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in a hurry, I have also seen the blacks put the game, whatever it 

 may be, on top of the fire, which is a quicker process of cooking- 

 it, but does not make it so palatable, as in that way it often gets 

 scorched on the outside before it is scarcely heated through. 



The vegetable food is far less tasty, and also less nutritious. 

 Principally the seeds of the vai'ious acacias and some grass seeds 

 are looked for, and, when pounded, are mixed with water and 

 formed into cakes, which are baked in the primitive fashion on 

 hot ashes. Near some of the larger rock -holes the flat surfaces 

 of the surrounding rocks bear traces of the grinding operations, 

 that most likely have been carried on in the same locality for 

 generations. Many of these spots are not only worn quite smooth, 

 but are also ground away to some depth into the rock, forming 

 concave indentations through repeated working in one place. 

 Small oval-shaped boulders that have been used for grinding, and 

 are worn smooth in consequence on the one side, can be found 

 lying about in many directions ; they are of different sizes, and 

 have evidently been used either with one or both hands. 



The seeds of the Kurrajong (Br achy chiton Gregorii) are eaten 

 when roasted, and are then a very agreeable tasting food, much 

 resembling pea-nuts. Very frequently when this tree was met with 

 in the Victoria Desert some bruised roots of it were found lying 

 about, indicating that they had been chewed for their sap and the 

 nutriment they contained. The taste of the young roots somewhat 

 resembles that of nuts, and on the bark of these trees nearest the 

 wood a thin layer of a glutinous substance is found, which is of a 

 similar flavor, though rather sweeter, but certainly of a very plea- 

 sant taste. However, this seems to be only a kind of make-shift food 

 and is probably only resorted to when hunger is pinching very 

 hard. The same may be said of the food prepared from the bark 

 of the mallee roots, although these trees occur more abnndantly 

 and are oftener called into requisition as food suppliers. Only 

 the bark of the younger roots is used — that is to say, those meas- 

 uring from half an inch to nearly an inch and a half in diameter; 

 the bark of the larger roots being too woody. After the bark is 

 stripped it is placed on a slow fire, and in a little while the outer 

 black skin becomes blistered and loosened by the development of 

 vapor, and is then easily removed. When this is done the bark 

 is dried on the embers till it gets perfectly crisp, and then it is 

 broken into small fragments. Of these a handful is taken and 

 firmly held down by the left hand on a thick piece of bark, and 

 with the wanna firmly held in the right hand it is pounded into 

 a kind of dust that closely resembles the broken awns of barley. 

 The skill displayed by the women during this manipulation is to 

 be admired. An opening of only about an inch in diameter is 

 left between the thumb and index finger of the left hand just 



