And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.
This is exactly the form that is observed in South-western Australia, when the natives swear amity to one another, or pledge themselves to aid one another in avenging a death.
One native remains seated on the ground with his heels tucked under him, in the Eastern manner; the one who is about to narrate a death to him approaches slowly and with averted face, and seats himself cross-legged upon the thighs of the other; they are thus placed thigh to thigh, and squeezing their bodies together they place breast to breast.

Both then avert their faces, their eyes frequently fill with tears, no single word is spoken; and the one who is seated uppermost places his hands under the thighs of his friend; having remained thus seated for a minute or two he rises up and withdraws to a little distance without speaking, but an inviolable pledge to avenge the death has by this ceremony passed between the two.
One remarkable custom prevalent equally amongst the most ancient nations of whom any records are preserved, and the modern Australians, is that of naming children from some circumstance connected with their birth or early infancy.

Thus in Genesis chapter 30 verse 11: And Leah said, A troop cometh, and she called his name Gad; etc.etc.

etc.
Burckhardt observed the same custom among the Bedouins and says: A name is given to the infant immediately on his birth; the name is derived from some trifling accident, or from some object which had struck the fancy of the mother or any of the women present at the child's birth.
Notes on the Bedouins, page 55.
CUSTOM OF CIRCUMCISION.
The natives of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and also those on the eastern shores of St.Vincent's Gulf, practise the rite of circumcision.

That is, this remarkable rite is known to be observed in two points of the continent of Australia exactly opposite to one another, and which are separated by a distance of about twelve hundred miles.
OTHER SCRIPTURAL CUSTOMS.
The injunctions contained in Deuteronomy chapter 23 verses 12 and 13 are literally fulfilled by the natives in several parts of the continent.