to sleep at mid-day in the open forest, or dozes stupidly on the branch of a tree; when the air is filled with the hum and whirr of innumerable insects; when the fading flowers of the trees and shrubs begin to give place to the succeeding fruits; when the grass is no longer green, and the streams even in the mountainous districts flow somewhat feebly—the natives resorted to the large rivers, and amused themselves and fed themselves by catching fish. They also hunted the kangaroo, and killed opossums and porcupines. Their vegetable food, in the Yarra district, was chiefly the heart of the fern-tree; but roots and bulbs and fruits were gathered by the women and children in all places where these had matured.
In the summer time there was no lack of amusements. Hunting, fishing, fighting, and dancing—pursued in the day or night, as best suited their inclinations—were to them as exhilirating as any of the practices of civilized peoples, and many of them, perhaps it may be said, as innocent.
The warmth of this season caused them to be careless, to a certain degree, of their willams; and they often camped in small parties, in places remote from their accustomed haunts, where they never thought of providing shelter, unless when overtaken by a storm.
When the hot winds ceased to blow—when the shelter of a bark willam was welcome, and the aspect of nature was no longer encouraging for such pursuits as they followed in the summer—the natives moved to the higher grounds belonging to them. The rains had wetted the green slopes formerly so delightful; cold blasts came from the south-west; and the autumn, bringing to them no rich harvests, no stores of corn, suggested only the discomforts of the approaching winter.
Their food at this season consisted of kangaroo, opossum, porcupine, and other animals, eels and various kinds of fish, and, of vegetables, the bulbous roots of plants growing in the marshes, fern-trees, and the gum of the wattle.
They were always mindful of the seasons in selecting the localities in which to spend their time, taking into account not only the natural features of the ground, but the facilities for obtaining food. They constructed tolerably good bark willams in the winter, while in the summer they were content with such shelter as a few broken branches afforded. They were rarely without good fires.
The Rev. Mr. Bulmer, of Lake Tyers, in Gippsland, in a letter to me, gives the following interesting account of the movements of the natives in the south-eastern part of Victoria during the several seasons. He says:—
"In summer time their days were spent chiefly in fishing for eels and fat mullet (Pert-piang). They camped at the entrance to the Lakes, where they are plentiful at this season. They would find also in the gullies near the entrance plenty of Koonyang (kangaroo apples), and these, with the fish, would form their chief diet. Excepting when they desired a change of food, a day would be spent in going back into the bush for wallaby. The entrance to Reeves River has always been a very favorite camping ground, as food in the
