BY GEEARD KREFFT. 3(55 



and became our permanent huntsmen. The boys would go out to 

 collect insects, the women to look for small mammals, and the men 

 looking for the larger game ; they would try their best to please, 

 and obtain the reward offered for some of the more rare creatures, 

 but not succeeding, they would as quickly try to pass off some 

 common animal as the one which we were in want of. 



Being very anxious to obtain Mitchell's tail-less Chceropus 

 (Choeropus ecaudatus) high rewards were offered, though in vain ; 

 the cunning natives, not succeeding in finding the animal required, 

 were in the habit of bringing any number of the common 

 bandicoot, (Perameles obesula) with the tail screwed out. 



Altogether they became very useful, and very much attached 

 to us, (as long as our flour bags lasted, at least) ; but whenever 

 the stock of flour diminished, they would break up their camps, 

 and pay visits at the neighbouring stations ; returning as quick as 

 possible when they heard that a steamer had arrived with fresh 

 supplies. At one time, when about fifty bags were in store, I 

 observed two natives trying to count them ; but, their numerals 

 being limited to one and two, this became rather a difficult task ; 

 rongul means two, and meta one, so that rangul, rangul, meta is 

 equivaleat to five, and so on ad infinitum ; of course, to count fifty in 

 this fashion was too much for them, so informing the tribe that there 

 were thousands of flour bags in the store, they returned shortly after, 

 with a stick, into which they made a notch for every bag, keeping 

 henceforth as good an account as the storeman. Nothing could keep 

 them near the camp, or induce them to exert themselves in hunt- 

 ing, except seeing a good supply of flour on hand ; and when some 

 two months before our return to Melbourne, the stock became 

 very low, and I feared to lose the natives, they were completely 

 out-manoeuvred ; as I filled the empty bags with sand during 

 the night, and piled them up with the rest. 



Never did I behold such astonished faces as the natives 

 showed on the next morning ; they examined the ground for miles, 

 looking for dray tracks, and as no steamer had passed, could not 

 account for the flour thus arrived, and as usual, put it down to 

 the agency of " Devil-Devil." 



I have often tried to find ont if they had any ideas of 

 religion, but without success ; I know that the younger children 



