44 
The Queensland Naturalist June, 1939 
The material collected, though not extensive in range, 
was quite interesting, and could have been further added 
to if time had not been so limited. 
The first point of interest found was a burial cave in 
the face of some rhyolite bluffs among the foothills of 
Razor Back Mountain, or The Lost World. The cave 
itself — which had been formed by weathering and falls 
of rock — was so small that only one person at a time 
could possibly have crept inside. In it were the remains 
of portion of an aboriginal skeleton, obviously there for 
many years. 
When a person died in this district, it was frequently 
the custom of the tribe for the nearest female relative, 
such as the wife, to carry a number of the deceased’s 
bones, including the skull, about in a dilly bag for some 
months, and then to deposit them in a cave such as this, 
or in a hollow tree. 
The only implement accompanying these bones was a 
rather ideal form of quartzite scraper or knife, left as a 
last token by the gin. This implement is composed of 
pink quartzite, is well flaked and possesses three cutting 
edges, one of which shows light secondary chipping. It 
was anparentlv a custom in the Moreton district to leave 
a knife with the bones of the departed, as another skeleton 
collected by myself several weeks ago on the Upper Mary 
River, was accompanied by a fresh water mussel-shell 
knife. 
On another bluff in the same range of mountains is a 
shallow rock overhanging at the bottom of the cliffs, 
used in the old days as a camping shelter. Near this 
was a beautifully ground stone axe, discarded owing to 
a break in the butt end. It shows good flaking, and the 
amount of grinding on the blade is considerable. 
At the other side of the Albert River is a similar 
bluff of rhvolitic rock, possessing the usual shallow 
c^ves. This bluff is situated just above the rain forest 
of the river, and is surrounded by open eucalyptus 
forest, the country being free of undergrowth and alto- 
gether a much more favourable camping spot. 
At the base of the cliffs is a larger cave capable of 
holding ten or fifteen people, and running back for some 
little distance into the rock. It has apparently been 
worn out by seeping water. 
Among the implements found buried in its floor was 
a stone axe made from a creek pebble roughly flaked 
into shape. It also had been discarded owing to a badly 
