26 NOTE ON BUNGWALL, AN ABORIGINAL FOOD. 



(Eucalyptus corymhosa, Sm.) ; wood being used in preference to 

 stone to avoid grit, and likewise a stone in preference to a metal 

 instrument to avoid chips. 



There is no hard stone on Bribie, so the stones are imported 

 there from the mainland. These are fragments of water-worn 

 pieces of basalt, split by fire into the desired shape. We were 

 fortunate in finding several Bungwall stones and also a Bunya 

 Bunya stone ; they were hidden at the butts of large Cypress 

 Pines (CalUtris columellaris, F.v.M.) ; in all probability their 

 owners have long been dead. 



Almost every native tribe has a distinct name for this plant ; 

 the majority of the blacks now in Brisbane call it "Tong-wun"; 

 the word Bungwall is regarded by them as the white man's name, 

 in the same way as are Boomerang for Barran, Kangaroo for 

 Murree, &c. 



The blacks are credited with having formerly made use of the 

 roots of Pteris aquilina, Linn., for food, but those I have interro- 

 gated declare that their ancestors never ate it nor the root of any 

 other fern but the Bungwall. 



In a work by James Backhouse, published in 1843, entitled 

 " A Narrative of a visit to the Australian Colonies/' there is 

 mention of the roots of Lygodium microphyllum ( = scandens), 

 Pteris esculenta ( = aquilina, var. esculentaj, and Blechvum carti- 

 lagineum having served the blacks as food. 



Brisbane, February, 1894- 



