We have on several occasions alluded to the fact that the natives make use of some kind of craft while hunting and fishing. A few remarks, therefore, upon aboriginal navigation in general may be appropriate at this juncture.

The simplest type of float is no doubt the log of light timber used along the north and north-east coast. The straight trunk of a mangrove is selected, and from it a log is cut, about five or six feet long, which is stripped of its branches. Where a river or an estuary has to be crossed, such a log is slipped into the water and the native lays his body over it, lengthwise, with his legs straddling it. With his head and shoulders well above the surface of the water, the swimmer propels himself along by means of his legs; occasionally he also uses his arms, but then primarily for steadying his body above the log. The natives maintain that this method gives them a certain amount of protection against the attacks of crocodiles, since, when viewed from below, the man and the log together resemble one of the reptiles in form. For the same reason the lower thin end is often left tapering to a point, to simulate the tail of a crocodile.

When two or three, or more, of these light logs of mangrove are lashed together, a simple raft results—a type in frequent use along the eastern shores and rivers of north Australia. The craft is propelled by either a pole or a paddle, the man standing in the former case and sitting in the latter.

The same contrivance is used when a man wishes to cross a river or a bay, and carry his children or belongings across, without swamping them. In this case, he usually swims alongside the raft and propels it by powerful leg-strokes.

In the north-western corner of the Australian continent (i.e. the King Sound—Glenelg River districts), navigation is undertaken in large rafts. These are constructed as follows: From six to ten poles are cut out of the trunks of a tall, straight-growing mangrove, resembling a pine in shape. The poles are cut into twelve-foot lengths, and are then trimmed longitudinally, so that they taper from about one-quarter their length downwards, like an elongated club; the two ends are pointed off. In their thickest part, the poles measure about six inches in diameter. Two of these pieces are now laid upon a level patch of ground, side by side, with the thick ends all pointing in the same direction, and “nailed” together with stakes of hard wood, at various distances along the entire length of the poles. The remaining poles are linked to the original two in a similar way; and so a strong platform results, in which the poles converge in the direction of the thin ends like the arms of a fan. Another platform is constructed exactly similar to the one just described. The only tools used in the making of these structures are tomahawks and large stone and shell scrapers.

All completed, one of the platforms is dragged down the beach and floated; then the second is taken to the water and lifted so that it rides upon the former with the converging ends reversed. The raft is now ready for use (Plate XXII, 2).

Crudely fashioned paddles are used, about six feet long, and similar to those of the Melville and Bathurst Islanders. The local name for these is “kanbanna.”

One or two natives usually go out with a raft like this, and it is astounding with what skill and celerity the clumsy-looking structure can be handled and paddled along.

The local name for the raft is “kaloa.” The principal use to which it is put is fishing and turtle-hunting; the mainland tribes moreover use such rafts for general ferrying, when they make their periodic visits to the islands included within their tribal possessions.

One or two cushions of grass or reeds are laid upon the platform before leaving, to afford dry seating accommodation; and the hunters never go without taking a fairly solid fire-stick, which is stuck in an upright position between two poles of the raft. A few spears and a long harpoon (about ten feet long), with a barb at the pointed end, are carried, the latter being secured to the raft by means of a good length of rope. A heavy boomerang is also added to the outfit, with which the hunters might kill the spoil when they haul it on deck.

Similar log-rafts are in use on some of the islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, but one platform only is constructed, and the logs are simply lashed together with vines.

Any observant visitor to the River Murray will not fail even nowadays, when much of the original timber has disappeared, to observe the numerous trees, growing at or near the banks, from which large sheets of bark have been removed years ago by the local natives. The bark was used for making canoes. Sheets were cut from the eucalyptus trees, measuring from twelve to twenty feet in length by from three to four feet in width. These were laid horizontally upon the ground and moulded into shape while hot ashes were applied to them, the edges being propped up all round while the bottom was kept more or less flat. Several stakes were placed crosswise to keep the sides in position, both at the ends and at the centre. One end was usually more pointed than the other and slightly more elevated; this acted as the bow of the canoe. When thoroughly dry, the craft was launched and carried up to six or seven passengers. In addition, a small bed of clay was built upon the bottom, which carried a fire. The canoe was propelled by a man, who stood near the stern and either poled or paddled it along with a long oar.

A number of different types of canoes are in use on the north coast, constructed out of one or more pieces of bark. In the Gulf country, a piece of bark is freshly detached from a tree, folded along its length, and laid upon the ground in a horizontal position. The ends are then heated, to render them pliable, and securely clamped between two upright stakes, and tied closely together above and below the folded sheet. Stakes of a length equal to that of the required width of the craft are next propped from side to side, to give the canoe its shape, and the ends trimmed on either side with a sharp stone-knife or fragment of shell. The bottom corners are usually bevelled or rounded off. The edges are finally held together by sewing them with strips of cane. Long, thin saplings, stitched along the inner top edges of both sides, act as gunwales and considerably strengthen the structure. One or two ties of lawyer cane are stretched from side to side to prevent the bark from bulging in the centre. When afloat, a native squats low in the canoe near the stern and makes good headway by paddling with a small, oblong piece of bark, first on one side and then on the other.

In some cases, the bark sides are stiffened by poking flexible U-shaped hoops under the saplings which form the gunwales; and in others the sides are kept in position by a number of such hoops, together with stretchers and ties, without any special gunwale at all.

The Melville and Bathurst Islanders use large bark canoes up to nearly twenty feet long, which they construct after the following principle: A single sheet of bark is cut from either the woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata) or the stringybark (E. tetradonta) by chopping through it circumferentially at two heights from the ground, the distance between which represents the required length of the canoe that is to be. Slitting this piece once vertically for the whole length, it is removed by forcing the edge of a chisel-pointed stake under the bark and levering it off. The outer surface of this piece of bark is rough and becomes the inside of the canoe. Transverse cuts are made about two feet from each end, and half the thickness of the bark removed with a sharp bivalve shell (Cyrena). The ends, which have by this treatment become pliable, are further softened by holding them over a fire. The sheet is folded lengthwise along its middle and clamped at its ends with stakes rammed vertically into the ground. The bottom corner of the fold is bevelled off by one or two sloping cuts, along which the two pieces are sewn together with close, overcast stitches; then the pieces are stitched together horizontally at the top corner, for a distance of three or four inches. Thus secured, an angular or curved piece is cut away from the bark, lying between the two sewn corners, in imitation of a fish-tail, and neatly laced together with strips of the lawyer vine. Holes are previously drilled through the bark with an awl made out of the leg-bone of a wallaby. The joints are made secure by plastering them with wild bees’ wax, and the corners are caulked with plastic clay and fibre or resin. Along the top, inner edges of the canoe, on both sides, thin, straight poles are lashed with “run on” stitches. These, however, do not extend the whole length of the canoe, and, being straight, do not enclose the stern and bow of the craft. In other respects the structure is much the same as that in vogue in the Gulf of Carpentaria country.

When not in use, the canoes are “housed” on a level piece of ground under the overhanging branches of a banyan or other shady tree. They are laid in a normal, upright position (not inverted), and are kept so by short pieces of timber, which are propped against the sides. The bark thus dries in the required shape and does not become lopsided. Each canoe has its recognized place. When a dense growth of mangroves skirts the foreshore, a regular approach to the water is kept clear by cutting away the trees as they grow up. The paddles are laid within the canoes.

When the occasion demands it, quite a large number of natives may be carried in a canoe, but usually, when on a simple turtle or dugong hunting expedition, two persons only man the craft. The boatmen, while propelling the canoe, squat with their buttocks resting upon the heels, and with their knees pressed against the vessel’s sides. The weight of the bodies being thus well within, the stability of the canoe is considerably increased.

Although these canoes are mostly used for navigating the various rivers and estuaries of Melville and Bathurst Islands, and especially Apsley Straits, occasionally, when wind and weather are favourable, the natives venture far out to sea, and not infrequently do they make the journey across to the mainland, some forty or fifty miles away, where in former days they carried on a bitter warfare with the Larrekiya and other tribes.

It is at times imperative that a canoe be attached to a hunting or warring party, which is travelling overland and later might want to drift down, or paddle up, a river or inlet to reach its destination. Under such circumstances, six or eight men carry the craft upon their shoulders as they walk alternately left and right of it.

Paddles are made of hard wood, having a single, well-shaped blade and a rounded handle. The edges of the blade are parallel, or taper slightly towards the end, which is either square or rounded. They are from three to five feet in length. When rowing, the natives clasp the handle with both hands and dip the blade on one side or the other, just as the steering requires it.

Certain north-eastern tribes of Queensland used to make their canoes of two or three sheets of bark. In the first instance the sheets would be stitched along the keel, and in the second a lenticular or oval piece was inserted, which acted as a flat bottom.

Dug-outs are found all along the north coast, but it is very probable that they are of foreign origin, presumably Melanesian or Polynesian. A suitable tree having been felled, its ends are shaped and the inside chopped, gouged, and burned out, so that only the outer walls remain. Some very big boats of this description were seen in use among the Larrekiya, and their seaworthiness was proved time after time.

Some of the Queensland tribes attach one or two outriggers to their canoes, which, of course, give them additional safety when by chance they might be overtaken by a rough or choppy sea.

The Groote Islanders in the Gulf of Carpentaria carry a mast in the centre of their dug-outs, to which they lash two long horizontal bamboo-booms and spread a sail between them. This circumstance is remarkable, since the Groote Islanders are among the least known of the Australian tribes and have come less into contact with Europeans than other tribes who might have learned the use of sails.