THE AUSTRALIAN BLACK.

Shannon News, 29 October 1924, Page 4

THE AUSTRALIAN BLACK.

SURVIVAL OF THE STONE AGE. In his element the Australian black is a wonderful personality; out of it he is a tragic, and often degraded, figure (writes the Adelaide correspondent of the Times.) \lt is a matter of regret that the amazing people are fast disappearing. Efforts to feciaim them have been so belated and spasmodic, so lacking in real and sustainned earnestness, so sadly inadequate, that only in the narrowing spheres of their fenceless domains can this" noble and intensely interesting tribe be said to be holding their own numerically. Even there the shrinking is only too apparent* but the natives are true to type, with their splendid powers of physical endurance, unrivalled in strategy in hunting, and fine skill in the primitive arts., There, is little doubt that the Australian aboriginal is a living representative of the fossil man of the Stone Age; most scientists are agreed upon that. He uses an ordinary fragment of stone, just as Nature made it, for pounding, cracking, and cutting purposes, like an Arckaeolithic man. He chips the edge of other chosen fragments, much like a Palaeolithic man, and he grinds and polishes other implements and weapons he makes much like a Neolithic man. He embodies in one, therefore, all the stages we have carefully defined in the classification of the fossil men of Europe. A Nomadic Race. Tile aboriginal of Australia is a born hunter. His sole desire and object of existence is to hunt. Most of his time is, in consequence, spent on the march He has no permanent abode, and yet it would not be quite correct to call him a nomad, because he confines his wanderings strictly to the bou'ndaries pf his hereditary tribal haunts. Only when on mischief bent, or when on the Warpath, is he guilty of trespassing. His favourite weapon is the spear, either plain or barbed, with which he approaches both animal and mail. He projects this missile with a spearthrower, a flat or cylindrical stick with a hook at one end to receive the end'-of the spear. The greater leverage thus obtained gives him every advantage in hurling the weapon for a considerable distance with wonderful accuracy.

Although weapons are freely used.in open warfare th e natives prefer to “doom” their individual to death by pointing the magic “bone” at them or in the direction the hostile camp. When the victim notices the act or is informed of its perpetration, he will be as certain to die as night follows day By sheer worry he becofnes sick,, and then lies down to await death. The only thing that can save-him under these circumstances is the coun-ter-charm of one of the tribe’s medicine men, known as "Nangarri.” This old sorcerer will crawl on to the prostrate form of the sufferer, and after a goodly amount of kneading, biting, and sucking, he goes through some peculiar antics, finally disgorging the contents of his mouth, into his hand. The old fellow cleverly .. produces a small piece of bo'ne or stone, which he triumphantly holds before the face of the terrified patient. This is claimed To be the cause of the trouble, and henceforth the evil influence will be banished. Almost immediately the candidate of death begins to recover, and soon he will be strong enough to think of reve’uge. QuStoms and Beliefs. The tribe is. governed by initiated men, among wliom two or three assume the role of leaders by virtue of their special strength or cunning. Their marriage customs are very intricate and clever. There is no such thing as a regular courtship such as takes place in European communities. It is all done in accordance with a rigorous system by means of which the whole tribal population is divided into two or more groups, members of which can inter-marry. Each member, moreover, of either group has a definite hereditary family relationship with a natural being, more or less mythical, from which he and his line have sprung. These beings may be animals, reptiles, birds, plants, or any other natural object. No two similar “lines" are permitted to marry, and non-ob-servance of this law would filing the sentence of death on the couple who broke it.

A native believes that when he dies his spirit goes to a happy la'ad in the skies, where it lives with his ancestors. His spirit may come back to earth, even in the astral, or definite animal, or human form, but only temporarily. It is not reincarnated, nor does it lose its 1 individuality, and can return to the great spirit land in the sky whenever it wishes. During some ceremonies the ancestral spirits of the particular creature or element worshipped are supposed to preside at the consecrated, spot. The natives believe in evil spirits which molest them at night, and' many of the symptoms of disease are put down to the malicious practices of them. But the tribes also believe in many good spirit creatures, which in reality are their deities. Among these is one supreme being who controls them as the chief. Their leg;ends are very numerous, and most of them if collected would rival Grimms’ or Andersen’s fairy tales.