PHYSIOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALASIA 



1327 



accident, or witchcraft. If sickness come upon him it never occurs to him to attribute 

 it to natural causes. An enemy has bewitched him, and he must seek a counter 

 spell to overpower that under which he is suffering. If this be not effectual it is 

 evident that the hostile spell is too powerful to be overcome, and he sets himself to 

 discover who has cast it upon him. The discovery may be made in a dream, or In 

 observation of the animal representing the totem of the suspected person, or by the 

 intervention of a professed wizard, who is called in to exercise his powers. If the 

 patient dies, his friends endeavour to take revenge upon the culprit thus discovered. In 

 some cases they take the first opportunity of killing him ; in others he is called upon 

 to purge himself by the ordeal of standing before them while they throw their weapons 



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AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES MAKING A BARK CANOK. 



at him ; and in some tribes the Council of Elders send out an armed party to take 

 the life of the supposed offender, if he be a member of their own community. The 

 party generally visits his encampment at night and calls him by name. He comes 

 forth at their call, and frequently submits to his fate without an effort to escape or 

 to defend himself. 



The professed wizards are greatly feared, and it is certain that, to some extent at 

 least, they believe in their own powers. Most of the methods are common to savages 

 every-where, and need not be here described. There is, however, a curious operation 

 supposed to be performed by the wizards which seems to be peculiar to Australia. The 

 natives believe them to have the power of casting a spell upon their victim which 

 throws him into a state of magic coma. According to the native superstition they then 

 make an incision under the lower ribs, and extract the omentum fat, after which they 

 close the incision by magic art without leaving a scar, or any other trace of their 

 handiwork. The victim wastes away and dies ; but during his illness he generally has 



