31 



round a stick, or round a lock of hair on the head of the 

 man who may wish to keep some of them for future use ; the 

 entrails are emptied and eaten ; the tail is usually roasted 

 on the coals and eaten immediately; the large joints are 

 cooked in a stone oven, and after some hours, or a whole 

 night, are taken out and shared by all. The ulna and fibula 

 are preserved for making stone spearheads; the other bones 

 are crushed with the norgu and the marrow extracted. 



Cooking and Sharing a Fish. 



A fish is roasted on the coals, without being scaled or gutted. 

 The one who has speared the fish sits down and eats what he 

 wants, then rises and walks away. His next friend now sits 

 by the remnants of the fish, and, after eating his share, makes 

 way for another ; and so on. until it is consumed. Each 

 successive partaker of the fish leaves a proportionately smaller 

 share for the next one, and anxious eyes watch its gradual 

 disappearance. Frequently some of the watchers are dis- 

 appointed, as the fish fails to last till their turn, but I have 

 not seen anything in the nature of a rush for a share, though 

 fights occur when one person considers his claim has been 

 •overlooked. 



Honey . 



In addition to game and fish a very considerable amount 

 of the honey of native bees is obtained. The little "sugar- 

 bag fly," familiar throughout Northern Australia, is very 

 numerous in this country. Known to the Wororra as 

 "nyineeng," their hives are very frequently found in the 

 hollow boughs of the stunted bloodwoods, and usually yield 

 about half a pint of delicious honey. Honey, wax, pollen, 

 and young bees are all eaten by the Wororra, with the 

 exception of such wax ' as may be wanted for caulking an 

 ungum, or used in sticking feathers to the moustache and 

 beard. 



A large form of native bee also occurs, known as Tan- 

 unga." This bee makes about three times the quantity of 

 honey that is stored by the little "sugar-bag." 



Other Foods. 



Several kinds of edible berries are found at different 

 seasons of the year, and in picking them the Wororra are 

 very careful not to injure the tree. 



Clams, periwinkles, shells, crabs, and a very fine large 

 rock oyster are obtained on the visits to the coast, but the 

 main food supply is the crop of native roots, varying with 

 each month. 



