Page:Aboriginesofvictoria02.djvu/254

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236
APPENDIX:

rows of large stones, forming passages up and down, like a maze, at the foot of a little hill. A semicircular walk, ten feet wide, has been made by clearing and smoothing the rough rocky surface up the hill and down again leading into the maze. This work was possibly executed for the purpose of carrying on some mystic rites, or probably only for the amusement of running between the rows of stones and up the hill and down again.

Also, Mr. A. C. Allan, Inspector-General of Surveys, has informed me that during a recent journey in the Tattiara country, near the South Australian

FIG. 248.

border, he noticed a number of stone walls, two or three feet high, which had been constructed by the natives, radiating from a little cave in the ground, and forming irregular passages.

I can only conjecture that these and other similar works have been used by the Aborigines, in times past, for purposes of incantation.

Illustrations of Physical Characteristics.

The men are rather active and sinewy than strong and muscular. They are well-formed and broad in the chest, though generally rather slender in the limbs.