42 



the east, probably by river routes, and was transmitted dowm 

 the Murray, making its effects severely felt among the 

 Narrinyeri and Adelaide tribes, probably between 1830 and 

 1835 — at any rate. before the advent of the white settlers in 

 1836. If, however, Mr. Tapiin and some others are correct 

 in their estimates of the length of a long period of elapsed 

 years, without any facts to guide them as to its real dura- 

 tion, there may have been outbreaks both in Victoria and 

 South Australia earlier in the century. 



10. To Central Australia the disease may have come from 

 either the north or the east or even from the south — none of 

 these routes would have presented difficulties in transmission ; 

 but the invariable migration of certain practices from north 

 to south is suggestive of the first-named direction. 



11. In the actual circumstances of the Swanport burials 

 there is no very distinct evidence of the incidence of the 

 disease in such a catastrophic form as to have caused the 

 natives to abandon their ordinary methods of interment for 

 a promiscuous sepulture, though, according to their tradi- 

 tion, the onset was sudden and the mortality great. 



Conclusion. 



I had hoped in this account to have been able to give 

 some brief survey of the general characters of the Swanport 

 remains. This, however, I am not yet in a position to do, 

 for, apart from the fact that the inquiry pursued in the pre- 

 ceding pages has proved a longer task than I had anticipated, 

 the number of the remains is so considerable, and the bones so 

 mixed, and, in many cases, so broken that the task of sorting 

 and mending is still far from complete, though the whole 

 of our available staff has been engaged in the work ever since 

 the arrival of the remains at the Museum. Besides, their 

 number is still being increased by further additions from the 

 same locality. All I can say now is that the total number 

 of individuals represented by the remains actually received 

 at the Museum, though in many cases only by odd bones or 

 fragments of bones, will probably be found to be about 160. 

 Probably the number actually met with was still greater, for 

 some of the remains have, no doubt, found other destinations. 

 In age they vary from extreme senility, as shown by the 

 edentulous condition of the jaws, to that of children under 

 six months. In some of the remains pathological conditions 

 are present. 



At a future date I hope to report further on these 

 remains from a craniological , osteological, and pathological 

 point of view, but as this work will necessitate many hun- 

 dreds of measurements and calculations of indices it will 

 require some time. It will also be necessary to make pro- 



