ot be dug up by their implements
without great difficulty in the heat of the dry season, but those which
grow in a loose sandy soil can be obtained at all times. The natives have
however a law that no plant bearing seeds is to be dug up after it has
flowered; they then call them (for example) the mother of Bohn, the
mother of Mudja, etc.; and so strict are they in their observance of this
rule that I have never seen a native violate it unless requested by an
European, and even then they betray a great dislike to do so.

The abundance of these roots varies, of course, with the nature of the
soil, etc., but when there is a scarcity of any one of them this is amply
provided for by the abundance of others. In the Province of Victoria, as
already stated, I have seen tracts of land, several square miles in
extent, so thickly studded with holes where the natives had been digging
up yams (Dioscorea) that it was difficult to walk across it. Again, in
the sandy desert country which surrounds for many miles the town of
Perth, in Western Australia, the different species of Haemadorum are very
plentiful.

GATHERING AND COOKING ROOTS. MODE OF COOKING AND PREPARING THEM.

It is generally considered the province of women to dig roots, and for
this purpose they carry a long pointed stick which is held in the right
hand and driven firmly into the ground, where it is shaken so as to
loosen the earth, which is scooped up and thrown out with the fingers of
the left hand, and in this manner they dig with great rapidity. But the
labour in proportion to the amount obtained is great. To get a yam about
half an inch in circumference and a foot in length they have to dig a
hole above a foot square and two feet in depth; a considerable portion of
the time of the women and children is therefore passed in this
employment.
If the men are absent upon any expedition the females are left in charge
of one who is old or sick; and in traversing the bush you often stumble
on a large party of them, scattered about in the forest, digging roots,
and collecting the different species of fungus.

The roots are eaten raw or roasted in the fire; in either case they are,
most of them, very good. Some have the taste of a mild onion, and others
have almost the taste and appearance of a small English potato, but of
these only a single root is attached to each plant: the mene has rather
an acid taste and when eaten alone is said, by the natives, to cause
dysentery;