During his meal, the wives and children are collected behind at a respectful distance, awaiting their own share.

Then, as the warrior eats, he literally hurls certain oddments over his shoulder, which are promptly pounced upon by the wives and children in waiting.

It sometimes happens, however, that a favourite child--a boy invariably, never a girl (it is the girls who are eaten by the parents whenever there are any superfluous children to be got rid of)--will approach his father and be fed with choice morsels from the great man's "plate." Each tribe has its own particular country over which it roams at pleasure, and the boundaries are defined by trees, hillocks, mountains, rocks, creeks, and water-holes.

And from these natural features the tribes occasionally get their names.

Outside the tribal boundary--which often incloses a vast area--the blacks never go, except on a friendly visit to a neighbouring camp.