inside out, and the ends of the legs tied up, and are
then ready for holding water, and always form part
of the baggage of natives who travel much about, or
go into badly watered districts. I have seen these
skins (lukomb) capable of holding from two to three
gallons of water: the fur is always inside.
The karko is a small spade of wood, used by the natives
north of Adelaide for digging up grubs from the ground.
The canoe or “mun” is a large sheet of
bark cut from the gum-tree, carefully lowered to the
ground, and then heated with fire until it becomes
soft and pliable, and can be moulded into form, it
is then supported by wooden props, to keep it in shape,
until it becomes hard and set, which is in about twenty-four
hours, though it is frequently used sooner. On
its being launched, sticks or stretchers are placed
across each end and in the middle, to prevent the
bark from contracting or curling up with exposure
to the air. A large canoe will hold seven or eight
people easily; it is often twenty feet long.
The following is a description of an ordinary one
for fishing:—length fifteen feet, width
three feet, depth eight inches, formed out of a single
sheet of bark, with one end a little narrower than
the other and pointing upwards. This end is paddled
first; the bottom is nearly flat, and the canoe is
so firm, that a person can take hold of one side,
and climb into it from the water without upsetting
it. It is paddled along with the long pine-spear
moo-aroo, described as being used in fishing at night
by firelight. In propelling it the native stands
near the centre, pushing his moo-aroo against the
water, first on one side and then on the other; in
shallow water one end of the moo-aroo is placed on
the bottom, and the canoe so pushed along. The
natives are well acquainted with the use of fire, for
hardening the points of their weapons or softening
the wood to enable them to bend them. In the
former case, the point is charred in the fire, and
scraped with a shell or flint to the precise shape
required; in the latter, their spears, and other similar
weapons, are placed upon hot ashes, and bent into
form by pressure. It is a common practice among
many of the tribes to grease their weapons and implements
with human fat, taken from the omentum, either of
enemies who have been killed, or of relations who have
died. Spears, and other offensive arms, are supposed
to possess additional powers if thus treated; and
nets and other implements for procuring game are imagined
to become much more effectual in ensnaring prey.
In setting nets, too, the natives have a practice of
taking up a handful of water to the mouth, and then
squirting it out over the net, in a shower of spray,
this they think is a powerful charm to ensure the fish
being caught.