This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1891 edition. Excerpt: ... THE ABORIGINES OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA, INTRODUCTION. There are few of the aboriginal races which inhabit the unsettled regions of the world which disappear more rapidly and completely than the aboriginal inhabitants of Australia when they come into contact with white men. The manners and customs, the religious or superstitious rites practised by them, as well as their language, are matters of great interest, and they well deserve both attention and record at the hands of those who may possess the opportunity of observing them, although only in a cursory and incomplete way. Unfortunately the pioneers of civilisation who seek their fortunes, and not unfrequently risk their lives, in the wilds of Australia are too busily employed in surmounting the natural difficulties which beset them in their enterprises, and too much absorbed in the promotion of their own interests, to be able to devote much leisure to such matters, even if they had the inclination to do so. Their rude and active life is incompatible with literary pursuits, and that patient and persevering investigation necessary to extract from the aborigines of this great continent reliable information relating to their laws, customs, and rites is rarely found amongst the pioneers. The wandering habits of the tribes, and their general distrust of the white people, add to the difficulty of observing them closely, or of obtaining a sufficient knowledge of their dialects to reduce them to a written form. Efforts have been made in South Australia to preserve some record of the tribes which formerly populated it, but for the most part this has been done by private persons. In the elder and more settled colonies, where the blacks have almost entirely died out, steps have been taken to collect...