3S HORN EXPEDITION — NAliUATlVE. 



a louder refiaiu and then gradually sink back into a subdued and monotonous 

 I'epetition of the notes as if the music were dying away in the distance. 



In the evening we saw the coi robboree perfoiined for which these Ijlaci'is were 

 thus prepai'ing, and one of the moveiiKMits in which is represented in tlie j>hot(j- 

 grapli reproduced in the Anthropological section. .Sometimes the complete per- 

 formance of such a corroljl)oree will extend over several evenings, reminding one 

 in this respect of the long drawn-out performances of the Chinese and Japanese. 



In the camp at Crown Point they were gathered together in little groups, 

 men in one, women and children in another, the tire always the central point. 

 Some of the men were weaving ojjossum hair string, others were making im|)le- 

 ments of various kinds, aiul others grinding Munyeru. The latter is the little 

 black seed of Claytonia Balonnensis, and it is prepared by putting it on a lai'ge flat 

 stone and then grinding it with another small Hat stone held in the hands. Water 

 is eveiv now and then poured on, and the muddy loojsing mixture tumbles over 

 the edge of the under stone; into a i-eceptacle and is then ready for eating, either 

 raw or after roasting. Another favourite food is the bulb of an amaryllid plant 

 called by the natives Irri-akura.* This the women go out and gather in hundreds. 

 The ground Munyeru tastes as it looks, like black mud ; but the Irri-;"lkura is not 

 at all bad and has a decidedly nutty ilavour. 



As to weapons and implements, these are comparatively few in number and 

 usually devoid of the elaborate linisli and ornamentation characteristic of those 

 belonging to the nu)re nortiiern Ijlacks. \ complete account of them is given in 

 the Anthropological secti<in, so that only those will be mentioned here such as every 

 blackfellow carries about with him. 



The spears are (jf two kinds, barbed and unbarbed, the former usually made 

 of at least two pieces carefully spliced together. The; main shaft is often composed 

 of Tecoma w(jod straightened by cai-eful heating in the tire and Ijy subseciuent 

 pi'essuie. The point is nuule of hard Mulga, and to this a little recurved wooden 

 barlj is atllxed Ijy means of enm or kangaroo sinew. The unbarbed form may be 

 of consideraljly greater- length than the barl)ed one, and the rarer ones are made out 

 of the desert oak [Casi/ariiui Dccaisneana). Every man carries two or three spears 

 aiul a spear 1 hrower or aniera f This is a bro id hollowe(l-(iut piece of wood, t;ipering 



» This i)ro\ OS to be (>;)('/ i/s ;-(/^///i/».t, li.ivinj,' btxii detcrinined from plants yrowii by Dr. Stirling- from bulbs 

 brou^bt doH'M by himself to Adelaide. In other parts it is known as "Nut-grass." 



t The word "wommera," so eonunon in various other parts of Australia, is not applied to the speartlirowtr in 

 the eentral districts. 



