Feature--Volcanism in Aboriginal Australian oral traditions

摘要

Robert B. Smyth, a mining engineer and early geologist, asked in 1878 'How did the Aborigines of Australia first get lire? Probably they were never without it'. He observed, from his knowledge of the natural world, that 'Far back in geological times there were active volcanoes in Victoria ... many active points sent upwards tall columns of smoke. Immense rivers of molten lava flowed towards the ocean with which they were at war'. Whether or not this land was peopled, he said, we may never know. But Smyth observed how 'we find, in the places where the volcanic fires lingered until the land took the shape we now see, thin beds of volcanic ash overlying the natural grass-grown surface' and speculated that 'in such spots there may be discovered relics of the ancient inhabitants of the soil'.