Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 | Page 7

place across the continent.
MIGRATION OF THE NATIVES.
Some light may be thrown on the migration of the aboriginal
inhabitants of Australia, by tracing the parts of the coast on which
canoes are in use. It has already been mentioned, that we had not seen

any westward of Clarence Strait, neither were they in use in the bottom
of the Gulf of Carpentaria, nor on the south coast.* By the assistance of
these and similar facts, we may hereafter be enabled to discover the
exact direction in which the streams of population have flowed over the
continent. But I am not prepared to agree entirely with Mr. Eyre when
he concludes, as I have stated, from the fact of the rite of circumcision
having been found on the south and north-west coasts, and on the Gulf
of Carpentaria, that there exists any peculiar connection between the
tribes inhabiting those several points. This enterprising traveller
moreover thinks that the idea he has started goes far towards refuting
the theory of an inland sea, another presumption against which he
maintains to be the hot winds that blow from the interior.
(*Footnote. An inference may be drawn from the parts of the shore on
which canoes are in use, to show that the migrations of the natives, so
far southwards, have been along the coast. The raft they use is precisely
the same in make and size on the whole extent of the North-west coast.)
THEORY OF AN INLAND SEA.
I confess that the theory of an inland sea has long since vanished from
my mind, though I base my opinion on reasons different from those of
Mr. Eyre. The intercourse between natives of opposite sides of the
continent (though it is certainly possible) has never been established,
and while it remains hypothetical, cannot be adduced to overthrow
another hypothesis. The existence of hot winds also blowing from the
interior is not conclusive, as we had, when in the Gulf of Carpentaria,
very cold winds coming from the same direction. We know, however,
that the temperature of winds depends much on the nature of the soil
over which they sweep, for instance, in a cold clayey soil, the radiation
of heat is very rapid.
Before quitting this subject it may be as well to mention that my own
impression, which the most recent information bears out, is that instead
of an inland sea, there is in the centre of Australia a vast desert, the
head of which, near Lake Torrens, is not more than three hundred feet
above the level of the sea. The coast being surrounded by hilly ranges,
the great falls of rain that must occasionally occur in the interior, may

convert a vast extent of the central and lowest portion, towards the
north side of the continent, into a great morass, or lake, which, from the
northerly dip, must discharge its waters slowly into the Gulf of
Carpentaria, without possessing sufficient stability to mark either its
bed or boundaries.
FRIENDLY NATIVES.
To return to the party of natives which has given rise to this digression.
They had clearly never seen a white person before; for they stepped up
to one man of fair complexion, who had his trousers turned up over his
knees, and began rubbing his skin to see whether it was painted. They
came fearlessly to our party, as they were collecting shells at the
extremity of a long flat. One of the officers, who happened to be very
thirsty, placed such confidence in their friendly manner, that he allowed
them to conduct him alone to a small well near the beach, but the water
was too salt to be drunk. The force of habit is astonishing: natives drink
this brackish fluid and find it very refreshing. The small quantity that
suffices them is also surprising, though they will drink enormously
when they can get it.
MODES OF PROCURING WATER.
Their mode of procuring this necessary element is singular, and they
exhibit in this particular much ingenuity and great fertility of resources.
They are never harassed with the idea of being without any; which not
only distresses but adds to the horror of thirst with the European
explorer, who has not experienced the constant watchfulness of
Providence, and does not know that he may collect from the leaves,
with a sponge, on some mornings, as much as a pint of water. This has,
however, been done, even on the south coast, where the dews are not so
copious as on the north-west. The natives themselves are never at a loss
for that indeed precious article, water. They sometimes procure it by
digging up the lateral roots of the small gumtree, a dusty and fatiguing
operation: they break them off in short bits, and set them up to drain
into a