190 Manne7's and Customs of the Australian Natives, 



remarkable. It is called "Marralye/^ and is represented as a 

 mau of the Kiikata tribe^ assuming, in order to fly through 

 the air, the form of a bird. It is dreaded at night time par- 

 ticularly, during which it attacks its victims while asleep^ 

 implanting in them the germ of death, or inflicting on them 

 some other grievous harm. It, however, takes good care not 

 to leave behind any visible traces of its misdeeds, so that his 

 nightly visits can only be discovered by their pernicious 

 effects, such as pain, disease, &c. To him the death of chil- 

 dren and loss of eyes are attributed, if no other obvious 

 cause for them can be made out. 



It is to be mentioned that the Marralye does not exist 

 substantially, but that it is only a mask assumed by wicked 

 men to enable them to carry out their depraved designs. 

 The Purkabidnies are another species of fabulous beings, 

 whose number is without limit. They are depicted as men 

 of a gigantic size, who, destitute of all clothing, roam through 

 the country, armed solely with clubs. Although thirsting 

 for blood, and giving themselves up to murder, still they are 

 by no means so dangerous as the Marralye, as by science of 

 arms and courage they are to be resisted, and even overcome. 

 The aborigines never think of leading their camp during the 

 night time without taking a spear in their hand to protect 

 themselves against these assassins, Avho might be lurking in 

 the neighbourhood. Some of the natives go so far as to boast 

 that they have killed Purkabidnies, but it is to be presumed 

 that in their superstitious fright they have mistaken black 

 stumps of trees, or even other aborigines, for these terrible 

 monsters. Mr. Schurmann tells us that two natives whom he 

 had with him once showed him, in the middle of a thickly 

 wooded region, at a distance of not more than a hundred 

 paces, a dark object, which certainly bore resemblance to a 

 black man in a stooping position. They were convinced that 

 it was a Purkabidnie, and not only did they refuse to accom- 

 pany Mr. Schurmann, but they even endeavoured to dissuade 

 him from attempting to examine the object in question. 

 Upon Mr. Schurmann approaching the object, he found it to 

 be a charred stump of a tree, and when he laid his hand 

 upon it, the natives burst into a loud laugh, and for this once 

 acknowledged that they v/ere in error, but, nevertheless, they 

 remained steadfastly convinced that there were such spectral 

 beings, and that they had without doubt seen them upon other 

 occasions. That isolated natives, who have wandered too far 

 into the territory of a strange tribe, are taken for Punkabid- 



