12 
The Queensland Naturalist 
January, 1939 
that the notches would only have to be opened up once in 
every few successive Bunya feasts, except where a tree 
had grown fast as described above. In a number of cases 
noted relatively large trees have been seen growing close 
against the trunk of a Bunya pine and hiding the scars. 
Such a tree is often eighteen inches or more in diameter,, 
and has obviously grown since the last Bunya feast in that 
area. 
In the monsoon type of rain-forest, which is charac- 
terised by its relative openness, almost all the large trees 
bear aboriginal climbing notches, except where the forma- 
tion is a very large one, when those in the interior of the 
development are not marked. In the wet coastal rain- 
forests the trees in the interior of the formations are 
seldom marked, whilst those within a short distance of its 
edge are invariably scarred. The Australian aboriginal 
was notably very fearful of entering a thick rain-forest, 
on account of the evil spirits which lie knew lived there, 
and he only ventured so far as he knew that he could get 
out again before nightfall. This explains the absence of 
marked trees in the depths of the coastal rain-forests. In 
the more open monsoon forest type as exemplified in the 
Yarraman-Nanango district of the Brisbane Valley, the 
main reason for the absence of aboriginal markings on the 
abundant Bunya pines is possibly the fact that surface 
water is not very plentiful there. Thus suitable camping 
grounds would not be provided in many places. Of 
course, it is possible that their superstitions may also have 
played a major part here as in the true rain-forest types 
such as in the Mary Valley. 
In the Bunya Mountains, which are situated some 
few miles north of Dalby, in South Queensland, the 
aboriginals would never camp the night on the mountains, 
but would always return to the open forest on the lower 
ground before dark. Marks on the rocks in some of the 
peculiar upland savannahs, which are dotted through the 
rain-forests of these mountains are evidently those made 
by natives in grinding the edges of their stone imple- 
ments whilst at the Bunya feasts. It is suggested that 
the presence of these grassy areas is possibly due to the 
continued and regular firing of the areas by the natives. 
There is now ample evidence that the patches are being 
colonised by rain-forest species except where burning-off 
is still carried out annually for grazing purposes. 
To return to the Bunya feast, however, the tribes, in 
converging to their appointed Bunya areas, would gradu- 
ally unite in larger and larger numbers until at length all 
