BY RICHD. HELMS. 395 



it generally shrivelled to the size of a grain of wheat. The mass 

 was freed of the ashes by dropping it by degrees into some vessel 

 or on a skin and allowing the wind to sift it; the food was still 

 further cleansed from adhering particles of dust and other 

 unpalatable substances by gently rubbing it between the hands, 

 and rolling it backwards and forwards from one to the other 

 whilst blowing from the mouth. The taste of the roasted bodies 

 of the " Bugongs " is, according to some Europeans who tried 

 them, sweetish and nut-like and rather pleasant eating."^ 



This unique food supply is restricted to the highest mountains 

 of Australia, but here it can always be found in abundance during 

 the summer months. It is a marvel that the highest and stoniest 

 ridges, on which snow lies for fully five and sometimes six months 

 of the year, with a naturally scanty though rapidly growing 

 summer vegetation, should harbour such enormous numbers of an 

 insect (the caterpillar of which is known to be ver}^ voracious) 

 which was at one time the means of fattening a congregation of 

 over 500 aborigines every season. 



* After the above was written, I met with Dr. George Bennett's 

 work, " Wanderings of a Naturalist in New South Wales, &c.," wherein 

 the earliest account of this food supply is given. Dr. Bennett set 

 out for "Gunundery" (the "Big Bugong " Mountain) from the Upper 

 Tumut, but he did not meet the blacks reported to camp there 

 "Bugonging." His report is consequently from hearsay, and not from 

 personal observation. After describing the cooking of the moths, vs^hich 

 corresponds with the method described by me, he continues: — "They 

 are then eaten, or placed in a wooden vessel called a Walbuu, or Culibun, 

 and pounded by a piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of 

 fat, and may be compared in colour and consistence to dough made from 

 smutty wheat mixed with fat. The bodies of the moths are large, and tilled 

 with a yellowish oil, resembling in taste a sweet nut. These masses (with 

 which the " Netbuls " or " Talabats " of the native tribes are loaded during 

 the season of feasting upon the "Bugong") will not keep above a week, 

 and seldom even for that time ; but by smoking they are able to preserve 

 them for a much longer period. The first time this diet is used by the 

 native tribes, violent vomiting and other debilitating effects are produced ; 

 but after a few days they become accustomed to its use, and then thrive 

 and fatten exceedingly upon it." (Vol. i. pp. 271-272.) 



