BY RICHD. HELMS. 
395 
it generally shrivelled to the size of a grain of wheat. The mass 
was freed of the ashes by dropping it by degrees into some vessel 
or on a skin and allowing the wind to sift it; the food was still 
further cleansed from adhering particles of dust and other 
unpalatable substances by gently rubbing it between the hands, 
and rolling it backwards and forwards from one to the other 
whilst blowing from the mouth. The taste of the roasted bodies 
of the " Bugongs " is, according to some Europeans who tried 
them, sweetish and nut-like and rather pleasant eating.* 
This unique food supply is restricted to the highest mountains 
of Australia, but here it can always be found in abundance during 
the summer months. It is a marvel that the highest and stoniest 
ridges, on which snow lies for fully five and sometimes six months 
of the year, with a naturally scanty though rapidly growing 
summer vegetation, should harbour such enormous numbers of an 
insect (the caterpillar of which is known to be very voracious) 
which was at one time the means of fattening a congregation of 
over 500 aborigines every season. 
* After the above was written, I met with Dr. George Bennett's 
work, " Wanderings of a Naturalist in New South Wales, &c.," wherein 
the earliest account of this food supply is given. Dr. Bennett set 
out for "Giinunclery" (the "Big Bugong " Mountain) from the Upper 
Tumut, but he did not meet the blacks reported to camp there 
"Bugonging." His report is consequently from hearsay, and not from 
personal observation. After describing the cooking of the moths, which 
corresponds with the method described by me, he continues: — "They 
are then eaten, or placed in a wooden vessel called a Walbun, or Culibun, 
and pounded by a piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of 
fat, and may be compared in colour and consistence to dough made from 
smutty wheat mixed with fat. The bodies of the moths are large, and rilled 
with a yellowish oil, resembling in taste a sweet nut. These masses (with 
which the " Netbuls " or " Talabats " of the native tribes are loaded during 
the season of feasting upon the " Bugong") will not keep above a week, 
and seldom even for that time ; but by smoking they are able to preserve 
them for a much longer period. The first time this diet is used by the 
native tribes, violent vomiting and other debilitating effects are produced ; 
but after a few days they become accustomed to its use, and then thrive 
and fatten exceedingly upon it." (Vol. i. pp. 271-272.) 
