SUPERSTITIONS AND DISEASES. 59 



unfortunately shot by the manager of a station near Mount Kolor ; and his 

 death caused much grief to all the tribes far and near. 



On one occasion, when the tribe had a great meeting at a lake called ' TaiT£e 

 Yarr,' to the north of Mount Kolor, doubts were expressed as to his power to 

 summon spirits, and make them appear at mid-day. To show he could do this, 

 he went up to the clouds and brought down a gnuUa gnulla gneear, in form of 

 an old woman, enveloped in an opossum rug, tied round her waist with a rope of 

 rushes. In order to thoroughly frighten the people, he held her tethered with a 

 grass rope like a wild beast, as though to prevent her chasing and hurting them. 

 He did not allow her to go nearer to the wuurns than about fifty yards. After 

 exhibiting her for half an hour, he led her off. Everyone was intensely ten-ified 

 at the gnulla gnulla gneear, and the doctor found her a profitable invention, as 

 he received numerous presents of weapons, rugs, and food to keep her away. 

 When he was in want of a fresh supply, he could always command it by a threat 

 of another visit from the gnulla gnulla gneear. 



The doctor pretends to cure pains of every description, and makes his 

 patients believe — not unwillingly — that he extracts foreign substances from the 

 body by sucking the sore places. He actually spits out bits of bone, which he 

 had previously concealed in his mouth. He also, by rubbing, apparently makes 

 stones jump out from the affected part. 



To cure toothache, a cape made of the basket rush is worn over the 

 shoulders and round the neck, and is laid aside when the pain is gone — its name 

 is weearmeetch. Another remedy is the application of a heated spear-thrower to 

 the cheek. The spear-thrower is then cast away, and the toothache goes with it 

 in the form of a black stone, about the size of a walnut, called karriitch. Stones 

 of this kind are found in the old mounds on the banks of the Mount Emu 

 Creek, near Darlington. The natives believe that when these stones are thrown 

 into the stream at a distance from their residence, they will return to the place 

 where they were found ; and as they are considered an infallible remedy for 

 toothache, they are carefully preserved. They are also employed to make an 

 enemy ill, and are thrown in the direction of the offending tribe, with a request 

 to punish it with toothache. If, next day, the stones are found where originally 

 picked up, it is believed that they have fulfilled their mission. Not far from the 

 spot where these stones are plentiful, there is a clump of trees called karriitch 

 — meaning toothache — and the natives of the locality warn their friends never 

 to go near it, for if they do they will be sure to get toothache. Stones of a 



