4 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSKUM 



between five and six feet long, and when in the water can easily 

 support the native who stretches himself upon it straddle-leg, 

 with the thicker butt-end in front, soniewiiat in the position of a 

 child riding a hobby-horse, and so paddles himself along ; being 

 able to keep his balance with the one hand, he can thus have the 

 othei- free to cany his speats, etc. (PL i., tig. 1, and fig. 1). To see 

 these logs for the first time, lyiugas they were here and there on the 

 sides of the river-hanks, and to suggest the purpose for which they 

 weie intended, would certainly have constituted a puzzle which, 

 without ocular demonstration, I should never have guessed. Upon 

 enquiry, as' to how they had coaie to [)ractise such a manner of 

 transport tlie blacks told me that having the hody so much out of 

 the water, they could swim these estuaries with much greater ease. 

 On the other hand, I cannot refrain from hazarding the opinion 

 that the employment of the float in this manner may at the same 

 time serve the purpose of protective mimicry from the attacks 

 of crocodiles, which literally swarm in these waters, the thinner 

 end of the float, whicli projects behind after the nature of 

 a tail, giving the swimmer all the appearance, at no considerable 

 distance, of one of these saurians ; that the natives here have but 

 little dread of these creatures may be guaged from tiie fact that 

 on the occasion of a visit of the Government ketch ' Mell)ider ' 

 to the Mitchell River, eleven crocodiles were to be seen at one 

 and the same time from the vessel's deck. 



On the eastern coast-line, floating logs were in use at the 

 Keppel Islands up to the time of my last visit in 1897 — the few 

 remaining survivors have since been removed — and were 

 employed on those occasions when necessity forced the blacks to 

 swim across to the difiBrent islands, and even on occasion to the 

 mainland, the nearest distance from Big Keppel being at least 

 six miles. Having floated a pandanus log, up to as much as 

 thirteen or fourteen feet in length, according to the number in 

 the party, the leader of the gang guides its lesser extremity with 

 the one hand (say the left), and swims along with the otiier ; the 

 man behind, resting his right hand on number one's loins propels 

 himself with his left; number three holds onto number two with 

 his left, and swims with his right, and so on. The most skilful 

 part of the manoeuvre would appear to be in the ))i'oper use 

 of the, leg so as to prevent its impeding the progress of those 

 behind. When the leader gets tired, his place is taken by 

 another, and if all reipiire a few minutes' rest, they have the 

 float to hold on to. 



5. Log-Hafts ar(! met with among tlie scrub-lilacks from the 

 Tully to the Russell ami Mulgra\e Rivers, the coastal ones 



