DAINTY BITS 287 



She IS extremely susceptible to kindness, and, as is recorded 

 of the women of most savage people, very apt to entertain 

 a dog-like affection and fidelity for those white men who 

 form connections with them ; and in spite of the lack of 

 personal attractions in the native women, their white 

 husbands generally become strongly attached to them, 

 and rarely forsake them. Unions between white men and 

 native women are by no means rare among such classes 

 as shepherds, stock-riders, and men of the lower classes 

 generally, who live much on the back-runs, where white 

 women are seldom or never seen. 



The food of the native black consists of everything 

 swallowable which he can lay hands on. It has been 

 asserted that he eats the most revolting objects, such as 

 slugs, worms, and beetles. Well, I have seen boiled snails 

 placed for sale in a shop at Bristol, and heard that it was a 

 common dish in that part of England. It is true that the 

 black esteems certain large grubs a great dainty, and 

 habitually eats large numbers of snakes. 1 have not seen 

 him eat worms or beetles, but I have seen several persons 

 of no mean station in English society eat cheese which 

 was alive with maggots, to say nothing of their fondness 

 for stinking game. Tastes are certainly variable, and the 

 liking of the Australian black for grubs and snakes is no 

 sufficient evidence of his being a peculiarly disgusting 

 feeder. The assertion that he eats his offensive tit-bits 

 raw is not, I think, correct. My experience is that, with 

 few exceptions, he cooks his food. Snakes and grubs are 

 grilled, and so are all kinds of fish and game. Shell-fish 

 and a few other dainties he prefers to eat raw ; and most 

 civilised men think an oyster spoiled if cooked. Again I 

 say that tastes are relative. Hodge, who sits under a 

 hedge to eat his bread and bacon, is a vulgar creature in 

 the eyes of some fantastical persons — the great landscape 

 painter generally esteems him a very picturesque figure. 



The bulk of the native blackfellow's food is of a similar 

 character to that which all hunters esteem and eat with 

 gusto. He contrives to procure fish and game of 

 all sorts, and where these abound he is a well-fed and 



