150 SUPERSTITIONS 



whom I questioned told me which of the two kinds 

 of burial his or her body would receive^ without 

 being- able to assign any reason. Their reverence 

 for the dead is probably not very great^ as even a 

 relative of the deceased will sell the skull or skeleton 

 for a small consideration, on condition of the matter 

 being- kept a secret. Like other Australians they 

 carefully refrain from mentioning- the name of any 

 one who is dead, and like them, believe in the 

 transmigration of souls, — after death they become 

 Malays (the first strang-ers they had come in contact 

 with), in precisely the same way as in New South 

 Wales, &c. "when black-fellow die, he jump up 

 white-fellow." 



In addition to the yumburhar above mentioned, 

 there is another supernatural being, which has a 

 corporeal existence. It appears in the shape of a 

 man, and loves to grapple with stragglers in the 

 dark, and carry them off. So much is the arlak 

 an object of dread, that a native will not willingly 

 go alone in the dark, even a very short distance 

 from his fire, without carrying a light. Some have 

 assured me that they had seen this arlak, and one 

 man shewed me wounds said to have been inflicted 

 by its teeth, and I have no doubt of his having 

 firmly believed that they were produced in this 

 manner. 



Although in each tribe there are three distinct 

 classes, possibly ranks, or perhaps something analo- 

 gous to the division in other countries into castes, 



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