The bags, the baskets, the wooden vessels for holding water, and the tools used by the natives, are few in number, but they are sufficient for their wants.
They have made good use of the raw materials within their reach; and, whether dealing with wood or bark, or with the bones, skins, or sinews of animals, they have exhibited ingenuity, and produced work as excellent as it possibly could be uuder the circumstances in which they labored.
In the descriptions which follow, the reader will discover much information quite new even to those who have lived amongst the Aborigines for many years, and who are well acquainted with their furniture and utensils. I have not relied on my own observations. I have sought to gain information from settlers in various parts of Australia; and though I have used all means available to me in collecting facts for this very interesting branch of my work, I cannot believe that I have secured everything that is known respecting the implements of the natives.
The tool with which weapons are carved—Leange-walert—was discovered by accident; and I know not how many other tools of the like kind, or dissimilar, may be in use amongst the tribes in the interior.
That the natives were ready at all times to devise sure means for the capture of animals, and for cooking them, and for entrapping their enemies or killing them, may be accepted as proofs that they are not deficient in invention or energy. The skill exhibited in their works is imperfectly shown in the figures and descriptions in this work.
It was not known until lately that the natives were in the habit of communicating with far-distant friends by means of message-sticks, on which are carved figures and marks sufficiently clear to convey information relative to important occurrences. The picture-writing in use amongst this people, rude as it is, is of the highest interest, and all that relates to it will be studied by ethnologists perhaps more carefully than anything else in this work.
I was glad to receive from the Honorable Mr. Barlee, the Colonial Secretary in Western Australia, sticks on which messages are written—thus confirming other statements made respecting this method of transmitting intelligence.
