PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 599 
It has been customary to describe these natives as the lowest 
in the scale of humanity, and if this opinion be founded upon the 
absence of accountability for their actions, such an estimate of 
their moral condition can scarcely be controverted. If, however, 
we regard the methods which they devised for procuring shelter 
and subsistence in their native wilds, the skill and precision with 
which they tracked the mazes of the bush, and the force of inven- 
tion and of memory which is conveyed in the copious vocabulary 
of their language, we must allow them to have possessed no 
inconsiderable share of mental power and activity. Their 
migratory habits, arising from their dependence upon the chase, 
combined with the mildness of the climate, rendered unnecessary 
the building of huts of a substantial character. In the neighbour- 
hood of the sea they sought no other retreat than the caves on the 
coast ; and in the more open country they erected breakwinds, 
which consisted of huge branches of trees firmly wedged together, 
and supported by stakes in the form of a crescent, the convex 
side of which was so placed as to oppose itself to the wind. A 
fire was kept burning to leeward, so that they were cheered by 
its heat without suffering annoyance from the smoke. Rude and 
insufficient as such structures may appear to us, they afforded as 
much protection and comfort as they cared for. Even 
subsequently, after being accustomed to the shelter of a cottage, 
they would gladly escape from it for the luxury of roaming 
through the bush, and of reclining under the shade of a roofless 
breakwind. In sickness, and on the approach of death, their 
desire was to meet it under the view of the heavens. 
Coming now to the more immediate scope of this paper, which 
is to present in detail the several particulars outlined under 
special sectional headings, I may be permitted to state that I was 
led to undertake this task from having been occasionally, some 
forty years ago, a visitor to the home of the aborigines at Oyster 
Cove, then consisting of a remnant of some 30 to 40 men, women 
-and children, and had opportunities of observing their habits and 
manners in their semi-civilised condition. I deem it right also 
to say that I have freely drawn from the best sources of informa- 
tion available, without assigning the particular authority for each 
statement, but the writers to whom I am chiefly indebted are 
Strzelecki, Dove, Davies, Friend, Milligan, West, Bonwick, 
Calder and Smyth, the titles of whose books and articles will be 
found in the bibliography appended. 
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 
There are no special observances or superstitious beliefs in 
connection with the birth of a child, whether male or female ; 
but when a woman was taken in labour during the wanderings of 
a tribe, she was not waited for, but left behind with another 
