ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION AND OTHER NOTES. 215 



with the mogo or stone hatchet." 1 In 1860 I was working 

 amongst stock on the Clarence and Nymboida, two impor- 

 tant rivers in northern New South Wales, when the blacks 

 were numerous and I saw them almost every day. I 

 frequently crossed streams in bark canoes, but never heard 

 of one cut out of a log of wood by the blacks. In several 

 parts of New South Wales, however, I have seen canoes 

 made by white men for crossing over rivers at sheep and 

 cattle stations. A large, hollow tree was selected and cut 

 clown. The rotten interior was burnt out, and then cleaned 

 more thoroughly with an axe. The ends were then blocked 

 up with thin wooden slabs, securely nailed in position and 

 afterwards caulked with rags or wool. 



From the vagueness of the statements of both Dr. 

 Bennett and Mr. Angas, I feel confident that they never 

 saw log canoes (or "dug-outs") in use by the natives, but 

 that they were misled by the careless reports of white men. 

 It is of course possible that some of the aborigines occas- 

 ionally copied the white man's method of constructing a 

 canoe, after they had been supplied with iron tomahawks 

 and axes, but I never heard of such a case. 



Waugh's Australian Almanac for 1858 ' (Sydney) p. 56. 



