t a pent immediately over a lavn 

 fZ/'ftam Ml. Napier dated about 

 jJjjS years old, so probably is ot 

 !; c surne order oi aye as TttWCr Hill. 



pa-htttw liu ' volc;inu at L>ul >* 1 1111,1 

 Percy Island belongs to this group: 

 if to, 'l erupted out 6f the sea. If 

 H 1V older, it probably erupted when 

 sea level was much lower, in which 

 ff,j Aborigines would have been 

 J,Jj U, walk oil! to it 



,\bon::iiMl Mvthi'loxy 



bines Dawson was a land holder 

 jj, ihc Western District in I he nine- 

 teenth century- From the pen 61 this 

 keen iccoriler of Aboriginal hlc 

 fDaVSdfl MiW I wc WW ,ha i the 

 Guiulniniara who lived on the main- 

 land opposite the island regarded it 

 $ a place of considerable impoit- 

 [^c, Dawson slates that when the 

 bodies of the dead were buried they 

 were wrapped m grass. Should grass 

 ba found in the mouth of a mainland 

 CflV? lacing the island, following a 



death, this was regarded as a good 

 omen. It signified lhat the bpdy of 

 the deceased had been removed 

 through the cave to the island hy 

 a good spirit. From the island the 

 spirit of I he dead was conveyed to 

 the clouds, Should a meteor be 

 seen ut about the same time, this 

 was interpreted as fire, being taken 

 up with the spirit of the dead. Daw- 

 son records the name of the island 

 as Deen Miuir. 



K. H. Mathews (1904) spelt the 

 name slightly differently as Dhinmai 

 hut his account of the significance 

 of Julia Percy Island in Aboriginal 

 myth is largely in agreement with 

 thai of Dawson. He added the inter 

 esting comment that the dead were 

 buried with their heads pointing 

 towards the island. As far as we 

 know this proposition Lis. to date, 

 not been tested. Contrary to Daw- 

 son, it was Mathews' view lhat 

 m Aboriginal belief human spirits 

 awaited re-mcarnation on the island 



■ 



■ ■ A • - - ■ 



B^>s * r ... - 



Plate 1. Udj IjlUa I'.-icy Island. DineM < ove. Photo: R Wurmkt 

 April. 1971 85 



