Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/38

 In summer, when the surface of the ground is parched, and the marshes dried up, the natives carry a long reed perforated from end to end, which they push down the holes made by crabs in swamps, and suck up the water. When obliged to drink from muddy pools full of animalculæ, they put a full-blown cone of the banksia tree into their mouths, and drink through it, which gives a fine flavour to the water, and excludes impurities. The name of the cone, when used for this purpose, is tatteen mirng neung weeriitch gnat — 'drink eye banksia tree belonging to.'

The southern portions of Australia are remarkably deficient in native fruits, and the only kind deserving the name is a berry which the aborigines of the locality call 'nurt,' resembling a red-cheeked cherry without the pip, which grows abundantly on a creeper amongst the sand on the hummocks near the mouth of the River Glenelg. It is very much sought after, and, when ripe, is gathered in great quantities by the natives, who come from long distances to feast on it, and reside in the locality while it lasts. In collecting the berries they pull up the plants, which run along the surface of the sand in great lengths, and carry them on their backs to their camps to pick off the fruit at their leisure. On the first settlement of the district by sheepowners these berries were gathered by the white people, and they made excellent jam and tarts.

There are strict rules regulating the distribution of food. When a hunter brings game to the camp he gives up all claim to it, and must stand aside and allow the best portions to be given away, and content himself with the worst. If he has a brother present, the brother is treated in the same way, and helps the killer of the game to eat the poor pieces, which are thrown to them, such as the forequarters and ribs of the kangaroos, opossums, and small quadrupeds, and the backbones of birds. The narrator of this custom mentioned that when he was very young he used to grumble because his father gave away all the best pieces of birds and quadrupeds, and the finest eels, but he was told that it was a rule and must be observed. This custom is called yuurka baawhaar, meaning 'exchange;' and, to show the strict observance of it, and the punishment for its infringement, they tell a story of a mean fellow named Wirtpa Mit, signifying 'selfish,' who lived on kangaroos, which were very scarce in those days. When he killed one he ate it all himself, and would not give away a morsel. This conduct so displeased his friends that they resolved to punish him, but as it was difficult to do so without infringing the laws of the