318 MATHEWS— SOME BURIAL CUSTOMS [May 21, 



the customary time, it was taken off and placed by the widow upon 

 the grave of her late husband. When the deceased left a plurality 

 of widows, each wore an emblem of mourning and disposed of it in 

 the same way. If the net was firmly embedded in the dried gypsum, 

 it was left in it, but if the net could be readily detached it was taken 

 out of the cap for future use. In some cases, portions of the woman's 

 hair had to be cut to get the cap off. If the net was left in the cap, 

 it rotted away, but its impression remained. (See Figs. 5 and 6, 

 pages 316 and 317.) 



Sir Thomas L. Mitchell reports that on the Darling River he 

 found " Casts in lime or gypsum, which had evidently been taken 

 from a head, the hair of which had been confined by a net, as the 

 impression of it, and some hairs, remained inside." The same author 

 states that, on the Murray, some distance above its confluence with 

 the Darling, he saw some native graves with mounds of earth raised 

 over them, on which were laid the " singular casts of the head in 

 white plaster" which he had before seen at Fort Burke. In some 

 cases the casts of the head were found lying beside the gypsum balls. 

 He gives illustrations of these two " casts," showing also the marks 

 of the net inside.^ 



In 1838, Mr. Joseph Hawdon observed some skull-shaped caps, 

 made of white plaster, which he thought was obtained by burning 

 shells and grinding them into powder. They were laid on the grave 

 of a native near Lake Bonnie on the Murray River. He says that 

 inside the cap was a network of twine. Mr. Hawdon states that he 

 also noticed a great quantity of crystallized lime or gypsum in the 

 locality ; it was in masses some tons weight.* 



Mr. E. J. Eyre gives an example of the " Korno, or widow's 

 mourning cap, made of carbonate of lime, moulded to the head." 

 The specimen illustrated by him weighed 8^ Ibs.^ 



^Op. cit., Vol. I., pp. 253-254, and Vol. II., p. 113. 



* " Diary of an Overland Journey from Port Phillip to Adelaide in 1838 " 

 (MSS). 



^"Journs. Expeds. Discov. Cent. Australia" (London, 1845), Vol. II., 

 p. 509, Plate I., Fig. 17. 



