ROVING HABITS DEPENDANT ON FOOD. 297 dergo in the hands of the natives has no effect upon the kernel, which still acts both as a strong emetic and cathartic. I have taken some trouble to ascertain if any traditional notion exists amongst the natives, which would in any way account for their having first obtained a knowledge of the means by which they could render the deleterious pulp of the Zamia nut a useful article of food; but in this, as in all other similar instances, they are very unwilling to confess their ignorance of a thing, and rather than do so, will often invent a tradition. Hence many intelligent persons have raised most absurd theories, and have committed lamentable errors. The other kinds of food which I have mentioned on the list scarcely require a particular description. They are collected by the people as they rove from spot to spot, and are rather used as adjuncts to help out a meal than as staple articles of provision; several of them are, however, much liked by the natives, and they always regulate the visits to their hunting grounds so as to be at any part which plentifully produces a certain sort of food, at the time this article is in full season: this roving habit produces a similar character in the kangaroos, emus, and other sorts of game, which are never driven more from one part than from another, in fact, they are kept in a constant state of movement from place to place; but directly an European settles down in the country, his constant residence in one spot soon sends the animals away from it, and although he may in no other way interfere with the natives, the mere circumstance of his residing there does the man on whose land he settles the injury of depriving him of his ordinary means of subsistence. If the land of any native is deficient in any particular article of food, such as, by-yu, mun-gyte (Banksia flowers), &c. he makes a point of visiting some neighbour, whose property is productive in this particular article, at the period in which it is in perfection; and there are even some tracts of land which abound in gum, kwon-nat, &c. which numerous families appear to have an acknowledged right to visit at the period of the year when this article is in season, although they are not allowed to come there at any other time. This is a curious point, and might throw some further light upon the subject of their families, or lines of descent. It must be borne in mind, that the articles of food I have enumerated in this chapter belong only to a particular district of about two hundred miles in extent, for every degree of latitude some articles would disappear from the list, whilst other new ones would enter into it. For instance, on the North-west coast, they eat a species of oyster, (unio,) the almonds of the pandanus, wild grapes, guavas, the excellent fruit of a species of capparis, and many other articles which are not known upon the South-west coast; but these are procured and cooked in the same manner as the articles which I have already enumerated. My object being merely to give such an outline as would enable the reader to understand IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS. 299 well the mode of life of an Australian savage, I did not think such particular details necessary, as I should have been led into, had I enumerated all the sorts of food which I have seen eaten by the natives in Australia. CHAPTER XV. SONGS AND POETRY. GENERAL PRACTICE OF SINGING-SONG OF AN OLD MAN IN LIKE all other savage races, the natives of Western Australia are very fond of singing and dancing: to a sulky old native, his song is what a quid of tobacco is to a sailor; -is he angry, he sings,-is he glad, he sings,-is he hungry, he sings,-if he is full, provided he is not so full as to be in a state of stupor, he sings more lustily than ever; and it is the peculiar character of their songs which renders them under all circumstances so solacing to them. The songs are short, containing generally only one or two ideas, and are constantly repeated over and over again, in a manner doubtless grating to the untutored ear of a European, but to one skilled in Australian music, lulling and harmonious in the extreme, and producing much the same effect as the singing of a nurse does upon a child. Nothing can give a better idea of the character of these people than their songs. In England, an SONG OF AN OLD MAN IN WRATH. 301 elderly gentleman, who has been at all put out of his way by encroachments and trespasses upon his property, sits over his fire in the evening, sipping his port, and brooding over vengeance by means of the law; but the law is tortuous, expensive, and uncer tain ; his revenge is very distant from him; under these circumstances, the more the elderly gentleman talks, the more irate he becomes. Very different is the conduct of the elderly Australian gentleman. He comes to his hut at night in a towering passion; tucks his legs under him, and seats himself upon his heels before the fire; he calls to his wife for pieces of quartz, and some dried kangaroo sinews, then forthwith begins sharpening and polishing his spears, and whilst thus occupied, sings to himself— I'll spear his liver, I'll spear his lights, I'll spear his heart, I'll spear his thigh, After a while he pauses and examines the point he has been working at; it is very sharp, and he gives a grunt of satisfaction. His wives now chime in The wooden-headed, Bandy-legged, Thin-thighed fellows The bone-rumped, Long-shinned, Thin-thighed fellows. The old gentleman looks rather more murderous, |