Page:Aboriginesofvictoria01.djvu/431

Rh The large tub nearly in the centre of the Fig. 163 is the Tarnuk bullito. It is a large hollowed gnarl. The marks of the fire which was kindled in it to burn out the interior are still clearly perceptible, though it has been hacked and gouged for the purpose of increasing the capacity. It is a very heavy vessel. This is rather an unusual form of the Tarnuk. Such vessels were ordinarily made of the naturally bent limb of a tree, or of an uprooted tree. The limb or tree was placed in a hollow excavated in the ground, and a large cavity was formed in it by burning and gouging. The Tarnuk bullito was not carried from camp to camp. It was too heavy for carriage, and one could always be made at each camping ground, if the old one left by the tribe on the last visit was decayed or damaged. The Tarnuk bullito was used for pounding and macerating the blossoms of the honeysuckle and box, from which a beverage was obtained—sweet—somewhat like sugar and water, but with a flavor of its own. When it was difficult to get a limb of a tree, or a tree suitable for a Tarnuk bullito, the natives cut a thick piece of bark from off the curved limb of a gum-tree, heated it in ashes, and bent it so as nearly to resemble the shape of a canoe, and stopped the ends with clay. This was a temporary expedient most often resorted to on hurried journeys. The bark of the Eucalyptus viminalis was preferred for the purpose.

The two buckets—one with a string for carrying it—on the left-hand side of the figure, and the other on the right—are the Tarnuk proper. This vessel was used for carrying water from place to place when journeying, and for keeping water in when encamped. The women always carry these buckets, and fill