Transcription

                                                               257
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
 

REGARDING THE THE TRIBES OF BLACKS INHABITING THE NORTHERN DISTRICTS
 

The habits manner & Customs of the various tribes
of blacks inhabiting New Holland are similar; Each tribe has a particular district alloted [allotted] to them which they call their own, the hunting grounds & fishing places supports [support]  the tribe.
The languages of the tribes differ within one hundred miles, they are frequently called upon to decide the quarrels of their neighbours, & to attend
Corroboras [Corroborees] & Borrahs [boras?] to a considerable distance from their own district.
the scarcity of game they depend upon, for support compels them to shift their Camp every second day - The principal [principle] food of the various tribes of Natives in the interior is the Oppossum, [possum], other mammals such as
Waleroo [wallaroo], Kangaroo, Bandycoot [bandicoot] & Emu may be had in the bush, as also fish in the rivers, these, however, are not always to be depended upon, by these wandering tribes
On the sea Coast their principal support is to be had from their fishing, and what few animals may be found in the bush as also the native fruits in their seasons, the native apple, the Mariba, the Warilla, the Bunyeh fruit, and the Tambothe whole of the Northern tribes depend more or less upon the Goolah grass seed (Panicum Loevinodes) this seed they grind and bake the flour into cakes - they also dig for and obtain and native potatoe [potato], they make Considerable use of the gums got from the Corochin or Kurryjong roots & those of other trees.
It is unjust to term the natives of these Northern Districts as a lazy and indolent & Slothful race, their habits are not like ours, nor are their wants the same,  - The track of Country allotted to each tribe is frequently thinned of their game requiring all the industry of the young and the old  to procure a daily supply for the tribe - The Chief or King regulates the work & duty of the whole tribe, and between nine & ten in the morning all parties leave the Camp in search of the day's provision leaving only the old & infirm with the children . they return an hour before sun down when their game is equal divided, their chief & his wife only receiving the largest share - In general their rectitude & justice among themselves might shame the whites

 

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