Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/288

 210 THE PORT LINCOLN TRIBE. perfectly erect and free, motions of body easy, and gestures natural under all circumstances, whether speaking, fighting or dancing; and with regard to agility, they throw the white man completely into the shade. Of the women, however, one cannot speak so favourably, their persons being generally disfigured by very thin extremities, protruding abdomen, and dependent breasts, a condition that may perhaps be sufficiently accounted for by their early marrying, inferior food, and long suckling of children, it being by no means uncommon to see a child of three or four years still enjoying its mother’s breast. Although to a passing observer the Aborigines of this district may appear all of the same stamp, yet, upon a longer acquaintance with them, considerable difference will be found to exist, not only with regard to size and make, but also in the colour of their skins; while the northern tribes, who inhabit a scrubby country, generally exhibit very dark and dry-looking skins, one often meets among those from the south and west, with faces that might be almost called copper-coloured. Whether this be owing to the influence of climate or food I will not venture to determine; but I think I have observed that the strongest and best fed natives are always of the lightest colour. DRESS. The dress of the Port Lincoln natives consists simply of one or two kangaroo skins, and but rarely of rugs made of wallaby, opossum, or other furs, the preparation of which is performed in the following simple way: As soon as the skin is taken from the animal it is firmly stretched on a level spot of ground by means of pegs inserted round the edge, the flesh side being upwards; when it is dry all fleshy substances that adhere to the skin are gently pulled or shaved off with a sharp-edged piece of quartz, it is then rubbed with the rough surface of an ironstone, which makes it both soft and pliable. The skins are then sewn together with the sinews from a kangaroo’s tail, holes for this purpose being made with a thin pointed bone. Some of the rugs thus constructed are well enough, but upon the whole they are