STTPEESTITIONS AKD TBADITIONS OF ATTSTBALIA. 507 



again is the cry raised : — " The Cockatoo-man is sulky !" — and should 

 death not follow, to him alone is the recovery due, for his wrath has 

 passed away. In like manner, the , Sun, Moon, and Stars, are all 

 the handiwork of the Cockatoo-man. Night by night does he ascend 

 from this, his terrestrial dwelling place, to hold a glorious banquet 

 on the moon, whose phases are accounted for bj these nocturnal 

 expeditions and feasts. They are continued, according to native be- 

 lief, until the whole is demolished, but one small piece, which is al- 

 lowed to remain and again expand to its original dimensions, when 

 the feasting is once more resumed. 



All the individuals of this tribe are supposed to possess these at- 

 tributes in a greater or less degree ; but some few are endowed with 

 powers of a still more extensive and controlling range than others, 

 and they are therefore flattered and sought after by the surrounding 

 tribes, upon all occasions of danger and great sickness. The gravity 

 with which these medicine men go through their incantations, and 

 the implicit faith in which those operated on appear to submit them- 

 selves to the tender mercies of the operator, is ludicrous in the ex- 

 treme. The patient, in all probability, is suffering from internal 

 pain, or is possibly in the last stage of exhaustion. Jahnac has been 

 put into him by the Cockatoo-man— and the Cockatoo-man alone can 

 get him out. He is therefore sought after, without reference to dis- 

 tance or trouble, and brought (sometimes many days journey) to ad- 

 minister relief to the afflicted. 



The Cockatoo-man approaches, and, gravely gazing on the sick 

 man, begins to probe with his knuckles, to find the exact spot where 

 lies the pain. Having determined this, he commences to rub down 

 or shampoo the body, from the part affected, towards one of the ex- 

 tremities, either the feet, the hands, the head, or the ears — his object 

 being to force Jahnac out at one of these points. During the opera- 

 tion, he frequently blows upon his fingers with great solemnity, as if 

 to disperse the infection of the evil one. Suddenly ceasing his rub- 

 bing and seizing the patient by the hair of his head, or back of the 

 neck, he treats him to a most energetic shaking ; and thus he pro- 

 ceeds, with alternate rubbing, and blowing and shaking, until Jahnac 

 is forced out of the afflicted one, and appears in the hand of the 

 operator, in the shape of a small piece of wood or quartz. The 

 cure being thus satisfactorily performed, this bit of wood or stone is 

 handed over to the individual from whom it was extracted, and by 

 whom it is cherished ever afterwards as an object of peculiar value. 



Such are the wonderful powers supposed to be possessed by these 

 men, and, to those who believe all that they have credit for, innumer- 



