J3Y R. ETIIEKIDGE, JUNK. 339 



Lower Murray cap as 8^ lbs.; Bulmer records* one from the 

 Murray-Darling country as " 14 lbs. after it was dry"; according 

 to E. M. Curr,t two e.xamples from Yelta, Darling-Murray Junc- 

 tion weighed respectively 10 lbs. 7 ozs., and 5 lbs. 13 ozs.; and 

 Worsnophas placed on record J one a little over 12 lbs., one 131bs., 

 and another 14 lbs. The extraordinary weight of 30 lbs. men- 

 tioned by the Rev. R. W. Holden§ in the Marowera or Murray- 

 Darling Junction Tribe must be an oversight. No woman could 

 carry this for twelve months as he states. The weights of those 

 now exhibited have already been given. 



Little attention has been paid to the sizes of these caps, those 

 who had entered into such details contenting themselves with 

 mentioning the thickness of the coating only. Thus, Eyre 

 mentions|| a thickness of two or three inches, and Angas saysU 

 nearly two inches thick. From the measurements given on a 

 previous page, we may conclude tliat the material used varied in 

 the crown of the cap from one and a quarter to three and a half 

 inches. 



The ultimate destination of the coverings was always the gi-ave.** 

 We have seen that it was reposing on such that Mitchell first 

 found them, and we have similar evidence that a like disposal 

 was practised by several other tribes, extending over a wide area. 

 Police-trooper Ewens, of Blanchtown, S. Australia, ft says of the 

 Moorundee Tribe, inhabiting the Murray River, from Mannum 

 to Overland Corner, " when a man dies women wear clay on their 

 heads and place it, when dry, in the shape of a basin on the 

 grave." Corporal Shaw, of Overland Corner, S. Australia, relates J J 



* Journ. R. Geogr. Soc. Austr. (Vict. Br.), 1888, v. Ft. 1, p. 23. 

 t Australian Race, 1886, ii. p 238. 

 t Prehistoric Arts, 3rd Edit., 1897, p. 63. 

 § Taplin's Folklore, 1879, p. 27. 

 II Lor. cit. p. 354. 

 H S. Australia Illustrated, 1846, pi. 30, f. 15. 

 ** Worsnop, Prehistoric Arts, 3rd Edit., 1897, p. 63. 

 tt Taplin's Folklore, 1879, p. 30. 

 it IhUL, p. 29. 



