It is a hollow bamboo about 2 1/2 feet
long, and as thick as a quart bottle; one of the smoking party fills
this in turn with smoke from a funnel-shaped bowl, in which the
tobacco is placed by blowing it through a hole at one end of the
tube. When filled it is handed to some one who inhales and swallows
as much of the smoke as he can, passing the pipe on to his neighbour.
I have seen a smoker so much affected by one dose as to lie helpless
for some minutes afterwards.
19. Thus much for the general appearance and habits of the Cape
York natives. A very accurate vocabulary of their language has been
published by Mr. M'Gillivary in his account of the voyage of H.M.S.
Rattlesnake. Of their superstitions I am unable to speak with
certainty. That they have no belief in the existence of a Supreme
Being is, I think, positive. They are, like all the Australian
tribes, averse to travelling about at night if dark; this, I believe,
chiefly arises from the inconvenience and difficulty of moving about
at such times, and not from any superstitious fear. They travel when
there is moonlight. They are true observers of the weather, and
before the approach of a change move their camps so as to obtain a
sheltered position. They do not seem to give the slightest thought
to cause or effect, and would, I believe eat and pass away their time
in a sort of trance-like apathy. Nothing appears to create surprise
in them, and nothing but hunger, or the sense of immediate danger,
arouses them from their listlessness.
20. I am aware of the great interest taken by his Excellency the
Governor and all the members of the Government of Queensland in the
promotion of missionary enterprise. I much fear, however, that the
mainland here will be found but a barren field for missionary labors.
One great obstacle to successful work is the unsettled nature of the
people. No inducement can keep them long in one place. Certainly a
missionary station might be formed on one of the neighbouring islands
- Albany or Mount Adolphus Island, for instance, where some of the
young natives might be kept in training, according to the system used
by Bishops Selwyn and Patterson for the instruction of the
Melanesians.
21. With the Kororegas or Prince of Wales Islanders, who, from
constant communication with the islands to the northward, have
acquired a higher degree of intelligence than the pure Australians, I
believe a successful experiment could be made. Missionary enterprise
beyond the protection and influence of this new settlement at
Somerset would, of course, at present be attended with considerable
risk.
22. To the Banks and Mulgrave Islanders in Torres' Straits, a
similar remark will apply.
