156 Pearls. 



something about the natives of this part of Austrah'a. 

 These aborigines do not form distinct tribes, but 

 are dispersed in families scattered over the face of 

 the land, and they gain a precarious living by- 

 hunting. When, however, a white man takes up his 

 hunting grounds, erects a house, digs wells and 

 introduces stock, these people come in, and in 

 return for a regular supply of flour and tobacco 

 they undertake shepherding, and other light work, 

 looking at the new arrival as their natural superior. 

 The old men however are equally jealous of the 

 exclusive possession of the women as of the flour, 

 and they are only too glad to see the lads and 

 young men go to dive for the white man ; the 

 junior members of the community invariably obey 

 the wishes of their seniors. Thus for six months 

 the young men work as divers, and during the 

 remainder of the year, they are taken care of 

 on their stations, and become useful as shearers, etc., 

 returning to diving at each successive season. 



Although many of these aborigines, when first 

 set to work, can neither swim nor dive, they soon 

 become adepts in these arts, and after two seasons 

 an Australian becomes a first-class diver. They 

 enter the water feet first, turning so as to swim 

 downwards ; they do not attain such excessive 

 depths as some other races, owing to the nature 



