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[Page 10]
String was made from currajong bark and other trees
including the inner bark of the descending roots of the
parasitic giant fig tree. I have seen a blackfellow stripping
and bundling this for string but I don't recollect
ever seeing the actual process of manufacture, though
I have been told that the bark was soaked in water
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 a
nd 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 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 Aborigines has often been debated
and there seems to be little doubt that amongst
certain tribes of the northern and interior regions
of our vast continent the practice was not unknown. I have, however, never been able to hear of any authentic
case of cannibalism on the East coast of New South
Wales either from my talks with pioneers of the north
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coast of the far south coast. Nor yet from written
evidence such as the "Tindal Letters" (Clarence and
Hunter rivers 1843 to 1859) and Robert Dawson's
book in which he writes very fully on the subject in
relation to the Port Stephens, and adjacent, natives
whom he had unique opportunities of studying during
the years 1826 to 1829. The gist of his remarks is
that he neither saw nor heard of any reliable case of
this revolting custom during his travels over the A.A.
Company's grant or even beyond its boundaries.
Moreover, with the sea, many rivers, creeks, and
lagoons* teeming with fish, oysters, and mussels; with
bushes and forests abundantly stocked with game, not
to mention other minor sources of food supply, there
was no need for the coastal natives to become cannibals
by reason of the starvation urge as might be the case
with those of the arid and comparatively foodless interior.
Another subject which has been freely discussed is
the origin of the Aborigines. Where did their ancestors
or progenitors come from and how long were their
descendants in undisputed possession of this island continent
before the advent of the white man, heralded
by Captain Cook? The answer to these questions may
well be left to anthropologists to do the best they can
with them but, even so, any answer must be more or
less surmise, for there is little data to work upon, and
therefore it seems likely that the actual genesis of the
Australian Aborigine will remain a veiled mystery for
all time.
Universal customs amongst the blacks, such as tattooing
and the "making of young men", or "bora"
ceremonies have been written about almost "ad nauseam"
nor can I add anything of special interest or
[unreadable text on page, text below obtained from "Some Recollections and Records of the Clarence and Richmond River Aborigines, Compiled by Robert Leycester Dawson, September 1935 - Page 12"]
* The half caste Freeburn told me that, in his boyhood, the Yumbah tribe
usually spent the winter some miles inland getting their food supply from the
forest animals and other products of the bush. When a certain plant, or shrub,
called by them "nu-um-nu-um," came into blossom they knew that the fish
were beginning to run and that it was time to shift camp to the Clarence
Heads to enjoy a change to fish diet. These they speared or netted as the
shoals swam in from the sea.
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value, except to say that these customs were common
to the Clarence and Richmond and, in the early 'seventies,
I remember a bora ring on our property across
the Back Creek from Bentley.
Before concluding these "recollections"; what of the
general characteristics of the blacks of the far northern
rivers and of their early relations with, and treatment
by, the white usurper? There is a good deal to be
said upon this somewhat controversial subject.
Recently, turning over "Sydney Morning Heralds"
for the year 1848, I came across several letters from the
Clarence river relating pitiful stories of depredations
by the blacks. Cattle slain, herds and flocks harried,
crops robbed, and other aggressions. Truth to tell, these
stories seemed to me to be second hand and exaggerated
and it would be interesting to hear the other side were
it possible to obtain it. But even allowing the stories
to be true and correct in all details it is fairly certain
that these depredations by the blacks were reprisals for
unfair and unjust treatment by some of the whites who
looked upon the original inhabitants of the country they
arrogantly took possession of as savages to be kept
under, and held under, by the strong hand rather than
by humane and kind treatment. Pioneers like the
Ogilvie's of Yulgilbar, the Tindals of Ramoruie, the
Hawkins-Smiths of Gordon-Brook, the Bundocks of
Wyangarie, A. A. Leycester of Tunstall and others I
could name who treated the blacks firmly, yet with
intelligence and kindness, and looked upon them as
probable friends instead of potential enemies, had little
trouble and in fact got good and willing help and service
in return for their humanity.
During my own personal experiences with our dark-
skinned friends, dating from 1869 to 1894, they had
become more or less civilised, especially the younger
ones, for they spoke fair English, wore clothes, and
only went naked when back in the bush, were fairly
regularly employed by white settlers, had acquired a
liking for the white man's food and, also, for his vices.
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