2o6 THE ABOBIGINES OF AUSTRALIA. 



inense quantities of fish they are enabled to procure in the innumer- 

 able bays and inlets on their coast. 



The AYeal men again are a much finer and stronger race than those 

 inhabiting the coast. They have the advantage of possessing a coun- 

 try lying deep in the interior, — for the most part thickly wooded, — 

 well protected from the cold winds of winter, — and abounding in 

 kangaroo and game of every description. Xot being stinted, there- 

 fore, in their supply of animal food, they appear to be proportion- 

 ably stronger and more robust. 



Again the Cockatoo men are markedly distinct from either of 

 those mentioned. They are generally tall and large-boned men, with 

 high foreheads and aquiline noses. Their appearance indicates, in- 

 deed, a higher degree of intellect than their neighbors, over whom 

 they have contrived to gain a strange and mysterious influence, which 

 will be explained hereafter when referring to their superstitions. 



As each tribe is distinct in appearance, so too is it noted for 

 some one article or weapon, in the manufacture or use of which it is 

 famous. The Murray man possesses the best wood for spears; — the 

 "Weal man is envied for his long, full, and beautiful kangaroo skin 

 cloak, and also for his hammer of stone ; — whilst the Cockatoo man 

 excels in making and throwing that most eccentric and wonderful of 

 all weapons, the boomerang or kilee. 



I have already stated that each tribe occupies its own separate di- 

 vision of territory. The district thus occupied is again subdivided 

 into vaguely defined portions, every family or individual of the tribe 

 having its or his recognised tract of country. This property descends 

 in the family, from one to another, and is considered in every way 

 private property, and the proprietors of such are boastful and proud 

 of their hunting grounds in proportion to their extent and nature. 



But although thus appropriated, it is difficult to say in what the 

 rights of ownership consist, — for agriculture is altogether unknown 

 amongst them, and the various members of the tribe hunt indiscri- 

 minately over each other's grounds. The case, however, is somewhat 

 different in regard to strangers, for should an enemy, or one of another 

 tribe wilfully trespass on these grounds, such a liberty would be imme- 

 diately noticed, and would in all probability lead to acts of violence and 

 retaliation on both sides. And in this right of taking umbrage when 

 convenient, and in making the subject a matter of quarrel, consist, 

 I think, the sole advantages of proprietorship. 



Although thus divided into tribes and families, yet nothing resem- 

 bling a set form of government exists among the Australian Abori- 

 gines ; nor have they either chief or ruler to guide or advise them- 



