ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 337 



that it shall not suffocate her. This lasts for some hours, 

 when the novice is removed to a camp close at hand, where 

 she and her companions remain for the night. The same 

 ceremonial is repeated for a day or two longer, or until the 

 old women are satisfied that their object has been attained. 

 A waist-belt is now given to the girl, to which is attached 

 a small apron, dyabeng, which hangs down in front. She is 

 now qualified to become a wife. 



After a married woman has a child, she and her babe 

 must be smoked by her old women friends, before she can 

 appear in the main camp. See also " Childbirth," ante. 



Aboriginal Mythology and Folklore. 

 Under this head will be recounted a few of the fabulous 

 or romantic stories current among the aborigines of New 

 South Wales and Victoria, which have been written down 

 by me from the mouths of the old men and women from 

 time to time. The folklore of any primitive people is 

 always valuable, as showing the bent of the human mind 

 in its earliest development, in accordance with the different 

 surroundings and conditions of life. Many native stories 

 are a mixture of legend, folklore and superstitious belief, 

 and could perhaps be classed under one or other of these 

 designations. I shall not, however, trouble with any class- 

 ification at present, beyond trying to include specimens of 

 the different kinds of tales. 



Throughout their folklore we find evidences of the pro- 

 clivity of the native mind to account for any specialities of 

 animal structure or peculiar habits, as well as the remark- 

 able forms of lakes, rivers, trees, hills, and other natural 

 phenomena. In perusing all the different classes of tales, 

 we find ourselves revelling in a new field of wonder and 

 beauty — the fairy land of Australian romance and poetry. 



Mythologic ancestors and fabulous monsters — a class of 

 genii — form a conspicuous element in their legends. Some 



V— Oct. 5, 1904. 



