November, 1940 
The Queensland Naturalist 
93 
several native rock shelters. 
Used by the aborigines in earlier days, these take the 
form of shallow caves, weathered out in the adjacent 
sandstone bluffs, by the action of wind and water. 
They are similar in every way to those found in the 
Moreton Bay district, but occurring under similar cir- 
cumstances, and in a coastal area, this is not surprising. 
The Lane Cove River was known to the local 
aborigines as ‘ c Turrumburra, ’ ’ the meaning of which I 
believe is “high land.” 
The country round about is certainly high and 
rugged, and the river itself cuts a deep bed through the 
vast layers of sandstone which occur in that district. 
The tribe which, before the advent of the white man. 
roamed this locality, was known as the “Kimalroi” and 
was very closely related both in language and customs 
to the “Bigamhul” tribe of the Darling Downs, Queens- 
land. 
There is a distinct train of evidence connecting these 
two sections from the Darling Downs to the Port Jackson 
district. 
The situation and environments of the rock shelter 
are the next point to consider. The river at this part is 
still tidal, and is fringed by a narrow strip of river man- 
groves on either side, thus supplying an ample, if not 
very varied, menu of salt-water shell fish. 
The country around is the usual, rather sterile 
eucalyptus forest of that area. Tt, however, would pro- 
vide meat in quite a number of forms for these nomadic 
people. 
The rock shelters are really overhangs, at the base of 
small cliffs, not very far above high-water level. On the 
floor is a thick layer of sand (the product of weathering) 
and in it are quantities of old shells, the remains of former 
feasts on that site. 
The most common is the oyster (Ostrea cucuUata), 
obtained from the rocks and mangrove roots, and also by 
diving down to the river bed. We find, too, the common 
“hercules club’’ shell of the mud flats ( Pyrctzus hevculeus ) . 
This is interesting in view of the fact that aborigines 
have smashed off the sharp point at its base, thus 
breaking the vacuum within. The animal was then quite 
easily sucked or poked out of its shell. 
The third specimen is that known nowadays as the 
