THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 81 



some parts, called Blue-bush swamp country, there are great deep 

 cracks in the soil, which make it very difficult to travel over, the 

 horses being liable to step into the cracks and so break their 

 legs. 



In the Gulf country the temperature rises to between ioo° and 

 115° in the shade in the hottest part of the day. At night time 

 the atmosphere is very still, and the mosquitoes are a great trouble. 

 Every morning about ten a breeze springs up, and you have a 

 good warm breeze for the rest of the day until six, when it dies 

 away. 



Regarding the features of the natives, they are much the same 

 over the whole continent, the only important difference being in 

 the amount of hair on the face. As they grow up their whole 

 appearance changes. In the Arunta tribe as a boy approaches 

 manhood he puts his hair up, and the binding is so closely tied 

 that it must be very painful, the skin being drawn up off the 

 forehead. In certain tribes, as the natives get older, they pull the 

 hair out, not being allowed to cut it. 



The girls and women change in their appearance very much 

 more than the men, but it is very difficult to obtain a good 

 photograph of the children, as they become so very solemn when 

 being photographed, although very jolly at other times. The 

 women cut their hair off, and must present it to certain persons. 

 As they become older they get more ugly-looking. It has been 

 stated that the women are brutally treated by the men, but this is 

 not the case. They are certainly marked with scars, which is due 

 to the fact that when a relative dies they cut their bodies to show 

 their grief. 



In the Warramunga tribe when a woman's husband dies she 

 cuts her head open with a tomahawk, and sears the wound with 

 a red-hot fire stick. In the southern parts the women, and some- 

 times the men, have pipeclay thickly smeared over their heads to 

 indicate mourning. Many of the men bear marks on the thighs, 

 self-inflicted, as signs of mourning. 



The method of fighting — i.e., single combat — is very curious. 

 They take it in turn to hit or cut at one another until the old men 

 consider they have had enough, and when once a fight is over 

 they are perfectly friendly with each other. 



They have a great idea of enjoying themselves as much as 

 possible, and lying about seems to be the acme of enjoyment. 

 Sometimes you will find them grinding down grass seed, out of 

 which they make dampers. The seeds are placed on a large, 

 fiat stone, and pounded and crushed with a smaller one held in 

 the right hand. Water is poured on, so as to form a dark, gritty 

 paste, which is then baked in ashes. Making string out of fur, 

 hair, or the bark of trees is a favourite occupation. The bark is 

 torn into strips, and then rolled by hand on the thigh. They 



