I9I0.] MATHEWS— AUSTRALIAN BURIAL CUSTOMS. 305 



duration, these charms were Hkewise in requisition, with a suit- 

 able accompaniment. 



Widozi's' Caps. — Although a widow's head-dress invariably con- 

 sisted of a cap similar in shape to those illustrated at pages 316-317, 

 Vol. 48, they were also worn by a woman for an adult son or 

 daughter, or for a favorite brother or sister. Their use was not 

 restricted to the women only. Old " INIarra Jimmy," already quoted, 

 said that men sometimes wore such a cap in mourning for their 

 mothers, mother's sisters, their own elder sisters, their wives and 

 other blood relatives of mature years. Generally speaking, however, 

 the men Used the kind of articles described in this paper, which 

 were never worn on the head, but were deposited at the grave. 



The facts just narrated would account for the comparatively 

 large numbers of so-called " caps " which have been found on indi- 

 vidual graves. Mr. T. Worsnop mentions four found on a grave, 

 one of which weighed fourteen pounds. ° A friend writes me that 

 he has seen five caps similarly used. A station owner on the Dar- 

 ling River informs me that many years ago there was an aboriginal 

 grave not far from his homestead, which had nearly a dozen articles 

 which appeared to him to be caps, lying upon it. They were not all 

 of one size, but comprised some very large ones, others of medium 

 size, whilst others were smaller. In the cases just mentioned it is 

 likely that some were widow's caps ; some had possibly been worn 

 by men; whilst others were manufactured as tributes of mourning. 

 The latter kind could be placed upon the grave as soon as the body 

 was buried, whereas a " cap " could not be deposited till the wearer's 

 term of mourning had expired. 



The "widow's cap" illustrated in a former article (p. 316, Vol. 

 48), is made from kopai, with only a small mixture of sand or 

 ashes, because kopai is abundant over a large portion of the Darling 

 valley. But on some of the tributaries of the Darling, such as the 

 ]\Iacquarie, Mara, Bogan, etc., where gypsum is found only in small 

 quantities, the mourning caps are made out of a brown-colored 

 tenacious mud, obtained from the bottoms of waterholes and 

 streams, without any admixture of gypsum. Yellow or reddish 



"'Aborigines of Australia" (Adelaide, 1897), p. 62. 



