58 NOTES ON SAVAGE LIFE, ETC., 



swamps. What they received in return included the follow- 

 ing :— 



(a) A sort of red oshre, wil-gi, which was used with fat 

 {or smearing over the body. 



{!>) Fragments of crystalline quartz, bwor-ral, for sticking 

 into their spears, which, with the advent of the whites, was 

 subsequently replaced by glass. This quartz came from the 

 Darling Ranges. 



(c) Stone-tomahawks (kod-ja) ; also from the ranges. 



{(I) Wommeras (mi-ra) ; manufactured of the " raspberry 

 jam " Acacia,* from beyond the ranges, in the Avon district. 



(f) Throwing-sticks (dau-ak) ; made of similar wood, and 

 from the same district. 



(r) Cork-wood shields (hi-la-man) ; also from the Avon. 



There were no special individuals or actual traders for 



carrying on the exchanges, but they would proceed to their par- 

 ticular market whenever they considered the amount of food 

 available there would be sutticient for the wants of all who 

 might be present. There was never among particular tribes- 

 men any principle of association, special sharing, or distinctive 

 trademarks. Letter sticks were in vogue, but the messenger 

 himself took the message verbally. These sticks, about two 

 inches long, were pointed at each end, and squared in their 

 length, very much after the style of an English boy's tip-cat. 

 They were carried in the hair just over the ear. Made of some 

 light coloured wood, which did not ordinarily change colour, 

 they bore incised upou them certain marks which might have 

 been aids to memory, but they were absolutely nothing more. 

 When the messenger happened to be charged with messages 

 from difterent peoplee, the marks would he cut by the various 

 individuals interested. 



Distance traversed during the day was measured by the 

 elevation of the sun. Measures and weights were only hinted 

 at by speaking of anything as being large or small, long or 

 short, light or heavy, no fixed standards being recognised. 



When on the track of an adversary, a black would not 

 challenge his enemy, unless observed ; he rather preferred to 

 steal upon him asleep or awake, though they would both prove 

 very bold and determined if it so chanced that they met in 

 the open. In the case of inter-tribal warfare, each party came 



• A. acuminata, henth. 



