652 



whereas those nearer Mailu (from Derehdi to Port Glasgow)^ 

 which were on terms of acute hostility with the Toulon (Mailu) 

 islanders, are considered less skilled in sorcery. 



The villages most prolific in Bar a us are also remarkable 

 from the ethnologist's point of view on account of their mode 

 of disposal of the dead, which will be described in sec. 4 of 

 this chapter. The method of discovering the culprit Bard'u 

 at a man's funeral will also be treated in that section. 



When there is a death in the village, the natives are always 

 very much affected. They do not leave their houses after dark,, 

 and they sleep up in the room and not on the verandah. I 

 was inclined to see in this the proof that the natives are, after 

 all, afraid of the ghosts, despite the emphatic denial of the 

 fact by the natives themselves. On further consideration, 

 however, I am inclined to trust the direct native information^ 

 After all, the natives may be instinctively and emotionally 

 frightened and impressed by death, but their ideas need not 

 take the shape of fear of ghosts; seeing his work done so 

 successfully, they may only realize the more intensely the 

 danger of the prowling Bard'u. This is, however, only specu- 

 lative, and further inquiry is necessary before the question 

 can be settled. I wish to draw attention to an interesting 

 passage in one of the works of Spencer and Gillen, which 

 throws some light on the problem under discussion. Speaking 

 of the Warramunga natives of North-central Australia, the 

 authors say : — "They have a very firm belief in the existence 

 of evil beings, who are commonly known as Kurdaitcha, and 

 are supposed to prowl around with the object of killing their 

 enemies by means of magic." ''The time that immediately 

 follows upon a death in the camp is one during which the 

 natives are very excited and very imaginative." And at one 

 time, when a death had recently occurred in the camp, the 

 authors witnessed an armed party setting out to ward off the 

 malignant sorcerers, ('^o) 



It may be noted that the Kurdaitcha, like the Bard'Uy 

 are always living men who practise sorcery. The excitement 

 in the camp, psychologically due, if I am right, to instinctive 

 fear of death, reflects itself in the native mind in ideas of 

 increased danger from prowling Kurdaitchas. 



Spirits of the Dead. — From this somewhat theoretical 

 digression let us turn to the beliefs of the Mailu. As pointed 



(80) Spencer and Gillen, "Across Australia," vol. ii., pp. 394, 

 398. I am indebted to Prof. Spencer's kindness for additional 

 information on th© passages quoted. He informed me that the 

 case described bears directly upon the question discussed in the 

 text. 



