CUSTOMS OF THE AH ETAS. 
125 
and the parents of the, defunct, with a quiver at hia back 
and a bow and arrow in his hand, and declares he is 
going to depart, swearing that he will not return among 
them until he has killed one or more of the Indians, in 
order to avenge the death of their friend, which be attri- 
butes to the sorcery of their rivals. He imniediately 
resorts to the places which he knows them to frequent, 
and ascends the trees, from which he examines the 
domicile of the Indians, the river in which they are in 
the habit of bathing, or the brook from which they 
collect the auriferous sands j and there, hidden and in 
siience, awaits^the opportunity of striking them dead with 
his poisoned arrows. Then he returns among his 
people, and mingles in their songs, dances, and rejoicings, 
for he has avenged the death of a brother or a friend.'^* 
Those who are acquainted with the practices of the 
aboriginal tribes of Australia will read this paragraph 
with deep interest. Indeed it displays the characteristic 
which has chiefly led to the Papuans being regarded ^vith 
hatred and abhorrence by all the brown tribes with whom 
they come in contact, and which, if persevered in, would 
eventually lead to their total extermination. And in 
countries exclusively occupied by the race, where of 
necessity the victim has to be sought in a kindred tribe, 
this practice has contributed more than any other cause 
to that estrangement between the different tribes which 
has proved an effectual bar to mutual improvement. M. 
Mallat, will, I am sure, excuse me if I correct his account 
in one unimportant particular. It is not on the death of 
* Mallat, "hcs Philippines," tome n, p. 94. 
