148 R. H. MATHEWS. 



quented spot where these sacred amulets are kept, out of 

 the reach of women or the uninitiated. 



Rev.L. Schulze, in speaking of deaths among the Arranda, 

 says the souls of all go to laia, a mythical lake situated 

 north of Hermannsburg, on whose shores the souls live, 

 eating fruit and other good food, which is found there in 

 abundance. Mr. Schulze gives another version of the 

 resting place of the departed. He says the Itana, ghost, 

 goes away to the tmara altjiri, or place where the mother 

 of the dead person was born. 1 He remarks that the natives 

 were unable to explain the variation in the two statements. 



During several years past I have been endeavouring to 

 obtain from my correspondents full details of the native 

 belief in an after life, but in carrying out this work they 

 were beset with numerous difficulties. It was hard to 

 make the natives understand what information was wanted 

 about the disposal of the soul or ghost, and when that had 

 been partially overcome, it was found that the native 

 notions in regard to the soul generally were not very clear 

 or well established. In these matters, as in their legends, 

 their views possess a childlike simplicity, natural enough 

 in a primitive people. 



Instead of a lake, as reported by Mr. Schulze, some of 

 my correspondents say that the souls go to subterranean 

 caverns, where there are running streams, plenty of food, 

 and sunny days. These mythical places are supposed to be 

 situated a little way beneath the surface of the portion of 

 the tribal territory occupied by the local division to which 

 their mothers belonged. The spirits come up out of the 

 ground and sit in trees or rocks, or journey about in whirl- 

 winds. Although the weight of evidence seems in favour 

 of reincarnation of the original stock of spirits, yet we find 



1 Trans. Eoy. Soc. S. Aust., xiv., pp. 238 and 244. 



