202 Australian Life 



formed the subject of countless stories, many of 

 which can be readily verified. Attached to the 

 police force of each of the Australian States is a 

 band of these black trackers, whose services are 

 most useful in tracing the footsteps of criminals 

 or of unfortunates lost in the bush. 



These trackers are drawn from the wildest and 

 least civilised tribes of Northern Australia, and 

 it is curious to notice how rapidly they lose the 

 instinct which makes their services of value. 

 After a very few years, it is generally found 

 necessary to dismiss them and to fill their places 

 with men freshly drawn from the wild existence 

 natural and necessary to the welfare of the Aus- 

 tralian blacks. In a book on the Black Police of 

 Queensland, Mr. E. B. Kennedy, who had a long 

 and varied experience with that force, narrates 

 many instances of the tracking ability of the 

 black-fellow. One of these is of especial signifi- 

 cance, because it proves that the tracker loses 

 none of his skill when transferred to another 

 land where the local conditions are unfamiliar 

 to him. 



Attached to one of the Australian contingents 

 sent to the Boer war was a native Australian 

 tracker called Billy. Some English officers, when 

 discussing scouting and kindred topics with their 

 Australian colleagues, expressed their doubt as 

 to the powers of the tracker being as great as 

 they were represented, although admitting their 

 belief that the stories told them might have some 



