THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA.

53

there, and they would call the people. As it was very warm, we concluded to return to our boat, where we could sit in the shade.

At length the people began to arrive, and soon there were nearly a hundred men, women, and children. We purchased a few things, and declared to them the words of eternal life. They listened with respectful attention, and when we left they were more quiet than the inhabitants at the Bakělě towns usually are. We gained their full confidence, I think, and we were much pleased with their appearance. The men were very muscular and healthy, and all were uncontaminated by the vices introduced on the coast by unprincipled traders. How important that these people be met, as they come down, by the influences of the Gospel.

They are quite rude, wearing scarcely any clothing; but many of them paint their bodies with red wood, so as to give them a purple look. Nearly all wear ornaments of white beads, iron and ivory rings, &c. Their iron seems to be superior, and many of their implements are made with taste and skill equal to that of any people in the world.

While we were talking with the people, Dinbedambe, a Shikani who accompanied us, made a solemn covenant of friendship with the brother of the headman. They first chewed a kind of bush pepper; then scratched their hands so as to start the blood; then, having rubbed the places with the chewed pepper, they touched their hands together, so as to mingle their blood."Now," they say, "if any persons belonging to either tribe go to the towns of the other, and are injured in any way, those who commit the wrong will die." None ever presume to break such a covenant.

Our readers will recollect the account given them in our last Number of the Bari, another tribe of Central Africans, on the banks of the White Nile. It is interesting to trace between them and the Pangwes some singular resemblance in habits and ornaments. The Bari paint their bodies with the red ochre of their mountain district: the Pangwes do the same with a red wood, which gives them a purple look. Both tribes wear ornaments of beads, and iron and ivory rings, and taste and skill are exhibited in the fabrication of the various implements found in their possession. It is probable that the causes of this similarity will be eventually found in some great centre of population lying far in the interior.

THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA.

THE figure which we here present is that of a native of Western Australia. In their manner of life, their weapons, and mode of hunting, the western tribes closely resemble other portions of the singular race which are scattered over this continent; but in form and appearance present a great superiority to the southern; being in general tall, robust, and muscular. They wear no clothes, and their bodies are marked by scars and wales. Their arms consist of stone-headed spears, which are mostly thrown by means of the throwing-stick, and then with great strength and precision. The spear, when thus used, is as effective a weapon as the bow and arrow, and is more useful to the native in poking out kangaroo rats and opossums from hollow trees, &c. They also use the boome

54

THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA.

rang, a most singular weapon, formed with a curve, and requiring great nicety in the formation; but which, when duly balanced, and thrown by an expert hand, after taking a circuit in the air of several hundred feet, will return to the precise spot from which it had been cast. Clubs and stone hatchets are also frequent. The hatchet is used to cut up the larger kinds of game, and to make holes in the trees which the native climbs.

An Australian native going to hunt is thus equipped around the head a neatly wrought bandage or fillet is worn, which the native whitens with pipe clay, as a soldier does his belt; around his middle is wound, in many folds, a cord, spun from the fur opossum, which forms a warm, soft, elastic belt, of an inch in thickness. In this he makes sure his hatchet-which is so placed that the head rests exactly on the centre of his back, the thin short handle descending along the back-bone-his boomerang, and a short heavy stick to throw at smaller animals. In his hand he carries his throwing-stick and several spears of different kinds, fitted for war or the chase. Over all is flung a warm kangaroo-skin cloak.

Thus prepared, the father of the family walks first: behind him, at a respectful distance, the women follow. In each hand they bear a long thick stick, the point of which has been hardened in the fire; and in bags on their shoulders the infants are placed. But in these bags many other things are to be found-a flat stone for pounding roots, prepared cakes of gum for making and mending weapons, &c., kangaroo sinews to sew with, needles made of the shin-bones of kangaroos, the shell of a kind of mussel to cut hair, a piece of paper bark to carry water in, a kind of dry white fungus to kindle fire rapidly, and many other things. Each woman generally carries a lighted brand under her cloak and in her hand.

The native when hunting is very different from what he appears at other times his heavy, listless eyes brighten up. Noiselessly, yet quickly, he moves along, his eye roving from side to side and marking every thing. Suddenly he stops, as if transfixed. His eyes alone move, as he brings his powers of sight and hearing to bear on the discovery of his game. His wives, when they see him in this posture, fall to the ground as if they had been shot. About a hundred yards from the native is seen a kangaroo, erect on its hind legs, and standing thus five or six feet high: its short forepaws hang by its side its ears are pointed-it is listening. The native is in the same place he does not move, and looks like a burnt tree. By degrees the kangaroo becomes re-assured, and begins to feed. The native now raises his arm, with his spear in its throwing-stick, and moves stealthily towards his prey. If the kangaroo looks up, he instantly stops, until at length, the opportunity being gained, the native transfixes it with his spear: then. the women and children spring up, pursuing with shouts the wounded animal, which, placing itself against a tree, prepares to seize any which come within its reach, and dies there under repeated spear wounds.

But it is when he is about to attack a fellow-man, whether native

CASTE YIELDING TO THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

55

or European, whom he considers his enemy, that the native puts on his most ferocious aspect; and this is the moment in which he is presented in the engraving. Then, with hideous shouts and demoniac

looks, he prepares himself for the contest, crouching and jumping to his war-song, and using every imaginable gesture of defiancespitting, springing with the spear, and throwing dust. With measured gestures and low jumps he sings his wild song, while his black countenance seems all eyes and teeth. Alas! what can be expected? The poor Australians live in such dread of malignant spirits, that they seldom venture from their encampment after dusk. Of God, who is love, they know nothing. Little, very little, has as yet been done for them in the way of Missionary effort, and that little has been of a discouraging character.

CASTE YIELDING TO THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

CASTE, one of the most peculiar and hurtful regulations of Hindu society, is yet supposed by the natives of India to be of divine

56 origin. It is very different from the gradation of rank which exists in Christian nations, and which promotes intercourse and mutual kindness. The caste of the Hindu prevents intercourse, and severs those bands of brotherhood which ought to unite man to his fellow-man. Originally amongst the Hindus four castes were recognised, each being supposed distinct in origin and diverse in nature. Caste is the same with the Hindu as species, and the different castes of men have natures, in his estimation, as unlike as the different castes of grain, or as different castes of animals.

CASTE YIELDING TO THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

Each caste is a community distinct by itself. Brahmins and Sudras are both men, the natives will tell you, but only as the horse and the ass are both animals. The various castes, therefore, may not intermarry, may not live in the same house, may not follow the same occupation. The principal castes are subdivided into numerous lesser ones, and thus disunion and uncharitableness are perpetuated. To such an extent is the separation carried, that individuals of diverse castes may not eat together. A man cannot eat ood cooked by a person of lower caste, or served by him, or placed on a vessel he has touched.

It is gratifying to find, that in proportion as Christianity is acquiring influence in India it is breaking down the caste of the Hindu, just as we find it subduing and changing the war spirit of the New Zealander. An interesting proof of this occurs in the following extract of a letter from the Rev. G. Candy, the Corresponding Secretary of the Society at Bombay. It is dated Nasik.

At five o'clock on Thursday afternoon I accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Robertson to a native feast, or entertainment, which had been prepared in Brahminical style, in honour of my visit, by Appaji Bapuji, one of the Catechists, a Brahmin convert. As I was particularly pleased with it, as exhibiting the fruits of Christianity, I will endeavour to give a full account of it. On reaching Appaji's house, we found the guests assembled and the feast nearly served up, waiting for our arrival. The number of guests was about twenty, consisting of a variety of castes, grades, ages, and conditions. There were Europeans, Indo-Britons, Parsis, Brahmins, Kunbis (cultivators), Kumbhars (potters), Mhars (one of the lowest castes), &c., all sitting down in sweet brotherly union. A table and three chairs had been provided for Mr. and Mrs. Robertson and myself; but all the rest squatted on small pieces of board, or on the earthen floor. Before each guest was placed a large plantain leaf, on which the different viands were deposited: these were all alike to each guest, and were as follows-a large rice dumpling, with dall sauce poured over it; a wheaten flat cake, prepared with molasses; a little bowl of vegetable curry, the bowl being made of a leaf; some eight or ten little heaps of vegetable condiments of different sorts, placed round the inner edge of the plantain leaf; and a little brass pot, or lota, of drinking water, placed by the side. When all was ready for setting to, the Rev. James Bunter asked a blessing in Marathi, and then, not knives and forks, but fingers, were in full exercise. There was a spoon placed for each of us three Europeans, but we all discarded it, enjoying the fun of our fingers. I may as well mention, that, though James Bunter has an

BHIKHARI, A HINDU, BAPTIZED AT BURSAD, IN GUzurat.

57

English name, he is a pure native-a low-caste man from the Madras side, but a most solid Christian. The feast rapidly disappeared before the hungry guests, whilst the attendants were most assiduous in renewing the supply. We three Europeans had dined a very short time before we came, and so could do little more than taste the different viands. I found them very palatable. One of the Parsis came in after we had begun, and there seemed a lack of a dish for him, so I made him sit down by me, and transferred my leaf to him. As we felt the room rather oppressive, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson and I left the rest to finish the repast, whilst we went through the back door into the Mission garden to get a little fresh air. When all had been cleared away, and the room swept, we returned to join in the social worship. Mr. Bunter gave out a hymn in Marathi, which was sung by all present. He then read John xiv., and offered up a prayer in Marathi, after which we dispersed.

The points which pleased me in Appaji's entertainment were these1. The thorough breaking down of caste: all were on a level. 2. The raising of females to their proper position: among the heathen they never eat with their male relatives, but are expected to be satisfied with their leavings. 3. The brotherly feeling between persons previously so estranged. 4. The order, cleanliness, and temperance manifested. 5. The general pleasure and happiness. 6. The full consciousness that the feast must be sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. 7. The spectacle exhibited to the heathen around us; for the entertainment was in the heart of the idolatrous city of Nasik.

I have omitted to mention, that, when we broke up, pan sopāree (betelnut and leaf) were distributed—the universal signal of dismissal in India.

BHIKHARI, A HINDU, BAPTIZED AT BURSAD IN GUZURAT,

DECEMBER 21, 1851.

How often does it not happen that they who have but little opportunity, in their earnestness and unwearied diligence put to shame others who have much and how grievous, if the greatness of our privileges leads us to set the less value on them! In the Hindu inquirer, whose narrative we now introduce into our pages, we have an instance of persevering search after truth which is well worthy of imitation. The account is taken from the "Bombay Guardian."

Bhikhári is a native of Hindustan, of the Gávli, or cow-keeper caste. In his early days he used to go with other children to see the Collector, an English gentleman, who treated the native children with great kindness, occasionally giving them mangoes, &c. This first introduction to the society of white men gave his youthful mind a favourable impression of the English, and made him desire to enter their service. His predilections were sufficiently marked to elicit the observation from his friends, "He will one day join these people, and become defiled."

At the age of about sixteen he went from Hindustan to the Nizam's country, to become a sipahi [sepoy] in one of the regiments. From thence he was sent to Punah, where he was enrolled in the 17th regt. N. I.

When the regiment was at Scinde, he was persuaded by his comrades to join the sect of the Rámánandis, and accordingly became a disciple. The gúrú blew into his ear, tied a necklace on his neck, uttered a few