BY A. J. TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.E.G.S., E. 91 



might come across in breaking down the shells for the kiln. 

 It was not long before I had the pleasure of receiving a 

 parcel of bones — the remains of the marsupials the natives 

 used to feed upon — and I at once noticed that the larger 

 ones had been split, evidently for the purpose of extracting 

 the marrow. At a meeting of the Eoyal Society of Tasmania 

 in 1873 Mr. James Scott volunteered certain information 

 received from his brother, Mr. Thomas Scott, who, among 

 other things, referred to a stone which he had sent to Eng- 

 land — " A round stone chipped all round to a circle about 

 7in. in diameter, and l|in. thick in the centre, to lin. at the 

 edge. On this the females broke the bones of animals for 

 the marrow, using another stone about 6in. in diameter for 

 striking." I am able to exhibit a stone exactly answering 

 this description, which I took from the surface of one of the 

 shell-mounds. It will be noticed that at the middle part on 

 one side it has been worn smooth by the friction of use. I 

 also found mixed up with the shells other round water worn 

 stones, evidently used for the same purpose ; for in the 

 Transactions of the Ethnological Society for 1863 there is a 

 statement made by Mr. Milligan to the effect that the 

 Aborigines had assured him that round stones of different 

 sizes, together with chipped flint instruments, would be found 

 in the shell-mounds left on the scenes of their feasts. Bear- 

 ing in mind the latter portion of this statement, I was very 

 anxious to find some of the chipped flints, and made a careful 

 examination of the surface of the shell-mounds. You may 

 imagine my delight when my eye rested on a well marked one 

 which had been turned up in ploughing. Further examin- 

 ation led to the discovery of several others of the same 

 character. But I was not yet satisfied, as I had found them 

 all upon the surface. Being anxious to test the extent of the 

 shell deposits, I got my companion, Mr. W. Luttrell, to put 

 down a few prospecting holes, and in sinking one of these we 

 came across a well-chipped flint, buried in the shells some 

 12in. below the surface. There is one significant fact in con- 

 nection with the bones found in these shell-mounds, and, in- 

 deed, with the shell heaps alone, and that is the constant 

 occurrence of charcoal — the remains of the fires kindled by 

 the natives to roast the animals and to cook the shell fish " in 

 their own gravy." It is known that to do the latter the large 

 shells were placed upon the fire as dishes, and that this 

 method of cooking rendered the contents tender and succu- 

 lent. The presence of the charcoal under such circumstances 

 affords another link in the chain of evidence that bears out the 

 certainty that these shell-mounds are something much more 

 interesting than upraised beaches or oyster beds. Perhaps 

 the most interesting of the " finds" yet made in connection 

 with the shell-mounds at Little Swanport has been the dis- 



