356 R. H. MATHEWS. 



It chanced on a day tliat two blackfellows who were out 

 hunting became very thirsty and went to her camp to ask 

 for a drink. She replied that there was very little water 

 in the kuddyil, and suggested that they had better both dip 

 their heads into it together, so that each might get some. 

 As soon as they did this, the kuddyil closed up around their 

 necks and made them fast. The soldier ant immediately 

 commenced to sting their bodies, and the leech which was 

 in the trough began to bite their tongues, while Dhiel her- 

 self beat them with her yamstick. When they were dead, 

 she roasted them, and she and her dogs fared sumptuously 

 for many days. 



After a while, when the two men did not return to their 

 own camp, two of their friends went in quest of them into 

 the dry hinterland. In the afternoon they were sorely 

 pressed with thirst and approached Dhiel's camp to beg a 

 drink of water. She received them with the same duplicity 

 as the former pair, and they met the same fate. Several 

 searchers went out, and were similarly disposed of by Dhiel 

 and her dogs. At last the crow determined to go out by 

 himself, in the hope of finding out what mysterious disaster 

 had befallen his comrades. He, like his predecessors, got 

 thirsty and went to Dhiel's camp to ask for a drink. She 

 told him there was just a little water in the bottom of the 

 kuddyil and invited him to put in his head and drink. He 

 carried a charmed shield and when he bent his head into 

 the trough, he held the shield in front of him, reaching 

 from his chest to his chin. The leech jumped at his tongue 

 and the kuddyil attempted to shut upon him as usual, but 

 the magical shield prevented it. 



The crow became very angry and ran after Dhiel to kill 

 her. She ran, screaming, first round a dhurri or white emu- 

 bush ; then around the yerriai, or apple bush ; next the 

 dh ikku, or black emu-bush ; then the mulga tree ; and lastly 





