2 AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS. 
There is no doubt that a knowledge of this method of obtaining 
water would have been the means of saving the lives of many ~ 
people who have suffered one of the most terrible of all deaths— 
death from thirst. 
“Tt frequently happens to the natives, when out in the mallee 
country, that the water-holes on which they had counted on 
obtaining a supply of water have dried up ; but they are never at a 
loss. They select in the small broken plains some mallee trees, 
which are generally found surrounding them. The right kind of 
trees can always be recognised by a comparative density of their 
foliage. A circle a few inches deep is dug with a tomahawk 
around the base of the tree ; the roots, which run horizontally, are 
soon discovered. ‘They are divided from the tree and torn up, 
many of them being several feet in length. They are then cut 
into pieces, each about nine inches long, and placed on end in a 
receiver, and good, clear, well-tasted water is obtained. The 
roots of several other trees yield water.” (Dr. Grummow.) This 
method of obtaining water in arid regions has been described in 
almost similar language by many explorers. 
‘* How the natives existed in this parched country was the 
question! We saw that around many trees the roots had been 
taken up, and we found them without the bark, and cut into short 
clubs, or billets, but for what purpose we could not then discover, 
I expressed my thirst and want of water. Looking as 
if they understood me, they hastened to resume their work, and I 
discovered that they dug up the roots for the sake of drinking the 
the sap. It appeared that they first cut these roots into billets, and 
then stripped off the bark or rind, which they sometimes chew, 
after which, holding up the billet, and applying one end to the 
mouth, they let the juice drop into it.’”—TZhree Expeditions 
(Mitchell), pp. 196 and 199. 
See also a paper by Mr. K. H. Bennett, Proc. Linn. Soc. 
NES Wag Vill, 213. 
See Lucalyptus, Vitts, Hakea. 
ABORIGINAL BEVERAGES. 
‘“The natives used also to compound liquors—perhaps after 
a slight fermentation to some extent intoxicating—from various 
