[Proc. Eoy. Soc. Victoria, 30 (N.S.), Pt. IT., 1918]. 



Art. IX. — Some Australian String Figures. 



By KATHLEEN HADDON 



(Communicated by Sir W. Baldwin Spencer, K.C.M.G. ; F.R.S.) 



(With Plates XX. -XXIV.) 



[Read 13th September, 1917]. 



In the summer of 1914, during the visit to Australia of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, a trip to Milang, from 

 Adelaide, gave us the opportunity of seeing some aborigines. These 

 natives were of the Krapingala tribe, from the shores of Lake Alex- 

 andriiia. and although they have loeen in contact with white people 

 for a long time, they still retain the memories of some of their old 

 customs. 



For many years now I have made a study of Native String 

 Figures, of Cat's Cradles, fi'om all over the world, and, as none 

 have hitherto iDeen described in detail from Australia, this seemed 

 a good opportunity to collect all that there was time for. A large 

 number of finished figures have, however, been described by Mr. 

 Walter E. Roth,'i some of which are the same as those that I have col- 

 lected, but as he does not describe the method of formation, it is 

 impossible to tell if they were arrived at in the same way. 



Later on, in the same year, on the way back from British New 

 Guinea, my father and I spent some time at Thursday Island, where 

 we met his friend, Mr. Robert Bruce. With him were two " boys " 

 from Cape York, and I was thus enabled to collect some more Cat's 

 Cradles from the extreme north of Australia. 



The figures all show a marked resemblance in technique to those 

 found in Torres Straits and British New Guinea, and in many cases 

 they are identical. It is difficult to generalise from such a small 

 number, but comparison with Mr. Roth's plates gives the same 

 results — namely, that more than half the figures represent men or 

 animals, whilst the rest are common natural objects, or manufac- 

 tured articles. Two of the moving ones represent " Making Fire " 

 and a " Corroboree " respectively, but none have yet been collected 

 that have any known connection with mythology or magic, nor have 

 any songs been recorded, such as are common in Torres Straits and 

 New Guinea. 



1 Roth, W. E. Xorlh Qaeendand Kthmif/raphi/. Bulletin No. 4, March. 1902. 



