ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 347 



similar to the fate of Lot's wife. The following are some 

 examples : — Among the Wirraid yuri tribes there is a story 

 that on one occasion during the period the youths were 

 away in the bush going through the course of initiation, a 

 dog left the party and went away back to where the women 

 were camped. Tiiey asked the dog where their sons were 

 and what they were doing, and he told them, whereupon 

 all the women and children were transformed to stone. 

 This happened near Lake Cudgellico, where there are some 

 rocks of different sizes, which at a distance, and good 

 stretch of imagination, bear some similarity to women and 

 children sitting down. 



The natives of the south-east coast of New South Wales 

 have a legend that two women were out in the bush, 

 gathering burrawang seeds for food, which they placed in 

 their net-bags, kurama. During the day they met a dog 

 carrying a mullet, murra-murra, and asked him where he 

 caught it. Upon his answering their question, they were 

 immediately changed into stone, together with their bags 

 of burrawangs and their yamsticks, gaualang. Rocks bear- 

 ing a fanciful resemblance to these women are pointed out 

 at a place on the hills between the Kangaroo Valley and 

 the coast. 



If very bad thunder and lightning occur during the night, 

 the old men hold burning sticks in their hands and call out 

 to Merribi, the thunder, to go away to another place which 

 they name, and request him to take the lightning with him 

 as a torch, to show him light to fish for balundyulung, a 

 small black fish. [Thoorga tribe.] 



Upon the death of a native in the Wimmera district of 

 Victoria, the clever old men and relatives of the deceased 

 sit up through the night and watch the corpse. They 

 suddenly observe the muruk or ghost appearing at the body, 

 but do not see whence it came. After a short stay it goes 



