Volume II Part 22 (1/2)
Meantime the native moves not until the kangaroo, having two or three times resumed the att.i.tude of listening, and having like a monkey scratched its side with its fore-paw, at length once more abandons itself in perfect security to its feed, and playfully smells and rubs its little one. Now the watchful savage, keeping his body unmoved, fixes the spear first in the throwing-stick, and then raises his arms in the att.i.tude of throwing, from which they are never again moved until the kangaroo dies or runs away; his spear being properly secured, he advances slowly and stealthily towards his prey, no part moving but his legs; whenever the kangaroo looks round he stands motionless in the position he is in when it first raises its head, until the animal, again a.s.sured of its safety, gives a skip or two and goes on feeding; again the native advances, and this scene is repeated many times until the whistling spear penetrates the devoted animal; then the wood rings with shouts; women and children all join pell-mell in the chase; the kangaroo, weak from the loss of blood, and embarra.s.sed by the long spear which catches in the brushwood as it flies, at length turns on its pursuers, and to secure its rear places its back against a tree, preparing at the same time to rend open the breast and entrails of its pursuer by seizing him in its fore-paws and kicking with its hind legs and claws; but the wily native keeps clear of so murderous an embrace, and from the distance of a few yards throws spears into its breast until the exhausted animal falls and is then soon despatched; when, with the a.s.sistance of his wives, he takes its forelegs over his left, and the hind legs over his right shoulder, and totters with his burden to some convenient resting place, where they can enjoy their meal.
HUNTING IN PARTIES IN THE BUSH.
The chase of the kangaroo conducted by a number of natives is a much more lively and noisy affair, but it is not to my taste nearly so interesting.
When a single native hunts you see the whole energy and perseverance of which a savage is capable called forth, and his graceful movements, cautious advance, the air of quietude and repose which pervade his frame when his prey is alarmed, all involuntarily call forth your admiration and compel you to murmur to yourself, ”how beautiful, how very beautiful.” But where a party hunt there is more bustle and animation in the scene; and this kind of hunting is called ”Yowart-a-kaipoon,” or kangaroo-surrounding. The animals which are to be killed by a party who proceed for this purpose are either surprised in a thick bushy place, where they have retired to lie down in the heat of the day, or else in an open plain; in the former case they are tracked to their retreat, and the party then encircling it first ascertain that they have not quitted it; as each native takes up his position he gives a low whistle, and when the blockade is completed they fire the bushes; the frighted animals now fly from the flames in the direction of the open plains, but no sooner do they reach the outskirts of the wood than the bushes are fired in the direction in which they are running, and they are driven back by loud calls and terrific cries, which augment their terror, and they run wildly about; until, becoming maddened by fear, they make a rush through the midst of their enemies, who allow but few of their victims to escape.
IN THE PLAINS.
When kangaroos are surrounded upon a plain the point generally chosen is an open bottom surrounded by wood; each native has his position a.s.signed him by some of the elder ones, and a great deal of art and caution are sometimes required to gain it; for this end they avail themselves of every inequality of the ground, of every bush, of every shrub, and as there are so many witnesses of their skill and cunning they put forth all their art to approach as near the kangaroos as possible without disturbing them, and thus the circle narrows in around the unconscious animals, till at last some one of them becomes alarmed and bounds away, but ere it has proceeded many yards its flight is arrested by a savage with fearful yells; terrified it sits down with its frightened comrades to look for a means of escape, but armed natives brandis.h.i.+ng their spears and raising loud cries come running in upon them from every side; and ere the animals have recovered the first moments of terror and surprise a slaughter has already commenced, which seldom terminates before the greater number of them have fallen.
These great public hunts or battues are conducted under certain rules.
The proprietor of the land must have invited the other natives, and must be present himself, for should these regulations be violated a very b.l.o.o.d.y fight is certain to take place. The first spear which strikes a kangaroo determines whose property the dead animal is to be; it being no matter how slight the wound may have been; even if a boy threw the spear the rule holds good, and if the animal killed is one which by their laws a boy is not allowed to eat, then his right pa.s.ses on to his father or eldest male relation. The cries of the hunters, as they ring through the ancient woods, are very expressive and beautiful, each different intonation belonging to a particular period of the hunt. And what renders them peculiarly effective is that, instead of beginning as we always do with a soft aspiration, as in Hollo, Ho, etc., their cries always commence with a harsh sound, as kau; and this circ.u.mstance enables them to talk at a great distance so as to be perfectly intelligible to one another. Sometimes in deep wooded valleys I have heard gentle fairy-like sounds coming down from the heights, and rendered so soft and sweet by distance that one might readily have fancied them to be supernatural, yet the natives with me readily understood them, and shouted back their reply: this harsh commencement of their shout gives one also a terrible start when surprised in a murderous attack.
HUNTING KANGAROO BY THE TRACKS.
Four other modes of taking kangaroos are practised by the natives: these are, catching them in nets, in pitfalls, lying in wait near their watering places until they come to drink, and constantly following their tracks until the animals are so wearied out that they will allow the huntsman to approach near enough to spear them. Of these four modes the last two are the most interesting, and the former is thus practised: in a dry district, where numerous animals congregate from a great distance to drink at a solitary water, the huntsman constructs a rude shelter in which for hours he remains concealed and motionless until the thirsty animals approach; kangaroos, c.o.c.katoos, pigeons, and all other beings that run and fly are in this case indiscriminately sacrificed, and the patient endurance of the hunter is generally richly rewarded by the booty he obtains.
But the mode of tracking a kangaroo until it is wearied out is the one which beyond all others excites the admiration of the natives; this calls out every qualification prized by savages: skill in tracking, endurance of hunger and thirst, unwearied bodily exertion, and lasting perseverance. To perform this feat a native starts upon the tracks of a kangaroo, which he follows until he sights it, when it flies timidly before him; again he pursues the track, and again the animal bounds from him; and this is repeated until nightfall, when the native lights his fire and sleeps upon the track; with the first light of day the hunt is resumed, and towards the close of the second day, or in the course of the third, the kangaroo falls a victim to its pursuer. None but a skilful huntsman in the pride of youth and strength can perform this feat, and one who has frequently practised it always enjoys great renown amongst his fellows.
COOKING A KANGAROO.
Before they commence cooking the kangaroo an incision is made round the base of the tail to the bone, and another incision skin deep round the tip. The skin is then pulled away from the other part with all the sinews of the tail attached to it, and these are drawn carefully out and at once rolled round the dowuk, so as to keep them stretched: their future use is either to sew cloaks and bags, or to make spears.
Two modes of cooking the kangaroo are common; the first is to make an oven by digging a hole in the sand, in which a fire is lighted; when the sand is well heated and a large heap of ashes is collected the hole is sc.r.a.ped out and the kangaroo is placed in it, skin and all; it is then covered over with ashes, and a slow fire is kept up above it; when sufficiently baked it is taken out and laid upon its back; the first incision is made directly down from between the forearms to the bottom of the abdomen, the intestines are then removed, and the whole of the juice or gravy is left in the body of the animal. This is carefully taken out and the body is then cut up and eaten.
The other mode is simply to kill the kangaroo and then to broil the different portions of it on the fire: certain parts are considered great delicacies, and these the young men are forbidden to eat; such are the blood, the entrails, and the marrow. The blood is always carefully collected in one of the intestines so as to form a long sausage and is afterwards eaten by the most influential man present.
METHODS OF TAKING AND COOKING FISH.
It will be seen from the foregoing list that the smaller sorts of fish eaten by the natives are very numerous: there are however several kinds which from superst.i.tious prejudices they will not touch; amongst these are the Bamba, or stingray. I should here observe that these prejudices are local, and I have seen them reject at one portion of the continent articles of food which at a distant part they will eat readily.
Three modes of taking fish are commonly practised: spearing them; catching them by means of a weir; and taking them in a net. A party of natives spearing fish in one of their large shallow estuaries is an extremely picturesque sight; they follow all the tortuous windings of the fish they are pursuing, as it darts about in the water, with great rapidity; and, the object of their pursuit being concealed from a distant spectator, they appear to be running about in the sea and das.h.i.+ng up the foam for no conceivable cause or reason. Notwithstanding the speed they are running with and the smallness of the object, in striking they rarely miss their aim. In deep rivers or in the sea the mode of spearing fish varies according to the circ.u.mstances of the case; sometimes it is done by diving, sometimes by sitting on a rock or tree and watching them as they pa.s.s underneath; but in all cases astonishment is excited to see the celerity and accuracy with which the eye and hand act in the nicest unison.
Weirs are only constructed across places which are left nearly dry at low-water, or when the floods subside; and the way in which fish are taken in the net offers nothing remarkable.
METHODS OF COOKING FISH.
If the fish are not cooked by being merely thrown on the fire and broiled they dress them in a manner worthy of being adopted by the most civilized nations; this is called ”Yudarn dookoon,” or ”tying-up cooking.” A piece of thick and tender paperbark is selected and torn into an oblong form; the fish is laid in this, and the bark wrapped round it as paper is folded round a cutlet; strings formed of gra.s.s are then wound tightly about the bark and fish, which is then slowly baked in heated sand covered with hot ashes; when it is completed the bark is opened and serves as a dish: it is of course full of juice and gravy, not a drop of which has escaped. Several of the smaller sorts of freshwater fish, in size and taste resembling white-bait, are really delicious when cooked in this manner; they occasionally also dress pieces of kangaroo and other meats in the same way.
FEASTING ON A STRANDED WHALE.
A whale is the greatest delicacy that a native can partake of, and, whilst standing beside the giant frame of one of these monsters of the deep, he can only be compared to a mouse standing before a huge plum-cake; in either case the ma.s.s of the food compared to that of the consumer is enormous. It is impossible for civilized man to enter into the feelings of the savage under these circ.u.mstances, for he has never been similarly situated. He never has had such a quant.i.ty of food that he doats on placed at once before him; hence when a native proprietor of an estate in Australia finds a whale thrown ash.o.r.e upon his property his whole feelings undergo a sudden revulsion. Instead of being churlishly afraid of the slightest aggression on his property his heart expands with benevolence, and he longs to see his friends about him; so he falls to work with his wives and kindles large fires to give notice of the joyful event.
This duty being performed, he rubs himself all over with the blubber, then anoints his favourite wives, and thus prepared cuts his way through the blubber into the flesh or beef, the grain of which is about as firm as a goose-quill, of this he selects the nicest morsels, and either broils them on the fire or cooks them as kabobs by cutting them into small pieces and spitting them on a pointed stick.
By and bye other natives come gaily trooping in from all quarters: by night they dance and sing, and by day they eat and sleep, and for days this revelry continues unchecked, until they at last fairly eat their way into the whale, and you see them climbing in and about the stinking carcase, choosing t.i.t-bits. In general the natives are very particular about not eating meat that is fly-blown or tainted, but when a whale is in question this nicety of appet.i.te vanishes. I attribute this to their disliking in the first instance to leave the carcase, and then gradually getting accustomed to its smell; but whatever may be the reason they remain by the carcase for many days, rubbed from head to foot with stinking blubber, gorged to repletion with putrid meat, out of temper from indigestion, and therefore engaged in constant frays, suffering from a cutaneous disorder by high feeding, and altogether a disgusting spectacle. There is no sight in the world more revolting than to see a young and gracefully formed native girl stepping out of the carcase of a putrid whale. When they at last quit their feast they carry off as much as they can stagger under, to eat upon the way, and to take as a rarity to their distant friends.
MODE OF KILLING SEALS AND WILD DOGS.
Killing seals is, from the habits of these animals, necessarily an exciting species of hunting in the southern and western portions of the continent. It is only enjoyed by the natives when they can surprise a seal upon the beach or in the surf, or when they swim off to some of the small rocky islands which are connected with the main by reefs, and are at no great distance from it; they are themselves fond of this sport, and the clambering about the wild rocks of their native sh.o.r.e, at one time leaping from rock to rock, spearing fish that lie in the quiet pools, in the next moment das.h.i.+ng into the boisterous surf to spear a large fish, to battle with a seal, or to turn a turtle, cannot but be an exhilarating occupation; and when to this we add that their steps are followed by a wife and children, as dear to them as ours are to us, who are witnesses of their agility and prowess, and who, when the game is killed, will help to light the fire in which it is to be cooked, and drag it to the resting-place, where the father romps with the little ones until the meal is prepared, and that all this takes place in a climate so mild and genial that a house is not necessary, we shall perhaps the less wonder that it should be so difficult to induce a savage to embrace the customs of civilized life.