Dear Primitive

A Nurse Among the Aborigines

by Marjorie Gartrell

Angus and Robertson, 1957, [First Edition], black and white photographic plates, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, some edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners gift inscription to front endpaper, age toned pages, dustjacket shows some edge and shelf wear with some rubbing, bumping, chipping, small parts missing and discolouration, re-enforced at reverse (see photographs)

“Marjorie Gartrell spent a year as a nursing sister among the primitive natives in remote areas of Central Australia.  She worked in places where the pointed bone retains its power, where it is necessary to forbid men to bring their spears into the hospital ward, where the mother of a sick child may stand by with nulla-nulla at the ready to attack the nurse if the child cries, and where the witchdoctor is a constant- and not always unsuccessful – rival.
the incidents of her daily life are told with vividness and humour, and the aborigines she meets are a varied and lively crowd who extract as much entertainment from her doings as she does from theirs.  She is deeply sympathetic with their efforts to come to terms with civilisation, though sometimes her patience wears thin – especially with witchdoctors.  Her story is rich in interesting sidelights on native customs and beliefs, and in impressions of the fascinating landscape of the Centre.”