652 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 
HOLLOWS IN TREKS. 
A highly valued source of water supply to aborigines is in the 
storage of water in the hollows of trees. ^Natives are enabled to make 
long stages through otherwise waterless areas by this means. Such 
water storages occur far and wide all over Australia. 
The desert oak ( Casuarina Dccaisnrana) more frequently than 
any other is the tree in the cavities of which such supply is found. 
In the fork of the tree there frequently exists a cavity of larger or 
smaller capacity, with a very small orifice usually. The rain-water 
runs trickling down the limbs of the tree to the fork, and, some finding 
its way through the opening, gradually the cavity is filled, and hence 
the natives’ supply. These hollow trees are as well known to the 
aborigines of the region as are their native wells and rock-holes. 
They are pointed out to friends and to whites. The water stored is 
cool and pleasant. Being inaccessible to birds and animals, the water 
is fresh and clear. Sometimes there may be even two or three such 
cavities in one tree. It may be reached from the ground, or it may be 
necessary to climb high into the tree for a drink. It may be a cavity 
between the inner and outer shell of the trunk, or the carefully lined 
hollow of some borer of wood. Sometimes the water is stored in 
cavities of decayed trees, or in “spouts” of dead limbs. Mr. David 
Lindsay (Elder Exploration Expedition, p. 129) describes a Libra in 
Western Australia, discovering such a stock of water in the forked 
limb of a tree growing on the verge of a salt lake, her attention being 
drawn to the tree by a moving rush of small ants, the creatures rush- 
ing in and out of a hole in the fork. On testing the cavity with a dry 
stick, and on withdrawal, finding its end wet, she went to a near bush; 
breaking therefrom several twigs and loosening the bark with her 
teeth, she withdrew the wood of the twigs, leaving the tube of bark. 
Bitting several such tubes together, she formed a pipe, which, being 
inserted into the cavity, enabled her to suck up the water and drink. 
The natives also used hollow stems of grass or hollow reeds lor the 
purpose. A hunch or ball of dry grass is fixed to the point of a spear 
and thrust into the water store. On withdrawal the water is squeezed 
out into a vessel, and the process is repeated till sufficient is obtained. 
This last operation was seen at a cavity in a Murn or mallee-oak, 
and is described by Mr. John Cairns (Transactions of the Philosophical 
Institute of Victoria, 1S58, iii., p. 82). Such reservoirs of water are 
used by the natives year after year, and often become very widely 
known. They are a very well-known feature in the Nullabor Plains 
country. The tree is usually known as a “Box,” of which there 
are several varieties, according to locality. Having thus hastily 
reviewed the aborigines’ forest lore in water-quest, the aid obtained 
from animal life will next be noticed. 
ANIMALS 
Kangaroo , Wallaby , and Dingo . — There is some controversy as 
to the true value of animals as indicating nearness of water in dry 
country. The truth seems to be that, whilst at times they are good as 
indicators, they are at other times untrustworthy and unreliable. The 
animals named seem to he able to travel very long distances into arid 
country, and to subsist for several days at least upon the food eaten. 
Under" such conditions even quite fresh tracks might lure a thirst- 
