206 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



expertness and activity often enable him to escape any serious injury, 

 but instances do occur in which the party is killed. Such punish- 

 ments are inflicted with great formality, upon an appointed day, and 

 the whole tribe assemble to witness it. The person most injured 

 has the first throw, and it depends upon the feelings of the tribe 

 respecting the offence committed, whether they endeavour to do 

 injury to the culprit or not ; and thus it may be supposed that there 

 is some judgment evinced in this mode of punishment. 



The following account of the burial of their dead, was received 

 from the missionary, who was an eye-witness to it. He was called 

 out one evening to see a native, who they said was dying. On 

 repairing to the camp, he was too late, for the man was already 

 dead, and notwithstanding the short space of time that had elapsed, 

 the corpse was already wrapped lip for burial. The legs had been 

 bent at the knees and hips, and tied to the body, and the head bent 

 downwards towards the legs. In this position the corpse was enve- 

 loped in a blanket, and bound round with many ligatures, so as to 

 form a shapeless lump. There were about fifty natives present, 

 seated within a small space in front. The women were raising 

 dismal lamentations and cutting themselves with sharp sticks ; while 

 the men were engaged in an earnest consultation as to the place 

 which should be fixed upon for the burial. At length it was deter- 

 mined to be on the banks of the Macquarie, at no great distance from 

 the mission station. On the following day the missionary proceeded 

 to the place, and found that the natives had already cleared the grass 

 from a space about twenty feet in diameter ; in the centre of this the 

 grave was marked out, of an oval shape, six feet long by three feet 

 wide. After digging to the depth of about a foot, they left a ledge 

 all around the grave of a few inches in width : the excavation thus 

 diminished in size, was continued to the depth of five feet, the sides 

 not being exactly perpendicular, but sloping slightly inwards. At 

 the bottom of the grave was laid a bed of leaves covered with an 

 opossum-skin cloak, and having a stuffed bag of kangaroo-skin for a 

 pillow ; on this couch the body was laid, and the implements of 

 hunting and war which the deceased had used during his lifetime 

 were laid beside him. Leaves and branches of bushes were strewed 

 over him, until the grave was filled up to the ledge or shelf above 

 mentioned. Across the grave were laid strong stakes, with the ends 

 resting on this shelf, and on these a layer of stones, which filled the 

 hole to the level of the soil. The excavated earth was then put over 



