UINEA, AND LOUISIADE ARCHIPELAGO.

...

VOYAGE OF H.M.S. RATTLESNAKE.

CHAPTER 2.1.

Distribution of Aboriginal tribes of Cape York and Torres Strait.
Mode of warfare illustrated.
Their social condition.
Treatment of the women.
Prevalence of infanticide.
Education of a child.
Mode of scarifying the body.
Initiation to manhood.
Their canoes, weapons, and huts.
Dress of the women.
Food of the natives.
Mode of fishing.
Capture of the turtle and dugong described.
Yams and mode of culture.
Edible roots, fruits, etc.
No recognised chieftainship.
Laws regarding property in land.
Belief in transmigration of souls.
Their traditions.
Diseases and modes of treatment.
Burial Ceremonies.

DISTRIBUTION OF TRIBES OF CAPE YORK AND TORRES STRAIT.

There are at least five distinct tribes of natives inhabiting the
neighbourhood of Cape York. The Gudang people possess the immediate
vicinity of the Cape: the Yagulles* stretch along the coast to the
southward and eastward beyond Escape River: the Katchialaigas and
Induyamos (or Yarudolaigas as the latter are sometimes called) inhabit
the country behind Cape York, but I am not acquainted with the precise
localities: lastly, the Gomokudins are located on the South-West shores
of Endeavour Strait, and extend a short distance down the Gulf of
Carpentaria. These all belong to the Australian race as unquestionably as
the aborigines of Western or South Australia, or the South-East coast of
New South Wales; they exhibit precisely the same physical characteristics
which have been elsewhere so often described as to render further
repetition unnecessary.

(*Footnote. This is the tribe concerned in the murder of the unfortunate
Kennedy. The circumstances were related by some of the Yagulles to an old
woman at Cape York of the name of Baki, who, when questioned upon the
subject through Giaom, partially corroborated the statement of
Jackey-Jackey. She further stated that a few years ago a Yagulle woman
and child had been shot by some white men in a small vessel near Albany
Island, and that the tribe were anxious to revenge their death. Whether
this was a story got up as a palliative for the murder, or not, I cannot
say.)

On the other hand, the tribes inhabiting the islands of Torres Strait
differ from those of the mainland in belonging (with the exception of the
first) to the Papuan or frizzled-haired race. Besides, probably, a few
others of which I cannot speak with certainty,