72 



Anthropological Notes relating to the 

 Aborigines of the Lower North of South 

 Australia. 



By J. Harris Browne. 



[Read August 3, 1897.] 



Method of Cooking Cress (Lepidium ruderale) and of 

 Steaming Rushes (Juncus sp.) for Fibre. 



A circular hole was dug in the ground, two feet deep by three 

 feet diameter, and into the bottom of the hole large pebbles were 

 placed ; a fire was kindled and kept burning until the stones were 

 red hot. The embers were then taken out and sticks laid across 

 the hole ; on these a layer of reeds or damp grass was placed, and 

 on them the cress in concentric layers, the root-ends to the out- 

 side ; over the cress another layer of grass was laid and more 

 grass round the outside of the heap. A " yam stick " was then 

 thrust through the heap from the top, and when withdrawn 

 water was poured down the hole thus made ; this reaching the 

 hot stones, came up in steam that permeated the whole heap, 

 more water being added from time to time when necessary. In 

 about an hour the cress was well cooked, and the oven ready for 

 another fire as before. 



Rushes were steamed in the same manner. They were kept 

 warm in the heap, and taken two at a time by the women and 

 chewed from end to end to break up the pith ; they were then 

 allowed to dry, when the pith was separated from the fibre by 

 combing it with the fingers. The fibre was then rolled up into 

 twine, by the men, by twirling it with the hand on the naked 

 thigh. The twine thus made was used for making nets for fishing 

 and for catching emu and kangaroo ; for the latter the twine was 

 about the thickness of " sash cord." 



The chewing process was a very severe task for the women, and 

 while still young their splendid teeth were worn down to the 

 gums. 



On a Method of Obtaining Game. 



The grassy substance, the leaves and stems of Xerotes effusa, 

 was used by the natives of the plains of the lower north for the 

 purpose of suffocating kangaroo rats (bokra) in their burrows. 

 The bokra afforded their chief supply of animal food at all times, 

 but more especially during the summer months ; and their skins, 

 made into rugs, formed the only clothing they possessed. The 



