Charles Griffith

“ When a woman has several children, they are said to eat all those which are born between the birth of the first and the time that it is able to follow the tribe, that is, until it is four or five years old: the difficulty, if not impossibility, of carrying about more than one child in arms, furnishing a strong argumentum ab inconveniente for getting rid of it in some way or other. They seem to think that it does a child no harm to be eaten, they say, "by-and-bye he plenty come again." ”

“ To a casual observer these people might seem to be under no sort of government, nor subject to control of any kind, no deference being paid to age, nor any restraint imposed upon youth, so that there might appear to be an absence of the elements, from which we are accustomed to derive the very idea of civil government. The only obvious exercise of authority is that of the husband over his wife, but even this is in general mildly exercised; they have seldom more than two wives. ”

“ Each family has a separate mi-mi and fire—the unmarried men, however, occupying one large one in common: the spears of the men being stuck upright in the ground, close to the fires, give to one of their encampments rather a military effect.
The chief employment of the men is the search for food: opossums, kangaroo rats, and "wild cats seem their most common game—the kangaroo and emu are, and I believe always have been, considered rarities. Their mode of hunting the opossum is a sure, but by no means a sporting method. This animal generally lives in a hollow tree ”

“ The women and children meantime sit in a circle at some distance, and mark the measure by striking with one band on a piece of kangaroo skin rolled very tight, which they bold in the other, and which serves as a kind of drum. The figure of the dance is irregular; one man at first begins by himself, then another joins him, until the whole become engaged. As they join the dance, they dispose themselves in lines, each man in the rear rank imitating exactly the movements of the man in the rank before him, or as soldiers say, of his "covering file." ”

“ True it is that a low state of civilization, such as existed among the ancient Germans, and the modern North American Indians, is highly favourable to the development of the former: self-control and restraint were however the leading characteristics of their education. But wherever we examine the social position of man, either in a low state of civilization, or in that of absolute barbarism, we find his actions cramped by absurd customs, and his mind tyrannized over by degrading superstitions. ”

“ When preparing for the dance, they put a piece of pipeclay into their mouths, which they chew, and then mark themselves with the forefinger. I have been amused watching the seriousness with which they perform this operation: no young lady dressing for a ball could take more pains. Their movement in the dance is a very singular one. The action is entirely in the thigh, which, by a strong muscular exertion, they move backwards and forwards without stirring the foot, further than that it partakes of a lateral movement which is given to the whole body. ”

“ It has been the remark of every one conversant with this people that they pay but little regard to glass beads, bright buttons, or any of the toys by which savages in general are caught, and this has been sometimes cited as a proof of superiority of intellect, but I view it in a different light; to me this insensibility only appears to argue a lower social state;—one in which the Australian native, wholly engaged in procuring a mere subsistence, seems sunk in apathy with regard to every thing not conducing to this end. ”

“ Notwithstanding this revolting practice, they seem by no means a ferocious people, but on the contrary, gentle and courteous in their manners, very fond of social intercourse, easily amused, and singularly light-hearted: they have a great taste for mimicry, in which art some of them excel. They are (in common, I believe, with most savages) very indolent and averse to labour, and, as a consequence are great procrastinators; there are no words in the English language which they understand better than by-and-bye. ”

“ The subject itself is one full of interest, as exhibiting to us not merely a picture of life in its simplest state, and society under its rudest form, but opening a retrospect through which, as through a vista, one may see in shadowy perspective a succession of countless generations, varying but little in habits or customs from the time of the first great dispersion of mankind. ”

“ I was brought down from the train of reflections naturally suggested by a scene at once so novel and so wild, by the observation of one of our men, who exclaimed in the spirit of Trinculo, "Why then, a man would make a power of money, if he had them fellows at home for a show." ”

“ They are great adepts at tracking animals of all kinds, and in this way are often of great service to the settlers in recovering lost flocks of sheep. When in pursuit of the larger game, such as kangaroo and emu, they sometimes try to creep up to them; on these occasions they carry a bough, which they hold in front; they, advance when the animal is not looking at them, and remain perfectly motionless when he is. ”

“ When any relation dies they are very sulky, and mourn till they get the fat of the kidneys of some other black. When an aboriginal dies, they place the body on the ground,- and dig a trench round it, and when they find within the trench the largest hole of an insect, [8] they consider the first man they find in that direction as the cause of the deceased's death. They also take the depth of the hole, and at a corresponding distance place the party accused, for punishment—that is, for the family of the dead person to throw spears at him. ”

“ In this way they get close enough to throw their spears, although the kangaroo is one of the most timid and watchful creatures in the world. At other times, when the tribe is mustered in large force, or strengthened by the junction of others, they have a grand hunting match; they then surround the animals, much after the fashion described by Sir Walter Scott in Waverley, and throw their spears at them when attempting to escape. However their most common mode of hunting kangaroo and emu is with dogs. ”

“ These customs (as I believe) regulate not only their graver concerns, their funerals, marriages, corrobarees, &c., but their ordinary migrations, and the affairs of every day life, thus forming a code which interferes most materially with their liberty of action; and as they lay claim to a higher than mere human origin, so they reject all appeal to reason, and however childish or absurd they may appear, or however cruel or revolting may be the practices which they sanction, they triumph over all the objections which may be raised by common sense. ”

“ They had domesticated the dog [6] when the country was first discovered, and now that they have crossed the breed with the kangaroo dog, many of them are in possession of animals quite fit for the work: the kangaroo dog himself is a greyhound with a dash of the mastiff, to give him weight, size, and courage. ”

“ The natiyes are passionately fond of their corrobarees, or dances; and it is here that they are seen to the greatest advantage. When thus engaged, they paint themselves fantastically with pipe-clay. Each man paints himself to suit his fancy; the only uniformity which they observe, being in the lines on the legs and on the face. ”

“ Whenever, according to their notions, (as I shall explain presently) a life is required, and a victim is not easily procured, one of the natives sets off, provided with an instrument of this kind. He presents himself at the encampment of some friendly tribe as a visitor, and remains for the night, during which he watches an opportunity of affecting his purpose of assassination. ”

“ The great secret in making a fire in the hush is to make a small one: new hands generally make one so large that they cannot go near it. It is the habit of the natives to strip themselves when in their mi-mis, in order to expose the surface of their bodies to the full action of the fire. ”

“ The religious belief of the aborigines seems to be confined to very few articles of faith, amongst which the most important are the belief in a powerful malevolent spirit, in the existence of the soul after death, and its occasional re-appearance in a visible form—in short, a belief in ghosts, called by them meering; their belief in the supernatural powers of their priests, or koragees. They have also a strange idea that white men are black men raised from the dead. ”

“ If the men are ugly, the women are hideous. The slightness of the men seems in them to degenerate into absolute absence of muscle: their hands, arms, feet, and legs being more like the paws and claws of the lower animals than the limbs of Christians (as we used to say in Ireland) . ”

“ They are also, I am informed, held for the solace of the spirits of the dead, in the same way that in more civilized countries masses are said for their souls; on these occasions, a large piece of bark is said to be made use of, on which are placed lines corresponding with the number of the dead; when so many steps have been gone through, one soul is checked off, and so on until all of them are disposed of. ”

“ The fact is, I believe, that they are not so well fed as the men, getting a smaller share of opossums, rats, grubs, and such small deer: their principal food consists of roots, which they dig up, particularly the murnong—a plant with a flower like the dandelion, and with a tuberose root, also of the gum of the mimosa, which they dissolve in water. ”

“ In the war corrobarees the women are said to join, and are described as rushing about and screaming like so many furies. The corrobaree has been found in vogue amongst the Australian aborigines wherever they have been discovered, as well on the East coast as at Swan River, thus affording a fresh proof, if any were wanting, to confirm the fact of unity of origin. ”

“ They are migratory in their habits, remaining but a few days at a time in any one place. These migrations are however confined within certain limits. In the eastern district they do not build huts of any kind, contenting themselves with a break-weather made of the boughs, or, in wet weather, of the bark, of trees: one of these they put up in a few minutes, and contrive to make of these simple materials a very comfortable lair. ”

“ In this species of chasse the sagacity of the hunter is displayed chiefly in discovering his game, which he does by the tracks of the little animal running up and down the tree, and which are scarcely observable except to experienced eyes ”

“ Another cause of their miserable appearance is the age at which they become mothers—as early, I believe, as twelve or thirteen years old; and in such cases, the appearance of maternity connected with the infantile expression of these poor creatures' faces, forms a contrast which it is painful to witness. ”

“ I have seen one fully fifteen feet long, and high enough for a man to stand upright in. As it was quite air-tight, and there were about ten or twelve savages squatting round a fire which was on the floor, the heat was intolerable, accompanied by an "ancient and very fishlike smell." ”

“ The only specimens of their industry which I have seen, besides spears, shields, boomerangs, &c., are some net bands for the hair, a kind of basket, called by them a "biniac,"—both, however, neatly executed,—and cloaks or rugs made of opossum skins stitched together. They are passionately fond of smoking, that great resource of idleness. ”

“ The dancers bold in their bands each a waddy and a shield, or, in default of these, two small pieces of wood, which they strike together during some parts of the performance; while at others they make a whizzing noise with their mouths ”

“ This they strike against the ground, at a little distance to one side of them, whence it rises at right angles to its first direction, and flies with the swiftness of an arrow for about one hundred yards, and at a height of about ten feet from the ground. ”

“ Some idea of the absurdity of these customs may be formed from the mode of procedure upon the death of a native, whether occurring from disease or accident. The following account is from the evidence of a Mr. Thomas, an assistant protector, on a trial at Melbourne, and is taken verbatim from the newspaper report:—
"The natives cannot account for death, unless they see the stroke. ”

“ It was caused by a man of one of the tribes carrying off a woman belonging to the other; there were about twenty men engaged on each side; they did not come to close quarters, but stood in two open lines with intervals between each man of about thirty feet ”

“ Upon these occasions they have to climb the trees, which they do in a most surprising manner, merely cutting notches about an inch deep, to support the ball ef the foot and give a slight hold with the hand: they cut the notch above them as they ascend, and use it first as a hold, and then as a step. ”

“ Their colour is a brownish black; their hair is long and straight, yet soft and thick, and most of the men have good beards and moustachoes, which, however the wild tribes near Portland Bay pluck out by the roots. ”