64 NOTES ON SAVAGE LIFE, ETC. 



Nothing in the way of special superstitions, other than 

 those recorded in these notes, was noticed. That they were 

 extremely fond of their dogs goes without saying ; so much so 

 that women were often observed suckling young puppies. They 

 rightly believed that it was the one and the same moon which 

 regularly put in an appearance each month. 



Disease and death charms in the hands of doctors and 

 alleged enemies have already been drawn attention to. The 

 medicine men mixed up with other individuals like ordinary 

 mortals, but were dreaded; as a correlative, they were aware of 

 it, and consequently traded upon the credulity of their less- 

 witted mates. There were no such things as love charms, 

 while the cries of birds and animals (each separately noticeable) 

 were taken not so much as omens but as indications of the 

 approach of strangers, were they friends or enemies. 



The aboriginals here had no mythic legends or fairy tales, 

 but could tell many a witty story relative to incidents that 

 had occurred, and principally about individuals. Nothing 

 escaped their observation. When crossing a flat one day along 

 the bank of a river, where a European was building a hut, 

 Austin's black boy pointed to an ants' nest, and spoke to the 

 following effect : " My word ! that feljow ant knows more than 

 that white fellow man." On being asked what he meant, the 

 boy explained the dictum on the lines of the settler building his 

 h'lmpy below flood- water mark, while the ant constructed its 

 nest far above it. 



Children invariably respected their parents as well as their 

 wishes. At the ceremony of the nose -boring, the individual 

 pledged himself to conform to the general rules of propriety in 

 force, certain rules benefiting the whole community — e.;/., the 

 respect for each other's property, and the prior right to certain 

 portions of the land which the tribe in general acknowledged 

 to be theirs. There was a uniform attention to decency, peace, 

 and quietness. They were all brought up to supply their own 

 wants, manufacture their own weapons, were almost all equally 

 proficient in their general ideas, in the pursuit of game, in fight- 

 ing, etc. They recognised a head man, on whom a special term 

 was conferred, but the office was apparently not necessarily here- 

 ditary, and if a "strong" man, he might nominate his successor ; 

 he was not always the oldest man in the tribe, but general fitness 

 and ability were his characteristics ; he never put on any " side," 

 and he exercised the prerogative upon the death of a tribes- 



