In otiier words, conception is not regarded as a direct 

 result of cohabitation. The child, on no account, must par- 

 take of the particular food until it has successfully teethed. 



At childbirth the navel cord is twisted off. What may 

 be the consequence of this treatment is the fact that abnor- 

 mal swellings were frequently seen in the region of the navel 

 in grown-up individuals. 



During the menses of a woman the man must not re- 

 ceive any food from her, or she from him; otherv/ise it is 

 believed that a serious illness will result on either side, which 

 no medicine-man could alleviate. If, however, by accident 

 or misunderstanding, food has passed from man to woman, or 

 rice versa, the medicine-man may be summoned, who removes 

 the pain Iby gestures and by pretending to remove an offend- 

 ing body by sucking, eventually shewing a piece of meat 

 covered with blood to the sufferer. 



If a medicine-man has a bad case of sickness to deal 

 with, he pulls out a fev/ hairs from his armpit, burns them, 

 and places the ashes in the nostrils of the patient, over which 

 he holds his hands in the shape of a funnel and blows 

 thereon. 



When a dugong has been captured by the men, all women 

 are kept at a distance, and not allowed to witness the cutting- 

 up of the spoil; but they may subsequently take part in the 

 feast. If they were present all the flesh would pass from 

 their bodies, and they would become barren. 



The aborigines make the statement that when they kill 

 a dugong (which is said to be often done by forcing small 

 rods into its nostrils) it wails and whines pitifully like a 

 human being. The female animal, further, is said to carry 

 her young on her fin like a lubra carries her infant," and, 

 swimming with the other fin, suckles it. When tired, she 

 changes about from one fin to the other. 



According to their traditions, long ago a blackfellow 

 ate a certain berry, when some of the juice squirted into his 

 eyes. The pain was intolerable, and he became blind. In 

 his agony he tossed himself about until he fell, and began to 

 roll down the hill-slope on which he had been sitting. His 

 body continued rolling over and over until he reached th3 

 cliffs on the coast, and fell into the sea. The rolling motion 

 continued until he was graaually converted into the form 

 of a dugong. 



* Cf. Keppel's remark on the raotherly affection of the fe- 

 male duo;ona;: A Visit to the Indian Archipelac^o, 18o3, vol. ii., 

 p. 179. 



