Expeditions into Central Australia, vol 2 | Page 4

HAVING BEEN VISITED BY EUROPEANS--GRASS-TREES MET WITH--A KANGAROO KILLED--CATCH FISH--GET ANOTHER KANGAROO--CRAB HUNTING--RENEW THE JOURNEY--CASUARINAE MET WITH--CROSS THE LEVEL BANK--LOW COUNTRY BEHIND IT--CAPE ARID--SALT WATER CREEK--XAMIA SEEN--CABBAGE TREE OF THE SOUND--FRESH WATER LAKE--MORE SALT STREAMS--OPOSSUMS CAUGHT--FLAG REEDS FOUND--FRESH WATER STREAMS--BOATS SEEN--MEET WITH A WHALER
CHAPTER IV.
GO ON BOARD THE MISSISSIPPI--WET WEATHER--VISIT LUCKY BAY--INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES--WYLIE UNDERSTANDS THEIR LANGUAGE--GET THE HORSES SHOD--PREPARE TO LEAVE THE VESSEL--KINDNESS AND LIBERALITY OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER--RENEW JOURNEY TO THE WESTWARD--FOSSIL FORMATION STILL CONTINUES--SALT WATER STREAMS AND LAKES--A LARGE SALT RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY
CHAPTER V.
LARGE WATERCOURSE--LAKE OF FRESH WATER--HEAVY RAINS--REACH MOUNT BARREN--SALT LAKES AND STREAMS--BARREN SCRUBBY COUNTRY--RANGES BEHIND KING GEORGE'S SOUND ARE SEEN--BRACKISH PONDS--PASS CAPE RICHE--A LARGE SALT RIVER--CHAINS OF PONDS--GOOD LAND--HEAVILY TIMBERED COUNTRY--COLD WEATHER--FRESH LAKE--THE CANDIUP RIVER--KING'S RIVER--EXCESSIVE RAINS--ARRIVAL AT KING GEORGE'S SOUND, AND TERMINATION OF THE EXPEDITION--RECEPTION OF WYLIE BY THE NATIVES
CHAPTER VI.
CONCLUDING REMARKS

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS--UNJUST OPINIONS GENERALLY ENTERTAINED OF THE CHARACTER OF THE NATIVE--DIFFICULTIES AND DISADVANTAGES HE LABOURS UNDER IN HIS RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS--AGGRESSIONS AND INJURIES ON THE PART OF THE LATTER IN GREAT DEGREE EXTENUATE HIS CRIMES
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE--DRESS--CHARACTER--HABITS OF LIFE--MEETINGS OF TRIBES--WARS--DANCES--SONGS
CHAPTER III.
FOOD--HOW PROCURED--HOW PREPARED--LIMITATION AS TO AGE, etc.
CHAPTER IV.
PROPERTY IN LAND--DWELLINGS--WEAPONS--IMPLEMENTS--GOVERNMENT--CUSTOMS--SOCIAL RELATIONS--MARRIAGE--NOMENCLATURE
CHAPTER V.
CEREMONIES AND SUPERSTITIONS--FORMS OF BURIAL--MOURNING CUSTOMS--RELIGIOUS IDEAS--EMPIRICS, etc.
CHAPTER VI.
NUMBERS--DISEASES--CAUSE OF LIMITED POPULATION--CRIMES AGAINST EUROPEANS--AMONGST THEMSELVES--TREATMENT OF EACH OTHER IN DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD, etc.
CHAPTER VII.
LANGUAGE, DIALECTS, CUSTOMS, etc.--GENERAL SIMILARITY THROUGHOUT THE CONTINENT--CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES--ROUTE BY WHICH THE NATIVES HAVE OVERSPREAD THE COUNTRY, etc.
CHAPTER VIII.
EFFECTS OF CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS--ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVEMENT AND CIVILIZATION--ACCOUNT OF SCHOOLS--DEFECTS OF THE SYSTEM
CHAPTER IX.
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SYSTEM ADOPTED TOWARDS THE NATIVES 458
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EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES OF NATIVE ORNAMENTS, WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS, AND WORKS OF INDUSTRY

LIST OF PLATES.--VOL. II.
Distribution of flour at Moorunde, G. Hamilton Arrival at King George's Sound, J. Neill Plate I.--Native Ornaments Kangaroo Dance of King George's Sound, J. Neill Woodcut of a Standard used in the Dances performed by day Plate II. Native Weapons Plate III. Native Weapons Plate IV. Native Implements Plate V. Native Works of Industry Mode of disposing of the Dead of the Lower Murray Murray River at Moorunde Plate VI. Miscellaneous Native Articles 1. Head of war spear of the North Coast, barbed for 3 feet, total length 9 1/2 feet. 2. Head of fish spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total length 8 3/4 feet. 2. Head of spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total length 8 3/4 feet. 4. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of quartz, 6 inches, total length 9 1/2 feet. 5. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of slate, 6 inches, total length 9 1/2 feet. 6. Two handed sword of hard wood, North Coast, 3 1/2 feet. 7. Throwing stick of North Coast, 3 feet 1 inch. 8. Throwing stick of North Coast, very pliant, 3-16ths of an inch only thick, 3 feet 6 inches. 9. Broad short throwing stick, 2 feet 2 inches. 10. An ornament of feathers for the neck. 11. Five Kangaroo teeth in a bunch, worn round the neck. 12. A net waistband or belt, from Murray River, 8 feet long 6 inches wide. 13. Plume of feathers tied to thin wand, and stuck in the hair at dances--New South Wales. 14. War club. 15. War club. 16. Bag of close net work. 17. Band for forehead of Swan's down. 18. Root end of a kind of grass, used as pins for pegging out skins. 19. Sorcerer's stick. 20. Sorcerer's stick.

VOLUME II

JOURNAL OF EXPEDITIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA, IN 1840-1.
Chapter I.

THE CAMP PLUNDERED--NIGHT OF HORRORS--PROCEED ON TO THE WESTWARD--THE BOYS FOLLOW US--THEY ARE LEFT BEHIND--FORCED MARCHES--DESERT COUNTRY--BANKSIAS MET WITH--TRACES OF NATIVES--TERMINATION OF THE CLIFFS--FIND WATER.
Glancing hastily around the camp I found it deserted by the two younger native boys, whilst the scattered fragments of our baggage, which I left carefully piled under the oilskin, lay thrown about in wild disorder, and at once revealed the cause of the harrowing scene before me.
Upon raising the body of my faithful, but illfated follower, I found that he was beyond all human aid; he had been shot through the left breast with a ball, the last convulsions of death were upon him, and he expired almost immediately after our arrival. The frightful, the appalling truth now burst upon me, that I was alone in the desert. He who had faithfully served me for many years, who had followed my fortunes in adversity and in prosperity, who had accompanied me in all my wanderings, and whose attachment to me had been his sole inducement to remain with me in this last, and to him alas, fatal journey, was now no more. For an instant, I was almost tempted to wish that it had been my own fate