NATIVE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS, ETC. 445 



the Great First Cause, these people beheve there are several minor 

 gods, who with their great chief live on all reefs and outstanding 

 rocks in the water. 



They believe also that at death the spirits of all people, whether 

 good or bad, go to a place in the heart of the island known as 

 " Vudu ni Vungini " (the abode of spirits, or the spirit world), and 

 there they dwell for ever and ever. 



Money. — This consists of strings of money made from small 

 white shells, but the most valuable money is known as " kesa." 

 It consists of three or more large rings made from the shell of the 

 giant clam. One of the rings often, if not always, has the head 

 of a turtle carved on it. It is supposed to have been made by the 

 Bangara La'ata (Great God) at the creation of the world. It is 

 not made now, and the present generation (including the very old 

 people) has no idea what it was made from nor how it was made. 

 The leading chiefs own a great quantity of it. This money is 

 kept out of sight, and is usually buried in the ground in places 

 which are but little frequented, and the secret place is known only 

 to the owTier of the rings. These rings generally go in sets numbering 

 from three to fifteen. Their value varies according to the weight, 

 thickness or breadth of the rings. This money is much used at 

 inter-tribal peacemakings, for settling minor disputes, as a peace- 

 offering after a murder, and in every case inthe purchase of a wife. 

 Shell armlets are also used for the purposes of payment or barter. 



6.— SOME MOURNING CUSTOMS OF THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES 

 By R. H. MATHEWS, L.S. 



[PLATE XLL] 



I HAVE before described the so-called " widows' caps," as well as 

 the elongated oval tablets of kopai which were placed upon native 

 graves along the Darling River and its hinterland. ^ Other mourning 

 emblems found at aboriginal burying places in that district were 

 made of the same material as the " caps," and resembled them in 

 general outline, but were larger and heavier. The largest example 

 of this kind of article which has yet come under my notice is Qne 

 in my own private collection, illustrated in the accompanying 

 photographs. Unfortunately, the smaller end was broken off 

 before it was discovered, leaving the specimen open at both ex- 

 tremities, with a funnel-shaped cavity reaching right through it. 

 The thickness of the shell is irregular, being greatest near the base 

 and middle of the shaft, where it is in places about two inches, 

 thinning out to intermediate thickness down to less than half an 

 inch at other portions. The length outside of the wall or shell 

 of the cylinder in its present damaged and weather-worn state is 

 13^ inches. 



1 Queensland Geographical Journ., vol. 24, pp. 63-69. 



