Quaintest of all these articles were
the native "portmanteaus," that is to say, bundles of treasures rolled
up in bark, wound round and round with string - string made from human
hair or from that of dingoes and opossums.
In these "portmanteaus" are
found carved sticks, pieces of quartz, red ochre, feathers, and a number
of odds and ends. Of several that were in this camp I took two - my
curiosity and desire to further knowledge of human beings, so unknown and
so interesting, overcame my honesty, and since the owners had retired so
rudely I could not barter with them. Without doubt the meat-tins and odds
and ends that we left behind us have more than repaid them. One of these
portmanteaus may be seen in the British Museum, the other I have still,
unopened.
Between the camp and the well, which we easily found, there ran a
well-beaten foot-pad, showing that this had been a favoured spot for some
time past. The well itself was situated in a belt of mulga-scrub, and
surrounded by a little patch of grass; growing near by, a few good camel
bushes, such as acacia and fern-tree (quondongs, by the way, were not
seen by us north of Alexander Spring, with the exception of one near
McPherson's Pillar); enclosing the scrub two parallel banks of sand and
stones, with the well in the valley between. Above the well, to the,
North, high anthills and tussocks of coarse grass appeared.
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