In probably all Australian tribes there are, under normal conditions, very definite restrictions in regard to the eating of particular foods by individuals at different ages or under special conditions, such as those attendant, more especially, on child-bearing. In many cases the object of these restrictions is very evidently that of reserving the best food for the elder men and women, but in others it is difficult to assign any adequate reason. In some instances it is quite possible that, for example, a woman, while bearing a child, may once have eaten some special food and have, afterwards, been seriously ill. That, in itself, would be quite enough reason for a restriction to be placed on that particular food in regard to all women in the same condition.

Nothing shows more clearly than these food restrictions do, the way in which the life of a native is hedged in with arbitrary rules that must be obeyed, often at the peril of his life. To the casual onlooker the native may appear to live a perfectly free life; in reality he does nothing of the kind; indeed, very much the reverse.

The following are the restrictions amongst the members of the Kakadu tribe, and they may be taken as fairly typical of all tribes:—

Those of the first series are concerned with boys and young men at various ages.