62 
Message-stick— Aboriginal “ Yabber-stick,” flat side. £ ‘ Yabber-stick,” rounded side. 
writing to be found in his tribe ; and lie told me the only sort they recog- 
nised was a message to the effect to come along because there was to be a 
big fight. He said this communication consisted of a small piece of bamboo 
with a thread tied round and then passed through it. There would appear 
to be considerable differences, even among very nearly adjacent tribes, in 
literary advancement, so far as writing is concerned. 
Was this letter from Spider, like some of the smoke signals the 
aboriginals use, merely a preconcerted sign, or can some of these tribes 
arrange and combine elementary characters or signs so as to convey 
complex messages ? 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
thought he was a little better. The nurse was good enough to procure the 
first letter for me (see accompanying figures). One day I happened to be 
talking with a very intelligent blackfellow, and I asked him, “ You savee 
writing ? ” He said, “ Yes : me savee writing.” I handed him the stick and 
said, “ You savee this one writing?” He took it in his hand, looked at it 
carefully on both sides, seemed disappointed, and said at length, “ Me no 
savee Borroloola writing.” He was right. I found that Spider, the writer 
of the letter, was a Borroloola boy. I then asked him about the kind of 
