NORTH QUBEN8LAND ETHNOGRAPHY — ROTH. 83 



in the sand acts the same rule as a finger-post would to the 

 European. In the area drained by the Middle Palmer River, a 

 mark made on the ground outwards (from the track) with the 

 ball of the toe indicates the proximity to a camping-ground. 

 Around Princess Charlotte Bay the whole foot is scraped along 

 the soil forwards, and the impression of the toes made as distinct 

 as possible ; close to its extremity in front, a stick, from one to 

 two feet long, around the free end of which some tea-tree bark 

 has been wound, is stuck into the ground at more or less of an 

 angle towards the direction pursued. The Palmer River Blacks 

 appear to use the stick separate from the imprint ; for instance, 

 direction pure and simple is by them indicated with a short withe, 

 to the top of which is attached a tussock of grass, or with a small 

 piece of bark by itself, the whole fixed at the required angle ; 

 while a digging-stick similarly placed shews that the individual 

 who left it there has gone a very considerable distance on the 

 track pointed towards, (hi other occasions, as I have noticed in 

 the hinterland of Princess Charlotte Bay, a piece is knocked off 

 the summit of an ant-bed, and the stick is fixed on the top of the 

 remaining portion. Where there happen to be cross-roads, the 

 Tully River Blacks break off small houghs and lay them on the 

 track to be followed ; on the other hand, if there are no boughs 

 available, but grass is present, the tips of the grass-blades will be 

 tied together over the path-way not to be pursued 7 . In the 

 Rockhampton area the natives would at times make use of a tree 

 by stripping a narrow piece of bark from above down and placing 

 in the fork connecting it with the butt, any tussock of grass, the 

 " heads " of which point towards the particular route taken"". 



If a tribesman, on the other hand, is dealing with his own 

 immediate people, and the atmospheric conditions and state of the 



7 Roth— Ethnological Studies, etc., 1S97— Sect. 225. 



8 Mr. T. Petrie has given me the following notes on road-signals, etc., 

 amongst the now defunct Brisbane Blacks. A tuft of grass, in situ, tied 

 round with another hunch which has been pulled up, bent in the direction 

 to he followed. In the scrubs the natives would just snap down, but not 

 break, a twig here and there; they were always especially afraid of making 

 a distinct pathway in the scrubs when once the Europeans came, for they 

 had to be very careful about being hunted down by the black troopers. 

 On a cleared space which they would make by the side of a pathway, 

 they would stamp the imprint of a foot, and to hide their tracks they 

 would often walk backwards. In tracking a kangaroo, etc., over rocks, 

 the natives would bend down and blow on the " leaves" of the moss to 

 see if any were loose, and so could tell whether the animal had passed over- 

 it or not : this action of bending down to blow seems to have given rise in 

 certain quarters to the erroneous impression that the scent was being 

 smelt. 



