46 NOTES ON SAVAGE LIFE, ETC. 



cially when " tracking " was concerned. The arms were never 

 swung while walking; they always hung straight down, and 

 gave the observer an impression of a very erect carriage. 

 Neither men nor women appeared conscious of any indecency in 

 appearing perfectly nude in public whenever it was expedient to 

 remove their cloaks. The women, however, when sitting on the 

 ground, doubled up one leg, and placed the foot against the 

 fork ; when standing, and wishing to talk, the gentler sex 

 would rarely face one, but generally turn more or less sideways. 

 Climbing trees was always effected by cutting alternate nicks, 

 and in swimming the movement was hand over hand, just like 

 a do .J. 



The year was marked by the mu-jain (Nuytsia floribunda) 

 coming into blossom ; this is of a rich orange colour, and can 

 be seen for miles around. The plant has a very soft kind of 

 covering, reminding one of the bottle-tree. The gum exudmg 

 from it — and this is translucent, like jelly, of about the same 

 consistency as wax, and never gets hard — is used as an article 

 of die", notwithstanding the fact of its producing great flatu- 

 lence. They know when to expect the different seasons, and 

 were unerring judges of the weather. Smaller epochs of time 

 were reckoned by the moon (miki), (" big fellow " denoting " full " 

 moon), and the sun (ang-a), according to the elevation of which 

 the day was divided. They had a name for night, as distin- 

 guished from day, and also terms denoting the points of the 

 compass : thus, ja-ral-li, bu-yal-li, i-re, and wu-dal-li denoted 

 respectively the cardinal points north, south, east, and west. 

 Travelling at night in the bush was effected by local know- 

 ledge. 



Enumeration took place with the aid of the fingers and 

 toes, separately distinct words being used up to ten ; beyond 

 that, everythig was bu-la, the idea of multiplicity and plenty. 

 Neither stones, pebbles, twigs, nor marks of any kind ever 

 assisted them in performing the processes of notation. 



There was no term expressive of the idea of disease in 

 particular, but the word men-dik included every pathological 

 condition : thus, " ka-ta men-dik " implied headache ; " kob-bal 

 men-dik," stomach-ache, etc. They had a superstition that their 

 medicine-men or doctors (bukol-ya, a name also applied to any 

 evil spirit) could make any individual sick by various incanta- 

 tions and charms, and effect cures, under different manipula- 



