NO RECOGNISED CHIEFTAINSHIP. 27 



or the tuber of a wild yam {Dioscorca hilhifera), 

 cut into small pieces^ and Avell steeped in water to 

 remove its bitter taste. 



Among- the edible fruits of Cape York I may 

 mention the Icara, a species of Anacardium or 

 cashew^ nut (the lurgala of Port Essington)^ which 

 after being- well roasted to destroy its acridity has 

 somewhat the taste of a filbert, — the elari (a species 

 of WallrotMct), the size of an apricot, soft and 

 mealy, with a nearly insipid but slig'htly mawkish 

 taste, — 7i'ohar, the small, red, mealy fruit of Mi- 

 musops Kaukii, — and the aplga (a species oi Eugenia), 

 a red, apple-like fruit, the pericarp of which has 

 a pleasantly acid taste. The fruit of two species of 

 pandanus yields a sweet mucilage when sucked, 

 and imparts it to water in which it has been soaked, 

 after which it is broken up between t^AO stones, and 

 the kernels are extracted and eaten. 



Throughout Australia and Torres Strait, the exist- 

 ence of chieftainship, either hereditary or acquired, 

 has in no instance of which I am aware been 

 clearly proved : yet in each communit}^ there are 

 certain individuals who exercise an influence over 

 the others which Europeans are apt to mistake for 

 real authority. These so-called chiefs, are generally 

 elderly men, \\\\o from prowess in war, force of 

 character, or acknowledg-ed sag'acity, are alloA\'ed to 

 take the lead in everything* relating- to the tribe. 

 In Torres Strait such people are g-enerally the 

 owners of larg-e canoes, and several A\'ives ; and in 



