es to trap fish. So far as can be ascertained,
the Australian native was rarely if ever a cannibal. His neighbours in
the Pacific Ocean were generally cannibals. Perhaps the scanty
population of the Australian continent was responsible for the absence
of cannibalism; perhaps some ethical sense in the breasts of the
natives, who seem to have always been, on the whole, good-natured and
little prone to cruelty.

[Illustration: THE AUSTRALIAN NATIVES IN CAPTAIN COOK'S TIME. PAGE 34.]

The religious ideas of these natives were very primitive. They believed
strongly in evil spirits, and had various ceremonial dances and
practices of witchcraft to ward off the influence of these. But they had
little or no conception of a Good Spirit. Their idea of future happiness
was, after they had come into contact with the whites: "Fall down black
fellow, jump up white fellow." Such an idea of heaven was, of course, an
acquired one. What was their original notion on the subject is not at
all clear. The Red Indians of America had a very definite idea of a
future happy state. The aboriginals of Australia do not seem to have
been able to brighten their poor lives with such a hope.

Various books have been written about the folklore of the Australian
aboriginals, but most of the stories told as coming from the blacks seem
to me to have a curious resemblance to the stories of white folk. A
legend about the future state, for instance, is just Bunyan's "Pilgrim's
Progress" put crudely to fit in with Australian conditions. I may be
quite wrong in this, but I think that most of the folk-stories coming
from the natives are just their attempts to imitate white-man stories,
and not original ideas of their own. The conditions or life in Australia
for the aboriginal were so harsh, the struggle for existence was so
keen, that he had not much time to cultivate ideas. Life to him was
centred around the camp-fire, the baked 'possum, and a few crude tribal
ceremonies.

Usually the Australian black is altogether spoilt by civilization. He
learns to wear clothes, but he does not learn that clothes need to be
changed and washed occasionally, and are not intended for use by day and
night. He has an insane veneration for the tall silk hat which is the
badge of modern gentility, and, given an old silk hat, he will never
allow it off his head. He quickly learns to smoke and to drink, and,
when he comes into contact with the Chinese, to eat opium. He cannot be
b