186 
MEMORANDUM. 
EDIBLE PLANTS or Port LINCOLN, AUSTRALIA.—The natives divide all 
their articles of food into two cl the “ paru” and * mai,"—the former in- 
cluding all animal, and the latter all vegetable articles of food ; of these are the 
yarious descriptions of roots, such as the ngamba, ngarruru, and others, all of 
about the size of a small carrot, and of its shape, of a more or less acrid taste, 
and which are first roasted in hot ashes, and then peeled for eating. Of the 
grass-tree, Xanthorrhoa, they eat the lower part of the stem not yet grown 
above the surface of the ground; it is by no means tasteless, but certainly can- 
not contain much nourishment ; besides these, they also eat various kinds of 
fungi. Although to Europeans the country offers scarcely any kind of eatable 
fruit, it yields a pretty good variety of such as affords valuable food to the blacks. 
The most important and abundant fruit is that of a Mesembryanthemum, to 
which the Europeans have given the somewhat vulgar name of pigfaces, but 
their fingers, they drop the luscious juice into the mouth. During the karkalla 
season, which lasts from January till the end of the summer, the natives lead a 
comparatively easy life; they are free from any anxiety of hunger, as the plant 
grows in all parts of the country, and most abundantly on the sandy hills near 
the sea. The men generally gather only as much as they want for the moment, 
but the women collect large quantities for eating after supper. The Port Lin- 
coln blacks eat only the fruit of this plant, but those living between the Gram- 
pians and the Victoria Ranges, as a substitute for salt with their meat, eat also 
the leaves of this saline plant. All other edible fruits grow in pods, or in the 
shape of berries on small bushes, Some of these they allow to ripen, as, for 
instance, the fruit of the Santalum and that of a species of Epacris, which, 
growing on the sea-shore, bears small red sweet berries called “ wadnirri.” 
_ Another plant, * karambi," also growing on the sea-shore, is the Nitraria Bil- 
lardierii. The Nitraria Billardierii belongs to the Order of Malpighiacee, 
i Port 
has been cleared of its load. At the time above-mentioned, I travelled with 
five natives, who carried my collection of plants and blankets on a very hot day 
through this arid country ; all at once they threw off their loads, ran as quickly 
as they were able to one of the high sandhills, and disappeared amongst the 
bushes. Not knowing the meaning of all this, I followed them, and found the 
whole five, as above described, lying on their backs under the bushes. I could 
not do better than do so likewise, and when we had refreshed ourselves we con- ` 
tinued our journey. Other fruits they collect before they are ripe, and 
them in hot ashes, such as the berries of the pulbullu, and the pods of the 
