Description
The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina, which was published in 1889 and has been out of print for more than a century, relates to the time of the early settlement of Victoria. The Beveridge family lived largely in harmony with the Murry River tribes, learned their languages and shared their customs and traditions.
It was left to Peter Beveridge to faithfully record these and he readily shared his knowledge of the Murry tribes with Robert Brough Smyth, Edward Micklethwaite Curr and Alfred William Howitt in the compilation of their major works.
Peter Beveridge largely wrote The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina whilst he was in ‘retirement’ on French Island, but he never had it published. This task was left to his family after his death and today we have a book which gives a unique insight into Aboriginal lore, customs, daily life and very survival.
This reprint has been supplemented by illustrations drawn from RB Smyth’s Aborigines of Victoria and Andrew Garran’s The Picturesque Atlas of Australasia. It also has biographical notes on: Peter Beveridge; the illustrators, Richard Shepard and Frederick Grosse; and William Macleod who partially illustrated and managed the production of The Picturesque Atlas.
Paperback, 221pp, First published 2008, reprint 2022
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Geoffrey Tobin –
This is an excellent book for understanding the traditional scientific knowledge of Aboriginal people of the Mallee such as the Boorong clan.
What struck me was the humbling contrast between 19th century European misconceptions about physics and the correct understandings held by the contemporary Aboriginal people about such essential facts as conservation laws.