[Page 11]
10
and then twisted and rolled on the thigh the result
being excellent string almost as tough as whipcord.
Cookery amongst the blacks was a simple and rather "rough and
ready" art. When a 'possum was killed a small hole was cut in its
stomach, the entrails were skillfully extracted and sometimes the
kidney was eaten raw as a special delicacy. If the skin was
not required the animal was then placed on a fire until the fur
was singed off when it was stood before the coals to roast.
All other meat was prepared in much the same way and I
never knew them to eat tainted or putrid meat though they may
have done so if sufficiently pressed by hunger. Flour they could
knead on a sheet of bark and make a damper quite as well as any
white man. By far the largest damper I ever saw was made by
a blackfellow. We were working in the bush and being out of bread
I sent him to the camp to bake. When I came in at sunset I
saw, leaning against a tree, an enormous damper. I said,
in surprise, "Why Joe how did you manage it"? To which
he cyp cryptically replied, "plenty of gum bark".
From a fallen gum tree he had gathered armfulls of
dry bark which, when burnt, produced a splendid bed of
hot ashes in which the big damper cooked slowly and to the core.
The question as to whether cannibalism was practised by the
Australian Aboriginiees has often been debated and
there seems to be little doubt that amongst certain tribes