302 R. H. MATHEWS, ESQ., L.S., ON 
At a corroboree witnessed by Mr. W. T. Wyndham near 
either the Barwon or Condamine river, Queensland, he saw 
an image made of earth and logs, which the blacks told him 
represented the bunyip, warway, or polgun, a water 
monster.* 
Mr. T. A. Parkhouse, in describing the customs of some 
native tribes in the neighbourhood of Port Darwin,f states 
that he was present at a corroboree held in connection with 
a marriage ceremony. <A post was fixed in the ground to 
which bark was then attached forming the grotesque 
representation of a man—the whole being painted with red 
ochre, and surmounted with a conical cap, covered with 
white down, similar to that worn by the bridegroom. This 
image was representative of the birduel, or evil spirit. 
Mr. E. J. Eyre witnessed a remarkable dance at Moorundie 
on the Lower Murray river, South Australia, in 1844. The 
dancers were painted and decorated as usual, and had tufts 
of feathers on their heads like cockades. Some carried in 
their hands such tufts tied to the ends of sticks, and others 
bunches of green boughs. After exercising themselves for 
some time, they retired, and when they reappeared they 
were seen carrying a curious rude-looking figure raised up 
in the air. This singular object consisted of a large bundle 
of grass and reeds bound together, enveloped in a kangaroo 
skin, with the flesh side outwards, and painted all over in 
small white circles. From the top of this projected a thin 
stick with a tuft of feathers at the end to represent the 
head, and sticks were stuck out laterally from the sides for 
the arms, terminating in tufts of feathers stained red to 
represent the hands. From the front a small stick about 
6 inches long was projected, ending with a thick knob 
formed of grass, round which a piece of old cloth was tied. 
This was painted white, and represented the navel. The 
figure was about 8 feet long, and was evidently intended to 
symbolize a man. This figure was carried for some time in 
the dance. Subsequently there appeared in its place two 
standards made of poles, and borne by two persons. The 
standards were abandoned, and the men advanced with 
their spears. Mr. Eyre believed that these dances, and the 
image, and the Briilacdes had some connection with their 
* Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales, xxiii, 41. 
+ Austsn. Assoc. Adv. Sci. (1895), vi, 642. 
