328 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MYTHS, 



my countrymen, on the top of the hill they were seen standing : 

 they threw fire like a star, — it fell amongst the blackmen, my 

 comitrymen. They were frightened, — they fled away, all of 

 them ; after a while they returned, they hastened and made a 

 fire, — a fire with wood ; no more was fire was lost in our land. 

 The two black-fellows are in the clouds ; in the clear night you 

 see them like two stars .^ These are they who brought fire to 

 my fathers. 



The two blackmen staid awhile in the land of my fathers. 

 Two women were bathing ; it was near a rocky shore, where 

 mussels were plentiful. The women were sulky, they were 

 sad ; their husbands were faithless, they had gone with two 

 girls. The women were lonely ; they were swimming in the 

 water, they were diving for cray-fish. A sting-ray lay concealed 

 in the hollow of a rock, — a large sting-ray ! The sting-ray was 

 large, he had a yery long spear ; from his hole he spied the 

 women, he saw them dive : he pierced them with his spear, — 

 he killed them, he carried them away. Awhile they were 

 gone out of sight. The sting-ray returned, he came close to 

 the shore, he lay in still water, near the sandy beach; with 

 him were the women, they were fast on his spear, — they were 

 dead ! 



The two blackmen fought the sting-ray ; they slew him 

 with their spears ; they killed him ; — the women were dead ! 

 The two blackmen made a fire, — a fire of wood. On either 

 side they laid a woman, — the fire was between : the women 

 were dead ! 



The blackmen sought some ants, some large blue ants ; 

 they placed them on the bosoms of the women. Severely, in- 

 tensely were they bitten. The women revived, — they lived 

 once more. 



Soon there came a fog, a fog dark as night. The two black- 

 men went away, the women disappeared : they passed through 

 the fog, the thick dark fog ! Their place is in the clouds. 

 Two stars you see in the clear cold night ; the two blackmen 

 are there, — the women are with them : they are stars above." ^ 



' Castor and Pollux. 



^ Milligan, Papers, etc., of R. Soc. of Tasmania, vol. iii. part ii. 1859, p. 274. 



