408 
ROUTE OF THE NATIVES 
ing the inquiry still further to the east, the position 
I have assumed is more forcibly borne out, for the 
rite of circumcision itself then becomes unknown. 
It is evident, therefore, that the Adelaide or Port 
Lincoln natives could not have come along either 
the eastern or western coasts, and retained customs 
that are there quite unknown, neither could they 
have come across the country inland, in the direc- 
tion of the Darling, for the ceremonies alluded to 
are equally unknown there. They must then have 
crossed almost directly from the north-western 
coast, towards the south-eastern extremity of the 
great Australian Bight. And from them the Ade- 
laide natives would appear to be a branch or offset. 
Returning to the north-west coast, and tracing 
down the route of the third division of the parent 
family, from the south-east Bight of Carpentaria, 
towards Fort Bourke upon the Darling, we shall 
find, that by far the greatest and most fertile portion 
of New Holland appears to have been peopled by 
it. In its progress, offsets and ramifications would 
have branched off in every direction along the 
various ranges or watercourses contiguous to the 
line of route. All the rivers running towards 
the eastern coast, together with the Nammoy, the 
Gwyder, the Castlereagh, Macquarie, Bogan, 
Lochlan, Darling, Hume, Goulburn, &c. with 
their many branches and tributaries, would each 
afford so many routes for the different sub-divisions 
of the main body, to spread over the varied and 
