CHAPTER III. 
POOD — HOW PROCURED — HOW PREPARED — LIMITATION AS 
TO AGE, ETC., ETC. 
The food of the Aborigines of Australia em- 
braces an endless variety of articles, derived both 
from the animal and vegetable kingdom. The 
different kinds in use depend in a great measure 
upon the season of the year and local circum- 
stances. Every district has in it something peculiar 
to itself. The soil and climate of the continent 
vary greatly in their character and afford a corres- 
ponding variety of productions to the Aborigines. 
As far as it is yet known there are no localities on 
its coast, no recesses in its interior, however sterile 
and inhospitable they may appear to the traveller, 
that do not hold out some inducements to the bor- 
dering savage to visit them, or at proper seasons of 
the year provide him with the means of sustenance. 
Captain Grey remarks, in volume 2, of his travels, 
page 261 — 
“ Generally speaking, tlie natives live well ; in some dis- 
tricts there may at particular seasons of the year be a deficiency 
of food, but if such is the case, these tracts are, at those times, 
deserted. It is, however, utterly impossible for a traveller or 
even for a strange native to judge whether a district affords 
an abundance of food, or the contrary ; for in traversing exten- 
