Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/105

 then upon the grass the animal or meat to be cooked, more grass is heaped on the meat, then more hot stones on top of that, and then over all is placed a quantity of earth or sand. As the cooking goes on a smooth pointed stick will be thrust down through to reach the lowest hot stones without touching the food, and then withdrawn; water is then poured into the hole made by the stick to increase the steam below. When the food is supposed to be cooked, the top earth is carefully taken away, then the stones and grass, and there is the meat. I can assure the reader that the savoury smell of meat cooked thus is most appetizing. The only sweets which the Narrinyeri knew of, before the advent of Europeans, were the honey of the native honeysuckle or Banksia, the honey of the grasstree flowers (Xanthorrhoea), and the manna which falls from the peppermint gum (Eucalyptus); these they used to gather carefully, and infuse them in water, and drink the infusion with great enjoyment. The Narrinyeri make a great many mats and baskets of different kinds. Most of them are made of rushes, worked together with a sort of stitch. Baskets and mats of various shapes are thus produced. Another kind of mat is made of the bark of the mallee scrub, dried and beaten into a fibrous mass. This is worked together with meshes, and makes a thick durable mat. Sometimes a quantity of the shaggy sea weed, which is found on the shore, is washed in fresh water and dried, and worked into the mat, forming a sort of shaggy nap. Such a mat would be used as a bed. The Aborigines obtain a great many skins of wild animals, and peg them out on the ground until they are dry. Kangaroo and other large skins are used in this state as mats to keep off the damp when camping on damp ground. Oppossum skins, after they are dried, are carefully scraped, then scored across the fleshy side with a sharp stone or shell to make them flexible, and, after being cut into squares, sewn together with the small sinews of a kangaroo’s tail, and an excellent warm rug is produced. Now-a-days common European thread is used to sew the skins together, but the rugs are not so durable.