TRIUMPH OF THE NOMADS, Geoffrey Blainey, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1978 (1975) The book begins with a preface (pp. v-viii) mentioning the scale of the achievement of the only humans to cross the sea to an uninhabited continent, explore and dwell across that continent and when discovered a few hundred years ago be living a life more nutritious, enjoyable and prosperous than Europeans of that time. Aboriginals also had a great cultural diversity. Chapter One, "Fire on the Lake" (pp. 3-14), introduces the discovery of a partially cremated body at Lake Mungo from more than 25,000 years ago, a time when the climate was moister and cooler. The lower sea level is mentioned and the consequent existence then of much land now beneath the sea. There were volcanoes, though not many. The previously held opinion that Aboriginals had a static existence within a static environment is now challenged by knowledge of such ancient volcanoes, but especially by awareness of the rising level of the sea. Chapter Two, "The Discoverers" (pp. 15-31), begins with Wallace's Line separating Australian marsupials from Asian predators. Possible routes for human migration are mentioned, including from Timor. Professor John Mulvaney, in his excellent book The Prehistory of Australia, thought the ocean between Timor and Australia was too wide an obstacle. Instead he suggested the possibility of the first migrants reaching the continent somewhere near the western shore of New Guinea or near the mountains which are now the Aru Islands. He briefly charted a possible route--predominantly overland--from South China and Taiwan through the Philippines and Borneo and the Celebes. p. 17 There is reference to accidental voyagers and possible reasons (famine, banishment, military defeat) for deliberate emigration. The newcomers likely had many familiar things to eat, along with novelties. Some vegetation, such as tamarind trees, could be more recent introductions to Australia. Archaeological remains confirm habitation in the southwest and southeast thirty thousand and more years ago; the duration and nature of the migration there from the north is unclear. The situation c. 1800, some five to ten thousand "small bands of wanderers" p. 28 consisting of some twenty to fifty people composed of three or four families. According to cautious counts the continent eventually had more than 300 languages, and the number would be much larger if sharp differences of dialect were included. p. 31 Chapter Three, "The Tasmanians: Outline of a Puzzle" (pp. 32-48) discusses the perplexity of Nineteenth Century Europeans on encountering the dark skinned, woolly haired Tasmanians who lacked boomerang and spear-thrower. Unconscious until 1895 that Tasmania once was part of the continent, unaware of the true length of time involved, assuming unchanging physique, language and customs, authors sought and found links between Tasmanians and Africans, or Andaman Islanders, or New Caladonians. Australian Aboriginals were thought to come from South India. Chapter Four, "Death of the Giants" (pp. 51-66), introduces diprodoton, giant kangaroo, marsupial lion, etc. and the possibility humans may have contributed to their extinction. Other species elsewhere (dodo, moa, North American camels, ground sloths and mammoths) may have fallen to man. There is the possible role of the dingo (likely arriving with humans after Aboriginals were already on the continent) in the extinction, save in Tasmania, of the marsupial lion and thylacine. There is the Tasmanian Devil which existed in Arnhem Land three thousand years ago. Seven thousand years ago: An aboriginal near Lake Nitchie (N.S.W.) was ceremonially buried, and on his neck hung one of the most impressive necklaces so far found in Australia--a string of 178 pierced teeth from Tasmanian Devils. Such a necklace suggests that about 7,000 years ago the animal was abundant; on the other hand the teeth might have been scarce by that time and therefore a rare treasure fit to be buried with a man of importance. p. 64 The author is cautious in attributing causes for the extinction of species, stressing the absence of certain knowledge. Chapter Five, "A Burning Continent" (pp. 67-83), looks at the use of the fire-stick and of fire in general by the Aboriginals. They could produce fire by rubbing sticks together, using wood dust or a bit of dry kangaroo dung for kindling. Men produced fire; women transported it. The variety of uses of fire possibly explains, more than any other reason, why aboriginals carried it everywhere as if it were their prized possession. Fire grilled or roasted their meat and fish; it cooked some of their vegetables. In many regions fire burned the dead and raised the ornamental scars on the living. Fire deterred the evil spirits from approaching a camp at night. A flaming stick, it was often believed, would curb the wind or halt the rain. Smoke was the most popular insect repellant, and in parts of Arnhem Land smoking fires were kept burning all night under a kind of stilt but known as a 'mosquito house' in order to protect sleepers from mosquitoes. Near Cape York the smoke of slow-burning fires served the same purpose in igloo-like huts. Flames were used to drive snakes from long grass where nomads hoped to camp that night; and in parts of the River Murray hot ashes were used as a poultice on human limbs bitten by snakes. Fire not only helped to manufacture spears and hafted axes; it was also used instead of an axe. If the camp lacked firewood, women would light a small fire near the base of a tree; and by carefully tending the fire they burned through the trunk until the tree toppled. pp. 71-72 Fire, of course, provided illumination at night, served as a beacon and produced smoke signals. It also extracted or directed game and controlled the vegetation. The author claims that also in America use of fire kept the northeastern forests open for more deer and permitted the grassy Great Plains. The plains in Australia attracted the European sheep which allowed Australia to produce more wool than any other land on Earth. Chapter Six, "The Rising of the Seas" (pp. 84-91), begins with the possibly reciprocal contact between the Indonesian Islands and the greater continent of New Guinea and Australia, including Tasmania. The suggestion is presented of the impact of water on ancestral lands and of the gradually increasing difficulty of wading and rafting between traditional territories. And the point is made that many human sites await archaeological exploration underwater. The timing is unclear, and the separation of New Guinea from Australia has been placed at between 8,000 and 6,500 years ago. There are glimpses of the consequences, of the disruption, the changes caused by the rising water and the warmer climate. Chapter Seven, "Birth and Death" (pp. 92-121), begins with the estimate of some 250,000 Aboriginals on the appearance of Europeans and the calculation that taking four static generations per century would mean that three hundred million people inhabited Australia from 28,000 B.C.E. until that appearance. Next is the serious questioning of Malthius' assertion that Australians generally experienced near starvation. There were methods of population control, such as abortion, infanticide, nursing until three years old. It is stated that one twin was killed. Care of the old is mentioned and the acceptance of their death when they became unable to travel. Assumptions that nomads are less susceptible to disease are questioned and some details are given of diseases after European arrival. Questioned also is the concept of the relatively unwarlike nomad. Cited is the story of William Buckley in the early Nineteenth Century and the study by Lloyd Warner in the early Twentieth Century calculating a higher death rate in fighting for Aboriginals than for European nations, notwithstanding the European wars of the time. Chapter Eight, "The Hunters" (pp. 125-154), begins with Europeans impressed by Aboriginal weapons, especially the boomerang. Though boomerangs and a variety of straight short throwing-sticks were widely used, it is doubtful whether they were the main hunting weapon of any nomadic group. If we could compile statistics of all food eaten on the continent on the eve of the white invasion, it is improbable that as much as one per cent of food was gathered by the boomerangs and allied throwing sticks. It is likely that the pointed digging-stick carried by women provided more food in a day than boomerangs provided in an average month. p. 127 There is discussion of the spear, the spear-thrower (woomera), waddy, club, axe and the unused bow and arrow. Aboriginal hunters did use mimicry. There is a look at the variety of fish caught by a variety of methods and there was taking and eating of turtles, seals, beached whales and shellfish. Mounds of the shells reach up to thirty feet high. There was fishing along the seacoast and along the rivers. There were impressive fish traps and bark canoes. There was hunting of birds and taking of eggs. Chapter Nine, "Harvest of the Unploughed Plains" (pp. 155-170), begins with European assumptions of heavy meat consumption and the largely ignored report written by Edward Palmer. In 1883 he sent a paper to the Royal Society of New South Wales, vowing from his long experience with aboriginals in the Gulf country that 'nearly half of their daily food' consists of roots and fruits. He listed 106 plants which were used for food or medicine. He could have added another fifty, he said, if he had known how to classify them. p. 156 Later calculations are mentioned, as well as the significance of fish in those areas near fish bearing waters. There is reference to specifics, including the kernels of Bunya-Bunya pine cones eaten at a great festival. The impact of Europeans, including introduction of cattle and sheep is mentioned. Chapter Ten, "Medicines and Drugs, Liquids and Cosmetics" (pp. 171 to 184), mentions the large number of medicinal plants, the absence of alcohol, the presence of tobacco, poisoning of fish, use of glues, finding of water and the use of cosmetics, especially ochre. Chapter Eleven, "The Logic of Unending Travel" (pp. 185-202), begins with movement occasioned by Aboriginal awareness of environmental features and cycles. The quite varied year of the Wik Monkan people of Cape York Peninsula is outlined with the observation that archaeologists confronted with the remains of the Wik Monkan varying camps could easily, and erroneously, ascribe them to separate cultures. There is mention of a possibly greater capacity of Aboriginals to consume some foods, to maintain body heat in cold weather and to experience effective blood circulation. There is also some evidence of food storage (fruit and vegetable, not meat, nor fish), though generally steady rain could mean hunger for those who gathered food every day and usually had no reserves. There is reference to intricacies and complexities of food prohibitions. Chapter Twelve, "Trade Routes and Rituals" (pp. 203-216), begins with the distance impressive seashells, ochre, axes, spearheads and even millstones travelled. There is the gift exchange in Arnhem Land during ceremonial gatherings, such as initiations. In the great assemblies in the open air the goods appeared--the red and yellow ochres, the kaolin, the spears, boomerangs, stone axes and stone knives, dilly bags, the beeswax and resin which served as adhesives, the hair belts, the pubic coverings of pearl-shell and other decorative objects. p. 211 There is discussion of the extent to which such exchanges were economic or social, or, indeed, to what extent such a distinction has meaning. It is reiterated that while some items, such as grinding stones, were very important, nomads lacking the wheel and beasts of burden could only carry with them very little property. Chapter Thirteen, "The Prosperous Nomads" (pp. 217-229), continues this point that the absence of monumental buildings (often evidences of economic differences and poverty within the societies that erect them) and even of clothing, among a people ornately decorated with body paint in a warm climate, are to be expected of nomads whose well-being and prosperity are not defined by unnecessary objects. The notion of the general near starvation of Aboriginals is rejected and attributed in part to the deaths of white explorers lacking the Aboriginals' environmental knowledge and skills. The value of an oral tradition is stated. Chapter Fourteen, "Sails of Doom" (pp. 230-254), looks at the attainment in various parts of the world of agriculture, writing, the wheel, the town, etc. Agriculture came to New Guinea and even to some islands in the Torres Strait, but Australia remained nomadic, hunter-gatherer. There was trade in artefacts, customs, ideas and genes, but agriculture failed to penetrate Australia. Other voyagers including possibly Chinese are mentioned. The role of Timor in sea trade, especially sandalwood, and the great voyages of Ming Admiral Cheng Ho are noted. A fuller description of Cheng Ho may be seen at:

WHEN CHINA RULED THE SEAS a review of Louise Levathes' book about this fascinating episode in the history of maritime exploration.

The arrival of Europeans in the Timor area and Indonesia is recounted. Then there are the Macassarmen who came from Indonesia for trepang and fished along a seven hundred mile stretch of coast in the northwest. Finally, there came the English. This is a sympathetic treatment of the subject by one writing in a more popular or journalistic than in an academic style. Michael McKenny March 4-7, 2003 C.E. Solarguard Homepage