the Adelaide Tribe. 
Ill 
or men of the den*—for so they called the strangers_in 
whose white complexions and unusual activity they be¬ 
lieved that they recognized their forefathers, returned 
from the habitation of the dead. 
Hitherto a dream of thoughtless indolence had filled 
up the time from the birth of the savage, till the day that 
he became, in the language of his tribe, medii-bulti , or 
asleep, and was carried on a bier of waddies^ (tirkatti) 
to his grave, attended by the ngarra-Tminyo , a man 
carrying close to his ears in either hand an extinguished 
firestick, as he walks in a stooping posture, and the 
tutta-kuinyo , a woman bearing the tutta or tuft of dried 
grass in her hand. 
The childhood of the savage had been spent in learning 
the various names and qualities of the plants, animals, 
and insects, which are more accurately distinguished by 
the natives than by the Europeans.;}; If a boy, he was 
encouraged to use the kutpi, or children’s spear; and to 
learn the ngunya-waicta or huri , which is elsewhere 
called the corrobory. Here, to welcome the new moon, 
to drive away the Evil One, or after a day of indolence to 
rid themselves of the exuberance of their animal spirits, 
they practise their pantomimes and dances, amidst the 
clashing of spears and waddies ( ipila ), and the cries and 
beating of the women ( monde ), w r ho sit on the ground 
before the performers. 
“ Warpumia witarninga, meyunna , ngarnda mahhe- 
tilya ,”—May your bones grow strong, men, so as to 
* Pinde is the place of souls—in the far west—from whence the 
souls of the unborn come, and, hovering among the grass trees, wait 
for the hour of conception, and whither after burial they return.—T. 
t Waddies—simple sticks.—T. 
I Animals and plants have at least two names, which are used as 
proper names among the natives. When a native dies, the plant is, 
for a certain time, called by the other name.—T. 
