86 REV. M. KELLS^ ON WORSHIP AND TRADITIONS OF ABORIGINES. 



being entirely benevolent, He is not feared or propitiated by tliem, 

 although they pronounce His name with reverence. It is the 

 active spirits of evil that are dreaded, and must be kept off and 

 controlled by the arts of the " wise men " (l-arajies) of the tribe. 



In the greater part of New South Wales, the Creator is known 

 by the name Baiamai, and in Victoria as Punjil. The spelling of 

 the name is in both cases faulty, and hides the meaning. The one 

 should be Ba-ye-mai and the other, Banjil, both being formed 

 from the same root word ba, " to make, to cause." In the New 

 Hebrides and in Melanesia generally ba, via, fa, is the causative 

 prefix to verbs; the brown Polynesians amplify it into fa-ka, fa'a. 

 From the Australian root ba, the Sydney dialect forms ba-ye, 

 " One who makes," and the mai (a dialect form is me) is merely a 

 formative syllable. Baye-mai or Baye-me is thus literally " the 

 Maker, the Creator." Similarly in the Victorian chief dialect 

 banjilliko is a verb meaning " to make, to bring into shape." The 

 ^•o, there is an infinitive suffix, j-illi is the formative and the root 

 is ban, " to make " — the same as ba in our dialect. 



The vice-gerent of Bayemai is Dharamulan, who presides at the 

 sacred ceremonies of the tribes and communicates his will. 

 Bliara seems to me to be an old-world root word meaning " to 

 protect," and the mulan is probably the Australian numeral 

 bula, " two," for the native traditions often speak of him as being 

 accompanied by another and a much smaller man. Dharamulan 

 may thus be a dual deity. It may be interesting here to note that 

 the Polynesian great god Tangaloa is also the Creator ; that when 

 Creation was over, he rested and is now quiescent; that any 

 intervention in the affairs of men on earth is made by the Sa- 

 Tangaloa, his children ; they dwell in the various heavens beneath 

 him, which are like the lohas of the Buddhist cosmogony. 



I can certify also that our Australians believe in retribution on 

 account of sin, which, of course, in their mind is any violation of 

 their sacred laws. A black youth long ago was asked to break 

 such a law, but replied that he was afraid ; for " the JQ'ooben 

 would see it and punish him some day for it." In the next 

 world, according to their belief, those men who have not gone 

 through the Bora ceremonies, and had the two upper front teeth 

 knocked out, will have a very hard time of it. 



All these are facts; and I offer them here in support of the 

 argument in this paper by Dr. Eells. 



