Robert Brough Smyth

“ They spent many hours in pleasant ramblings and in fishing and hunting when the moon was shining; and as the earth renewed her strength, and nature sprinkled the sward with flowers, and filled the heath-clad downs and the scrub-covered hill-sides with rich colors of flowering shrubs, the natives, too, awakening from the torpor that the coldness of winter had induced, put forth their strength, and, active and lively, hunted regularly and feasted heartily on the good things that were easily procurable by their skill. ”

“ At such times, though the native mind is probably not much impressed with the aspects of the landscape, the effect on a stranger who comes suddenly in sight of the hunters is strong. To see them stalking through the forest with their spears in their hands, now in the deep shades and sunless depths of some cleft in the mountains, where their forms are only occasionally visible, as they pass through the thick undergrowth of shrubs, or beneath the broad green shelter of the tree-ferns—or, again, as they ascend some steep slope, with their faces towards the sun ”

“ Thereupon the younger female weeps passionately, but never speaks. The old woman says nothing, but slowly takes her way to the heap of brushwood, and lights it. In a moment the whole is in a blaze; and all the men at once return to the encampment. Thus silently do they complete their part of the duty. After lighting the pile, the old woman returns to the younger, who sits by the fire. The elder is really, or affects to be, in great grief, and the two mourn together and weep, and wait until the body is entirely consumed. ”

“ And though a savage cry, not more mournful is the voice of the officiating priest who says over the body of one of our nation "Ashes to ashes—dust to dust." The wild and weird and mournful cry of the sorcerer has scarcely died away when one of the men steps into the grave and adjusts the body. The widow—as this is done—begins her sad ceremonies. She cuts off her hair above her forehead, and becoming frantic, seizes fire-sticks, and burns her breasts, arms, legs, and thighs. ”

“ As the drum waxed faster, so did the dance, until at length the movements were as rapid as the human frame could possibly endure. At some passages they all sprang into the air a wonderful height, and, as their feet again touched the ground with the legs wide astride, the muscles of the thighs were set a quivering in a singular manner, and the straight white lines on the limbs being thus put in oscillation, each stripe for the moment became a writhing serpent, while the air was filled with loud hissings. ”

“ The sward on which the warriors are trampling is a short smooth grass, and beyond, seen through the trees, are gentle slopes, at the foot of one or more of which are the miams of the tribe, from whose fires thin blue smoke rises and seems to blend in the color of the unclouded sky. ”

“ Towards the end, when the blood is heated—when the yells and screams of the women and children are added to the hoarse shouts of the warriors, when wives rush in to protect their husbands, and mothers cling to their sons to shelter them and help them—there are many blows struck in anger, and much mischief is occasionally done; but the combats between the fighting-men are not usually attended by very serious consequences. The jumping, dancing, and spear-throwing induce a copious perspiration, and the war paint begins to take new forms, and the ornaments they have assumed get disarranged ”

“ The native throws aside his cloak, so that he may not even have this slight covering to impede his motions, draws his kiley from his belt, and with a noiseless, elastic step approaches the lagoon, creeping from tree to tree, from bush to bush, and disturbing the birds as little as possible. Their sentinels, however, take the alarm; the cockatoos farthest from the water fly to the trees near its edge, and thus they keep concentrating their forces as the native advances; they are aware that danger is at hand, but are ignorant of its nature. ”

“ The Australian native is kind to little children, affectionate and faithful to a chosen companion; he shows exceeding great respect to aged persons, and willingly ministers to their wauts; he has great love very often for a favorite wife; he exhibits, at times, great courage; he is hospitable, and he can be generous under very trying circumstances. But he is also cruel, treacherous, mean, and cowardly. At one time he shows himself superior to the whites—at another he is as cunning as a fox and as ferocious as a tiger. ”

“ A general fight follows, and the old husband often is wounded and so deeply marked as to be able, after the lapse of many years, to number his wives, living and dead, by his blemishes. During the fight, and when her husband is fully occupied, the bride rushes to her mother, and with streaming eyes and heaving breast begs vainly for protection and help, which her mother dare not give her. As soon as the old men have quelled the disturbance, the father again seizes her hair and drags her to the miam of her husband, gives her a few blows with his waddy, and there leaves her. ”

“ From the evidence that has been gathered, it would seem that very often love—in our sense of the word—prompts the young people to seek each other's society, and it is certainly true that the husband and wife, in some cases, evince the strongest affection towards one another; but marriage—if the word can be properly used in reference to such unions—is usually a matter in which love has no part. The bride is dragged from her home—she is unwilling to leave it; and if fears are entertained that she will endeavour to escape, a spear is thrust through her foot or her leg. ”

“ Was Australia unpeopled during the ages that preceded the formation of the gravels that form low terraces in every valley, and the beds of soft volcanic ash that yet cover grass-grown surfaces? If peopled, why do we not find some evidence—a broken stone tomahawk or a stone spear-head—in some of the most recent accumulations? Their stone implements are not found in caves or in the mud of lagoons with the bones of the gigantic marsupials, or any of the now extinct predaceans that have their living representatives in the island of Tasmania. ”

“ It would be impossible to find in a tribe of Australians such hands as are seen amongst the working classes in Europe. An English ploughman might perhaps insert two of his fingers in the hole of an Australian's shield, but he could do no more.
The Australian can endure fatigue, but he is not one to bear burdens, to dig laboriously, or to suffer restraint. He likes to exert himself when exertion is pleasurable, but not for ulterior purposes will he slave, as the white man slaves, nor would he work as the negro works, under the lash. ”

“ When a skilled thrower takes hold of a boomerang with the intention of throwing it, he examines it carefully (even if it be his own weapon, and if it be a strange weapon still more carefully) , and, holding it in his hand, almost as a reaper would hold a sickle, he moves about slowly, examining all objects in the distance, heedfully noticing the direction of the wind as indicated by the moving of the leaves of trees and the waving of the grass, and not until he has got into the right position does he shake the weapon loosely, so as to feel that the muscles of his wrist are under command. ”

“ The native makes a bower, and, using one bird as a decoy, he snares numbers of small birds during the course of a day. Holding a piece of fish in his hand, and lying as if asleep, he entices the hawk or the crow, and by a quick movement catches it. One black will approach a tree, on a limb of which a bird is sitting, and by singing and by strange motions of his hands and contortions of his body (always keeping his eyes fixed on the bird) so completely engage its attention that another black will be able to ascend the tree and knock the bird down with a stick. ”

“ The savage, in many things, is—as it were by nature—cruel. What, for instance, could be more dreadful than to seize an unsuspecting youth, drag him from the camp, and subject him to hunger and cold for days and nights, knock out a tooth with a piece of wood, scar his skin, and compel him to submit to other frightful mutilations? Some, among the weaker, die in consequence of their sufferings under such ordeals, and others have implanted in them the seeds of diseases which ultimately prove fatal. ”

“ The piece of bark or wood is often ornamented with such lines as are carved on the shields and other weapons.
Tur-dur-er-rin, War-rok-min-der-neit, or Work-ern-der-eit, is the name of an athletic game in which the most skilful, or perhaps the strongest, proves the victor. When this pastime is indulged in—and it is only in fine weather that it is thought of—the old men and old women, with the children, seat themselves around some smooth expanse of grass. The young men—the competitors—break into groups, and place themselves opposite to each other. ”

“ Whether using the spear, the net, or the hook, the native is almost always a more successful sportsman than the European. He knows the habits of the fish, the places where they are to be found, and the food which they prefer; and patient in waiting, quick in seizing an advantage, and with a perfect command of the implement he is using—spear, net, or hook—he is never, or very rarely, disappointed with the results of his labors. ”

“ In the summer time there was no lack of amusements. Hunting, fishing, fighting, and dancing—pursued in the day or night, as best suited their inclinations—were to them as exhilirating as any of the practices of civilized peoples, and many of them, perhaps it may be said, as innocent.
The warmth of this season caused them to be careless, to a certain degree, of their willams; and they often camped in small parties, in places remote from their accustomed haunts, where they never thought of providing shelter, unless when overtaken by a storm. ”

“ If, when any man was called to account for a crime, he kept himself within the boundaries of his own land—how could he be brought to punishment? Not, if he were contumacious, without violating his rights as the proprietor of the sod. And in times of drought, if a water-hole was within his boundaries, would the tribe be prevented from resorting to it? Certainly not. What rights, what privileges could individual proprietorship confer in a community of savages? ”

“ Surely enough is known of the many crimes which our own social laws render inevitable to cause us to regard even infanticide amongst this people rather in the light of a custom which they are compelled to observe than as a crime—a crime which amongst civilized nations is justly considered heinous. No one would attempt to extenuate the practice—the Aborigines themselves are ashamed of it—but it is surely right to tell the truth about it. ”

“ In some such way a line is finally drawn, and to whatever point of the horizon it is directed, there must the avengers go to get the kidney-fat of the slayer of their friend. They must bring back to the tribe not only the kidney-fat, but the kidneys and a piece of the flank of the murderer, as a peace offering. By the depth of the aperture in the trench the doctor knows and tells the avengers how far they must travel to find the sorcerer who has caused the death of their friend. ”

“ When the miams are built, the fires lighted, the roasting and eating quite done, and their family affairs settled to their satisfaction, the men, women, and children give themselves up to amusements, or employ themselves in light labors. The old men hold grave converse, the warriors and younger men attend to the repairs of their weapons and implements, the women chatter together, the lads romp on the grass or amidst the fern, or practise themselves in useful exercises, and the girls and very young children gather such food as they can find on the ground or in the dead timber. ”

“ There is the fear also that he may violently seize a girl of a neighbouring tribe, and thus provoke a war. There is the discontent and unrest of such a life, which makes him a dull companion, a quarrelsome friend, and a bitter enemy. Sometimes a wife is given to him by some old man who is tired of keeping her; but most often a warrior will steal a woman from another tribe, if he cannot inspire an affection and lead her to elope with him. Any such act brings about a conflict. As soon as the girl is missed, a search is instituted, and the guilty pair are invariably tracked to their hiding-place. ”

“ The legends and stories and some curious practices of the highly-civilized peoples of Europe, show that their remote ancestors procured fire exactly in the same way as the Australian gets it, i.e., by friction.
In considering and determining the position of the Australian in the great families of mankind, it is interesting to compare his practices with those of other men whose lives are spent in the forest, and who know nothing of cities, and whose discoveries go not so far as to change the mode of life, but simply to render the life that is natural to them safer and more pleasurable. ”