Physical description

Ill, p.327.

Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

Factual account of life in the Northern Territory in the late 19th century; - 1st section - Authors adventures as a shipwrecked mariner at Wark Aboriginal Settlement and Port Essington; 2nd section - Detailed narrative of the authors work & explorations as a customs official and as a patrol police officer, stationed at Port Darwin; Description of Malays and their trading ventures by proas; Relations between Malays and Aborigines employment of latter in collecting, trepangs, pearls, tortoise-shells - physical and cultural influences (e.g. intermixture, and language) feuds and murders; Notes on food gathering and hunting (use of wommera) - tracking - corroborrees settling of disputes by simulated fighting - group murder and guilt rites (Malays and Chinese), canoes decorated - Maria Is. sacred burial ground qualities of Aborigines; noted; Intertribal fighting - Woolna tribe against local Darwin Aborigines; Cannibalism at Limba Luchumbo - King River; Contact between Aborigines and settlers, ranging from extreme cruelty to great friendships; Aboriginal girls stolen for domestic work causing trouble; Further accounts of Chinese - opium & gold smuggling; Search for Dylompo - Groote Eylandt unsuccessful.