Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/677

NATIVE FOOD SUPPLY. 553 order to discover what was the nature of the article of food so 1837-4 loudly praised by them, and which they stated was to be found in certain districts in great profusion ; the belief at that time being, supposed' from the accounts given of it, that it could bo only a new and ^ °* ^'^^ valuable species of grain. The exploring party did not attain their object, and to this day many of the settlers believe the kwow-ncU to be a kind of com. Generally speaking, the natives live well ; in some districts there may at paHicular seasons of the year be a deficiency of food, but if such is the case, these tracts are, at those times, deserted. It is, however, utterly impossible for a traveller, or even for a strange native, to judge whether a district affords an abundance of food, or the contrary ; for in traversing extensive parts of Australia I Native food have found the sorts of food vary from latitude to latitude, so ***"*"^"***' that the vegetable productions used by the aborigines in one are totally different to those in another ; if, therefore, a stranger has no one to point out to him the vegetable productions, the soil beneath his feet may teem with food whilst he starves. The same rule holds good with regard to animal productions ; for example, in the southern parts of the continent the Xanthorrea affords an inexhaustible supply of fragrant grubs, which an epicure would Grubs, delight in, when once he has so far conquered his prejudices as to taste them ; whilst in proceeding to the northward these trees decline in health and growth, until about the parallel of Gan- theaume Bay they totally disappear, and even a native finds himself cut off from his ordinary supply of insects; the same circumstances taking place with regard to the roots and other Roots, kinds of food at the same time, the traveller necessarily iinds himself reduced to cruel extremities. A native from the plains, taken into an elevated mountainous district near his own country for the first time, is equally at fault But in his own district a native is very differently situated ; he knows exactly what it produces, the proper time at which the several articles are in season, and the readiest means of procuring Foods in them. According to these circumstances he regulates his visits to ^®*' ■'^' the different portions of his hunting ground ; and I can only state that I have always found the greatest abundance in their huts. There are, however, two periods of the year when they are, at times, subjected to the pangs of hunger. These are, in the hottest time of summer, and in the height of the rainy season. At the former period the heat renders them so excessively indolent that Fasts, until forced by want they will not move, and at the latter they suffer so severely from the cold and rain that I have known them remain for two successive days at their huts without quitting the fire ; and even when they do quit it they always carry a firestick with them, which greatly embarrasses their movements. In all ordinary seasons, however, they can obtain in two or three hours a Digitized by Google