Among Cannibals: An Account of Four Years' Travels in Australia and of Camp Life with the ...

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Chapter I

Introductory — Voyage to Australia — Arrival at Adelaide — Description of the city — Melbourne, the Queen of the South — Working men — The highest trees in the world — Two of the most common mammals in Australia Pages I -1 2

Chapter II

Sydney harbour — Jealousy between Sydney and Melbourne — The Blue Mountains — Brisbane and Rockhampton — First evening in tropical Australia — Gracemere station — Animal and plant life — Vine-scrubs — Excursion into the neighbouring districts — A Norseman who feels cold in Australia . 13-30

Chapter III

Journey to Western Queensland — Camping out — Damper (Australian bread) — The song of the magpie — Australi.in scrubs — Hunting the kangaroo — Devotion of parrots — Station life — Lonely shepherds — Migration of rats — Native justice — Australian fleas — Native mounted police — A remarkable flint instrument — The boomerang . . . .31-52

Chapter IV

Struggle between blacks and whites — 116'* Fahrenheit — Cool nights — Troubles — Bush - life — How the bushman s{%nds his money — Inundations — Back again to Gracemere — A greedy snake — Courtship in the bush . 53-62

Chapter V

Journey to Northern Queensland — Mackay-sugar — Employment of South Sea Islanders — Townsville — A rough northern man — Sugar district on Lower Herbert — Visit to a successful Scandinavian — Blacks near Gardiner's farm — Nolla-nolla — Spring — Arrival at Herbert Vale . . . 63-75 xii CONTENTS

L-

Chapter VI

Headquarters at Herbert Vale — Civilised blacks — Domestic life — Nelly the cook — Cats — Swimming in fat — My bill of fare — Killing the bullock — Strong stomachs and bad fare ..... Pages 76-8S

CHAPTER VH

Kamin (implement for climbing) — On the top of the gum-trees — Hunting the wallaby — The spear of the natives — Bird life in the open countr}' — ^Jungle-hens — Cassowary ....... 89-99

CHAPTER Vni

Pleasant companions — Two new mammals — Large scrubs in the Coast Mountains — The lawyer-palm —'* Never have a black-fellow behind you" — I decide to live with the blacks — Great expectations — My outfit — Tobacco is money — The baby of the gun ..... loo-iii

CHAPTER IX

My first expedition with the blacks — A night in the forest — Fear of evil spirits — Morning toilet — Majayarri — Borboby — The *' lists " of blacks — Warriors in full dress — Swords and shields — Fights — The rights of black women — Abduction of women . . . . . 1 12-127

CHAPTER X

The appearance of the aborigines in the different parts of the continent — My pack-horse in danger — Tracks of the boongary (tree-kangaroo) — Bower-birds — The blacks in rainy weather — Making fire in the scrubs — A messenger from the civilised world — The relations of the various tribes — Tattooing 128-146

CHAPTER XI

Respect for right of property — New country — My camp — Mountain ascent — Tree-ferns — A dangerous nettle — A night in a cavern — Art among the blacks — Edible l-axyx — Omelette aux coUoptires — Music of the blacks — Impudent begging ....... I47-I59

CHAPTER XII

The position of women among the blacks — The husl)and the hunter, and the woman the provider of the family — Black female slaves — •* Marking " the wives — A twelve-year-old wife — Considerate husbands — Wives an inheritance — Deserted by my followers — Reasoning power of the blacks — Darkness and rain ....... 160-171

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XIII

Mangatty a new mammal — For my collection or to feed the blacks ? — Natives do not eat raw meat — A young yarri — A meteorite — Fear of attacks — Cannibals on the war-path — The relations between the tribes . , Pages 172-177

CHAPTER XIV

Dingo a member of the family — A black who does not smoke — Hunting the flying-squirrel — Diseases among the natives — Their remedies — A splendid offer — Unpleasant companions — Trouble in getting dogs . 178-187

CHAPTER XV

Blacks on the track — A foreign tribe — Native baskets — Two black boys — Bringing-up of the children — Pseiuiochirus hmnroides with its young — The effect of a shot — A native swell — Relationship among the blacks — Their old women ....... 188-200

CHAPTER XVI

Wild landscape on the Upper Herbert — Kvingan, the devil of the blacks — A fatal eel — Mourning dress — Flight of the blacks — A compromise — Christmas Eve — Lonely — Christmas fare — A " faithful " relative — A welcome wallaby

201-21 1

CHAPTER XVII

A wedding — Love among the Australian natives — My first meeting with Yokkai — Big eaters — An accident — Left alone with Yokkai — A difficult descent — Return to Herbert Vale — A new beetle — Friends of the animals 212-222

CHAPTER XVIII

Native politeness — How a native uses a newspaper — "Fat" living — Painful joy — Boongary^ boongary — Veracity of the natives — A short joy — A perfect cure — An offer of marriage — Refusal . . . 223-235

CHAPTER XIX

A festival dance of the blacks — Their orchestra — A plain table — Yokkai wants to become **a white man" — Yokkai*s confession — A dangerous situation — A family drama ...... 236-246 xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XX

Arrival of the native police — The murderer caught — Examination — Jimmy is taken to Cardwell — Flight of the prisoner — The officer of the law — Expedition to the Valley of Lagoons — A mother eats her own child — My authority receives a shock ...... Pages 247-255

CHAPTER XXI

The rainy season — How the evenings are spent — Hardy children — Mangola- Maggies revenge — The crania of the Australians — The expedition to Cardwell — Dalrymple Gap — A scandalous murder — Entry into Cardwell — Yokkai as cook — ** Balnglan's " death — Tobacco cures sorrow 256-26S

CHAPTER XXn

Unpleasantnesses at Herbert Vale — New expeditions — Hunting human flesh — Cannibalism — Human flesh is the greatest delicacy of the Australian blacks — Superstitions in connection with the eating of human flesh — The taste of the cannibals — Cannibalism in Burma . . . 269-274

CHAPTER XXni

The burial of the blacks — Black mummies — Sorcerers or wizards — Myths and legends — The doctrine of the Trinity in New South Wales — The belief in a future life among the blacks .... 275-285

CHAPTER XXIV

My life in danger — Morbora's ingratitude — Another danger — My position grows more precarious — The black man's fondness for imitating . 286-292

CHAPTER XXV

Winter in Northern Queensland — Snakes as food — Hunting snakes — An unexpected guest at night — Vokkai*s first dress — Norway's ** mountains of food " — Departure from Herbert Vale — Farewell to the world of the blacks 293-302

CHAPTER XXVI

Message sticks — The common origin of the dialects — Remarkably complicated grammar — The language on Herbert river — Comparison of a few dialects

303-313

CONTENTS

XV

CHAPTER XXVII

Frozen meat — Again in Gracemere — Australian scenery — In a carriole — Hunting the dugong — Cosmopolitan quarters for the night— Cure for nervous diseases — Poisonous rabbits — Marry only a person with good teeth — Bush girls — Mount Morgan ..... Pages 314-324

CHAPTER XXVIII

A family of zoologists — Flesh-eating kangaroos — How the ant-eater propagates — Civilised natives — Weapons and implements— Civilisation and demoralisation ....... 325-338

CHAPTER XXIX

Religion — Blacks in the service of the white men — Fickle minds — Settlers and natives on the borders of civilisation — Morality — A life and death struggle — The cruelty of the whites — Future prospects of the Australian natives ....... 339-349

Appendix

I. An Outline of Australian History —

The Condition before the European Discovery History of the Discovery History of the Colonies .

II. Geology .

III. Flora

IV. Fauna INDEX

PAGE

353 355 359

366 369 376

ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait ok Author in Australian Dress

•

Black Swan ....

Flinders Strep:t, Adelaide View near Adelaide The LinRARY, Melbourne The Governor's House, Melboi rne Native Bear with its Voung Hunting the Opossum Tree-Ferns in Victoria Sydney Harkour The Blue Mountains The Parliament House, Brisbane Frogs {Ilyla drrulea) entering a Water-Jar Gracemere Station

The Main Building, Gracemere Station In the Neighbourhood of Rockh.ampton Laughing Jackass {Dacch ,i^t\{fas) Vine-Scrub near Gracemere True Australian Scenery .

A Wool-Waggon

Head ok "More Pork*' (Podariius atvieni) A Kangaroo Hunt .

Spider paralysed by a Hornet Queensland Native Mounted Police Flint Knife from Georgina River with Pouch for the carrying of Pituri Boomerangs from (Queensland Stock -man's Whip

Rest under a Bottle-Tree {SUrculia)

b

ITS Sheath

Frontispiece

PAGE

I

4 6 lO

To face pat^ 1 1 1 1

20 21

38 46 48

49 51

53 55 xviii ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A Squatter's Ho.meustead ...... 59

Elephant Sugar-Cane, Mackay . .63

My Gordon Setter pointing a Black Snake To face page 64

A Native Man from Central Queensland, near Rockhampton 68 A Native Woman from Central Queensland, near Rockhampton 69 Nolla-Nollas . . 11

Peculiar Position of Natives when resting . -77

Nelly in the Kitchen .... To face page 81

Jacky, A ** civilised" Black-Fellow . .83

Climbing with the aid of Kamin To face page 89

Wallaby Hunt ..... To face page 92

Wallaby Net fro.m Herbert River .94

The Screw-Palm {Pandamis) -95

VouNG Cassowary ...... 98

Palm Forest in Northern Queensland . .103

A Woman from Northern Queensland, near Townsvillk . 107 My Camp ...... To face page no

Wooden Shields from Northern Queensland . .120

Fillet or Brow-Band from Northern Queensland .121

A Warrior in great Excitement just before Borbobv commences ...... To face page 122

A BORBOBY ...... To face page 124

Old Women protecting a fallen Warrior .125

A Woman from Maryborough, Central Queensland To face page 129 A young Girl from Maryborough, Central Queensland To face page 130 An old Man from Herbert River ....

A Group of Natives from Herbert River A young Boy from Herbert River, showini; Ornamental Scars Small Basket carried about the Neck, Herbert River Making Fire ....

Jungle-Hen {Megapodim tumulus) TOOLLAH [Fseudoihirus archeri) — Coloured plate Edible Beetle {Euryttassa australis) Larva of Same ....

Natives from Herbert River

Rifle-Bird {Ptiloris victoria:) .

Mongan {Pseudochirus herhertensis) — Coloured plate

Yarri {Dasyums waculafus)

Dingo .....

Start for an Expedition .

m •

7 o face page

32 33 35 36

41 49 52 54 54 63 71 73 74

79 88

ILL USTRA TIONS xix

PAGE

Basket from North Queensland . .190

A Basket made of soft Materials (grass) from Herbert River 194 Basket from Herbert River, painted with Stripes and Dots

of Human Blood . .195

Yabby {Psetidochirus leniuroides) — Coloured plate . To face page 197

Yellow Necklace worn by the Blacks as an Emblem of

Cicada aurora ........ 222

BoONGARY {Dendrolagus lumholtzii) — Coloured plate . To fate page 226

All the Dogs were produced To face page 229

A Turr of Talegalla Feathers ..... 237

A Shell used as an Ornament ..... 237

Dance of the Natives .... To face page 238

Striped-faced pouched Mouse {Sminthopsis virgiuiiz) . 252

A Male Cranium from Rockhampton, Central Queensland,

seen from Five Sides . .259

Dalrymple Creek ..... To face page 261

An old Man from Townsville, Northern Queensland . 263

Natives on Herbert River ..... 269

Burial in Northern Queensland. .... 275

A LARGE Basket from Northern Queensland for carrying

Hunting the Python ...... 293

Snake Feast in my Camp .... To face page 298

A Message Stick from Central Queensland . 304

Reverse Side of the Same ..... 304

Message Stick, with Interpretation of Inscription 304

The Freezing Establishment, Lakes Creek, near Rock ham pi on 314 A WIRE Harpoon Point -317

A wooden Plug . 317

A wooden Harpoon Point .317

The Dugong, or Australian Sea-Cow ^Halicore dugong) . 319

Near the Coast of Central Queensland. Jabiru in the foreground ...... To face page 323

Mount Morgan Gold Mine l^^ephrurus asper ....

Natives from the Vicinity of Rockhampton Brow-Band from Central Queensland Opossum Thread ....

325 330 331 332

XX ILL US TRA TIO\S

PACE

Apron made from Opossum Yarn . . 332

Shields from Central Queensland ^^

Wooden Sword from Central Queensland 334

Bendi from Coomooboolaroo .... 334

Crystalline Axe from Peak Downs in Central Queensland . 335 A Spear from the Coast of Central Queensland 335

**KiNG Billy of Gracemere" with his "Gin" (wifei . 337

Civilised Girls from the Vicinity of Townsville .341

**The lonely old People," Natives from the Neighbourhood

OF Townsville ....... 344

Native Police dispersing the Blacks Tofacepa^e 348

Cook's Monument in Sydney ..... 356

A LARGE Fossil Sea-Shell from Western Queensland <//«v-«frf7///wj

Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit of Eucalyptus am w^daii mi 370

A.N Australian Spruce {Araucafia bid'ti'iliii) 372

Wild Geese from North Qleensland {.iuscrauas nuUmouuca)

To face page 383 Egg of Daphnia lumholtzii ...... 386

Daphnia lumholtzii .386

Cyclestheria hislopi ....... 387

Shell of a Cyclestheria hislopi 388

Map of Australia ..... At end

Map to illustrate ihr Author's Travels in Queensland

Chapter I

Inttoduclory — Voyage to Australia — Arrival at Adelaide — Description of the city — Melbourne, the Queen of ilie South — Working men — The highest trees in the vorld — Two of the most cotnmon mammals in Australia.

On May 24, 1880, I went on board the barque Einar Tanibarskjelver bound from Snar Island near ChrJstJania to Port Adelaide with a cargo of planed lumber, I carried with me a hunter's outfit, guns, ammunition, and other articles necessary for the chase, furnished me by the University of Nonvay, as well as some northern bird skins in order to inaugurate exchange with Australian museums. Sailing in the north-east trade-winds, a sunset in the tropics, or a mild starlit night on the ocean with a blazing phosphorescent sea, do not fail to make a strong impression. Then passing the pacific belt of the ocean, where a dead calm is suddenly interrupted by the most violent storm, you soon reach, by the aid of the south-east trades, the region of the westerly winds. The Southern Cross and the cloud of

Magellan, the gigantic sperm-whale, whose huge head now and then appeared above the surface of the water; and the albatross, whose glorious flight we never ceased to admire, heralded our arrival within the limits of the Southern Ocean. Cape-doves, albatrosses, and gulls accompanied us for weeks together. The passage had, however, at times its dark sides. On August 17, at six o'clock in the morning, we were overtaken by a most violent gale. All the sails, except the close-reefed topsails and foresail, were taken in. We shipped many seas. The stairs to the quarter-deck were crushed ; one wave broke through two doors in the companion-way to the steerage, another set all the water-casks afloat in the maddest confusion, a third filled the galley, so that the cook found himself waist-deep in water. The fire was extinguished, and the food was mixed with the salt water. Several times the seas broke through our main cabin door, filling my cabin with water, making boots, socks, books, and other articles swim about in all directions.

On a long journey one gets tired of the sea, this " desert of water," as the Arab calls it — and we long to set foot again on terra firvia. According to the calculations of the captain we were fifty geographical miles from the coast of Australia, when one morning we perceived for the first time the smell of land, in this instance a peculiarly bitter but mildly aromatic odour, as of fragrant resin. This fragrance, doubtless, came from the acacias, which at this time were in full bloom. For by the aid of the wind these trees, particularly Acacia fragrans, diffuse the fragrance of their flowers to a great distance, and this morning there was blowing a fresh, damp breeze directly from the land.

On the afternoon of August 29 we got sight of land. In the evening we saw the lighthouse on Kangaroo Island ; followed by dolphins we navigated through Investigator Straits, and on the afternoon of the next day \\q anchored outside Port Adelaide. As it was raining, we contented ourselves with viewing the town from the distance. Our eyes involuntarily rested on a number of chimneys, an evidence of extensive manufactories.

I ADELAIDE 3

What most interested me here was the Botanical Garden, which I visited the same day. The weather was splendid, the rays of the sun were reflected in large ponds, where the water-fowl were swimming among papyrus and Babylonian weeping- willows. The parrots chattered in their cages, and displayed their brilliant plumage ; the birds sang in the cultivated bushes of the garden, and the frogs croaked with that harsh, strong note, which seems especially developed in tropical lands. There was a life, a throng, an assemblage of dazzling colours, which could not but make a deep impression on a person whose eyes for a hundred days had seen nothing but sky and water.

This fine garden contains forty-five acres, and is excellently managed by Dr. R. Schomburgk, celebrated for his travels in British Guiana. In the " palm-house," built of glass and iron, are found tropical plants. The most beautiful and most imposing part of the park is the so-called garden of roses, a large square enclosure surrounded by garlands of tastefully - arranged climbing roses. Here is an abundance of varieties, tieginning with the tallest rose-bushes and ending with the smallest dwarf-roses, and the colours vary from the most dazzling white to the darkest red or almost black.

4 AMONG CANNIliALS chap.

Among the trees familiar to me in this park were an alder and a birch. They stood very modestly, just putting forth their leaves in company with grand magnolias in blossom, elegant araucarias, and magnificent weep ing-wil lows. The hot-houses near the superintendent's dwelling were admirable, and presented a wealth of the greatest variety of flowers from all parts of the world, but mainly from Australia.

MELBOURNE

Some groups of fine bamboo particularly attracted my attention. The park is visited by several thousand people every Sunday afternoon.

Adelaide, containing about 60,000 inhabitants, is a very regularly laid out city. All the streets cross one another at right angles, and are very broad. Along the gutters railings are placed, to which people may hitch their horses. Even servants go to market on horseback with baskets on their arms.

The residences are constructed in a very practical manner, suited to the demands of the climate, with verandahs and beautiful gardens. In many parts of the city there are public reading-rooms, where the latest newspapers may be found. In the forenoon these reading-rooms are always full of people, particularly of the working classes.

The city cannot fail to make a favourable impression upon the traveller. It is cleanly and elegant, corresponding to its feminine name Adelaide. The inhabitants a*-^ unusually amiable, and they are renowned for their hospitality, and this is saying a great deal in so hospitable a land as Australia.

From Adelaide to Melbourne is a three days* journey, and early one morning I went on board a steamer bound for this port. Once there we immediately perceive that we have come to a metropolis, for the flags of all nations are unfurled to the breeze in its harbour.

The International Exhibition was to be opened in a few weeks, and in the distance we could already see the great cupola of the building looming up above the rest of the city. Great clouds of dust appeared in the streets, giving us an idea of Melbourne's dry climate. After a slow voyage up the shallow Varra river, during which we actually stuck in the mud once or twice, we finally landed at the wharf.

Melbourne with its suburbs has only 300,000 inhabitants, but has the appearance of being much larger on account of its broad and straight streets and its numerous parks and magnificent public buildings.

The first building attracting our attention is the Library, a noble structure in classical style, but the first thing the inhabitants want the stranger to notice is the Post Office and

.J.I/t>.Vu CA.VX/BAt.

Town Hali. The question is being perpetually asked : "I/iK-,- >-ou seen the Town Hall and the Post Office?" The Assembly Room in the Town Hall contains one of the largest organs in the world : it has 4375 pipes.

The residence of the Governor occupies a commanding height, and is surrounded by a large park, which is directly connected with the Botanical Garden.

The L"ni\-ersity, which is attended by about 400 students, has. since i SSc. been open to women, who are now admitted

:o all ^e cccrses excei'* nieviicine ! It possesses a targe Tuije'.:^:. -.vhere zr.e ar::v.als are i:i vart set uv in groups recreser.:::!;; scer^e? :rv.itii their cii'y life, a :rosi instructive irrarr^nier- Here carr also be see:i J. :Vss:l:sev: egg <yi

:ro r. >[adagascir. :he cmi)-

LT.e ,r,:v- o.Tra:ns i number of rra^r.irioer.: churches, hospinls. a::>i berrevoler.: ir.stitutions. The s;re«;s ore '.arge. ■A-Iiie. arc have iir~er.se gutters. I; has been wel! said by in iiidior tha: Melbourne :s London seer :hr-ou|^h :he saall sr.d .:f Ke :=iescope.

I THE AUSTRALIANS 7

People seem to "be very busy, and move through the streets with great rapidity. Melbourne is a city of enjoyments and luxuries, equipped with great elegance and comfort ; everything suggests money and the power of wealth. There is no article of luxury which is not to be found here, from Norwegian herring to champagne in every degree of dryness.

Among sports, horse-racing ranks first, and not a week passes without one or more races on the celebrated Flemmington racecourse, near the city, taking place. Every year, in the beginning of November, about I20,000 people come together to witness the great Melbourne Cup race, where fortunes are lost and won.

The whites born in Australia are gradually becoming a distinct race, differing from other Englishmen. They have a more lively temperament, and are slighter in frame, but tall.

erect, and muscular. I also observed in Queensland that some of the children had a tendency to the American twang. The Australians pay great attention to travellers visiting their country, and they are very proud of showing its attractions. Thus a stranger may, as a rule, count on getting a free pass on all the railroads. The ladies are free and easy in their manners. They are frank and confiding, and their acquaintance is quickly made. Their friendship, once gained, may be relied on, and they are untiring in their acts of kindness.

In no other place in the world do the labouring classes have as much influence as in Victoria ; for the working men in fact govern the colony. As a rule, they are well educated, and keep abreast of the times, but still their administration . of affairs has not always been successful. The economical condition of the labouring classes in Melbourne is excellent, but they are rather fond of intoxicating drinks. I am able to give an example, showing how the people of Australia keep themselves informed on public questions. I once spoke to a labourer whom I met on the street in Melbourne, and as he noticed that I was a stranger, he asked me where my home was. When he learned that I came from Norway, he exclaimed : ** Oh, we know Norway ver>' well, and t/ie Norwegian sc/ieme ! " He then explained this to me as best he could. I afterwards learned that Victoria, in 1874, was on the point of adopting a parliament like the Norwegian, with one chamber which divides itself into two bodies (the odelsthing and lagthing), a proposition which was on the point of being carried.

The climate of Melbourne is not particularly warm, though during the summer excessively hot winds from the interior of the continent may blow for a few days, and not infrequently children die from the heat at this time. The sudden changes of temperature, peculiar to the southern part of Australia, also annually demand their victims, though upon the whole the climate must be regarded as very healthy.

Before leaving Melbourne I made several excursions far into the colony. On one of these I visited the celebrated mining town Ballarat, the place which marks the first epoch

THE GUM-TREE in the history of Victoria, and of all Australia for that matter, for it was the gold which especially drew the attention of the world to the new continent

Since 1851 the annual production of gold in Australia has averaged ten million pounds sterling.

No traveller should neglect to view " the highest trees in the world," for it is easy to see them near Melbourne. Eucalyptus amygdalina grows, according to the famous botanist Baron F. v. Mueller, to a greater height than the Wellingtonia sequoia of California. Trees have been measured more than 450 feet high. Though these gum-trees are without comparison the highest in the world, they must yield the place of honour in regard to beauty and wealth of foliage. They send forth but a couple of solitary branches from their lofty tops. Thus the Wellingtonia retains the crown as the king of the vegetable kingdom. F. v. Mueller says of Eucalyptus amygdalina : "It is a grand picture to see a mass of enormously tall trees of this kind, with stems of mast-like straightness and clear whiteness, so close together in the forest as to allow them space only toward their summit to send their scanty branches and sparse foliage to the free light."

At a sheep station about 100 miles from Melbourne I made the acquaintance of two of the most common mammals of Australia. One day I went out hunting with a son of the friend that I was visiting. We learned that a koala or native bear {Phascolarctus cinereus) was sitting on a tree near the hut of a shepherd. Our way led us through a large but not dense wood of leafless gum-trees. My companion told me that the forest was dead, as a result of "ring-barking." To get the grass to grow better, the settler removes a band of bark near the root of the tree. In a country where cattle-raising is carried on to so great an extent this may be very practical, but it certainly does not beautify the landscape.* The trees die at once after this treatment, and it is a sad and repulsive sight to see these withered giants as if in despair stretching their white barkless branches towards the sky. When we came to the spot, we found the bear asleep and perfectly calm on a branch of a tree opposite the shepherd's hut. One lo AMONG CANNIBALS qhkv.

must not suppose that the Australian bear is a dangerous animal. It is called " native bear," but is in nowise related to the bear family. It is an innocent and peaceful marsupial, which is active only at night, and sluggishly climbs the trees, eating leaves and sleeping during the whole day. As soon as the young has left the pouch, the mother carries it with her on her back

We did not think it worth while to shoot the sleeping animal, but sent a little boy up in the tree to bring it down. He hit the bear on the head with a club and pushed it so that it fell, taking care not to be scratched by its claws, which are long and powerful.

The Australian bear is found in considerable numbers throughout the eastern part of the continent, even within the tropical circle. I discovered a new kind of tape-worm which, strange to say, is found in this leaf-feeding animal.

OPOSSUMS

One day our dog put up a kangaroo-rat, which fled to a hollow tree lying on the ground. When we examined the tree it was found to contain another animal also, namely an opossum {Irichosuriis vulpecula). It is one of the most common mammals in Australia, and is of great service to the natives, its flesh being eaten and its skin used for clothes. The civilised world, too, has begun to appreciate the value of this kind of fur, which is now exported in large quantities to London. The natives kill the animal in the daytime by dragging it out from the hollow trees where it usually resides. Among the colonists the younger generation are very zealous opossum hunters. They hunt them for sport, going out by moonlight and watching the animal as it goes among the trees to seek its food.

12 AMONG CANNIBALS chap, i

I was now about to leave the capital of Victoria, a city which cannot fail to be admired by the stranger. It is indeed a remarkable fact that in the same place where fifty years ago the shriek of the parrot blended with the noise of the camp of the native Australian, an international exhibition should be held in a metropolis. The first house was built in Melbourne in 1835 — the "World's Fair " took place in 1880. It is not merely in jest that Melbourne is called ** the Queen of the South."

CHAPTER II li Melbourne -The lilue Moi