placed near each other, and the relatives take
their places. The party generally fall asleep; at daybreak the bride
leaves the hut for her friends, and in the evening is conducted to her
husband by their female friends; the tribes then separate and return to
their various districts. The man is bound to provide animal food, the
wife vegetables, if she pleases. The husband rubs her over with grease
to improve her appearance. If there are several wives they seldom
agree, continually quarrelling, and are regarded more as slaves, being
employed to the husband’s advantage. The woman who leaves with her own
consent to live with a man without the consent of her relations, is
regarded as a prostitute and exposed to taunts. The sale of wives is
frequent, for either money, clothes, weapons, &c. Woman gives consent
by carrying fire to her husband’s wurley and making his fire; an
unwilling wife will say, “I never made fire in his wurley.” The eldest
wife is always regarded as mistress of the hut. Marriages take place
after dark, and are always celebrated with great dancing and singing;
sometimes licentiousness takes place, but there are as loving couples
as amongst Europeans.
Many old men have three and four wives, while the young continue
bachelors; the long suckling of children and infanticide both tend to
keep down population.
Women near their confinement retire to be attended by women and to
be secluded. After birth, the husband attends on his wife, and often
nurses the infant, which, if spared, is most affectionately watched
over; but infanticide is very common, so much so that nearly one-half
to one-third of the infants are destroyed, and that in a shocking
manner. Red hot embers are stuffed into the child’s ears, and the
orifice is closed with sand, and then the body is burnt; sometimes
a waddy is resorted to. If there be twins, or malformation, or
illegitimate children, they are generally destroyed.
When native children are born, they are nearly as white as Europeans.
Girls have children at the early age of fourteen. The girls wear an
apron of fringe until they bear their first child, and if they have no
child, the husband burns the apron, probably as an exposure.
The evil of prostitution is very great. The women are in some districts
given up to promiscuous intercourse with the youths at certain seasons.
Relationships are very intricate, and difficult to unravel. They have
the Tamilian system, which obtains amongst North-American Indians, and
the Telugu and Tamil tribes in the East Indies.
A man looks upon the offspring of his brother as his own sons and
daughters, while he only considers those of his sister in the more
distant relationship of nephews and nieces. So, also, a woman counts
her sister’s children as her own, but those of her brother by a kinship
similar to nephews and nieces.
Thus, children look upon their father’s brother in the light of a
father, but his sister as their aunt merely; whilst their mother’s
sister ranks as a female parent, but her brother as only their uncle.
The scale of relationship is as follows:—Nanghai is my father; Nainkowa
is my mother; Ngaiowe is your father; Ninkuwe is your mother; Yikowalle
is his father; Narkowalle is his mother.
Widow is Yortangi; widower is Randi; fatherless is Kukathe; motherless
is Kulgutye.
One who has lost a child, Mainmaiyari; one bereaved of a brother or
sister, Muntyuli.
From this scheme of relationship it seems possible that some came
from Southern India—were driven southward by the Malays. Names are
changeable, the parents sometimes bearing the name of the child. They
are also significant—Putteri is the end; Ngiampinyeri, belonging to the
back or loins; Maratinyeri, belonging to emptiness.
Property always descends from father to son.
Mr. Taplin observes that the general idea that there is a law by
which the savage must disappear before civilized man is not true,
and instances the South American and Dutch colonizations as still
preserving the aboriginal races.
English settlers go forth to exercise their freedom, and the Government
does not strictly watch their actions, while it makes no particular law
for the aboriginal races suitable for their particular situation.
English law is forced upon them; whereas the French and Dutch
Governments watchfully manage and regulate everything—the governing
power goes with them; the roads, police, everything is kept under the
governing power, even the aborigines are under the same.
This, no doubt, in some degree has its influences, while, on the other
hand, the native laws to which they were obedient are removed, and the
power of the chiefs is destroyed, so that the aboriginal is placed
between two influences, the one to which he had always been subject is
destroyed, and a new law of which he knows nothing is substituted, and
thus he is left in a position of doubt and perplexity, while the food,
drink, clothing, and vices of the whites soon gain supremacy.
Nothing can be more disgraceful to a civilized and professing Christian
people than this wholesale ruin of their fellow-men, which they
attribute to a law, but which is in fact a consequence criminally
brought about by our depravity, selfishness, and want of Christian
principles. The writer concludes his remarks by saying that they are
not an irreligious race; he believes that nothing but the Gospel can
save them from extinction.
A few extracts from the lecture of Gideon Lang, delivered in Melbourne,
will throw some more light upon the habits of this race.
He says the inhabitants of the whole continent form one people,
governed by the same laws and customs, with some allowance for the
difference of localities; every tribe, however, has its own district.
The government is most arbitrary, composed of old men and powerful men,
but degrading to women, the old men often having from five to seven
wives, which privilege is denied to young men.
The government is administered by a council of old men, the young not
being admitted. There is also a class that go from tribe to tribe, and
their medicine men.
The intelligence of the natives is quite underrated. Their skill and
activity in war, and their subtlety as diplomatists, Mr. Lang says, are
quite equal to the North American Indian. (Having mixed with the North
American Indians, I think this is rather exaggerated.)
In the corroborees they have especial performances. 500 sometimes
assemble and represent a herd of cattle feeding, the performers
being painted accordingly; they lie down and chew the cud, scratch
themselves, and lick the calves, &c.; they then proceed to spear the
cattle; next are heard a troop of horses galloping; a party with faces
painted white, and bodies painted whitey-brown, some blue, others
to represent stockmen; then comes a body of natives, and a regular
sham-fight takes place, in which the natives are conquerors. But,
alas! the murderous hand of the whites has destroyed them by shooting
them down, and even resorting to poison, while by our occupation of
the country, the destruction of their game, and the introduction of
disease, they are fast dying out and disappearing.
Governor Phillip supposed that there were 3,000 aboriginal inhabitants
within 200 square miles of Sydney, but now there is scarcely one left.
For the whole of Australia the number is under half a million. Around
Melbourne and Sydney the population is extinct. At Port Jackson there
were but one male and three females left. And the old Brisbane tribe,
which once numbered 1,000, is now nearly extinct. The Tasmanian race
is extinct. And so the original inhabitants of this immense country
will soon cease to be known. In the north they are a finer race; but
they are likewise doomed to perish by European vices and encroachment.
Yet these men have made excellent sailors, good policemen, and
stockmen, and recently they were conveyed home to England as first-rate
cricket-players. Can they want intelligence?
They seem very like the Gipsy race—prone to wander, therefore hard to
domesticate. This arises probably from their having to seek their food
over a widely scattered area.
Sir G. Grey’s party met with native huts in considerable villages of a
more remarkable construction than those of South Australia, being very
nicely plastered on the outside with clay and clods of turf; there were
also well marked roads, sunken wells, and extensive warren grounds,
certainly indicative of some advance in civilization.
The most singular tribe Mitchell met with was what he termed the
spitting tribe. These savages waived boughs violently over their heads,
spat at the travellers, and threw dust with their toes, and forming
into a circle, shouting, jumping, spitting, and throwing up dust, sang
war songs with the most hideous gestures; their faces seemed all eyes
and teeth.
The Encounter tribe is remarkable for daring. In one case, where the
natives were pursued by two police, the blackfellows rushed on the
troopers, and knocked one down, and he was only rescued by the arrival
of the other trooper, whom the blackfellows also attacked, but were
captured.
The sealers on the islands had stolen three women, wives of the blacks.
After a short time, two escaped in a miserable canoe; the third
attempted with her child to swim, but was drowned.
The natives have suffered much from the whites. There are now three
classes of the natives—the old blacks, who hold fast to the customs of
the tribes; the natives who are inoculated with the worst vices of the
Europeans, being drunkards, gamblers, and utterly lawless; and lastly,
the native Christians, yearly increasing in numbers. The tendency of
Christian civilization, when adopted, is to make them more vigorous and
long-lived.
The country is divided into tribal possessions, which none can intrude
upon, so that the tribes are confined within a space of country so
small that food often fails.
The tribes are jealous of any invasion of territory. This accounts for
divisions of districts, as well as a variety of feature, texture of
hair, &c., the latter being sometimes, but rarely, found to be woolly
in Tasmania. Long hair is generally met with, but in the interior
whole tribes are found entirely destitute of the same, while others
are remarkable for being very hairy, except on the palms of their
hands and the soles of their feet, and a small space round the eyes;
these last are remarkable for strength and stature. Some have frizzled
hair like the Papuans, and others have hair over their shoulders like
Maccabars, while their beards are as different as the hair of their
heads; the colour of the skin varies from black to copper colour, and
again to almost white. Their features also differ; the Jewish, Celtic,
and Teutonic type are recognizable, from which the stockmen nick-name
them Paddy, Sawney, John Bull. They make good seamen, stockmen,
and policemen. The aborigines are not Papuans, but are probably
cave-dwellers; having no fixed habitation or residence, they depend
entirely upon the natural productions of the soil, game, and fish.
The formation of their skulls is sometimes low, but in many instances
large and equal to the average of Europeans. The theory of their
inferiority is not strictly supported; few persons who have had
opportunity of judging will admit this inferiority of intelligence; it
needs only cultivation.
They possess all the tender feelings of our common humanity, weeping
over each other’s afflictions, as fellow mortals mourning with those
who mourn. Exposed to danger and treachery, they are watchful; the
rustling of a leaf will make them start to their feet. Acknowledging
the law of retaliation, blood for blood, they seldom feel secure.
It would appear that the aborigines of the sea-coast had never ventured
far inland, and had never passed the Blue Mountains, as they held to
the belief that the interior was inhabited by white people, and that
there were large lakes and inland seas.
They are a very law-abiding people; the tribes are under government of
the chief elders, who are chosen or elective; they are the leaders in
war, and in fact rulers of the tribe.
One of their laws is that none but native weapons shall be used in
their battles; another, that an unfair wound shall be punished. Capt.
Jack Harvey had bitten a man’s lips; the tribe assembled and sentenced
him to four blows of a waddy on his head, the justice of which
punishment he acknowledged.
While the great change from their natural habits, diet, and mode of
living, when brought under the restriction of civilization, and their
natural love of freedom—the influence of the elder people on them when
they reach the age of twelve, that they must undergo the ceremonies
of piercing the nose and knocking out the tooth, &c., &c.—while these
failures (not however destitute of civilizing and Christian evidences)
are nevertheless disappointing, yet they have proved that these people
are not so degraded as represented, that they are not, as has been
openly declared, scarce human, and may therefore be destroyed—indeed,
that this is the decree of God. The fact is now incontrovertible that
they possess much capacity, considerable intelligence, and are capable
of instruction; have the same affections, the same domestic and social
relationships as ourselves; are subject to special laws, and defend
their country with patriotism. That they have not risen to something
higher is well expressed by Mr. Marsden, “They have no wants.” They
live in a fine climate, with no ferocious animals to guard against, no
mighty lakes and rivers to navigate; they are therefore in a position
needing no exertion to quicken their energies, while by their seclusion
from mankind for ages, it is only astonishing that they have not
descended still lower in the scale of humanity.
They have much natural nobility of character, and much groundwork to
work upon. Their case is far from hopeless: Faith removes mountains.
Miracles, says Mr. Simeon, have ceased, but wonders have not. Let
any man go forth with faith and prayer and perseverance, and he will
accomplish wonders. Therefore, in great undertakings, give me the man
who loves to trample on apparent impossibilities.
An aboriginal youth is not allowed any of the privileges of manhood,
which include not only permission to take a wife (when he can catch one
from some neighbouring tribe), but also the right to eat certain kinds
of food, before he has undergone certain ceremonies, which, as they are
extremely painful and revolting, are supposed to test his courage and
power of endurance. These differ in various tribes. Knocking out the
front teeth and tattooing the back are amongst the mildest operations.
The most painful which is in vogue amongst the South Australian blacks
is depilation. The unfortunate victim is laid on his back, his body
daubed with clay and ochre, and then the old medicine man of the tribe
deliberately plucks every hair from the body of the suffering wretch,
accompanying the business with a low monotonous chant. It is a point of
honor to endure these brutalities without a murmur, and, after their
completion, the young man is hailed as a warrior by his new comrades,
and from that time is treated as a man.
The boys are not allowed to either cut or comb their hair until they
undergo the ceremony of manhood. They are also prohibited from eating
certain game. When I have travelled with the tribes, I have observed
when we obtained honey the young men dared not partake. When of age,
the tribes assemble at night, the youth or youths are seized; the women
trying to protect them, their beards are torn out, and their hair
combed by spears; they are then smeared with grease and red ochre. For
three days and three nights they are not allowed to sleep or eat, and
only to drink water through a reed; for six months they are obliged
to walk naked, with a slight covering round their loins; they have to
undergo three times the plucking out of the beard, and must refrain
from any food eaten by women. Everything is sacred from the touch
of women. They are not allowed to marry until the time of trial has
expired, but they are allowed promiscuous intercourse with the young
girls.
In my travels I was shown places, on the tops of hills in general,
where the trees were marked with various devices, and there was
a circular path all round. Here the candidates were said to have
undergone various initiatory ceremonies to qualify them for manhood,
from which the women are strictly prohibited. Here, I believe, the
front teeth were knocked out by a stick placed against them, and
then a blow from a piece of wood. Thus is accomplished this piece of
dentistry. On the sea-coast, the fisherwomen have the point of the
finger cut off. Many perish undergoing these ceremonies, which are
chiefly intended to make them hardy.
The custom of exchanging names with strangers is a pledge of affection
and protection in common use. When meeting the natives in the bush
alone or in camp, it is advisable to hold up the hands, displaying a
branch of a tree, with the view of declaring peaceable intentions.
The tabooing of several kinds of food to the women and young men may
arise from the want which has in some instances pressed so upon them
that they have resorted to bleeding themselves to preserve life, and
indulged in cannibalism to some extent for the same purpose.
The names of deceased persons are not mentioned during mourning, nor
the names of the mother by a man seeking marriage of the daughter, nor
can he look at his intended mother-in-law.
Sir Thomas Mitchell seems to think that many of their customs were
of Eastern origin. Their manner of fishing is described by him, the
young men diving down, and spearing the fish under water. This I have
witnessed myself. Sir Thomas also describes their villages. The huts
are substantial, holding fifteen persons, and having large tombs for
burial-places.
They lived much on fish, and took them and birds, especially ducks and
geese, with nets.
The enormous powers of the aboriginals in eating is described by Mr.
Eyre, in his exploration towards King’s Island Sound.
His native boy Wylie managed to kill a kangaroo. He commenced his
repast by eating a pound and a half of horse-flesh and a little bread,
they having had to slaughter a horse; to this repast, he added the
entrails, paunch, liver, lights, and two hind legs of the kangaroo; to
this he added the hide of the kangaroo, having singed off the hair;
and having found a dead penguin on the shore, he wound up by eating it
all, including the tough skin of the bird. Admitting that his belly was
full, he made a little fire and laid down to sleep, this apparently
being the happiest moment of his life. On an average this boy could
consume 9 lbs. of meat per day—rather a dangerous companion on short
allowance; but these people can fast as long, in proportion, as they
can gormandize.
Funeral customs differ in tribes. The Narrinyeri tribes point out
several stars, and say they are deceased warriors who have gone up to
heaven. These are Wyungare and Nepelle, the Manchingga, and several
others; and every native expects to go to Wyirrewarre after death, so
that there can be no doubt of their belief in a future state. They
also believe the dead descend to and walk the earth, and that wicked
men will injure them. They are very much afraid of ghosts, and seldom
venture in the scrub in the dark, yet they travel long distances to
surprise an enemy. The name of the deceased must not be mentioned
until the body has decayed, lest they should be considered wanting
in feelings of respect. When a man dies they conclude that sorcery
has been exercised, so the nearest relative lies with his head on the
corpse so that he may dream of the sorcerer. Next day the body is
raised on men’s shoulders on a bier, and several names are called out
as suspected persons until the impulse of the dead body, which the
bearers pretend they cannot resist, confirms the name of the sorcerer.
In some of the tribes the body is placed over a slow fire until the
outer skin is blistered, when it is rubbed over with grease and red
ochre and placed within the wurley in an upright position. Then great
lamentations are made, while they besmear themselves with charcoal and
oil, and the women with disgusting filth, and they all beat and cut
themselves. The corpse is then subjected to a further slow fire, to dry
the humors, while the relatives eat, drink, and sleep under it; and
there is great weeping, especially among the women. But the deceased’s
spirit must be appeased by the death of the sorcerer. Messengers pass
through the tribes to find the suspected person; this often leads to
battles, should the tribes be at variance, but otherwise a few spears
are thrown and some abuse passed; the old men then pronounce that
satisfaction has been made, and the ceremony ceases. The hair of the
dead is spun into a cord and made into a head-band; they say that thus
they smell the dead. The whole body is skinned with the nails attached,
and with this they cover the sick.
In the Polynesian tribes there is a somewhat similar ceremony. In
these islands the body is dried and preserved in a sitting position
for months, and an offering of food, fruit, and flowers, is daily
placed before the dead body, the priest attending to the ceremonies
continually. The skeleton is finally burnt within the temple of the
family and the skull carefully kept.
Death is certainly a terrible visitor, and people of all nations seem
to desire to retain the identity, as it were, amongst them. They do
not like to consider the separation as final, and the being with whom
they have been so familiar as removed from all intercourse. On the
death of a husband, the widow is not permitted to look at any of the
relatives for some time. Should she meet with any of the relatives, she
immediately prostrates herself on the ground and conceals herself in
her cloak. In some districts they bury the body in a sitting posture.
In some districts they bury the dead with the face towards the east,
depositing the arms, &c., of the deceased in the grave, and tying the
legs of the corpse to the head, probably to save labour in digging.
Their grave-yards are rather singular. They lay various casts of heads
made of gypsum or lime on the graves as marks of friends, and a number
of oblong balls connected with each end, and of the same material.