Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/122

117 infest the shepherds' dogs with mange (that nasty disease being a portion of their normal condition), and as it is a virulent form of the complaint from which they suffer, common remedies fail to combat it with any degree of success. Then the abominable noise at night, when they commence to howl, is surely something to remember when once heard; a feline serinade [sic] is a trifle by comparison, and that is allowed by every one to be sufficiently horrible to rouse the ire of the most patient.

In connection with these dogs, and the habit the aborigines have of making bedfellows of them, there is one feature which we think both striking and peculiar, and that is this fact:—Until the advent of Europeans these people had never seen or heard of fleas, although of the other kinds of parasites common to the filthy portion of civilisation they possess legion. These latter have been a continual source of annoyance to the natives from the remotest period, and although they have waged a continuous war against them, even from one generation to another, still the filthy pests have held their own.

With the exception of the hair on the face and head the natives remove every thing of a capillary nature from the body, even to the covering of the pudenda; this operation is effected by means of a red hot coal, and is therefore both slow and disagreeable; this tedious and unpleasant process, however, is borne without demur, as it is performed with the view of ridding themselves of the parasitic pests, or at least keeping the interesting insects within reasonable bounds. Besides these measures they manipulate each others heads, as, 'tis said, is the habit of