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.

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