Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/47

42 If they only displayed one half the zeal in procuring and conserving food for consumption during the cold wet months of winter that their various frames call forth, there would not be a tithe of the misery in their midst that now prevails, and which is principally due to the many privations of that inclement season. The conserving of food for hard times should be a duty of the highest moment to them, but being deemed an irksome task, it is consequently distasteful; whereas playing their games, however hard they may work in doing so, is merely recreation, and not at all imperative. Play is, therefore, held in high esteem, and enjoyed accordingly.

During summer, when food of all kinds is abundant, and procured with little labour, the friendly tribes have great gatherings together, at which wrestling and other games are the business of the season.

The natives are great wrestlers, and enter into the exercise with every zest. Their method is different from that which obtains in the wrestling counties of England, or as far as we know, in any other country where the exercise is indulged.

Their system is as follows:—A stalwart native goes out quietly from the camp, to the ground which has been carefully prepared, by the removal of all the inequalities, such as stumps, tufts of grass, etc. In short, the ground is made quite smooth and flat. He is perfectly nude, with the exception of his waist-belt and opossum skin armlets. When he reaches the arena, he walks round it after the fashion of a race horse getting his preliminary canter. During this walk or march, there is abundant opportunity for