KNOWLEDGE. 



[January 1, 1900. 



Like all tribes who have been brought into con- 

 nection with Europeans, the Australian aborigines, 

 especially in the districts longest colonised, have 

 altered — and frequently for the ■worse — from their 

 primitive condition ; while they have also sadly dimini- 

 shed in number. Writing, under the pseudonj-m of " An 

 Old Bushman,' so long ago as I860, an observant 

 settler in the vicinity of ilelbourne made the follow- 

 ing remarks; — " Of the many thousands who inhabited 

 the colony before the arrival of the white man. not 2000 

 survive, and most of these are on the banks of the 

 Murray. Although debased far below their own 

 savage level since their intercourse with the white man, 

 the few that are left still retain much of that free in- 

 dependent spirit and wild roving disposition which 

 characterize all savages who have to get their living 



being consumed with relish. Probably the difficulty 

 of obtaining a sufficient food supply from other sources 

 was originally the reason that cannibalism came into 

 vogue, but when once established it assumed a promi- 

 nent place, Dr. Lumholtz telling us that human flesh 

 is the greatest dietary luxury that these people in 

 their primitive condition enjoy. In the proper sense oi 

 the term the Australian appears to have no religion at 

 all ; at anj' rate it has been authoritatively stated that 

 he has never been observed either to pray, worship, or 

 offer sacrifice, and that in his natirral condition he 

 has no sort of conception of a future state of existence. 

 His extremelv low grade of development is likewise 

 strikingly exemplified by the treatment accorded to the 

 female sex — a treatment perhaps only paralleled 

 among the Fuegians. Such of my readers as wish to 



Fig. 2. - Group of West Australian Aborigini ?. 



by the chase. For although they get their rations all 

 the year round at the head station, they never care to 

 live long in one place ; but, following up the habits 

 of their early life, make periodical excursions into the 

 bush at different seasons, when the different game is 

 in Thus swans' eggs, kangaroo, ducks, eels, and cray- 

 fish, all furnish them with food and occupation at 

 different seasons." 



The procuring of a sufficient supply of food is indeed 

 the great problem of the life of the aboriginal Aus- 

 tralian ; especially as his weapons, with the exception 

 of the boomerang, are of an extremely poor descrip- 

 tion. Consequently these people, if we may judge 

 from the accounts of those who have had the best 

 opportunities of observing them, are some of the best, 

 if not actually the best hunters and trackers in the 

 world ; indeed, Dr. Semon unhesitatingly assigns to 

 them the highest position in this respect. Nothing 

 that can be in any way regarded as edible seems 

 to come amiss to an Australian, even such unsatis- 

 factory morsels as grasshoppers, beetles, and fleas 



learn how brutal this treatment is, may refer to the 

 works of Dr. Semon and Mr. Brough Smyth ; but no 

 good object would be gained by quoting the pitiful 

 details in this place. Neither need detailed reference 

 be made to the complicated system of class marriages 

 which obtains among certain of the tribes. Although 

 under a careful system of education in European 

 schools the native children are capable of acquiring a 

 certain amount of knowledge, displaying a decided 

 capacity for drawing, there can be no doubt that the 

 mental capacity of the Australian in his primitive con- 

 dition stands at an extremely low level. No better 

 exemplification of this can be cited than his arith- 

 metical capacity — or rather incapacitv. So low indeed 

 does he stand in this respect, that none of the tribes 

 have a word to express a number higher than three, 

 while some content themselves with those for one and 

 two. Mr. E. M. Carr is of opinion that no uuin- 

 structed Australian native can by any possibility 

 count even as high as seven correctly. " If you lay 

 seven pins on a table," he writes, " for a Black to 



