The only cover worn by the natives were the skins from animals, such as kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, bear, and the native cat. Blankets were mostly made from opossum fur, sewn together with the sinews of the animal from which they came, with a sharpened bone serving as needle or awl. The blankets held together with a string or pin were worn across the chest so that the right arm stayed free, very similar to the Roman toga, and reached mostly down to the knee. The hairy side was worn inside during cold weather, and during other weather the smooth one. During rain the hairy side was turned outside, as the coat otherwise, if the flesh-side got wet, would have become stiff and hard when later dried by the sun. Usually the men and women walked around in Adam’s and Eve’s costumes; the blankets were only used around the camp and at night time.

Significant work was required for the preparation of these blankets. About 30 to 40 opossum furs were needed for one blanket for an adult. When the fur is skinned from the animal it is put flat on a dry hard piece of earth and fastened around the edges with stakes, the fur being strenuously pulled to stretch it. When it is dry it is taken away and cut with a stone knife into a square shape by keeping the best part and throwing away the damaged edges. The surface of the skin is then worked with a stone scraper to remove all pieces of flesh, which might still adhere, in order to make it soft and flexible. Then it is rubbed with fat and red ochre.

When the necessary number of furs has been collected they are stitched together with sinews gained from the tails of marsupials; a sharp bone or wooden pin serves as an awl to make the holes through which the end of the sinew is pulled by hand. Some furs were decorated with rough drawings on the flesh side with a shell or sharp flint; the treatment with fat and ochre served to proof it and protect it against the influences of the weather.

The furs of the kangaroo, native bear and wallaby were prepared in a similar way and a smaller number of those were sufficient for this purpose. I have seen men who wore cloaks made from only one or two kangaroo furs with which they protected themselves during damp days against the rain. The skins of large birds, such as the pelican, emu and swan were occasionally used for the same purpose. Skins were also used as mats on the damp ground.

Instead of pegging the skin on the ground, as described above, the pelts of smaller animals were sometimes stretched on a smooth barked tree or a piece of bark forming the gunya or shelter. In both cases the nails used were made of hard wood or pieces of splintered bone.

Necklaces are made from short pieces of reed or grass stalks, which are cut up with a sharp shell or a stone knife into the length of about half an inch or more and are threaded onto a fur string like the necklaces made from tube pearls by our white children. At some places shells are strung together, at others quandong kernels.^[24] At other places kangaroo and dog teeth are carefully attached to a fur string or a strip of kangaroo fur. The material of the necklaces changes with the locality.

During the making of shell necklaces a hole is ground or pierced into each shell and the string is pulled through the artificial hole as well as through the natural opening of the shell; because of this the shells are in symmetrical order to each other, but hang randomly on the string.

Around Moulamein, Swan Hill, Balranald and other nearby places, the natives make necklaces from the feelers of the Murray lobster, which, when cooked, have a light red coral color. They are broken into pieces half an inch in length and strung on the sinews of a kangaroo tail. All necklaces mentioned form a pleasant contrast to the ebony coloured necks and shoulders of the wearers. Some of these are worn singly, but more often in two or three windings around the neck. Fur string necklaces are only occasionally worn.

Headbands, made from tightly plaited strings or human hair, coloured with red ochre or pipe clay, are worn around the forehead. Sometimes feathers of birds are included in the head ornament. White downy feathers are often stuck to the forehead or to other parts of the body. Often a head frill was made from kangaroo teeth neatly and firmly strung together. The tip of the tails of wild dogs were also worn attached to the hair with gum-like tassels or tied together with strings.

Armbands were worn around the biceps. These were made from strips of animal fur, the hairy side turned outside. Strings were tied around the knees and ankles, under which leaved twigs were inserted hanging down.

Belts or girdles, worn around the hips, were made from opossum skin, human hair or plaited or twisted strips of skin. An apron or pubic tassle was made by cutting a kangaroo rat fur into small strips, nine to 12 inches in length, depending on the size of the fur used. On one end of the fur a seam or band was left uncut from which all strips originate. This uncut seam was put under the hip girdle and the strips hung down over the male member like great tassels. The apron was so small that it rather served to draw attention to the pubic area than hide it. A similar cloth was placed at the back of the girdle, and one on each side, to make four in total. That is the custom of the Wirraidyuri; with the Thurrawal and related tribes only two loin cloths were worn, one at the front and one at the back over the crack between the buttocks.

During travels the men often carried some of their weapons, such as a boomerang, axe or other pieces of equipment deemed necessary in the hip girdle. Unmarried girls wore girdles around the hips, from which fringes of fur strips about a foot long and of a width of eight or nine inches hung down to cover the pudenda.