The grass baskets used by the natives of Gippsland are called Minni-gnal-ak. The patterns vary little amongst the natives of Victoria, and that shown in the figure is a fair specimen of their art in basket-weaving. The small baskets are usually carried by the woman in the large Bin-nuk.
It is not easy now to get baskets of the pattern which prevailed before the introduction of European arts. Those made by the women at Coranderrk are of all shapes and sizes, invariably provided with handles, and made for sale, and with a view to meet the wants of the whites who purchase them.
Dr. Gummow has sent me a beautiful basket (Mid-jerr) from the Lower Murray, which is used for carrying the eggs of the Lowan (Mallee hen). Accompanying the basket is a specimen of the fibre (Widging-nee) of which it is made—a sort of carex, Dr. Gummow thinks.
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| (Scale .) FIG. 161. |
A small basket of excellent workmanship (Fig. 161) was lent to me by the late Mr. Matthew Hervey, in order that it might be figured for this work. It was dropped by a woman of the Burdekin tribe (Queensland) when surprised by a party of whites. It contained a few bone-needles, a necklace, some fur, and other little articles of use. The material of which it is made is a flag split into very thin strips, and the manner in which the strips are put together is shown in the enlarged engraving b. It was provided with a loop made of some vegetable fibre sufficiently long to admit of its being slung over the shoulder. I figured this with the utmost care, and the engraving is a faithful copy of the original drawing. This basket is the best piece of Aboriginal work of this kind I have ever seen. It is evidently old, and has been carried for a length of time; but it is firm, elastic, and as fit for use as when first made.
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| FIG. 162. |
Mr. John McDonnell, of Brisbane, in Queensland, has forwarded drawings and descriptions of several weapons and implements from Rockingham Bay. Amongst these is a wicker-work bottle or basket (Fig. 162), finely wrought, and ornamented with perpendicular streaks of red and yellow. It is thirteen inches in height, and twenty-five inches in circumference at the widest part. It has a cord handle.
The vessels used for holding and carrying water by the Aborigines of Victoria were commonly made of the gnarls of gum-trees, or of the bark covering the gnarls, or of a portion of the limb of some tree. The large tub—Tarnuk bullito or Tarnuk bullarto—was either a hollowed log or a large gnarl hollowed by fire and gouging.
