Herbert Basedow

“ After a while the pandemonium settles down to a more orderly wailing, although every now and then there might be a spontaneous outburst of the heart-rending yelling again, which can only be likened to a long-drawn canine or, more nearly, a dingo-like howl. The note is taken up by all members of the little community; and the moment the noise is heard by anybody strolling or hunting in the environment he, without deliberation, hastens back to camp to join in the wailing. The men sit with their knees drawn up and their arms thrown around them, covering their faces whilst they are sobbing. ”

“ When I look back to the time of my first meeting with the tribes of central Australia, just twenty years ago, and compare the conditions of then and now, I shudder to think how quickly the romance of aboriginal affairs, together with all the scientific treasures it encompassed, has vanished, and is now irretrievably lost to the world. The rising generation will not have the advantage of men of even our time. Bones, stone artefacts, and wooden implements will remain in our museums for ever, but the habits, laws, beliefs, and legends are doomed to rapid extinction. ”

“ May your skeleton become saturated with the foulness of my stick, so that your flesh will rot and its stench attract the grubs, which live in the ground, to come and devour it. May your bones turn to water and soak into the sand, so that your spirit may never know your whereabouts. ”

“ Unauthorized though the action might be, it is not an uncommon occurrence for a man to place himself in a conspicuous position in camp and hold forth on matters of current interest to an enthusiastic and, at times, spell-bound audience; the man of skill and courage becomes the hero of the hour when the tribe goes to war; whilst talents in tune or colour are called upon whenever the occasion demands something out of the common. Some of the men have the reputation of being the jesters; their antics and jokes keep the camp in roars of laughter. ”

“ In the glaring light it is noticed that the ground is cleared of the original grass and growth, but is covered with a layer of leaves of the red gum tree which abounds along the watercourses. Upon this matting of leaves the dancers are moving to and fro, madly stamping the ground. Then, as they quicken their pace, each places the point of his beard into his mouth and tries to look as ferocious as possible. The lead is taken by one who is carrying a short hooked stick in front of him. ”

“ At this stage a bull-roarer is frequently sounded at night by one or more old men, who walk quietly away from camp and conceal themselves in the bush. At the sound of these, the women are overwhelmed with awe and cover their faces with their hands and quiver hysterically. This is the dawn of that period in a young man’s life at which his social status undergoes a complete change; it is the introduction to the series of initiation ceremonies which will ultimately qualify him for acceptance into the inner circle of men who have a voice in the control of tribal affairs. ”

“ Occasionally a dugong or a big fish, like a whale, is stranded during a gale, and this is indeed a red-letter day for the fortunate tribe upon whose territory the find was made.
Birds of every description are hunted with stone, stick, or spear. It is astounding how adroitly an aboriginal can project the light reed spears; to fell a dove at a distance of from forty to fifty paces is child’s play for an experienced thrower. ”

“ Presently the dull, humming sound of a bullroarer breaks upon the performers’ ears. At this, all men throw up their arms above their heads and yell, while the notes of the bullroarer reach a higher pitch. A jumble of wild, vociferating men ensues. The novice stands in their midst. The bullroarer’s noise is stopped, and with it the voices of the men die away. Only the painted performers continue to stamp and again make the peculiar hissing noise as they move around the fire. ”

“ He has learned to make his dance a medium of sensual expression, and to combine an instinctive impulse with movement. By his dancing he impersonates both friend and enemy, he copies the hopping of a marsupial, or the wriggling of a serpent, or the strutting of an emu, and he emulates the legendary practices and sacred ceremonials of his forefathers. In his dances lives the valour of his warriors, and dies the evil magic of his foes. ”

“ The magnetical charm about a tribal dance lies in the rhythmic motion of the performers, in the harmonious way their naked bodies sway to the accompaniment of crude but effective music, and in the clever association of sound with motion and silence with rest. The dancers are mute during their performance, the music being supplied by a band or chorus of either men or women, or both, who squat near by. A performance without musical items is practically unknown. ”

“ The great struggle for existence did not make itself felt so keenly to the ancient Australians because they were strictly insulated, and thus kept outside the sphere of exotic influence and interference; their only troubles amounted to an individual club-duel, or occasionally an inter-tribal warfare, which evoked more irate words than actual blood drawn by their sharply-pointed spears.
So the Australian has remained just what he was ages ago. ”

“ The question arises: “Who is the better artist: the man who can satisfy himself or the man who can satisfy others?” The former is unquestionably the more primitive idea of satisfaction. Simplicity of design is by no means indicative of a deficiency in talent, provided the inventor has evolved the necessary imagination which permits him to behold in a design before him the reality of the original. This instinct is common to all mankind; we have only to observe our own children to appreciate the excellence of their creative talent and imagination when they are at play among themselves. ”

“ Whilst European visitors were coming and going, the apes would appear unconcerned, phlegmatic, and blasé; but the moment the dark-skinned people arrived, the animals would instantly become electrified and bounce towards the iron bars, which they seized and shook frantically. The natives, on the other hand, would evince no fear, but endeavoured to edge as close as possible to the monkeys, although they had never seen one before. The monkeys, in appreciation of the coloured visitors’ benignity, would grin, wink their eyes, and make guttural noises. ”

“ Whilst the duel is proceeding, the two natives dance in defiance to taunt the rival, grotesquely jumping from one foot to the other, holding the arms semi-erect and bent at the elbows and wrists, whilst the body is thrown forward and the head kept back. When a spear passes very near to or grazes its mark, the native greets his escape with a short but strangely articulated exclamation sounding like “irr.” The throwers are constantly on the move, and, whenever possible, one stoops to pick up a new spear from a bundle of them lying at his side. ”

“ When a gin has been disabled, and lies more or less in an unconscious condition upon the ground, the victor stands over her, triumphantly swinging her kutturu, whilst her tongue dispels the hatred by talking incessantly without opposition. ”

“ The love of the sport, the keenness of the senses, and the astounding powers of endurance are natural attributes, which the aboriginal alone knows how to use to their fullest. These are the hereditary gifts of man which characterize the primitive hunter; and these are the instincts which modern representatives of the human species have deplorably neglected.
The object of the chase is, of course, in its original phase, to find the means wherewith to sustain the hunter’s existence. Although he loves the sport so well, a native will never kill wantonly; whatever is slain is eaten ”

“ Let us proceed with a discussion of the aboriginal’s hair. As in the youthful individuals of most races of man, including the European, the Australian is born with a rudimentary, short body-hair, known as the lanugo. This growth covers practically all surfaces of the child’s figure, but is thickest on the back.
The colour of this infantile coating of hair is not, as one might have expected, black, but fair, and casts a pretty golden sheen over the sombre skin. In later adult life this growth of hair becomes stronger, and darkens to complete blackness. In ripe old age, the hairs turn grey. ”

“ Three or four men who are to be intimately concerned in the affair dodge into the darkness of the bush and return a short time later besmeared with ochre and pipeclay, and decorated with eagle-hawk’s down. As they approach the fire, they stamp the ground with their feet and balance their arms in a horizontal position. Thus they encircle the fire two or three times and, in doing so, make a peculiar hissing noise like that produced when wood is being cut. All the time the other men are beating time to the movements of the performers by smacking their hands against their buttocks. ”

“ We have before us a true form of worship recognizing the supreme powers of the sun, but aimed primarily at calling upon a demigod or Deity in supplication for making a needed article of diet, animal or vegetable, fruitful or prolific.
Mythologically the sun is regarded as a female having human form and a fiery exterior, who walks daily across the firmament and returns at night to rest at her sacred haunts on earth. Some of the central tribes, like the Aluridja, split the sun’s identity into an indefinite number of such women, a different one of which makes the journey every day. ”

“ The Australian tribes, without exception, believe in the existence of an evil spirit, or Demogorgon, who prowls their camps at night. It is on this account that natives are loth to leave the glare of the camp-fire, fearing they might be caught and injured by the spirit. In reality, they picture this fellow much as we do a ghost. Ordinarily he is invisible, and during the day haunts the graves of the dead tribesmen. At nightfall he opens the grave and walks about under cover of the dead man’s skeleton; the natives often imagine they can hear the bones rattling as he passes near them ”

“ As a lord of the wilds, it is, indeed, a fortunate position for any man to be in to own a number of wives; having himself, as a hunter, to travel unaccoutred, the women become the machinery of his transport. When in camp, they collect and prepare food for him, while he is resting or roaming the woods after game. Moreover, the women assist in the cosmetics of his person, and are the means of the education of his children in all matters, except those pertaining to the chase, warfare, and certain ceremonies taboo to women. ”

“ Speaking generally, there is perhaps no other creature living which figures so frequently in aboriginal art, both on the cave wall and in the dance, as the great struthious bird of Australia. This is no doubt due in the first place to the admirable way in which it lends itself for the purposes mentioned; its antics in the field suggest many tricks for mimicry at a corrobboree, and its distinctive form supplies the artist with a model which never fails to attract the attention of the artistically inclined among his people. ”

“ The aboriginal’s ideal of life is attained when he finds himself in hot pursuit of the game, which shares with him the wilds of his ancient haunts. He lives at an accelerated pace; his pulse quickens, and in his excitement he completely dissociates his mind from everything but the spoor of his prospective prey. ”

“ Imaginary fireless cooking is also a pastime the little girls never tire of. A shallow hole is scooped, into which a few handfuls of cold ashes are thrown; this represents the fireplace. Upon the ashes is laid a pebble, a leaf, or any other article which they make up their minds to “cook.” Having covered it with sand in the orthodox way, the girls sit and talk, whilst they make themselves believe the dish is in course of preparation. They invite each other to the prospective feast, each explaining what she is cooking; one might have a wallaby, another a lizard, and still another a yam. ”

“ Although under ordinary circumstances the aboriginal of Australia is a peaceable, placid individual, who prefers to talk of what he could do to his enemy rather than look for trouble in a hostile camp, yet, being human, there are naturally extenuating circumstances, which might thrust the obligation upon his shoulders to pick up arms and fight for the sake of his individual honour or of his tribe’s safety. ”

“ When inclined to be cheerful, he smiles and laughs in a decidedly refreshing sort of way, and often smacks his lips out of sheer pleasure, but when his feelings have been ruffled and he is angry, he pouts out his lips and does not hesitate to let you know how he feels. He betrays his feelings by most apparent tone inflections in his voice. He frequently nods his head to indicate assent, but rarely shakes his head to betoken dissent. When in doubt over any matter, especially in answer to a question, he shrugs his shoulders. ”

“ The newcomers kindled a fire at the mouth of the cave and kept the evil beings in captivity whilst the original Deities re-assumed the human form. Ever after, however, these good creatures were able to alter their appearance from human to animal at will; but each individual in his choice adhered to the particular animal or plant which had saved him from the ravages of the great evil dog. Eventually they formed themselves into flat slabs of stone or wood, upon the surfaces of which they scratched the emblems of their animal representation and the traditions of their long wanderings on earth. ”

“ The soles and palms are always very much lighter in colour than the rest of the body.
Environment plays an important role, because a native’s skin has the remarkable power of what might be termed complimentary colour-adaptation, as a result of which a hard and fast definition, or fixing, of the shade is practically impossible. For this same reason it is conceivable why the sombre hue of the hunter’s skin becomes neutralized by the sallowness of the arid Central Australian scrub, as well as by the deeply-shaded verdure of the tropical jungle. ”

“ Like the Northern Territory tribes they, too, later collect the bones of the deceased and wrap them up in paperbark. These parcels, together with the skull, are deposited in the crevices of rocks outcropping within their haunts, or they are stuck away in a cave, if such be available.
Great is the hullabaloo in a camp when a person of importance breathes his last. Moans and deep sobbing notes are followed by loud yells and spasms of barbarous shrieks, which it is difficult to believe are human; and the yelping hordes of dogs, which are found in every camp, in no small way intensify the din. ”