THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 27 



to try to avoid one another's blows. One old black lady had 

 toothache, consequently she went into mourning for it, which 

 consisted in rubbing her face over with white ashes, which made 

 her look anything but beautiful. I had to take her picture with- 

 out her knowing it. There was a curious old black woman here 

 named Courangie. She was old, small in stature, with crooked 

 legs, and it seemed a wonder how such frail, crooked legs could 

 hold her body up without breaking. She was much looked up to 

 by the natives of her camp, as she was a ventriloquist, and Mr. 

 R. Hislop told me that one evening when he was at the blacks' 

 camp, he noticed this old party quietly leave the camp unnoticed 

 by the other blacks and make her way to a patch of scrub and 

 sit down behind a thick bush. Mr. Hislop had to alter his 

 position a little so as to be able to watch her. After a time she 

 was missed by the natives, as they sat talking round their camp 

 fires. They looked round for her, and not finding her, some of 

 them suggested that the spirits had taken her. The gins and 

 others, being apparently frightened, crowded into the centre of the 

 camp. Then one of the old men called out in a loud voice, 

 "Where are you, Courangie?" Her voice replied, from apparently 

 up in the air toward the north, "The spirits are carrying me away 

 in the air." The natives were now thoroughly frightened, and an 

 old man going to the outskirts of the camp, then called out, 

 " Spirits of ancestors, do not take her away altogether; Courangie, 

 hullo." After a few seconds her voice replied "Ho" (which 

 means here), and it appeared to come from high up in the air, 

 about a mile to the north. The old man kept calling out at short 

 intervals, for about an hour, and the voice always answered him 

 from various points in the distance. At first it sounded a long 

 way off, but gradually drew closer and closer, until at last it 

 sounded just a little way beyond the patch of scrub where she 

 was, and almost immediately afterwards the old woman emerged 

 from the bush behind which she had been hidden. As she 

 advanced she was clawing at the air with both hands, and when 

 she got to the camp commenced clawing the men and boys. After 

 a time they got her to sit down, and questioned her as to where 

 she had been and what she had seen, but her only reply was some 

 incoherent words, and still occasionally clawing at the air. The 

 old men then commenced to warm their hands at the fire and to 

 rub her head. After a few minutes of this performance she stood 

 up and related her experiences, saying that the spirit of a grand- 

 father had taken her away up in the air to a place where a great 

 many spirits were assembled at a cannibal feast. She recognized 

 the spirits of many of her departed relatives and friends, and 

 received their welcome. A fight then arose among the spirits 

 that were strangers to her, wanting to kill and eat her ; her friends, 

 objecting, defended her. While they were fighting over the 



