110 ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES OF 50 YEARS AGO 



teristics, it may be remarked that treachery is so common 

 among them that they, from fear of an attack from an enemy, 

 are habitually light sleepers. Ihe circumstances of their 

 lives make them keen observers, though this charac- 

 teristic diminishes after long residence with white men. 



Most of the young men are vain, and like to decorate 

 themselves with gaudy feathers, shells, pipe-clay, ochre, 

 or anything of a showy nature. The " gins " (except when 

 being young they are given to these decorations) rarely 

 indulge in such frivolities. 



The men have no conception of feminine beauty in the 

 sense in which we understand such a feeling ; and have no 

 sense of conjugal love. They treat their children in- 

 dulgently till the age of puberty, after which they abandon 

 them to their own resources. 



Taken generally, they are a laughter- loving people, 

 and generour; to a fault. The narrow range of their iceas 

 is, no doubt, responsible for their taciturnity, and this may 

 account for their limited vocabulary, which makes 

 them represent by a diuerence in emphasis rather 

 than by a different word any dii^erent shade of 

 meaning. This is especially the case with the 

 " gins " when excited. Their language is pronounced with 

 a marked nasal intonation. They had no recognised chief. 

 Each man had influence according to his force of character. 

 There were no tribal boundaries beyond the usual habits of 

 remaining on a known hunting ground. An illegitimate 

 could go to the next tribe, select a wife and marry. He 

 would not be killed as an alien. Wounds were healed by 

 an application of mud, and their flesh heals rapidly. They 

 survive wounds which would end white men. For bowel 

 troubles they use " apple-tree " gum, or the gum from some 

 other eucalypt. 



When forced to go hungry they gradually tighten a 

 belt of opossum hair round their stomachs, and this mod- 

 erates the pain of hunger, or, at any rate, makes it less 

 keenly felt. 



The mothers are very fond of their sons, and on the 

 return of a son after a long absence, the mother sits in front 

 of him, puts her hand on his knees, and, looking pleadingly 

 up in his face, says, " Ti on naa, nia berahli " (Come to me, 

 my child). 



