68 HBCOHDS OF 'I'HE AUSTKALIAN MUSEUM. 



of the body being maintained by resting ifc against a tree, llie 

 arm upon a spear, the hand or thigli upon a wommera. 



3. Walking. — In walking there would appear to be great 

 variations in the degrees to whieli the feet are turned outwards. 

 The palms are usually held to the side ; amongst the Cape 

 Bedford Tribe only two individuals were noticed to liold them to 

 the front. The faster the gait, the greater the swing of the 

 arms, unless of course one hand happens to be carrying the 

 spears. They can all walk their twenty-five to tliirty miles a 

 day easily, if required. 



4. Sitting. — la the neighbourhood of the Pennefather and 

 Batavia Rivers, and elsewhere in the Peninsula, and often 

 observable in the North West, the native, before sitting down, 

 clears a circular space in which to squat. If on sandy soil, he 

 will stand on one foot and brush aside with the other, in a more 

 or less circular movement, any leaves or sticks that may be lying 

 there ; if on grass, he will bend down to pluck out the main 

 tusHOcks. In the bush, in the Pennefatlier River area certainly, 

 it is the business of the woman to clear this circular space (of 

 grass, leaves, etc.), on which she and her husband will be camp- 

 ing for the night. 



Men usually squat with more or less open thighs, and the 

 shins doubled underneath (PI. xix., ^gri. 1 and 3) ; but, as I 

 have noticed both in the extreme west and east of the State, 

 while one shin may be tucked under one thigh, the other 

 may be lying upon the opposite one (Pi. xix., fig. 1). The 

 illustrations shew the more common of the postures assumed 

 by the males in the sitting position. With the women, the 

 thighs are closed, and turned more or less laterally, with the 

 shins tucked underneath, and feet projecting from one side. 

 But ordinarily, so it seems to me, a female will sit with the legs 

 closely apposed, and stretched straight out in front of her. 

 When, however, a woman is in any strange camp, or in her own 

 camp, with strangers present, she often sits with the thighs 

 open, but with the one heel ilrawn vvell up into tier foi-k as a 

 screen. 



5. Swimming.^— '\!\\e Lower Tully River Natives swim in a 

 far more vertical position than do Europeans ; furtliermore, in- 

 stead of breasting the water, the right shoulder appeal's to 

 occupy the most advanced position. The right arm, starting 

 with l)ent elbow, makes a clean sweep downwards, outwards and 

 backwards until, at the end of the stroke, the elbow is fully 

 •extendeil. The left arm remains sharply bent througiiout the 



