ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 255 



The fat of the corpse was mixed with the gum used in 

 lashing the hook to the shaft of the weapon. When the 

 hunter espied an emu, kangaroo, turkey or similar game, 

 he held up the wommera in sight of the animal, which 

 would thereby be spell-bound and unable to run away 

 until the man got near enough to throw his spear with 

 fatal effect. 



When a clever man is out hunting and comes across 

 the tracks of, say, a kangaroo, he follows them along and 

 talks to the footprints all the time for the purpose of 

 injecting magic into the animal which made them. He 

 mentions in succession all the parts of the foot, and then 

 names the different parts of the leg right up to the animal's 

 back. As soon as he reaches the backbone, the creature 

 becomes quite stupid and is an easy prey when overtaken 

 by the blackfellow. Before cooking such an animal, the 

 man and his companions dance round the body for the 

 purpose of exorcising the magic which it has absorbed 

 from his incantations. 



Dhuran is the Wirraidyuri name for what we call "wind- 

 clouds." When such clouds are seen in the sky in the 

 early morning, the men whistle for the purpose of causing 

 the wind to arise and then start out into the bush. 

 Kangaroos, emus and simliar game generally keep their 

 heads facing the wind, making it more easy for a hunter to 

 approach them in the rear. Besides, the wind prevents 

 them from hearing small noises, as the crackling of sticks 

 under a man's feet, or catching the scent of the hunters. 

 A man carries a mat of boughs fastened together, reach- 

 ing from his nose down nearly to the ankles, and comes 

 up a little closer every time the animal lowers its head 

 to feed. When he gets within killing distance of a bird 

 he launches his spear. Whenever possible, the natives 

 always hunt any animal against the wind. Again, a 



