HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
85 
parts, forms an excellent material for purposes of fire getting in this way and 
may be thus employed, as it is in other parts, though I never heard of its being 
used in this way in the districts visited. 
When once fire has been obtained, great care is taken to preserve its 
continuity by carrying firesticks from one place to another and we occasionally 
saw natives with these in their hands. 
Visiting. 
A considerable amount of formal, not to say ceremonial, courtesy exists 
amongst the blacks. One day, when in their camp at Tempe Downs, two of the 
natives, stated to belong to the locality, arrived from the Mission Station. The 
new arrivals approached silently, without word of speech or sound of recog¬ 
nition on either side, and sat down about twenty yards from the home camp, still 
without a word being spoken. After an interval of two or three minutes, a man 
of the home camp joined the new-comers and sat down by their side, when 
conversation between them began in whispers. Others then approached and 
joined in the conversation, which now became general and was carried on in 
ordinary tones. 
I was given another and somewhat different account of the etiquette of 
visiting amongst the blacks of the Hugh River, who belong to the Arunta tribe. 
In this there was mention of the same silent arrival and halt at some distance, but 
the first act of recognition of the new arrival was the sending over of a lubra to 
the visitor to light a fire, which is done with averted looks on either side. 
Gradually the members of the home group go singly to that of the visitor and 
in course of time the latter, if a male, finds his way into the camp of the young 
men, where, being seated, he sticks a ceremonial stick into the ground in front of 
him as a sort of credential, and enters into conversation. A corrobboree in the 
evening usually follows in honour of the event. 
Games. 
Though we never saw them being actually used in play, I frequently saw in 
native camps broken examples of the long, slender sticks, terminating at one end 
in a fusiform knob, used for playing a game of competition (Plate V., Figs. 3, 3rt). 
In this they are whirled round and thrown with an underhand movement, whereby 
they are made to shoot along the ground for long distances, travelling with a 
peculiar serpentine motion. 
