108 
IIOltN KXPEDITIOX—ANTIIPwOPOLOOY. 
When a husband dies the widow {inperla) paints liersclf all over the body 
with powdered pipeclay (generally white, but sometimes yellow), her hair and face 
arc also painted. She is supposed to continue the use of pipeclay for about a 
y(‘ai*, during which time she must be careful not to exhibit herself to any man of 
the tribe, except to her own sons, unless at a considerable distance. She must be 
particularly careful to avoid the brother of her deceased husband, who would be 
justified in killing her, at sight, for the wilful breach of this law. 
During her period of mourning the widow attends to the grave of deceased, 
keeps the ground clear around it by sweeping, and sometimes decorates it with 
quartz and pebbles. After the lapse of about a year the blacks take the widow 
and the dead man’s brother, if he have one, to the grave, where the former 
deposits a number of wallaby and kangaroo bones. She prostrates lierself on the 
grave, rubs off the pipeclay and then paints herself all over with red ochre. She 
is now taken charge of by her brother-in-law, who henceforth will be to lier as a 
fraternal guardian. Some considerable time must elapse before the widow may 
take another husband, and in the meantime strict chastity is enforced. An 
applicant for her hand must first ask the brother-in-law guardian, who, if 
favourably inclined, will lay the matter before the men of the intei’ested class, and 
they decide as they think best. If they say yes, the woman is taken at once, 
without consideration of her own wishes ; if, as sometimes happens, she resists, 
she is cruelly beaten and cut about. She has no appeal against the will of her 
lord and master, and it is her duty to render absolute obedience to the man to 
whom she has been allotted. As a general rule she makes an obedient wife, 
though in rare instances she “ wears the breeches ” and keeps her lord and master 
in subjection. 
When a warrior is dying the men in camp throw themselves on the body ami 
howl piteously; death is very often precipitated by this practice. 
Bupial. 
On the occuri’ence of a death a grave is dug immediately, and interment takes 
place within an hour of the decease. 
The body is doubled up and placed, in a sitting position, in the grave {ippirta\ 
which is generally a round hole. 
A dead native’s name is never mentioned by the blacks, and the older men 
will not even look at the photograph of a deceased person. 
