THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES, 



683 



notch in the bark for his great-toe, raises himself iij), makes a second 

 toe-hole, and climbs up with a facility, rapidity, and skill, of which' 

 we can hardly have an idea. In Western Australia, the helve of the 

 hatchet is pointed, and the natives, after making the notch, stick the 

 tool in the bark and lift themselves up with it. In other parts, they 

 scale very large trees with the assistance of a simj^le cord of vegetable 

 fiber having wooden handles at its ends (Fig. 2). Sometimes the cord 

 is passed around the tree and the climber, so as to hold him up by his 

 loins. The man hugs the tree with his legs, lifts the rope, draws him- 

 self up without slipping back, and reaches the desired height in a very- 

 short time (Fig. 3). 



For making their canoes the natives choose the bark of certain 

 gum-trees. The species most in favor for this purpose is the red-gum 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 5. 



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(Eucalyptus rostrata), from which the bark can be peeled iu large 

 pieces. It is considered desirable to get the bark from a tree that is 

 a little bent, so that it shall be somewhat near the shape of the canoe, 

 and a part of the labor of making the vessel may be saved. The bark 

 is cut according to a specially designed shape, at the points x and x' 

 (Fig. 4, A), and these points are connected by cuts from one to the 

 other. The bark is then gradually peeled off by the aid of the helve 

 of the hatchet and a stick (Fig. 3). Sometimes two sections are made 

 at three and at ten feet above the ground, and connected with a verti- 

 cal cut (Fig. 4, B). Poles are then introduced between the tree and 

 the bark so as to work out a gradual detachment of the latter. The 

 slab of bark is then given the desired form, and the ends are drawn to- 

 gether with cords or withes. This is one of the most primitive canoes 

 that can be imagined. 



These people appear to have a really genial taste for design. Frey- 

 cinet relates that Captain King found on the walls and the floors of 

 the caves in Clark Island numerous drawings executed Avith a white 

 earth upon a reddish ground with which the rocks had been covered. 

 Finders discovered similar sketches in a little island in the Gulf of 



