ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 275 



the women, who rub it all over with a mixture of burnt 

 bark and grease. The bark used is that of the apple-tree, 1 

 which is burnt to a fine powder. The body is kept for 

 several days, perhaps for some weeks, as this application 

 possesses the property of preserving the body to some 

 extent. The bark-powder and grease is applied every day 

 or two, and after a number of applications a kind of incrust- 

 ation is formed on the surface of the body. 



Some of the old men who are related to the deceased 

 now come and scrape off some of this ashy layer from his 

 body. This mixture, which now comprises exudations from 

 the corpse, as well as the original ingredients, is called 

 ngurrung'arat, and is supposed to possess occult powers 

 of retaliation by guiding the possessor of it into the camp 

 of the guilty party. The ngurrungarat scraped from the 

 exterior of the dead man's body is placed in a little bag 

 called giir'aga, and is carried away by the old men to the 

 bahmbilli, a sheltered place where the tribal councils are 

 held, out of sight of the camp. There a fire is lighted and 

 when it has burnt down to a mass of hot coals, one of the 

 old fellows steps fortli and throws a few pinches of ngur- 

 rungarat powder on the embers. The substance immedi- 

 ately begins to burn and send up smoke. If the smoke 

 ascends straight up, and goes a good height in the air 

 before it disperses, that signifies that the murderer lives a 

 considerable distance off. But if the smoke goes up a little 

 way and bends to one side, this indicates that the murderer 

 is located near them, and the direction in which the smoke 

 bends in either of these cases, shows the direction of his 

 camp. 



A council is then held to consider who is the most likely 

 man in the locality pointed out by the smoke to have 



1 Not the fruit tree, but the so-called apple tree of Australia, the 

 Angophora of botanists. 



