January, 1939 The Queensland Naturalist 
11 
ed into the right foot-hold, then the left one, from which 
position he repeated his performance of making two 
further cuts, and by this means gradually progressed up 
the tree. The cutting of the foot-holds required quite a 
large amount of work and perseverance owing to the crude- 
ness of his tool, namely, his stone axe. These axes were 
of necessity very blunt, and their action was rather one of 
bruising than of cutting, and the Bunya bark is tough 
and hard. 
When the trees were smaller, such as those with a 
girth of 5 feet and less, a shorter length of vine, if this "was 
to be used, would be procured. One end was tied around 
the native's left wrist, whilst a knot was tied at the other 
end which, after being passed around the tree, was held 
in his right hand. In another method a loop "was tied at 
each end of the vine, and being passed about the tree 
trunk, one hand was passed through each loop. In neither 
of these latter cases would the vine be passed about the 
climber's body. 
The cuts made were often a foot in length horizon- 
tally, and in depth about two inches. In no case which 
has been examined do the scars extend into the wood of 
the tree. Perhaps the thickness of the bark, usually above 
three inches in a well-grown tree, and in extreme cases up 
to fourteen inches, account for this, or else the natives 
may have found, by centuries of experience, that the 
Bunya when deeply scarred, is liable to rot and subse- 
quent decay ; this latter theory is, however, improbable. 
Often several sets of mounting notches are present on 
the one large tree. The reason for this is unknown. The 
bark is hard, and the scars would have been difficult to 
make, so that there was probably some special significance 
attached to this practice. The natives were very super- 
stitious, and perhaps some of the climbing avenues became 
in time to be deemed unlucky, and a new lot had to be cut. 
Once the scars were cut there would be no further 
need for the vine in climbing owing to the hand and foot- 
holds provided. In the rain-forest where the majority of 
the trees are situated, growth is normally extremely slow. 
This is due to the competition for moisture, light and 
nutrients among the numerous trees present, hence the 
occlusion of the scars is very slow. Even now, at least 
sixty years since the Bunya feast last took place, the scars 
are plainly visible except where rapid growth is taking 
place, such as on the edge of the forest or inside it where 
competition has been relieved by the removal of one or 
more of the dominant trees. From this it will be seen 
