47l' the tropical world. 



ckmds of spears which are hurled at liim, all combine to form 

 a scene full of dramatic interest. If the criminal is wounded 

 in a degree judged sufficient for the crime he has committed, 

 liis guilt is wiped away, or if none of the spears thrown at him 

 (only a limited number being allowed to eacli) take effect, he 

 is equally pardoned. 



There are other laws intended for the preservation and dis- 

 tribution of food, such as that which forbids all vegetable pro- 

 ductions used as sucli by the natives, to be plucked or gathered 

 wlien bearing seed, and the restriction of youth to certain 

 articles of diet. They are not allowed to eat fish or eggs, or 

 the emu, or any of the finer kinds of opossum or kangaroo. In 

 short, their fare is required to be of the coarsest and most 

 meagre description. As they grow older the restrictions are 

 removed one after another ; but it is not till they have passed 

 the period of middle age that they are ■entirely unrestrained in 

 the choice of food. The result of this regulation is to prevent 

 the young men from possessing themselves by their superior 

 strength and agility of all the more desirable articles of food, 

 and leaving only the refuse to the eiders, to whom another rule 

 requires them to pay implicit obedience. 



Thus, while among most other savage nations old age is a 

 period of privation and neglect, ^ed men are always treated 

 by the Australians with great respect, and as they rarely take 

 part in any fray, and seldom appear to suffer much from the 

 infirmities and diseases to which the aged are generally subject 

 amongst us, it is probably the happiest time of their life. 



It is commonly supposed that the natives of Australia are 

 about as badly off for food as the African Bushmen or the 

 Fuegoans, but according to Captain Grrey, this is a great 

 mistake, for every native knows exactly what his district 

 produces, the proper time at which the several articles are in 

 season, and the readiest means of procuring them. Besides, he 

 is pre-eminently omnivorous, including frogs, mice, grubs, and 

 lizards in his bill of fare, and making the roots of the earth, 

 the fishes of the water, the birds of the air, and the animals of 

 the bush contribute to his support. In order to obtain all the 

 different articles of food, he displays a wonderful ingenuity, and 

 never appears to greater advantage than while busily engaged 

 in the pursuits of the chase. When hunting the kangaroo, he 



