232 THE REGULATION OF NUMBERS 



parts of Australia ', says Thomas, ' can the native count on 

 anything hke regular suppHes of food '/ and we hear of those 

 powers of enduring hunger and thirst so common among these 

 races and so incomprehensible to Europeans.^ 



Burchell is enthusiastic about the Bushmen ; ' as we rode 

 onwards, I could not cease admiring the beautiful symmetrical 

 form of our Bushman guide, who walked and sometimes ran before 

 us, with a gait the most easy and free that I ever beheld. All the 

 hmbs, unshackled by clothing, moved with a grace never perhaps 

 seen in Europe. The contemplation of his well-proportioned, 

 although small and dehcate figure, his upright manly port, liis 

 firm and bold step, and the consciousness of liberty which beamed 

 in his countenance afforded us indescribable pleasure.' ^ Never- 

 theless the Bushmen had ' periods of fasting ' * and were ' often 

 destitute of food for several successive days during seasons when 

 both roots and game were scarce '.^ They were also ' capable of 

 remaim'ng a long time without food, and could then devour 

 immense quantities of meat without any ill-effect '.^ 



In most countries a lean season occurs periodically once or more 

 every year. Such lean seasons are more exacting in some regions 

 than others. The Australians manage to subsist for the most part 

 without storing up food ; ^ in other countries the storing of food 

 becomes a necessity.^ We often find that where food has to be 

 stored up the stock runs low towards the end of the lean season. 

 The Eskimos have to depend for many months upon the food they 

 have preserved, and if for any reason, as for instance the late 

 formation of the floe, their calculations are upset, they may be 

 placed in a very trying situation.^ Of them we hear stories, as of 

 other races, regarding their powers of withstanding hunger ; ' a man 

 who has eaten nothing for three days, at least nothing but sea grass, 

 can manage his little kayak or canoe in the most furious waves '.^^ 



' Thomas, Natives of Australia, p. 88. See also Eyimann, loc. cit., p. 293. 

 ^ See, for instance, Palmer, J. A. I., vol. xiii, p. 281. ^ Burchell, loc. cit , 



vol. i, p. 422. " Stow, loc. cit., p. 91. ' Ibid., p. 180. " Theal, 



loc. cit., p. 36. See also Moffat, loc. cit., p. 57, and Campbell, Personal Narrative, 

 p. 88. ' Thomas (loc. cit., p. 117) speaks of storing up of food. The Kumai 



do not store up food, but the Dieri, who are closely allied to them, do so on 

 a small scale (Fison and Howitt, loc. cit., p. 108). 



* The beginnings of this custom are foimd among the Fuegians. Darwin says 

 that ' when they find a stranded whale, they bury large portions in the sand, and 

 durmg the often recurrent famines travel from great distances for the remnants 

 of the half putrid mass ' ( Voyage, vol. i, p. 327). 



» Boas, 6th A. R. B. E., p. 427. See also Rink, loc. cit., p. 186. " Crantz 



loc. cit., vol. i, p. 134. 



