Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/91

II with a group of sub-tribes, or a number of hordes where there is female descent, or clans where there is male descent. More especially is this difficulty apparent when the inquiries have to be made through a distant correspondent, however willing and careful he may be.

I may mention here that when investigating the social organisation of the Australian tribes some 30 years ago, I obtained information as to certain tribes as far north as the Mitchell River in Northern Queensland. This is far beyond the geographical limits fixed for this work, and as that part of Australia is included in the field now being so ably investigated by Dr. W. E. Roth, I omit further reference.

We may now turn to the coast tribes from the Great Australian Bight, along the south, south-east, and part of the east coast of Australia.

My starting-point is Eucla, where a coast tribe is located which calls itself Yerkla- mining. The extent of country which they claimed was, from about 100 miles east to about 40 miles west of Eucla, along the coast, and as far inland as they dared to go. Owing to the barren nature of the country on the north, north-west, and north-east, they rarely went out in those directions farther than 25 or 30 miles, where lies the great Nullarbor Plain, the southern edge of which is about 25 miles from the coast. The Mining know little about this plain or what is beyond it, except that there are tribes of blacks living far to the north. They have a tradition that once long ago, during a wet season, some Mining went out in a north-westerly direction, but seeing footprints of men and marks of fire, and distant smokes, they fled back to the coast. Another reason these people give for not venturing far upon the Nullarbor Plains is that they say they are inhabited by a gigantic snake, which devours every living thing that is so unfortunate as to fall in its way. It does not even spare stones or trees, and its hideousness is beyond their description.