with the spirits being more or less intimate in different tribes. In 



a term for ghost and believed that there were departed spirits who 

 were sometimes to be seen among the foliage, individual men would 

 tell you upon enquiry that they believed that death was the last 

 of them. In other words, a man's personality died with his body 

 and was not continued in his ghost. A ghost was called a 'shadow ' 

 and the conception of its existence was shadowy like itself. A 

 general feature of Australian mythology is the peopling of deep 

 waterholes with indescribable spirits. The Kabi tribe deified the 

 rainbow, a superstition apparently confined to this people. He 

 lived in unfathomable waterholes on the mountains, and when 

 visible was in the act of passing from one haunt to another. Ho 

 was accredited with exchanging children after the fashion of the 

 European fays. He was also a great bestower of vitahty which 

 he imparted in the form of rope (what this rope was I do not 

 know) in the manner explained above'. 



Many tribes revered the names of ancient heroes or demigods 

 who were credited with certain wonderful exploits, and who 

 generally became metamorphosed into stars. The conception of 

 a supreme being oscillated between a hero and a deity. Some 

 tribes recognized both a supreme good spirit and apowerful, dreaded, 

 evil spirit, creation being ascribed to the former. I was once of 

 opinion that notions about a divinity had been derived from the 

 whites and transmitted amongst the blacks hither and thither, 

 but I am now convinced thattliis belief was here before European 

 occupation. Although not entertained by every tribe it is never- 

 theless held by one tribe or another in the south-east quarter of the 

 continent from the coast almost to the centre, and we are justified 

 in concluding that it extends beyond the area where it is positively 

 known to exist. 



By those who 



example, another instance of the unreliahility niul iiivalulity c 



allied tribes to the ''north of Xew South AVai.s the rlianKter c 

 beneficent deity known as Baiame lias been well elalKir.ited. 1 

 name, according to the Rev. W. Ridley, is d<M-i\e(l from ' ba 



The Wii'adi'.uri 'reyinlC'(r'hin/'an{UM- a slightly altered nai 



trihe ; at Illawarra he was called Mirirul, on the Murray Noure 

 in Victoria he was generally known as Bundjil or Pundyil, .1 

 'ilso as Gnowdenont ; the Narrinyeri as we have seen called 1 



