164 THE ABul.'I<.|\l> 



members of their own tribes as brothers and sisters. 

 When a separation for a long period has happened, on 

 meeting again they show nil tin- attachment of relatives. 

 An instanceof this occurred at Woolnorth, when two 

 women, who lmd Lived with sealers, were brought in. 

 Jumbo, another woman who was present, called one 

 of these her sister, having belonged to the same mob* as 

 herself. A. CottreU informed me that their interview 

 was very affecting. Neither spoke for some time, but, 

 throw ing their arms round each other's necks, they re- 

 mained m that attitude, the tears trickling down their 

 cheeks, until at length, these first emotions having some- 

 what subsided, they began to talk and laugh, and exhibit 

 all the demonstrations of extravagant joy. 



The natives show a great dislike to allusions to the 

 absent, whether the separation be caused by difference 

 of situation or by death. If the name of the absent 

 person be mentioned, it is customary with them, when 

 with Europeans, to signify their displeasure by signs, as 

 if they considered it unpropitious. 



Like all persons in a savage state, the natives eat 

 more than would be convenient to a European. In their 

 wild condition they were subject to scarcity of food, 

 which, being succeeded by the return of abundance, 

 would induce them to fill themselves to repletion. They 

 eat almost every animal that inhabits the woods, from 

 the emu and kangaroo down to the kangaroo-rat. 

 Mutton-birds and penguins are the principal birds used 

 by them, emus being very scarce. There are some other 

 birds that are considered good eating, as the swan and 

 the duck ; but these they cannot often catch, unless it 

 be the young swans. They are very partial to their 

 eggs. The emu is considered a great delicacy, which 

 may be one reason that emus are more numerous now 

 than a few years ago, when the number of aborigines in 

 the bush was greater. The roots eaten by the natives 

 are extremely numerous and abundant, as the fern (a 

 species much the same as that common in England), 

 which is eaten either roasted or raw. The upper ex- 

 tremity of the stem of the fern-tree is also a favourite 

 article of food, and a number of other things which I am 

 unable to describe. There is a species of punk or fungus 

 found on the trunks or among the roots of decayed trees, 

 which contributes to the support of the blacks, as well as 



