80 AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



AMUSEMENTS. 



The leading amusement of the Australian aborigines is the karweann, or 

 korroborte, which somewhat resembles pantomime, and consists of music, dancing, 

 and acting. 



Little can be said in favour of the aboriginal music. The airs are 

 monotonous and doleful, and there is no such thing as harmony. Men and 

 women join in singing. The women commence, each one accompanying her 

 voice with regular beats of the open hand on a rolled-up opossum rug, which 

 sometimes contains shells, to produce a jingling sound; the men strike in with 

 their voices and with their music sticks. These sticks are made of hard wood, 

 and are about nine inches long and an inch and a half in diameter, rounded, and 

 tapering at each end to a point. The one is held stationary, and is struck with 

 the other. The sound produced is clear and musical, and can be heard at a great 

 distance. 



Many songs having appropriate airs are universally known. Very often 

 complimentary or descriptive songs are composed on the instant, and are sung to 

 well-known airs, the whole company joining in the chorus. A lament called 

 ' Mallie malifife,' composed in New South Wales in commemoration of the ravages 

 of small-pox, is known all over the Australian colonies, and is sung in a doleful 

 strain, accompanied with groans and imitations of a dying person. The following 

 is a song in the Chaap wuurong language, with its translation. It is said to have 

 been composed in the neighbourhood of Sydney by one of the aborigines of that 

 country, and to have been translated into the different languag&s as it became 

 known. In singing it the last two lines are repeated three times. 



CHUUL'YUTJ WILL'YUU. 



Chuul'yuu Will'yuu 



Wallaa gnorfeae. 



ChillfB binnse aa gna 



Kiuuuaa gnuuraa jeeaa, 



Chifebaa gnuutaa. 



Kirrsegirrae, kirrajgirrije, kirrsegirrse, 



Leeaa gnaa. 



