they obtained it by rubbing round rapidly in their hands a piece 

 of hard pointed stick, tlie pointed end being inserted into a notch 

 in another piece of dry wood.* And an ancient ex-bushranger 

 tokl Mr. Bonwickf that to produce fire the natives got two pieces 



soft downy inner bark of trees was mixed with powdered charcoal 

 and placed in the hole and friction with the other stick ignited 

 this and produced a flame." 



Mr. Curr+ denies that the Tasmanians practiced the corroboree 

 but there is abundant evidence that they did. Mr. Davies says 



Mr. Bonwick writes " The corroboree in the Tasuianian woods 



moonlight though by no means confined to that season. A great 

 corroboree took place at the full moon of November each yean^'i^ 

 And Mr. Hill's more precise description of their singing and 

 dances is well worth noting. "They sang," he says, ''all joining 

 in concert and with the sweetest harmony. They began, say in 

 D or E, but swelling "sweetly from note to note, and so gradually 

 that it was a mere continuation of harmony ; their dances are a 



ar 



e also precis 



ely like what is 



commoi 



I in 



Australi 



I 



have heard, 



without parallel 



elsewh, 



Bre. 







Another ex. 



imple of the invalidity o 



fre, 



asoningfi 



of 



certain prac 



;tices in Tasiuan 



ia that 





e found 





the following from Mr. Curi 





my 



3T. 



work. " The 



Tasmanians," 1: 



le says, 





)st excellent 



ned nor dis- 



owelled 1 



tire." In the same work we are told j| that the Muliarra tribe in 

 Western Australia place the animal to be roasted on the tire whole 

 and take out the entrails when it has been partly cooked. He 

 continues " Fire was not made by friction of wood nor cannibalism 

 nor circumcision practised." First rate testimony has already been 

 adduced to the knowledge possessed by the Tasmanians of pro- 

 ducing fire by friction. If we afiinn that they were not cannibals 

 we must base our opinion upon our ignorance rather than oui- 

 knowledge, but even if they were not, we find in this respect a 

 likeness between them and certain Australian communities, as for 



