Journals of Expeditions of Disc

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the average number of persons to be found in any given space. Nor will this appear at all surprising, when the character and habits of the people are taken into consideration. Destitute of any fixed place of residence, neither culti

ether in the same place, and the circumstance that its quality, and abundance, or the facility of obtaining it, are contingent upon the s

e may be in. A district that may at one time be thinly inhabited, or even altogether untenanted, may at another be teeming with populatio

ce and stealth with which all their movements are conducted, so slight a trace is left to indicate their line of march, and so small a clue by which to detect their presence, that the stranger finds it impossible to tell from any thing that he sees, whether he is in their vicinity or not. I have myself often when travell

necessary to preserve this concealment, vol. i. p. 147, he says: "Immediately numbers of other natives burst upon my sight, each tree, each rock, seemed to give forth its black denizen as if by enchantment; a moment before the m

ome belong to the district and others not. In all there is a difficulty in ascertaining the exact number of any tribe, or the precise limits to which their territory extends in every direction around. Even could these particulars be accurately

e to vary so much from district to district, from season to season, and to depend upon so great a variety of loc

ived at the conclusion, that, in 1843, there were about sixteen hundred aborigines, in regular or irregula

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altogether only about 3000 natives. This however, appears to me to be a considerably under-rated number, and I should rather incline to the opinion, that there ar

om Moorunde, about three to four natives to every mile of river, which as it winds very considerably in its cou

n either side; but as these range through a great extent of country beyond the valley,

ur to five hundred collected, and among those,

together, where they had no other motive to collect in so larg

y in observing the novelties around them, in meeting strange tribes, and joining them either in war or festivity, in procuring tools, clothes, etc. to carry back and barter in their own districts, and for other similar objects. Thus, Adelaide is nearly always occupied by tribes from one part or other of the country: on an average

present 283 men,

resent 374 men, w

resent 400 men, w

resent 450 men, w

resent 793 men, w

oorunde, to issue a certain quantity of flour once in the month (at the full moon) to every native

rage attendance were 52

erage attendance were 94

erage attendance were 13

rage attendance were 171

cts of interest and attraction, and re-remain there for several months at a time, and especially during the winter. As fast, too, as one party returned to their own districts, another would go into town, and thus the average number would be constantly kept down. A third reason why the musters do not appear so large as th

e fact of the more distant tribes who visit Europeans stations, frequently leaving their younger wives, or little children at home, with aged relatives, whilst they themselves go to a dist

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t other places. I can only account for this upon the supposition before given, that when large bodies of natives leave Moorunde for Adelaide, more men than women go away, and that consequently a larger proportion of females is left behind. Mr. Moor-hous

rise in some measure from females assuming the duties of women, and being classed as such, at an age when males would still be considered as only boys. The pri

s, that his investigation has led to the conclusion that each woman has, on an average, five children born (nine being the greatest numbe

to be going on among the more numerous tribes of the Aborigines, I allude to the fact of there only having been fifty-two young infants among

d that there was one female to every 1.3 males. With respect to the duration of life among the Aborigines, Captain Grey says, vol. ii. p. 246-248--"With regard to the age occasionally attained by the natives, I believe very erroneous ideas have been prevalent, for so far am I from considering them to be short lived, that I am certain

men among the Aborigines, who could not, I think, have been less than eighty years of age, and who yet retained the full vigour of mind, and the bold, uprigh

for every five children born on an average to each mother, two only are reared, an

among tribes who have never had intercourse with Europeans' and it is a well known fact that the increase of numbers in aboriginal tribes is checked in proportion to the frequency, or the extent of their communication with Europeans. At Flinders island to which 210 Van Diemen's Land natives were removed from Va

Australia, the following appear to be the most prominent. First, polygamy, and the illicit and almost unlimited int

al, and practised to a great extent, espec

young children are peculiarly liable, such a

Europaei, lues venerea. Morbum infantibus matres a

from the most trivial circumstances, and often en

t generally the bronchiae, the lungs, and the pleura. Phthisis occasionally occurs, as does also erysipelas. Scrofula has been met with, but very rarely. A disease very similar to the small-pox, and leaving similar marks upon the face, appears formerly to have been very prevalent, but I have never met wi

grotorum in tentoriis otiari, verum etiam foedatus ita secure induere vestes aut iisdem in stragulis cubare, ac si optima ibi adesset sanitas. Mihi stationem publicam ponendi causa ad "Morrandi" in mensa Octobris, 1841, advenienti, occurrebant populi morbis poene liberi formam atque membra bene formati; postea autem ex frequenti cum oppido et proximis stationibus commercio, circa Octobrem 1844, morbos quam maxime horridos contraxerant. Inde eo tempore moribundi erant plurimi, nonnulli mortui, paucique ex iis, qui frequenter coibant, ex omni aetate et sexu hujusce pestis formis omnino expertes erant. Apud indigenas morbus hic eodem fere modo quo apud Europaeos sese ostendere videtur variis tamen ex causis etiam magis odiosum, eo praesertim quod pustulae rotundae, magnitudinem fere uncialem habentes, simul in cute exsurgunt. His gradatim, cum pure effluente, pars media expletur, et inde magis magisque crescentibus

om that point downwards, shrivelled and blighted, presenting but skin and bone. Many are blind in one eye, some in both; sometimes this appears the effect of inflammation, or of cataract; at others, it may be the

wo huts to the south; out of these, five were quite blind,

I ever met with, was a deaf and dumb youth at the Wimmera. From this poor boy, I could more readily and intelligibly obtain by signs a descripti

ng, but as soon as they advance in years, or become an impediment to the movemen

ls, or rather, the absence of all moral feeling upon their part, the little restraint that is placed upon their community, by either individual authority, or public opinion, the injuries they are smarting under, and the aggressi

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s. The offences were chiefly murder and assault, or stealing sheep and cattle. In ten cases only, out of thirty-three, convictions took place, and nineteen individuals were sentenced, viz., twelve to

in such cases be, whether they are numerically, or physically strong enough to brave the vengeance of those whom they may have provoked, or injured. Custom has, however, from time immemorial, usurped the place of laws, and with them, perhaps, is even more binding than they would be. Through custom's irresistible sway has been forged the chain that binds in iron fetters a people, who might otherwise be said to be without government or restraint. By it, the young and the weak are held in willing subjection to the old and t

intellect, benevolence, or any other great moral qualification, they necessarily bind him down in a hopeless state of barbarism, from which it is impossible for him to emerge, so l

een decided upon by the old men, the rules which guide the international intercourse between different tribes, the certain restrictions or embargoes that are put upon different kinds of food or

sharing what food they have, but it is not often that the females participate in the division. When following their usual pursuits upon the Murray, I have seen the men after an hour or two's fishing with the nets, sit down and devour all they had caught, without saving anything for their family or wives, and then hurry about noon to the camps to share in what had been procured by the women, who usually begin to return at that hour, with what they have been able to collect. Favourite kinds of food are also freque

tement of passion. With many vices and but few virtues, I do not yet think the Australian savage is more? vicious in his propensities or more virulent in his passions than are the larger number o

stom, and enforced by daily practice. Such are the cruelties inflicted upon the women, who are looked upon in the light of slaves, and mercilessly beaten or speared for the most trifling offences. No one under any circumstances ever attempts to take the part of a female, and consequently they are maltreated and oppressed in a shocking degree. Does a native mee

e to be shot for some cause or other I am not acquainted with. The animal had been left by its master in the c

ouded their otherwise quick perceptions, that they blindly yield to whatever the elders may require of them; they dare not disobey, they dare not complain of any wrong or indignity they may be subjected to this has been and will

summarily executed and on the spot, according to the physical strength or number of friends of the individual injured; otherwise it is made a cause of quarrel between tribes, and a battle or disturbance of some k

e been aggrieved, or by permitting spears to be thrust through certain parts of his body; such as through the thigh, or the calf of the leg, or under the arm. The part which is to be

contact; but I have often been told by natives of tribes in New South Wales, that they practised

their number being given up to another tribe, for either punishment or death. Occasionally they have been induced to give up guilty parties to Europeans; but to effect this, great personal