BY R. ETHERIDGE, JUN. 39 



xiii. — Talismanic Stones, or Teyl. 

 (PI. via., figs. 4-6.) 



The Teyl from Cooktown,* in the cabinet of Mr. G. Sweet of 

 Brunswick, Melbourne, consisted of a mass of quartz crystals in 

 one piece, and free of gum mounting. The present fine example 

 (PI. VIII., fig. 4) is again from Northern Queensland, and from 

 the Queensland Museum Collection, and consists of two prismatic 

 crystals of clear quartz united at the base by gum, and set along- 

 side of one another. The cementing medium is rendered more 

 coherent by being mixed with hair, which seems to be human. It 

 would be exceedingly interesting to ascertain from what portion 

 of the pilous system this hair is derived. According to Police- 

 Trooper Gason the Dieyerie Tribe of South Australia use a belt of 

 human hair called Yinka,j "ordinarily three hundred yards in 

 length, and wound round the waist." It is said to be greatly 

 prized owing to the difficulty of procuring the necessary material. 

 Mr. Howitt also mentions that the Cooper's Creek natives wear a 

 " very long cord wound round and round the waist like a belt,"J 

 and I am informed by my colleague Mr. J. E. Carne, who has 

 travelled extensively throughout that region, that the hair so used 

 is pubic, obtained from the women, and only worn by the old men 

 of the tribe. I quote these facts with the view of suggesting that 

 the hair used in this tael may be similarly derived. 



Mr. E. C. Blomfield, of Boorolong, has very kindly forwarded 

 to my colleague Mr. W. Anderson, of the Geological Survey, three 

 other Taels. The first of these consists of a small six-sided prism 

 of slightly smoky quartz, with a fairly perfect termination. The 

 crystal is one and a quarter inches long. The second stone is an 

 irregularly shaped piece of clear white rock crystal (PI. vin., fig. 5) 

 excentrically fractured, about half the size of a walnut. The 

 third and fourth charms consist of opaque coffee-coloured quartz, 

 one in the form of an irregular rhomb (PI. VIII., fig. 6), the other 



* Ibid. p. 370 

 + The Native Tribes of S. Australia, edited by J. D. Woods, 1879, p. 289 • 

 and Smyth's Aborigines of Victoria, 1878, I., p. 281. 



% Smyth's Aborigines of Victoria, 1878, n., p. 302. 



