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approached by them - 'During the attendance of the black boy on the
sheep while they were feeding, five natives came up to him, and were
quite friendly, they examined the boy's clothing... Lewis who had been
away getting the bullocks together, on his return home, some six miles
from the camp, observed six men and one woman; they tried to avoid him,
first laying down their spears and some large flat rocks, which they were
carrying perhaps to their camp to beat the seeds which they eat into a
powder. They were well proportioned and muscular, though short in
stature...' (Brock 1975: 107).
While encamped at the waterhole Poole sought water to the west of their
camp, but was unsuccessful. Of that foray Brock (1975:110) records that
Poole surprised a group of about thirty natives - men women and children.
When first seen these native are recorded as having been 'busy in
preparing food from a seed which grows on a low grass and is found
somewhere in great abundance', This seed was crushed using a flat stone
and a second round pounding stone, to 'form an oily kind of food not very
unlike linseed would be if it was so bruised.' Brock also records that 'these
natives were in good condition; the men, though small, were well
proportioned, as were the women; the children were healthy and
robust'(Brock 1975:111).
Subsequent references to Aborigines in the records consulted for my
research are few and probably not adequate for any conclusions to be
drawn.
The first of these dates from the account given by Murphy of an early visit
to the Mount Browne goldfield where Murphy (n.d.:61) suggests '...the
workings consisted of Evans's gin digging up the surface with a yam stick,
and as she found an occasional nugget from a pennyweight to an ounce ­
all rough gold - dropping it into a jam tin.' As part of the same narration
Murphy states of his coach journey from Wilcannia that 'Camped around
Cobham Lake...we found some hundreds of blacks with their gins and
piccaninnies; a sort of periodical gathering of all the abos in the district. For
food they had real lake fare - fish and black swans. Organising a raid on
the swans, they would enter the lake from various angles and almost
disappear from view, one with a gun, the rest with spears. Gradually the
flock of birds would close in, and at some signal all the abos would shoot
up out of the water in a circle around them - gun firing, spears whizzing ­
and garner in a regular haul.' (Murphy, n.d.:60)
The record created by the police charge and summons book from
Milparinka Police Station, parts of which are discussed in relation to the
management of the town's hotels, also makes mention of Aborigines. This
mayor may not be representative of difficulties with the consumption of
alcohol, but I suggest the record alone is an inadequate source from which
to make any judgement. It does, however, confirm the continuing presence
from time to time of Aborigines in the vicinity of Milparinka. The photograph
of Heuzenroder's Store (photograph 3) includes the image of a person who