The culmination of a lifetime's experience. Spectacular finger paintings and bark paintings collected by C. P. Mountford on two of his expeditions illustrate this collection of 23 myths, retold with all the respect, love and insight which he has for the aboriginal people of Australia. We learn of the creation of the world, the spirit children, the Pleiades and their lovers, and much more. Contained in these myths are immutable laws laid down by the mythological people of the dreamtime, which have been transmitted from one generation to the next for countless centuries, and belong to the everyday life of the tribe. Joseph Burke, in his foreword, says of Mountford that 'through this book he is our guide to a great achievement of the human imagination, an achievement which has stamped its imagery of mystery and profound sense of human unity with nature on the landscape, the fauna and flora of Australia. NOTE: Message in ink on front endpaper.