THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 191 



those not very bright specimens of humanity ; but when staying 

 at Mooranappin, near Kellerberrin, I was enabled to see the 

 way they constructed their graves. Those who have ccrre from 

 further inland, towards Coolgardie, cover their graves over with 

 the tops of leafy branches of Acacias, and then with the same 

 material form two lines of the shape of a horseshoe, one larger 

 than the other, the grave being in the centre of the smaller; some of 

 them have a good many sticks stuck upright along these lines, 

 the sticks having tufts on them made by pairing the wood down 

 to a certain point, generally about 9 inches apart, and leaving 

 the curled up pared strips on. The graves of the local blacks of 

 that district were well covered over with a heap of grass, Then 

 a small grass hut was erected over the spot. The bodies were 

 buried facing the east, so that, as the natives say, they can face 

 the rising sun. I was^informed that before they buried any men 

 they broke their forefinger, to prevent them, in case they should 

 revive and come out, from throwing spears at their relatives who 

 had buried them, and that they often tied the thumb and three 

 fingers together, and likewise burnt off the finger-nails on the 

 right hand, to prevent them from trying to scrape their way out, 

 but in case they did come out they left a billy for them, or a 

 pannikin, or pipe, with a woomera or spear-thrower; but I 

 noticed * that in both the woomeras I saw the notch to 

 hold the spear had apparently been taken off, probably on 

 purpose. On one of the graves an old hat had been left, carefully 

 fastened up, in case the deceased owner might want it again. 

 About 8 feet in front of the graves of those who had come from 

 the inland districts a tufted stick and green branches had been 

 stuck into the ground in a bunch, which they said was to indicate 

 in what direction the country of the deceased lay. After the 

 burial a fire is kept burning for some weeks, and then a few pieces 

 of wood are left together ready for lighting. Tribal customs have 

 mostly died out, as well as the natives, from contact with 

 Europeans. I inquired of several old settlers if they had any 

 stone tomahawks in their possession, but they all said no, and that 

 they had never seen any ; probably the material for making them 

 was hard to get, as personally I saw no stone suitable for such a 

 purpose, nor did I hear of any. In Victoria stone tomahawks were 

 plentiful enough and are often found. Near Mooranappin I was 

 enabled to see in some small granite caves a few ancient drawings 

 by the natives, one especially, the so-called red hand, made by a 

 native placing his outspread hand on the smooth rock and then 

 rubbing the surface round it with red clay, or Wilgite, as the 

 natives call it, which leaves the form of the man's hand. These 

 red hands are generally done on the roofs of the caves, often at a 

 considerable distance from the ground, and in many cases the 

 natives must have climbed up on the shoulders of a companion to 



