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A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts. It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek. ==Aboriginal water source== Soakages were traditionally important sources of water for Australian Aborigines in the desert, being the most dependable source in times of drought in Australia. Aborigines would scoop out the sand or mud using a coolamon or woomera, often to a depth of several metres, until clean water gathered in the base of the hole. Knowing the precise location of each soakage was extremely valuable knowledge. It is also sometimes called a native well. Anthropologist Donald Thomson wrote: :''For a white man the difficulty in this country is that there is no way in which he can find the wells and soaks unless he does so by chance, and certainly nothing to indicate that the well is there, nor as a rule, even when the terrain and at least its superficial geological formation, the lie of the country, is examined, is there anything to explain the presence of water when he does find it ... :''A lifetime of experience, backed by the traditional knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation, enables these people (Pintupi in this instance ) to judge, without having to visit a well that they know, whether it will still contain water and whether, if dry, with the sides fallen in and the well full of debris, it is worth cleaning out''.〔Thomson, Donald, ''Bindibu Country'', Nelson Publishing, Melbourne, 1975, p85.''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Soakage (source of water)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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