The shield (tar-ram) is made out of the bark or wood of the gum-tree, and varies in shape and device, the ordinary shield is about two or two and a half feet long, from eight to eighteen inches across, and tapering from the middle towards the extremities, two holes are made near the centre, through which a piece of wood is bent for a handle; shields are always carved and painted in time of war.
The implements made use of by the natives are not very numerous, and their general characteristics are nearly the same all over the continent. The native hatchet is made of a very hard greenish-looking stone, rubbed to an edge on either side; it is fixed in the cleft of a stick, or a branch is doubled round it, and either tied or gummed to prevent its slipping. The throwing sticks have generally a sharp piece of quartz or flint gummed on at the lower end, which is used as a knife or chisel; flints or muscle shells are used for skinning animals, dissecting food, cutting hair, etc.
The ngak-ko, a strong chisel-pointed stick, from three to four feet long, is used for dissecting the larger animals and fish, for digging grubs out of the trees, for making holes to get out opossums, etc., for stripping bark, ascending trees, for cutting bark canoes, and a variety of other useful purposes. The rod for noosing ducks, (tat-tat-ko) and other wild fowl, is about sixteen feet long, and consists, in its lower part, for the first ten feet, of hard wood, tapering like an ordinary spear, to this is cemented with resin, a joint of tolerably strong reed about sixteen inches long, at the upper end of this is inserted and cemented with wax, a tapering rod of hard wood, three feet long and very similar to the top joint of a fly-fishing rod, to this is spliced a fine springy and strong top, of about eighteen inches in length, at the end of which is bound a piece of fine strong cord, which works with a running noose upon the tapering end of the instrument. Needles are made from the fibula of the emu or kangaroo, and are pointed at one end by being rubbed on a stone, they are used in sewing as we use a shoemaker's awl, the hole is bored and the thread put through with the hand; the thread is made of the sinews of the emu and kangaroo. The netting needle is a little round bit of stick or reed, about the size of a lead pencil, round which the string is wound, no mesh is used, the eye and hand enabling the native to net with the utmost regularity, speed, and neatness.
The nets for hunting, for carrying their effects or food, for making belts for the waist, or bandages for the head, are all made from the tendons or fur of animals, or from the fibres of plants. In the former, the sinews of the kangaroo or emu, and the fur of opossums and other similar animals, are used; in the latter, a species of rush, the fibres of the root of the mallow, the fibres of the root of the broad flag-reed, etc. and in some parts of the continent, the fibrous bark of trees. The materials are prepared for use by being soaked in water and carded with the teeth and hands, or by being chewed or rubbed.
String is made by the fibres being twisted, and rubbed with the palm of the hand over the naked thighs, and is often as neatly executed as English whip-cord, though never consisting of more than two strands,—the strands being increased in thickness according to the size of the cord that may be required. Nets vary in size and strength according to the purposes for which they are required; the duck net (kew-rad-ko) has already been described, as also the kenderanko, or small net for diving for fish, and the taendilly net, for diving with under the rocks for the larger fish; the kenyinki is a net with very small meshes, and set out with a wooden bow, for catching shrimps and other very small fish. There are also, a wharro, a large hoop-net for catching small cray-fish; a lenko, or small net for hanging round the neck, to put muscles, cray-fish, frogs, etc. in; a rocko, or large net bag, used by the women for carrying their worldly effects about with them; the kaar-ge-rum, or net for the waistband; the rad-ko, or fishing net, which is a regular seine for catching fish, about fifty or sixty feet in length, and varying in depth according to the place where it is to be used; the emu or kangaroo net (nunko) is very strong, with meshes from five to six inches square; it is made of cord as thick as a large quill, and its length is from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet, and depth about five feet when set. The wallabie net is about thirty feet long, of strong cord, and when set about eighteen inches high. The size of the meshes of all the nets depends upon the game to be taken; generally they are small. Neat, and variously striped baskets and mats are made by the women of certain tribes, from rushes, or a broad-leaved description of grass. The kallater is a round basket, wide at the base, and tapering upwards; its size varies. The poola-danooko is a very pretty looking, flat, oval basket, adapted for laying against the back. The poneed-ke is a large, flat, circular mat, worn over the back and shoulders, and when tied by a band round the waist affords a lodging for an infant. Large bags or wallets are also made of kangaroo skins, with the fur outside, and small ones of the skins of lesser animals with the fur inside. Skins are prepared for making cloaks by pegging them tight out upon the ground soon after they are taken off the animal, when dry, cold ashes or dust are thrown in, to absorb any grease that may have exuded. If the weather is damp, or the native is in a hurry, they are pegged out near the fire; after drying, the smaller skins are rubbed with stones to make them flexible, or are scored or ornamented with various devices, cut with a flint or shell on the skin side; the larger skins have their inner layers shaved off by flints, shells, or implements of wood. Opossums, wallabies, young kangaroos, etc. are skinned sometimes by simply making a slit about the head, through which the rest of the body is made to pass; the skins are turned inside out, and the ends of the legs tied up, and are then ready for holding water, and always form part of the baggage of natives who travel much about, or go into badly watered districts. I have seen these skins (lukomb) capable of holding from two to three gallons of water: the fur is always inside. The karko is a small spade of wood, used by the natives north of Adelaide for digging up grubs from the ground. The canoe or "mun" is a large sheet of bark cut from the gum-tree, carefully lowered to the ground, and then heated with fire until it becomes soft and pliable, and can be moulded into form, it is then supported by wooden props, to keep it in shape, until it becomes hard and set, which is in about twenty-four hours, though it is frequently used sooner. On its being launched, sticks or stretchers are placed across each end and in the middle, to prevent the bark from contracting or curling up with exposure to the air. A large canoe will hold seven or eight people easily; it is often twenty feet long. The following is a description of an ordinary one for fishing:—length fifteen feet, width three feet, depth eight inches, formed out of a single sheet of bark, with one end a little narrower than the other and pointing upwards. This end is paddled first; the bottom is nearly flat, and the canoe is so firm, that a person can take hold of one side, and climb into it from the water without upsetting it. It is paddled along with the long pine-spear moo-aroo, described as being used in fishing at night by firelight. In propelling it the native stands near the centre, pushing his moo-aroo against the water, first on one side and then on the other; in shallow water one end of the moo-aroo is placed on the bottom, and the canoe so pushed along. The natives are well acquainted with the use of fire, for hardening the points of their weapons or softening the wood to enable them to bend them. In the former case, the point is charred in the fire, and scraped with a shell or flint to the precise shape required; in the latter, their spears, and other similar weapons, are placed upon hot ashes, and bent into form by pressure. It is a common practice among many of the tribes to grease their weapons and implements with human fat, taken from the omentum, either of enemies who have been killed, or of relations who have died. Spears, and other offensive arms, are supposed to possess additional powers if thus treated; and nets and other implements for procuring game are imagined to become much more effectual in ensnaring prey. In setting nets, too, the natives have a practice of taking up a handful of water to the mouth, and then squirting it out over the net, in a shower of spray, this they think is a powerful charm to ensure the fish being caught.
There can hardly be said to be any form of government existing among a people who recognize no authority, and where every member of the community is at liberty to act as he likes, except, in so far as he may be influenced by the general opinions or wishes of the tribe, or by that feeling which prompts men, whether in civilised or savage communities to bend to the will of some one or two persons who may have taken a more prominent and leading part than the rest in the duties and avocations of life. Among none of the tribes yet known have chiefs ever been found to be acknowledged, though in all there are always some men who take the lead, and whose opinions and wishes have great weight with the others.
Other things being equal, a man's authority and influence increase among his tribe in proportion to his years. To each stage of life through which he passes is given some additional knowledge or power, and he is privileged to carry an additional number of implements and weapons, as he advances in life. An old grey-headed man generally carries the principal implements and weapons, either for war or sorcery; many of the latter the women and children are never allowed to see, such as pieces of rock-crystal, by which the sorcerer can produce rain, cause blindness, or impart to the waters the power of destroying life, etc.; sacred daggers for causing the death of their enemies by enchantment; the moor-y-um-karr or flat oval piece of wood which is whirled round the camp at nights, and many others of a similar nature.
I have not, however, found that age is invariably productive of influence, unless the individual has previously signalized himself among his people, and taken up a commanding position when youth and strength enabled him to support his pretensions, and unless he be still in full possession of vigour of mind and energy of character, though no longer endowed with personal strength. The grey-head appears to be usually treated with respect as long as the owner is no incumbrance to those around him, but the moment he becomes a drag, every tie is broken, and he is at once cast off to perish. Among many tribes with which I have been acquainted, I have often noticed that though the leading men were generally elderly men from forty-five to sixty years old, they were not always the oldest; they were still in full vigour of body and mind, and men who could take a prominent part in acting as well as counselling. I am inclined, therefore, to think that the degree of estimation in which any native is held by his fellows, or the amount of deference that may be paid to his opinions, will in a great measure depend upon his personal strength, courage, energy, prudence, skill, and other similar qualifications, influenced, perhaps, collaterally by his family connections and the power which they possess.
Each father of a family rules absolutely over his own circle. In his movements and arrangements he is uncontrolled, yet, as a matter of policy, he always informs his fellows where he is going, what he is going to do, how long he will be absent, when he will meet them again, etc. It thus happens that, although a tribe may be dispersed all over their own district in single groups, or some even visiting neighbouring tribes, yet if you meet with any one family they can at once tell you where you will find any other, though the parties themselves may not have met for weeks. Some one or other is always moving about, and thus the news of each other's locality gets rapidly spread among the rest. The principal occupation, indeed, of parties when they meet, is to give and receive information relative to neighbouring families or tribes. In cases of sudden danger or emergency, the scattered groups are rapidly warned or collected by sending young men as messengers, or by raising signal smokes in prominent positions.
In an assembly of the tribe, matters of importance are generally discussed and decided upon, by the elder men, apart from the others. It not unfrequently happens, however, that some discontented individual will loudly and violently harangue the whole tribe; this usually occurs in the evening, and frequently continues for hours together; his object being generally either to reverse some decision that has been come to, to excite them to something they are unwilling to do, or to abuse some one who is absent. Occasionally he is replied to by others, but more frequently allowed uninterruptedly to wear himself out, when from sheer exhaustion he is compelled to sit down.