EIGHT YEARS' TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 51

EIGHT YEARS' TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA.

(WfiITT^NFOE THE WITNESS LITTL-E FOLKS

BX OOMPAGNON, WAIKAWA )

Several of the preceding articles have been, and some to follow will be, devoted to brief notice of the fauna and flora of Australia, more especially those of the former, which are consumed by the natires as food, or made use of in other ways. Fearing, therefore, that these letters may, if unrelieved by other matter, prove prosy and dry reading to my youthful readers, it* is intended to devote this to further inform those -who peruse these articles regarding the blacks themselves.

The Australian natives may be regarded as far down in the scale of humanity. They are probably as deeply sank in degradation as .any race of the human family possibly can be ; yet, notwithstanding this, they eDJoy an immunity from many cases which are the inevitable concomitant of advanced civilisation. The finer our feeliaga become and the more sensitive to any violation of those better principles which religion and moral example teach us, the more keenly are we punished by reason of our more acute susceptibilities.

An untutored savage lives for the world that is, without any concern as to the world to come. OiviliaatioD, on the other hand, teaches us to look on the present existence as a mere preparation for that on which we shall enter at death, and so graphically and forcibly is the fear of this Suture existence portrayed by our religious preceptors that despite our increasing struggle to avoid by leading a good life the torments in' store for the wicked that we cling to this life as to a rock overhanging some frightful precipice which yawns beneath.

Entertaining no such fear, death to the blacks IB robbed of its greatest terror. I have tried from members of several tribes to ascertain what their, idea is of a future state of being, but unavailingly. There is a tribe out on the Mary River, near Maryborough, in Queensland, who have a vague idea tbat there are two spirits acting continually against each other. " Weena," the morning atar, is the good spirit, because it is followed by daylight. " Nurgan," the evening star, is by them considered as an evil spirit, because immediately after it rises darkness ensues, and they are in continual cot.flicfc.

Another tribe on the Bogan believeß that after death they pass into a material existence similar to the present. They place a tomahawk and food beside the body of the deceased persoD, evidently intended for their future use and sustenance.

I visited repeatedly the deathbed of a native who had been much associated with Europeans, could sp6ak English fairly well, and was very intelligent. On questioning him as to his belief in a future existence, his uniform answer was : " Byme-bye me go along a God ; plenty tuck out." He had no fear whatever, but was confident that he would soon go to some being living up in the skies, who would always sapply him with plenty of food— proof that he believed in a corporal, and not spiritual, life in the world to come. But even from minor matters which harass and trouble us, the blacks are exempt. By-and-bye, as you little folks grow into youth and men or womanhood, you will learn that the great bugbear of our life here below is discontentment. A man devotes all hia energy, for example, to the acquirement of wealth, and succeeds. Then he builda bwiuviful bouses and lays out fine

gardens. In a few years he deserts all, and lives in a hotel or lonely cottage. Another prefers travel, and visits all the known countries of the globe ; but he may hunt in India or fish in Norway, and yet the ghost of discontent, of ceaseless unrest, will follow him. Go where he may, he wearies of travel and seeks rest. Others, again, marry, and those of them who are rich can enjoy to the full this luxury — a luxury especially their own ; but time robs marriage of its charm to many, and, leaving wife and home with its dull monotony and routine, they seek excitement in war, in politics, or at sea.

Not so the Australian native. A wife obtained, he thinks or cares for nothing, and when his appetite is satisfied bis mind is at rest, his cup of contentment faV.

Even courtship, which so often leads to many foolish acts among the enlightened races, is to the black a very matter-of-fact proceeding, and in this the savage shows superior wisdom. Scarcely a day passes but we read of this one hanging himself, that one drowning himself, and a third committing some atrocious deed because of unrequited affection, the victim little considering that by the girFs rejection of him she. bas bat exercised the ]ust prerogative of anyone in a free country to act according to the dictates of their own unfettered inclination. True, in this a female has the benefit of civilisation, which ofttn the poor savage is denied, for in the case where wives are stolen they must accept or die ; but then you most remember that love in them is merely an idle dream.

Philoprogenitiveness they certainly possess to a very limited degree, but love for the opposite sex to an inordinate dofere?, which in some instances merges on insanity among whites, is unknown.

Racial, social, and other distinctions, which lead to much trouble, and often mar the intercourse of more enlightened nations, ara strictly forbidden at any at their gatherings ; nor do they affect in acy way the marriagu of the sexes of kindred tribe?.

Buo for the encroachment of one or anothsr tribeV hunting grounds, or tbe stealing of women from each other, tribal warfare would not exist, nor be so easily provoked, as it often is among the peopto of our own colour. When they meet at corroborae all are eqaal, and each one gives him or herself over to the' full enjoyment of the time being. These corroborees are very interesting and amusiDg to an onlooker. For days prior to tha event tribes congregate at the appointed meeting place. Tbe trees all along tha paths or tracks leading thereto are rudely carved with images of bird?, btasta, or fishes.

Large hunting paTties are formed in which the warriors of every tribe take part, and an immense quantity of food is obtained for tha feast, which sometimes lasts a week or more. Those who engage in the festivities adorn themselves in the fall panoply of war, paintj'Dg their bodies with red clay, or dyeing them with the joica of herbs. They place bird piumes iv the hair, aad tie wreaths of gum or honeysuckle leaves round thGir lega, below the kne», and appear fully equipped with instruments of war.

Forming into an immeure circle, tha warrior* in the centre, a signal is given by the gins beating three times on a pos;um rug and coolies rattling boomerangs together, with a noise like ttre-sound of afcattle drum, when, tha dance begins. The warriors circle round the ring in a peculiar, half-hopping, half-leaping motion, all in perfect order and exactly iv unison, and as they go they sing a wild, dirgelike chant.

Gradually becoming excited, they leap, yell, and brandish their weapons while, a perfect bedlam of sounds proceeds from the assembled throng. When the warriors tire, old lubras take their place, assuming the moat horrible grimace?, twisting and contorting their faces and bodies in a very disgusting and revolting' fashion, at which the males roar with laughter.

At these meetings the natives give themselves up wholly to every species of enjoyment peculiar to their savage nature, yet I sever heard of any rupture occurring among tribes present who were at other times unfriendly. It seems understood that all racial dislikes must for the time being be controlled.