Page:Two Representative Tribes of Queensland.djvu/94

84 with perhaps some game, the weaker vessel loaded with the chattels and possibly a baby on the back in a loop of a rug or sitting stride-leg on a shoulder. Some would carry live fire-sticks to save the trouble of producing fire by friction. Arrived at the familiar, well-chosen rendezvous, it was the duty of the women to cut the bark for the humpies (dwellings) and prepare the fires.

The ordinary style of house was a mere bark shelter. Three or four sheets of bark were set obliquely with the lower ends in a semicircle, on the ground, and the upper ends, overlapping, gathered together and supported by light saplings. This sufficed for a family. The dwellings were placed a little distance apart, facing in the same direction and each had its own small fire in front. A large fire would have roasted the inmates. Grass was strewn on the floor for a bed. If rain threatened, a rut was dug round the back of the humpy to serve as a drain. The warriors' spears were stuck in the ground, ready to hand, at the side of the rude shelter.

The blacks were astir early, but they could afford to be, as they often slept in the daytime.