286 



one near, and must not enter the main camp till he is quite 

 healed. He stays during this time at tirst a good deal in a 

 maimai by himself, covered entirely from view, and is supplied 

 with food, which is not rarely sent by one of the old women of 

 the tribe, who, however, carefully avoids catching sight of him. 

 In such cases she will give a signal of her approach, leave the 

 food a little distance from the hut, and retire quickly, after 

 having given another signal. 



How deeply superstition is fastened in the mind of men and 

 women, how eager the tirst are to keep it alive, and on the 

 other hand how the women are imbued with fear, the following 

 anecdote will illustrate : — 

 "The wall of one of the rooms at the station was decorated with 

 a number of native weapons and implements, and among the 

 latter several yilbars. This was well known by the station 

 blacks, and soon after our arrival " Jack " took Mr. Cruikshank 

 mysteriously aside to say something to him, which turned out to 

 be a request that the new arrivals be warned not to get the 

 yilbars out and show them to the women. A few days later I 

 asked " Jinny," when she was sweeping the verandah, to come 

 into the room, but she would not, although I offered her tobacco, 

 which would make her do almost anything else ; and when I 

 went towards her and caught her by the hand, she threw her 

 broom down and ran away. Some time after I told her that I 

 would bring one of the things out and show her, upon which she 

 immediately ran away, hiding her face. She cleaned every other 

 room but the one the implements were in. Both these blacks 

 had lived for several years at the station, and had been a good 

 deal enlightened, and had altered considerably from their original 

 ways, but so far the contact with civilization had not produced 

 the least effect towards removing this superstition. 



Marriage ceremonies they have none. The women are obtained 

 in a similar manner as is the custom among other Australian 

 tribes. They are allotted at their birth, or are promised or 

 bartered later. 



The burials of this tribe are very simple, and as far as I could 

 ascertain conducted without any special ceremonies. The corpses 

 are put underground in a shallow hole, or perhaps only in a 

 hollow, and then covered with sand and boughs. 



In one aspect the character of the natives of the Murchison 

 District differs entirely, as far as I know, from that of most of 

 their compatriots. It is a well-known fact that among many of 

 the Australian tribes veneration for the aged is strongly 

 developed, and as a rule the old people are well treated, 

 respected, and provided with food when they get feeble. This 

 trait excites our admiration, and compares very favorably with 



