2-979-056 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches in Australia - Mode of Climbing a Tree, 1857. Traditional Aboriginal skills. 'The native, having eyed well the inclination of the tree, commences by cutting a notch just large enough to admit his great toe. The height of this notch from the ground is about 2 ½ feet, although it generally depends upon the individual...He then cuts another notch, from two to three feet higher, for his left foot; and when this is done he fixes his tomahawk as high as he can reach into the tree, and, holding by it, ascends the two first notches. His left great toe being in the second cut, he stands, supporting his whole weight upon it, with his left arm round the tree, and then makes two more notches as before. In this manner the natives get up immense trees, rising from 40 to 50 feet without a branch, with as much confidence and celerity as a European mounts a ladder'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.