BY JAMES BACKHOUSE WALKER, F.R.G.S. 69 



Tasmanians originally knew notliing of ground stone 

 implements belonging to the Neolithic Australians. As 

 Tylor remarks : — " The Tasmanians were undoubtedly 

 at a loAV palaeolithic stage, inferior to that of the Drift 

 and Cave men of Europe." 



Baskets. — In his first edition Mr. Roth figures three 

 patterns of baskets as made by the Tasmanians. One of 

 these, presented by Dr. Milligan to the British Museum, 

 is of the ordinary pattern of very simple construction, of 

 which there are several examples in our Museum, and 

 which are undoubtedly Tasmanian. The other two were 

 presented by G. A. Kobinson to Dr. Davis. They are 

 of different and more complicated patterns, and of forms 

 very common in Australia. Whereupon Mr. Roth 

 remarks that these baskets are doubtless Australian : 

 that Robinson was for some time protector of the abori- 

 gines in Victoria, and was so unobservant that he did not 

 distinguish between baskets of Tasmanian and Victorian 

 workmanship. 



Mode of Obtaining Fire. — A more interesting question, 

 and one which must be considered as still open, is — How 

 did the Tasmanians obtain fire ? The early voyagers, 

 seeing rough stone implements resembling flint at the 

 camping places, jumped to the conclusion that the natives 

 obtained fire by percussion of flints. This supposed 

 method may be dismissed from consideration, and the 

 question resolves itself into an inquiry as to how they 

 obtained fire by the usual savage method of the friction of 

 two pieces of wood. Mr. Roth, in his first edition, figures 

 afiredrill (p. xi.) from a specimen labelled as Tasmanian, 

 and presented by Dr. Milligan to Dr. Davis. In the 

 second edition he figures two firedrills, viz., the one above- 

 mentioned and another presented by G. A. Robinson to 

 Sir John Lubbock. Now, R. H. Davis, who wrote a 

 valuable paper on the Blacks, whom he knew after their 

 captivity on Flinders, states that he was informed that 

 they used a drill for obtaining fire. The drill method, 

 in which a drill is rapidly revolved between the hands, 

 is in use among some Australian tribes, as it is or was 

 among the South African Bushman tribes, but there is 

 no direct evidence that it was known to the Tasmanians. 

 There is evidence, however, derived from the statements 

 of early settlers, that our blacks obtained fire by the 



