ers off, and should he not hit it he runs after and tracks
it to some dead hollow tree, lying on the ground, in which it has taken
shelter, and with the aid of his spear, which is about ten feet long, he
draws it out.

Another very ingenious mode of taking wallaby and the smaller kind of
kangaroos is to select a thick bushy place where there are plenty of
these animals; the bushes are then broken down in a circle round the spot
where they intend to hunt, so as to form a space of broken scrub about
ten feet wide all round a thick bush, they thus not only destroy the runs
of the animals but form with the fallen bushes a place which so
embarrasses and entangles them that they find great difficulty in passing
it; indeed when these preparations have been made the natives fire the
bush and the frightened animals, finding their runs stopped up, rush into
the fallen branches, where every jump which they make upon their hind
legs only involves them in greater difficulties, so that they fall an
easy prey to their pursuers.

Some of the smaller animals such as the dal-gyte, an animal about the
size of a weasel, burrow in the earth; these the natives surprise when
they are feeding or dig them from their burrows. They are all cooked by
having their fur singed off and being roasted on the fire; to the taste
of a native the skinning a small animal would be an abomination, and I
must really confess that a kangaroo-rat, nicely singed and cooked by
them, is not a bad dish for a hungry traveller.

Although the natives could in many districts procure native salt, and
most certainly from its abundance cannot be unacquainted with it, they
never use it until they have seen Europeans do so, and even then do not
at first like it. They also dislike mustard, sauces, etc., when they
first eat them, and indeed nothing can be more ludicrous than their
grimaces are the first time mustard is given to them upon a piece of
meat.

ROOTS EATEN BY NATIVES. EDIBLE ROOTS AND SEEDS.

The roots eaten by the natives belong to the following genera:

Dioscorea, two species.
Haemadorum, several species, as the Mene, Ngool-ya, Mudja, etc. etc.
Geranium, several species.
Boerhaavia, two species.
Typha, two species.
Orchis, several species.

RULES FOR GATHERING ROOTS AND PLANTS.

Some of these are in season in every period of the year and the natives
regulate their visits to the different districts accordingly. Those
plants which grow in a stiff soil cann