12 



WEAPONS AND CANOES. 



The weapons are similar to those in the southern colonies, 

 but shields and boomerangs are not used. The principal 

 weapons are clubs and spears. The latter are of great variety. 

 Some shaped out of solid pieces of wood are thrown by hand 

 without the aid of woomerahs or throwing sticks. Poisoned 

 spears are not used. 



Canoes are made of bark, of similar size as in South Aus- 

 tralia ; but the ends, instead of being bent up, are cut slanting 

 and neatly sewed together with fine strips of bamboo, giving 

 them a sharp stem and stern. The gunwales are made of 

 bamboo, thereby being nicely shaped. They are propelled 

 through the water by small hand-paddles at a great speed. The 

 Port Essington natives have acquired the knowledge of cutting 

 canoes out of a solid tree from the Malays visiting that part of 

 the coast every year trepang-fishiug, from whom they also 

 obtain the necessary tools for that purpose. Weapons and 

 canoes form the only real property the natives possess, but do 

 not accumulate them. 



EOTAL FAMILY. 



None of the natives on the north coast that I have met 

 with have a recognised king or royal family, but the old men 

 seem to be the rulers of the tribe, to whom all cheerfully sub- 

 mit. Any one individual distinguishing himself in war or in 

 any other way is looked upon as a great man, and takes a 

 prominent part in all disputes with other tribes. 



SUBSISTENCE. 



Australian natives in their wild state rarely provide for the 

 morrow, and seem to have no idea to make provision for the 

 future, and to this those inhabiting the northern portion of the 

 continent are no exception. They start on a journey without 

 a thought as to where the next meal is to come from, but as 

 Nature has in this part of Australia provided a plentiful supply 

 of reptiles, game, fish, &c., they procure sufficient as they travel 

 along by the time they feel hungry. 



Native yams grow plentifully in many places, and are much 

 sought after as food, as also the roots of lilies growing in 

 swamps and lagoons. 



Their mode of procuring food is not attended with so much 

 difficulty as people unacquainted with natives in their wild 

 state imagine. Pish being plentiful in rivers, creeks, water- 

 holes, and lagoons, it forms a principal part of the native food, 

 especially along the coast. Large fish are speared, and at low 

 tides small fish are left in holes on the reefs, and are easily 

 caught; as also large crabs, which are plentiful. If they 



