346 B. H. MATHEWS. 



especially of fish, being burnt in the fire at night, he gets 

 very angry. In order not to provoke Gurugula, all cook- 

 ing is done in the day time ; and even then the people are 

 careful not to let any fat burn during the process. The 

 Thurrawal and Thoorga people have a similar story. The 

 effect of such a superstition as this would be to preserve 

 the fat for greasing their bodies and other purposes. 



Guram'bugang is the Thurrawal name of a small, smooth- 

 skinned dark-coloured lizard seen among rocks and about 

 logs. Women and children are forbidden to injure this 

 animal. If a man gets a piece of grit, an insect, or other 

 irritating substance in his eye, he catches the lid in his 

 linger and thumb and moves it up and down, opening and 

 shutting the eye, repeating in a singing tone : 



Bindi, bindi, gnrambugang 



Dill, dill, dill! 

 The meaning is, " Wake up, wake up, guram'bugang " — dill 

 being merely a request to the injured eye to open. The 

 man continues to repeat these words and moving the eye- 

 lid, till the object falls out of the eye. 



If children throw sticks, stones, or any missile at a bat, 

 Kubbugang, it will cause their thumbs to become short. 

 If they point at that animal, to show its location to any- 

 one, they must point with the thumb, and not with the 

 finger. [Thurrawal tribe.] 



Among the Ngeumba tribe, women and children of both 

 sexes must not look at the birds known as swifts, pulluru, 

 which fly high in the air, or silliness would be the conse- 

 quence. These birds are believed to be the harbingers of 

 rain, but if the women look up at them, it would prevent 

 the rain coming. The swift is a Kubbi and belongs to the 

 guaimundhun caste. 



In the legendary period it was unlawful for women to 

 converse with dogs, the consequence being somewhat 



