east en 1 was a small mound of stones, with one tiiangulai stone 
laid on the top pointing to another hill. This he surmised was 
the direction of the permanent storage place of the boards, 
which Corporal Bewsher’s companion, a miner of the name of 
Con. Bourke, had heard of as being situated about ioo miles 
distant, where it was said the boards were kept standing on end, 
in a semi-circle, with a kind of arbour over them, with paths 
swept clean leading to them. The blacks were hostile to any 
intrusion of its precincts. In Corporal Bewsher’s case the un- 
fortunate blacks discovered in a short time where the boards 
had been taken to, and watched the police station so persistently 
that the boards were sent away, those represented in figures 
Nos. 4 to 7 being given by Bewsher to the Western Australian 
Museum, and No. 3 to the postmaster at Kurnalpi, Mr. H. B. 
Loughrey, who sent it with another sample, No. 2, from the same 
district to the Post Office Club, at Coolgardie. He informed 
the writer that he had only obtained it after great persuasion 
and gifts of silver coins, and then only brought it on a suitable 
rainy night, so that the rain would obliterate his tracks, and it 
was brought to his office at about midnight, with an entreaty 
never to let a gin (woman) see it, saying that she would die if 
she saw one of them. This belief is general among them, and 
they evidently do not hesitate to keep it true, by knocking the 
unfortunate woman on the head. Nos. 1 and 10 to 14 weie 
made for the author at his survey camp at Boulder, near Hannan’s 
Lake, by some aboriginals, out of jarrali planking one inch thick, 
which lie supplied to them for the purpose. The large one, figure 
1 took four aboriginals the greater part of two days to make, 
working two at a time. The writer had gained their confidence 
during three years’ residence on these goldfields, otherwise it 
would have been impossible to induce them to make them. 
This and other large boards which they made were not pointed 
like the older samples, but had both ends rounded. As a test 
to the truthfulness of their work the aboriginals were allowed to 
make, at their own request, one large board for themselves, 
and this one was also made with rounded ends and in a similar 
ornamentation, 'and it was carried away by them aftei daik 
with the greatest satisfaction. The whole work was carried on 
with an air of mystery and importance, and many were the hasty 
hidings up of their work when a distant sight of some of their 
women was obtained, but as a consequence of the writer ’s interest 
in their mysteries his camp and person were avoided by the fe- 
males so that there was no real probability of the women coming 
to the' camp, but the anxiety evinced proved how intense was their 
desire for secrecy. When making the boards they sit on the 
ground and use the stone chisels or steel gouges in an adze-like 
manner, making the cutting stroke towards themselves. 
Figures 8 and 9 in plate 2 represent boards that are in the 
