302 
there it is stated that at Sierra Leone there is a species of animal 
so strong-limbed and industrious that when properly trained and 
fed, will work like servants. Also to the ‘ Voyages de Guatier 
Shoutten aux Indes Orientales” where nearly the same account 
is given of what was considered to be the orang. They are taken 
with snares, taught to walk on their hind feet, and to use their 
fore feet as hands in performing different operations, as rinsing 
glasses, carrying drink round to the company, turning a spit, We. 
To these early travellers it probably did not occur that man could 
exist in such primitive types, hence they were looked upon as a 
kind of ape. In more modern times the orang-utan, or men of 
the woods, of the Malay Peninsula, have been described, and if 
they are autochthones they probably represent a primordial type 
of the Mongolian centre, judging from their portraits. In such 
a case they could hardly have any anthropological associations 
with the aborigines of Australia. There are, however, some 
habits which show a strange similarity in the two races. One is 
the manner of obtaining fire by rapidly rotating two dry pieces 
of wood together. Another is a mode of burial in which a lateral 
chamber is made at the bottom of the grave into which the corpse 
is laid, so that the superincumbent earth, when the grave is filled 
in, may not incommode the dead and make it irritable. This 
lessens the chances of the spirit subsequently wanting to injure 
the relatives or removing itself too quickly to the camp where its 
mother was born. A supply of food is left for the same purpose. 
This method of burial is described by the Rev. L. Schultz, late 
Moravian Missionary at the Finke River, vide Transactions of 
Roy. Soc. 8.A., vol. XIV., part 2; but, as far as I can see, neither 
by Dr. Roth nor Prof. Baldwin Spencer and Mr. Gillen. A 
third example relates to a common practice of the orang-utan 
and a tradition of the Australian aborigines. The orang-utan 
are inveterate smokers, and if for any reason they have to desist, 
the partly consumed rolled tobacco-leaf is stuck in a hole in the 
lobule of the ear ready for future use. The tradition, as given in 
the ‘“ Native Tribes of Central Australia,” relates to what are 
called the Alcheringa ancestors, and the particular incident is 
mentioned in connection with a tragedy enacted during some 
circumcision ceremonies. An old man was the offender, and he 
is decribed “‘ as drawing a stone knife from a socket in his skull 
just behind the ear.” Making allowance for the age of the 
tradition it may be surmised that at that time or subsequently it 
was a practice to carry small articles of value in perforations of 
the lobule of the ear similiar to the orang-utan plan. 
A characteristic of these primordial types appears to be their 
tendency to identify themselves with the rest of the natural 
objects of their particular locality. This may be a survival of a 
