five years, to write down under separate heads all that was known to him respecting the Aborigines; and thus have been preserved numerous interesting facts that would otherwise have been lost. The Rev. John Bulmer, Superintendent of the Aboriginal Station at Lake Tyers in Gippsland, has contributed many valuable papers, and has constantly assisted me, and has made special enquiries into various questions, whenever he has been asked, with a kindness and alacrity which deserve my warmest thanks. Mr. John Green, for many years Superintendent of the Station at Coranderrk, has also furnished a number of papers, and obtained many facts of singular value. He has always responded to every application made to him. The late Dr. Gummow, who was resident on the Lower Murray for some time, favored me with much help, and undertook investigations that few but himself could have made with success.
Mr. Alfred W. Howitt, F.G.S., Warden and Police Magistrate at Bairnsdale in Gippsland, has not only undertaken the compilation of several papers, but has been in constant correspondence with me in reference to the habits of the natives, and has always taken the warmest interest in this work from the very first. His notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek, and his paper on the System of Consanguinity and Kinship of the Brabrolong tribe—which is but a fragment of a more extensive work that, jointly with the Rev. Lorimer Fison, he was to have prepared—are contributions to science that will necessarily be highly valued by ethnologists.
Mr. Philip Chauncy's notes and anecdotes relate to many important subjects; and as this gentleman has had perhaps as large an experience of the native character as any one now living, his remarks are entitled to great weight. He has written a thoughtful and valuable paper; and I esteem myself singularly fortunate in having perhaps by my efforts to preserve some remnants of the history of the Australians secured his co-operation.
Mr. Albert A. C. Le Souëf has recorded some of the many curious facts observed by him during the long period he has resided amongst the natives; and he has likewise furnished information respecting the weapons in use in various parts of the continent.
From the late Mr. John Moore Davis, who was well acquainted with the habits of the Aborigines of the southern parts of Australia, I received a paper containing accounts of events that transpired in the early times of the settlements. Mr. Davis was remarkably well informed on all the
