in particular of the Port Lincoln District. 181 



men plead that they cannot suckle and carrj-^ two children 

 together. The men clear themselves of all guilt, saying — 

 that they are never present Avhen these deeds are committed, 

 and that tlierefore all blame rests with the women. 



Both sexes are very fond of their children, but yet the 

 mothers are most careless with them, and let them burn 

 themselves di'cadfully at times, at their fires, as a conse- 

 quence of Avhieh you seldom meet \ni\\ a native who has not 

 a trace, more or less disfiguring, of having been so burnt. 



In the naming of the children a fixed and very simple rule 

 is followed, according to the number of children born. 

 ¥ov instance, the first-born is called Piri, if a boy ; and Kar- 

 tanye, if a girl. The second one is called Warni, or Warrunya. 

 The thii'd one is called Kunni or Kunta ; and so on, accord- 

 ing to its sex. Tliey have seven or eight such names for each 

 sex. In addition to these names used in familiar inter- 

 course, and answering our Christian names, the child also 

 takes the name of the place of its birth. Both these names 

 they preserve during life, and the males, on attaining the age 

 of manhood, get a third one, under strict observance of many 

 mysterious formalisms which will be described hereafter. 



Although liA'ing in a salubrious climate and on healthy 

 food, the natives are subject to many diseases. Among those 

 which they suffer most from are sores, diarrhoea, colds, and 

 lieadachc. For removing these, or partially curing them for 

 the time, they apply outward remedies, some of which 

 appear to be effective. The chief ones are — rubbing, press- 

 ing, and treading even upon the afflicted parts of the body, 

 in i)articular the belly and the back ; tightening of the belt, 

 and also of the band which they usually Avear round the head; 

 bandaging the diseased part ; sprinkling or washing it with 

 cold water in case of fever or inflammation. Sores or wounds 

 are generally left to take their course, or the utmost done is 

 to tie something tight round it, or, if inflammation has en- 

 sued, to sprinkle cold Avater upon it. Bleeding of the lower 

 arm they apply in cases of headache. A most extraordi- 

 nary remedy against headache I saw applied in 1849, in the 

 case of a woman, who submitted to having her head so cut 

 up by another woman Avith pieces of broken glass, that the 

 blood actually dropped through her thick bushy hair. 



The cure by bleeding is confined to the males only, and is 

 freqiiently applied during the hot season. 



They do not allow the blood to run on the ground, but 

 upon the body of some other man, directing the arm in such 



