314 MATHEWS— SOME BURIAL CUSTOMS [May 21, 



called innrndn, were made out of powdered kopai and a little sand 

 or ashes, much in the way we mix up flour when making dough for 

 baking into bread. He said that when a native of either sex died 

 and was buried, the relatives came to the grave and placed these 



123 4 



This picture shows three medium sized cakes and one small one, all of 

 which are made from gypsum {kopai), as above described. I shall call them 

 miirndu, their native name in the Ngunnhalgu tribe, which occupied the 

 country from about Wilcannia up to near Louth, being the tract from various 

 parts of which my specimens were obtained. 



Fig. I. The iiiurndu numbered i in the picture, is 6^ inches long, by a 

 maximum width of 4^ inches. The thickest part, at right angles to the 

 width, is 3% inches. The weight of the article is 2 lbs. 9 oz. 



Fig. 2 measures 2^ inches in length, by a mean thickness of 2% inches. 

 Weight, 4V2 oz. 



Fig. 3 has a length of a little over 7^ inches and its greatest breadth is 

 4% inches. It is oval in section, with a thickness of 3^ inches. Weight, 2 

 lbs. 14 oz. 



Fig. 4 is 615 inches in length, with a maximum breadth of ^{^ inches. 

 It has a practically circular section through the middle. Weight, 2 lbs. 8 oz. 



Scattered here and there through the composition of the balls are pieces 

 of gypsum as large as gravel, showing that the mineral was not very well 

 pulverized ; a fact which does not surprise us, when we remember that the 

 natives had to burn the gypsum in a camp fire. For the same reason the 

 powder became mixed with small quantities of wood ashes. 



kopai balls on top of the mound of earth. For example, if the body- 

 were that of an adult man, his widow would place a murndu on the 

 ground above his head. The deceased's brothers would each place 

 one or more along one side of the grave ; his mother and sisters 

 might also lay a murndu or two on the other side; and so on. 



