BY R. HAJMLYN -HARRIS. 17 



Are references to various implements vised in JSorth Queens- 

 land and to the existence of Papuan influence in that part 

 •of the State as shown by the introduction of New Guinea 

 pipes, etc. 



Leichhardt's Journal of the Overland Expedition in 

 Austraha from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (71) during 

 the years of 1844-1845 is rich with interesting, though 

 unfortunately disconnected details : much of the value 

 of the observations is minimised by the fact that Leichhardt 

 was never able to stay long enough in one particular place 

 to enable him to get a thorough grasp of tribal singularities. 

 Such a reference as that contained on page 279 to native 

 '■ bee-bread " which does not state what it is, or what it 

 is made of, is unsatisfactory.* 



On several occasions Leichhardt refers to having seen 

 two-storied gunyahs (page 290), an observation confirmed 

 by other explorers ; such are not subsequently recorded 

 in recent literature, and we may therefore presume that with 

 the advance of civilization these huts were rehnquished 

 for other abodes. It appears, however, that there is some 

 general knowledge on the point current. The gunyahs 

 were evidently built to supply a means of baffling mosquitoes 

 and bore the local name of " mak-in-deen-ahrs " in the 

 •Gulf Country, t What Cape York mosquitoes lack in size 

 they compensate for in perseverance and abihty to squeeze 

 through seemingly impossible places. Your net may have 

 -a himdred holes to the square inch and 101 harmonious 

 -creatures of diabohcal activity and blood-thirsty proc- 

 livitias penetrate every inch. Cheese cloth, which filtera 

 the very breath of heaven, is in general use in some 

 localities, but what are those to do who have neither net noi 

 cloth, nor any other of the purely artificial adjuncts of 

 civilization. Hardened as they may be by generations 

 of painful subjection to the pest they have no resort but to 

 smoke dry themselves. A stranger to these scenes might 



♦Might not " bee-bread " from the black's point of view, be wild 

 bees brood-comb which is eaten with relish just as the puj ae of other 

 insects are ? 



tOn the authority of Ex-Inspector of Police Galbraith, through the 

 kindness of E. J. Banfield. 

 B 



