24 
permit the warmth and smoke of the fire to impinge freely upon 
his bare belly for a considerable time. 
For wounds of all descriptions a universal remedy is emu fat 
and ochre, which really appears to be a most effective application. 
Broken limbs they cannot * set.” On several occasions natives 
were met with who had previously broken a leg. The bone had 
grown together again in a distortel and awkward position. The 
natives referred to limped very badly, and used a stick to assist 
them in walking. 
Diseases.—The natives, without exception, were healthy, and 
happily free from those contagious diseases which have become 
so general among the blacks nearer to civilization. What was 
at first mistaken for a widely distributed skin disease proved to 
be nothing more than scabs and slight wounds, produced by 
carrying the firestick too close to the body while in motion ; the 
hot air and burning particles blowing against the body cause 
slight burns on the skin, which are subsequently made worse by 
irritation through scratching.* 
What is rather an annoyance to the natives are the various 
kinds of prickles and seeds of grasses entering the soles of their 
feet and breaking off at the base. The embedded point produces 
inflammation and suppuration around it, and causes pain. Many 
an hour is spent at the camp-fire in removing such prickles from 
the feet, the native every now and then emitting a subdued 
“irr,” partly expressing pain, and partly disgust or temper. The 
method adopted by the natives of walking one behind the other 
where possible is partly on this account, namely, to minimise the 
risk of picking up prickles with their feet. 
An unusual case came under notice north of the Mann 
Ranges. A boy, about seven years of age, had a very large scar 
covering about half the area of the upper skull, over which the 
growth of hair appeared to have been permanently destroyed. 
The scar was not unlike that produced by a burn. 
Weapons, Implements, etc. —In the making and use of imple 
ments and weapons the tribes encountered during the expedition 
were particularly primitive, more so, apparently, than in any 
other part of Australia. A fair amount of hunting is done with 
the simple aid of stones and sticks, which are used to hurl at the 
smaller game. Boomerangs, waddies, shields,f and other impor- 
tant weapons recorded for different tribes are not known, as far as 
* Compare Helms: Rep. Elder Exped. Trans. Roy. Soc., S.A., vol. xvi., 
page 242. 
T H. Y. L. Brown reports that shields are employed in the Musgrave 
Ranges: Rep. Trip Warrina to Musgrave Ranges. Adelaide: by 
Authority : 1889; and W. R. Murray writes: “1 have seen no shields 
г stone axes here."— Extracts from Journs. of Explorations by В. T. 
aurice. Adelaide: by Authority : 1904, page 19. 
