Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake Volume Ii Part 1

Voyage Of H.M.S. Rattlesnake.

Vol. 2.

by John MacGillivray.

CHAPTER 2.1.

Distribution of Aboriginal tribes of Cape York and Torres Strait.

Mode of warfare ill.u.s.trated.

Their social condition.

Treatment of the women.

Prevalence of infanticide.

Education of a child.

Mode of scarifying the body.

Initiation to manhood.

Their canoes, weapons, and huts.

Dress of the women.

Food of the natives.

Mode of fis.h.i.+ng.

Capture of the turtle and dugong described.

Yams and mode of culture.

Edible roots, fruits, etc.

No recognised chieftains.h.i.+p.

Laws regarding property in land.

Belief in transmigration of souls.

Their traditions.

Diseases and modes of treatment.

Burial Ceremonies.

DISTRIBUTION OF TRIBES OF CAPE YORK AND TORRES STRAIT.

There are at least five distinct tribes of natives inhabiting the neighbourhood of Cape York. The Gudang people possess the immediate vicinity of the Cape: the Yagulles* stretch along the coast to the southward and eastward beyond Escape River: the Katchialaigas and Induyamos (or Yarudolaigas as the latter are sometimes called) inhabit the country behind Cape York, but I am not acquainted with the precise localities: lastly, the Gomokudins are located on the South-West sh.o.r.es of Endeavour Strait, and extend a short distance down the Gulf of Carpentaria. These all belong to the Australian race as unquestionably as the aborigines of Western or South Australia, or the South-East coast of New South Wales; they exhibit precisely the same physical characteristics which have been elsewhere so often described as to render further repet.i.tion unnecessary.

(*Footnote. This is the tribe concerned in the murder of the unfortunate Kennedy. The circ.u.mstances were related by some of the Yagulles to an old woman at Cape York of the name of Baki, who, when questioned upon the subject through Giaom, partially corroborated the statement of Jackey-Jackey. She further stated that a few years ago a Yagulle woman and child had been shot by some white men in a small vessel near Albany Island, and that the tribe were anxious to revenge their death. Whether this was a story got up as a palliative for the murder, or not, I cannot say.)

On the other hand, the tribes inhabiting the islands of Torres Strait differ from those of the mainland in belonging (with the exception of the first) to the Papuan or frizzled-haired race. Besides, probably, a few others of which I cannot speak with certainty, these tribes are distributed in the following manner. The Kowraregas inhabit the Prince of Wales group: the Muralegas and Italegas divide between them Banks Island: the Badulegas possess Mulgrave Island, and the Gumulegas the islands between the last and New Guinea: the Kulkalegas have Mount Ernest and the Three Sisters: The Ma.s.silegas* reside on the York Isles and others adjacent: and the Miriam** tribe hold the north-easternmost islands of Torres Strait, including Murray and Darnley Islands.

(*Footnote. I do not know what name is given to the tribe or tribes inhabiting the s.p.a.ce between the Miriam and the Kulkalaig. Dzum (a Darnley islander) told me of a tribe called Gamle inhabiting Owrid, Uta, Zogarid, Sirreb, Mekek, and Wurber; at all events the natives of Ma.s.sid belong to a distinct tribe, judging from their language, and are known as the Ma.s.silegas by the Kowraregas. They occasionally (as in 1848) come down to Cape York on a visit to the Australians there, often extending their voyage far to the southward, visiting the various sandy islets in search of turtle and remaining away for a month or more.)

(**Footnote. Is so named from a place in Murray Island. The possessions of this tribe are Mer, Dowar, Wayer, Errub, Ugar, Zapker, and Edugor, all, except the two last, permanently inhabited.

The junction between the two races, or the Papuan from the north and the Australian from the south, is effected at Cape York by the Kowraregas, whom I believe to be a Papuanized colony of Australians, as will elsewhere be shown. In fact, one might hesitate whether to consider the Kowraregas* as Papuans or Australians, so complete is the fusion of the two races. Still the natives of the Prince of Wales Islands rank themselves with the islanders and exhibit a degree of conscious superiority over their neighbours on the mainland and with some show of reason; although themselves inferior to all the other islanders, they have at least made with them the great advance in civilisation of having learned to cultivate the ground, a process which is practised by none of the Australian aborigines.

(*Footnote. Dr. Latham informs me that the Kowrarega language is undeniably Australian, and has clearly shown such to be the case: and although the Miriam language does not show any obvious affinity with the continental Australian dialects, yet the number of words common to it and the Kowrarega, I find by comparison of my vocabularies to be very considerable, and possibly, were we at all acquainted with the grammar of the former, other and stronger affinities would appear.)

THE KOWRAREGAS.

The Kowraregas speak of New Guinea under the name of Muggi (little) Dowdai, while to New Holland they apply the term of Kei (large) Dowdai.

Their knowledge of the former island has been acquired indirectly through the medium of intervening tribes. The New Guinea people are said to live chiefly on pigs and sago; from them are obtained the ca.s.sowary feathers used in their dances, and stone-headed clubs. They trade with the Gumulegas, who exchange commodities with the Badulegas, from whom the Kowrarega people receive them. These last barter away to their northern neighbours spears, throwing-sticks, and mother-of-pearl sh.e.l.ls for bows, arrows, bamboo pipes, and knives, and small sh.e.l.l ornaments called dibi-dibi. They have friendly relations with the other islanders of Torres Strait, but are at enmity with all the mainland tribes except the Gudang.

MODE OF WARFARE ILl.u.s.tRATED.

Occasionally hostilities, frequently caused by the most trivial circ.u.mstances, arise between two neighbouring tribes, when incursions are made into each other's territories, and reprisals follow. Although timely notice is usually given prior to an aggression being made by one tribe upon another, yet the most profound secrecy is afterwards practised by the invaders. As an ill.u.s.tration of their mode of warfare, in which treachery is considered meritorious in proportion to its success, and no prisoners are made, except occasionally, when a woman is carried off--consisting chiefly in a sudden and unexpected attack, a short encounter, the flight of one party and the triumphant rejoicings of the other on their return--I may state the following on the authority of Giaom.

About the end of 1848, an old Kowrarega man went by himself in a small canoe to the neighbourhood of Cape Cornwall, while the men of the tribe were absent turtling at the eastern end of Endeavour Strait. He was watched by a party of Gomokudin blacks or Yigeiles, who, guided by his fire, surprised and speared him. Immediately returning to the mainland, the perpetrators of this savage deed made a great fire by way of exultation. Meanwhile the turtling party returned, and when it became known that the old man had been missing for several days, they were induced by his two sons to search for him, and found the body horribly mutilated, with many spears stuck into it to show who had been the murderers. This explained the fire, so another was lit in reply to the challenge, and at night a party of Kowraregas in six canoes, containing all the men and lads of the tribe, crossed over to the main. They came upon a small camp of Yigeiles who had not been at all concerned in the murder, and enticed one of them to come out of the thicket where he had concealed himself by the offer of a fillet of ca.s.sowary feathers for information regarding the real murderers. As soon as the man stepped out, he was shot down with an arrow, his head cut off, and pursuit made after the rest. Towards morning their second camping-place was discovered and surrounded, when three men, one woman, and a girl were butchered. The heads of the victims were cut off with the hupi, or bamboo knife, and secured by the sringi, or cane loop, both of which are carried slung on the back by the Torres Strait islanders and the New Guinea men of the adjacent sh.o.r.es, when on a marauding excursion;* these Papuans preserve the skulls of their enemies as trophies, while the Australian tribes merely mutilate the bodies of the slain, and leave them where they fall.

(*Footnote. See Jukes' Voyage of the Fly Volume 1 page 277.)

CANNIBALISM.

The Kowraregas returned to their island with much exultation, announcing their approach by great shouting and blowing on conchs. The heads were placed on an oven and partially cooked, when the eyes were scooped out and eaten with portions of flesh cut from the cheek;* only those, however, who had been present at the murder were allowed to partake of this; the morsel was supposed to make them more brave. A dance was then commenced, during which the heads were kicked along the ground, and the savage excitement of the dancers almost amounted to frenzy. The skulls were ultimately hung up on two cross sticks near the camp, and allowed to remain there undisturbed.

(*Footnote. The eyes and cheeks of the survivors from the wreck of a Charles Eaton (in August 1834) were eaten by their murderers--a party consisting of different tribes from the eastern part of Torres Strait.

See Nautical Magazine 1837 page 799.)

In the beginning of 1849 a party of Badulegas who had spent two months on a friendly visit to the natives of Muralug treacherously killed an old Italega woman, married to one of their hosts. Two of her brothers from Banks Island were staying with her at the time, and one was killed, but the other managed to escape. The heads were carried off to Badu as trophies. This treacherous violation of the laws of hospitality was in revenge for some petty injury which one of the Badu men received from an Ita black several years before.

SIGNALS BY SMOKE.

When a large fire is made by one tribe it is often intended as a signal of defiance to some neighbouring one--an invitation to fight--and may be continued daily for weeks before hostilities commence; it is answered by a similar one. Many other signals by smoke are in use: for example, the presence of an enemy upon the coast--a wish to communicate with another party at a distance--or the want of a.s.sistance--may be denoted by making a small fire, which, as soon as it has given out a little column of smoke, is suddenly extinguished by heaping sand upon it. If not answered immediately it is repeated; if still unanswered, a large fire is got up and allowed to burn until an answer is returned.

POLYGAMY.

Polygamy is practised both on the mainland and throughout the islands of Torres Strait. Five is the greatest number of wives which I was credibly informed had been possessed by one man--but this was an extraordinary instance, one, two, or three, being the usual complement, leaving of course many men who are never provided with wives. The possession of several wives ensures to the husband a certain amount of influence in his tribe as the owner of so much valuable property, also from the nature and extent of his connections by marriage. In most cases females are betrothed in infancy, according to the will of the father, and without regard to disparity of age, thus the future husband may be and often is an old man with several wives. When the man thinks proper he takes his wife to live with him without any further ceremony, but before this she has probably had promiscuous intercourse with the young men, such, if conducted with a moderate degree of secrecy, not being considered as an offence, although if continued after marriage it would be visited by the husband (if powerful enough) upon both the offending parties with the severest punishment.

Occasionally there are instances of strong mutual attachment and courts.h.i.+p, when, if the damsel is not betrothed, a small present made to the father is sufficient to procure his consent; at the Prince of Wales Islands a knife or gla.s.s bottle are considered as a sufficient price for the hand of a lady fair, and are the articles mostly used for that purpose.

According to Giaom p.u.b.erty in girls takes place from the tenth to the twelfth year, but few become mothers at a very early age. When parturition is about to take place the woman retires to a little distance in the bush, and is attended by an experienced matron. Delivery is usually very easy, and the mother is almost always able on the following day to attend to her usual occupations. The infant is laid upon a small soft mat which the mother has taken care to prepare beforehand, and which is used for no other purpose.

CONDITION OF THE WOMEN.

The life of a married woman among the Kowrarega and Gudang blacks is a hard one. She has to procure nearly all the food for herself and husband, except during the turtling season, and on other occasions when the men are astir. If she fails to return with a sufficiency of food, she is probably severely beaten--indeed the most savage acts of cruelty are often inflicted upon the women for the most trivial offence.

THEIR TREATMENT BY THE MEN.

Considering the degraded position a.s.signed by the Australian savages to their women, it is not surprising that the Prince of Wales Islanders should, by imitating their neighbours in this respect, afford a strong contrast to the inhabitants of Darnley and other islands of the North-East part of Torres Strait, who always appeared to me to treat their females with much consideration and kindness. Several instances of this kind of barbarity came under my own notice. Piaquai (before-mentioned) when spoken to about his wife whom he had killed a fortnight before in a fit of pa.s.sion, seemed much amused at the idea of having got rid of her unborn child at the same time. One morning at Cape York, Paida did not keep his appointment with me as usual; on making inquiry, I found that he had been squabbling with one of his wives a few minutes before, about some trifle, and had speared her through the hip and groin. On expressing my disapproval of what he had done, adding that white men never acted in that manner, he turned it off by jocularly observing that although _I_ had only one wife, HE had two, and could easily spare one of them. As a further proof of the low condition of the women, I may state that it is upon them that the only restrictions in eating particular sorts of food are imposed. Many kinds of fish, including some of the best, are forbidden on the pretence of their causing disease in women, although not injurious to the men. The hawksbill turtle and its eggs are forbidden to women suckling, and no female, until beyond child bearing, is permitted to eat of the Torres Strait pigeon.

Among other pieces of etiquette to be practised after marriage among both the Kowraregas and Gudangs, a man must carefully avoid speaking to or even mentioning the name of his mother-in-law, and his wife acts similarly with regard to her father-in-law. Thus the mother of a person called Nuki--which means water--is obliged to call water by another name; in like manner as the names of the dead are never mentioned without great reluctance so, after the death of a man named Us, or quartz, that stone had its name changed into nattam ure, or the thing which is a namesake, although the original will gradually return to common use.

The population of Muralug is kept always about the same numerical standard by the small number of births, and the occasional practice of infanticide. Few women rear more than three children, and besides, most of those born before marriage are doomed to be killed immediately after birth, unless the father--which is seldom the case--is desirous of saving the child--if not, he gives the order marama teio (throw it into the hole) and it is buried alive accordingly. Even of other infants some, especially females, are made away with in a similar manner when the mother is disinclined to support it.

NAMING OF CHILDREN.

An infant is named immediately after birth: and, on Muralug, these names for the last few years have been chosen by a very old man named Guigwi.

Many of these names have a meaning attached to them: thus, two people are named respectively Wapada and Pa.s.sei, signifying particular trees, one woman is called Kuki, or the rainy season, and her son Ras, or the driving cloud. Most people have several names, for instance, old Guigwi was also called Salgai, or the firesticks, and Mrs. Thomson was addressed as Kesagu, or Taomai, by her (adopted) relatives, but as Giaom by all others. Children are usually suckled for about two years, but are soon able, in a great measure, to procure their own food, especially sh.e.l.lfish, and when strong enough to use the stick employed in digging up roots, they are supposed to be able to s.h.i.+ft for themselves.

COMPRESSION OF THE SKULL.

A peculiar form of head, which both the Kowrarega and Gudang blacks consider as the beau ideal of beauty, is produced by artificial compression during infancy. Pressure is made by the mother with her hands--as I have seen practised on more than one occasion at Cape York--one being applied to the forehead and the other to the occiput, both of which are thereby flattened, while the skull is rendered proportionally broader and longer than it would naturally have been.*