291 



punished with death, hut sometimes another painful punishment 

 is inflicted. This is as follows : — 



The man accused of adultery or elopement is brought to the 

 camp, and condemned to be gidjied. He sits silently on the 

 ground, with his legs stretched out in front of him, whilst his 

 offence is being discussed by the offended and the old men. When 

 the decision has been arrived at, the offended man takes a spear, 

 and drives this through the culprit's thigh, and pins it to the 

 ground. This is to signify that he has been served the same way 

 as he has offended ; inasmuch as he has pierced the offended 

 man's flesh (that of his woman, whicli is his property), so his 

 flesh is pierced. 



LANGUAGE. 



Tlie language of all the coastal blacks is very expressive and 

 descriptive, althougli as a whole very simple. In many ways the 

 words are modulated by affixes and prefixes, and abbreviations 

 are in common use. Many of the names of animals, particularly 

 of birds, are adapted from the natural sounds these produce. 

 (These remarks may be justly applied in a greater or lesser degree 

 to all tlie dialects of the Australian races.) 



Notes eeferrixg to the Kimberley Natives. Supplied by 

 Mr. W. Paterson :— 



" The natives of this district eat a certain kind of fruit that 

 ripens about Christmas, swallowing the stone it contains with it, 

 and repeatedly resorting to the same spot, deposit their voidings, 

 generally close to their camping-place. When returning after 

 some time to the locality they pick the stones from out of the 

 excrement, and after cracking them eat the kernel."*^' 



" All circumcise and slit the urethra, which operations are 

 generally performed at the age of 16 or 17. I never saw any that 

 wei'e not slit completely down.f 



* During our trip great numbers of Quandong stones ( Saiitalnm acumi- 

 natnm), either dispersed or in small patches, were frequently observed in 

 the neiglibourhood of waterholes. At first it was generally believed that 

 these were brought there by the natives, who, it was supposed, had eaten 

 the flesh of the fruit and discarded the stones. But later on I discovered 

 that they were voided by emus, whicli habitually visit the waters, and no 

 doubt during droughts often come from great distances. The kernels of 

 these nuts are edible, and may probably be eaten by the natives when 

 found in this rather objectionable state during times of severity. May not 

 the kernels which Mr. Paterson speaks about have been voided by emus 

 instead of by men ? 



t Evidently the terrible rite does not prevent impregnation, although it 

 must help to avoid it. The statement that all have to submit to it corre- 

 sponds with that of Billy Weaver (vide supra), and also with my own 

 observation. The assertion made by some writers that certain individuals 

 are left exempt from it for the purpose of propagating the race must, there- 

 fore, be relegated to the domain of the fabulous. 



