AUSTRALIA 53 
seen on the borders of the rivers, lakes or swamps, where 
the duck tribe alsoabound. Other aquatic birds are the pelt- 
can, Australian goose, and that rara avis of the Latin 
writers, the black swan. The game birds, pigeons, ducks, 
quail, geese, etc., are numerous. 
There are many reptiles, the larger being the alligator, 
found in some of the northern rivers. There are upward of 
sixty different species (or varieties) of snakes, some of 
which are very venomous. Lizards, frogs and insects are 
also ntumerous in various parts. The seas, rivers and 
lagoons abound in fish of various varieties, and also other 
aquatic animals, many of them peculiar, Whales and 
seals frequent the coasts. On the north coasts are extensive 
fisheries of trepang much visited by the natives from the 
Indian Archipelago. ; 
The natives belong to the Australian negro stock, and 
are sometimes considered the lowest in intelligence in the 
whole human family. They are believed to number 31,000 
exclusive of those in the unexplored portions of the island. 
They are of a dark brown or black color, with jet black 
curly but not wooly hair, of medium size, but of inferior 
muscular development. In the settled parts of the conti- 
nent they are inoffensive and are rapidly dying out. They 
have no fixed habitations ; in the summer they live almost 
entirely in the open air, and in the more inclement weather 
they shelter themselves with bark erections of the rudest 
construction. They have no domestic animals. Their 
food consists of such animals as they can kill, and no kind 
of living creature seems to be rejected: snakes, lizards, 
frogs, and even insects being eaten, often half raw. They 
are ignorant of the potter’s art. They speak a number of 
different languages or dialects. The women are regarded 
merely as slaves and are frightfully maltreated. They are 
said now to have no religion, a statement which it is hard 
to believe. ‘They are poloygamous. They are occasionally 
employed by the settlers in light kinds of work and as. 
horse breakers, but they dislike continuous occupation and 
