14 



the stones are of a sufficient heat, when it is cleared out and 

 the yams put in it. They are then covered over with leaves, 

 and over all from four to six inches of earth. It is then left 

 till next day, by which time the yams are cooked and all the 

 noxious substance has disappeared. 



Shellfish of all descriptions form an important part of sub- 

 sistence to natives on the coast. 



The natives' mode of preparing their food is very simple. 

 Everything that requires cooking is prepared on hot coals ; 

 small animals are cooked whole ; large ones, such as kangaroo, 

 are torn in pieces and then cooked, and not the smallest par- 

 ticle is wasted. 



JN'ative fruits (not plentiful), roots of lilies and rushes, and 

 tops of the cabbage palm, are eaten raw. 



ORNAMENTS. 



The ornaments worn by the natives consist of a stick 

 through the septum of the nose, a sort of wig made of the 

 hair of natives of other tribes, which is exchanged for that 

 purpose. Kangaroo teeth are fastened on to locks of hair 

 with a resinous substance used for fastening stone spear-heads 

 on to bamboo shafts ; the heads of small birds and ducks' bills 

 are fastened on to the hair ; bunches of white feathers fas- 

 tened on to a short painted stick are stuck in the hair ; and a 

 narrow strip of bark painted white is tied across the forehead. 

 Necklets made of grass stems cut in half -inch lengths, repre- 

 senting beads, are put on strings and worn round the neck ; 

 also long tassels with small tufts of feathers are fastened to 

 the hair on each side of the head ; the same kind of tassels are 

 also fastened on to the elbows, and rings of grass are plaited 

 round the arms above the elbow, round the wrists and fingers. 

 Painted belts made of bark, and some of female hair, are worn 

 round the waist, but all these ornaments, with the exception 

 of a stick through the nose, kangaroo teeth, and ducks' bills 

 in the hair, necklaces and armlets, are exclusively worn by the 

 men, who also wear a large tassel about nine inches long and 

 six inches wide to cover their nakedness. The Port Essington 

 natives and those along the coast as far as the Koper Eiver 

 M'ear also ornaments made of proper beads obtained from the 

 Malays visiting the coast. 



SIGNALLING. 



The natives have a system of conveying messages to 

 each other at considerable distance, almost as far as they can 

 see each other, by means of signs made with the arms. 

 This system of telegraphing is greatly practised, even when at 

 speaking distance, and consequently some are quite experts iu 



