178 TRIUAL DIVISIONS OF THE 



mobs numbering from 150 to 300 are reported between 

 1804 and 1926; but all these statements must be taken 

 with considerable allowance for exaggeration. 



The natives Were in the habit of visiting the coast in 

 the winter, it is said between June and October, though 

 some of the tribes in the interior may not have had 

 access to the sea. Certain tribes must have lived on the 

 coast almost constantly- Knopwood says that he had 

 understood that the natives cross the country from east 

 to west in the month of March ; this would apply to the 

 East Coast tribes only. Upon a consideration of the 

 scanty available evidence and all th<j surrounding circum- 

 stances, we may reject as exaggerated the conjectural 

 guesses of 7000, or even 5000, as the original number of 

 the natives. We may accept, as the best approximation 

 to the truth that we are likely to obtain, Dr. Milligan's 

 more moderate estimate that the total aboriginal popu- 

 lation of Tasmania did not at any time exceed 2000 

 souls. 



Of the tribal organisation of the aborigines practically 

 nothing is known, and the limits of the tribal divisions 

 cannot be laid down with any approach to certainty. 

 G. A. Robinson and other writers use the word "' tribe " 

 with a good deal of laxity. Sometimes it is used to 

 designate a small sub-tribe living in one community — e.g., 

 the Macquarie Harbour tribe, numbering 30 souls only — 

 sometimes to indicate a whole group — e.g., the Oyster 

 Bay and Big River tribes, which included several sub- 

 tribes and a considerable population. As the whole 

 group in some cases took its name from a prominent sub- 

 tribe {e.g., Oyster Bay) it is often doubtful whether the 

 group or the sub-tribe is intended. 



Gr. W. VV alker says that the members of the same 

 " tribe " spoke of each other as " brother " and " sister." 

 Kelly, in his Boat Expedition, 1815-16, says that the 

 chief, Laman-bunganah, at Ringarooma Point on the 

 North-East Coast, told him that he was at war with his 

 " brother " Tolo-bunganah, a powerful chief at Eddy- 

 stone Point, on the East Coast. The term translated 

 " brother " must therefore have had a wide application, 

 being used with relation to tribes or sub-tribes which 

 were hostile, as well as to those which were friendly. 



In 1830, Robinson stated that he had been in commu- 

 nication with sixteen " tribes." As this was long after 



