NATIVE NOSE ORNAMENT 233 



the Chinese they completely ignored ; but to myself and 

 my white servant, Thomas Anderson, they were quite 

 friendly. This did not prevent our being very guarded in 

 our movements and keeping a strict watch all night, 

 though I have never met with an instance of attack from a 

 tribe that has been thoroughly friendly. The Australian 

 black is not so treacherous as he is often described to be. 



This tribe passed the night about half a mile distant 

 from our camp, and did not attempt to follow us in the 

 morning, though they again tried to dissuade me from 

 continuing the journey. The males of this tribe, and all 

 others I met with in the district, had a piece of reed 

 pushed through the middle cartilage of the nose. It was 

 more than a foot long, and projected beyond the face on 

 each side like a well-waxed moustache. This singular 

 custom seems to have been originally copied from a 

 similar one amongst the natives of New Guinea, and to 

 have gradually travelled to this region, the natives of 

 York Peninsula being the first inhabitants of the Australian 

 continent to adopt it. The operation of thrusting the 

 reed through the nose is attended with considerable pain 

 and loss of blood, but I could not discover that the custom, 

 like the knocking out of teeth practised by some tribes 

 living further south, has any religious significance, or is 

 connected with the induction to manhood. Though these 

 natives used a reed, a piece of wallaby bone or emu bone is 

 more often seen in the noses of those who inhabit the 

 country further to the south. 



Continuing my journey in a south-easterly direction, we 

 came about noon to a wide open plain, across which some 

 columns of dust, occasioned by whirlwinds, were travelling 

 at the rate of about twelve miles an hour, for a brisk breeze 

 was blowing, though the weather was beautifully bright 

 and clear, and quite hot, the wind moderating the heat 

 but very little. 



This plain was sandy and very sparsely covered with 

 trees and bushes, though there was grass and some low, 

 weedy scrub. Judging from the number of old fireplaces 

 we saw, the spot seemed to be a favourite resort of the 



