Transcriber’s Notes
This is Volume II (of II) of this work, containing (after the front
matter) page numbers 769-1481, chapters LXXVI-CLXX, and illustration
numbers 212-443; Volume I contains (after the front matter) pages
11-768, chapters I-LXXV, and illustration numbers 1-211. For ease of
reference, the Table of Contents, List of Illustrations and Index
have been included in both volumes.
Text between _underscores_ represents text printed in italics in the
source document. Small capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS.
More information on the transcription and the changes made may be
found in the Transcriber’s Notes at the end of this text.
[Illustration: A REPRESENTATION OF UNCIVILIZED ISLANDERS AND INDIANS.]
THE
UNCIVILIZED
RACES OF MEN
IN
ALL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD;
BEING
_A COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS,
AND OF THEIR PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, MENTAL, MORAL AND
RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS_.
BY
REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S.
AUTHOR OF “ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS,” “ANECDOTES OF
ANIMAL LIFE,” “HOMES WITHOUT HANDS,” “BIBLE ANIMALS,” “COMMON OBJECTS
OF THE COUNTRY AND SEASHORE,” ETC.
WITH NEW DESIGNS
BY ANGAS, DANBY, WOLF, ZWECKER, ETC., ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
HARTFORD:
THE J. B. BURR PUBLISHING CO.
1877.
PREFACE.
In this volume will be found a selection of the most interesting
uncivilized tribes that inhabit, or once inhabited, America and the
vast number of islands which lie between that country and the eastern
coast of Asia, including among them the great groups of Australia and
New Zealand. A short notice is given of the long-perished Lake-dwellers
of Switzerland, and the partial civilization of India, China, Japan and
Siam is also represented.
My best thanks are due to the Geographical and Anthropological
Societies, for the constant access permitted to their libraries, and to
the Curator of the “Christy Collection,” for the assistance which he
rendered in the illustration of the work.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
1. Pictorial representation of African races Frontispiece.
2. Kaffir from childhood to age 13
3. Old councillor and wives 13
4. Kaffir cradle 18
5. Young Kaffir armed 21
6. Kaffir postman 21
7. Unmarried Kaffir girls 25
8. Old Kaffir women 25
9. Kaffir ornaments--necklaces, belt, etc. 33
10. Kaffir needles and sheaths 33
11. Articles of costume 33
12. Dolls representing the Kaffir dress 33
13. Bracelets made of the hoof of the bluebok 39
14. Apron of chief’s wife 39
15. Ivory armlets 39
16. Necklaces--beads and teeth 39
17. Young Kaffir in full dress 43
18. Girl in dancing dress 43
19. Kaffir ornaments 49
20. Dress and ornaments 49
21. The Kaffirs at home 57
22. Interior of a Kaffir hut 63
23. A Kaffir kraal 63
24. A Kaffir milking bowl 67
25. A Kaffir beer bowl 67
26. A Kaffir beer strainer 67
27. A Kaffir water pipe 67
28. Woman’s basket 67
29. Kaffir cattle--training the horns 73
30. Return of a Kaffir war party 73
31. Procession of the bride 83
32. Kaffir passing his mother-in-law 88
33. Bridegroom on approval 97
34. Kaffir at his forge 97
35. Spoons for eating porridge 103
36. Group of assagais 103
37. Kaffir warriors skirmishing 111
38. Muscular advocacy 111
39. Goza, the Kaffir chief, in ordinary undress 117
40. Goza in full war dress, with his councillors 117
41. Panda’s review 121
42. Hunting scene in Kaffirland 121
43. Cooking elephant’s foot 133
44. A Kaffir dinner party 145
45. Soldiers lapping water 145
46. A Kaffir harp 155
47. Exterior of a Kaffir hut 155
48. Spoon, ladle, skimmers 155
49. A Kaffir water pipe 155
50. A Kaffir fowl house 155
51. Necklace made of human finger bones 167
52. A remarkable gourd snuff-box 167
53. Poor man’s pipe 167
54. Kaffir gentlemen smoking 167
55. The prophet’s school 174
56. The prophet’s return 174
57. Old Kaffir prophets 177
58. The Kaffir prophetess at work 188
59. Unfavorable prophecy 188
60. Preserved head 203
61. Head of Mundurucú chief 203
62. Burial of King Tchaka’s mother 203
63. Dingan, the Kaffir monarch, at home 209
64. Kaffir women quarrelling 209
65. Hottentot girl 219
66. Hottentot woman 219
67. Hottentot young man 223
68. Hottentot in full dress 223
69. Hottentot kraal 229
70. Card playing by Hottentots 237
71. Bosjesman shooting cattle 237
72. Grapple plant 247
73. Bosjesman woman and child 247
74. Hottentots asleep 247
75. Bosjesman quiver 247
76. Frontlet of Hottentot girl 247
77. Poison grub 259
78. Portrait of Koranna chief 271
79. Namaquas shooting at the storm 271
80. Knife and assagai heads 281
81. Bechuana knives 281
82. A Bechuana apron 281
83. Ornament made of monkeys’ teeth 281
84. Bechuana parliament 287
85. Female architects among the Bechuanas 287
86. Magic dice of the Bechuanas 292
87. Spartan practices among the Bechuanas 294
88. The girl’s ordeal among the Bechuanas 294
89. Plan of Bechuana house 299
90. Bechuana funeral 302
91. Grave and monument of Damara chief 302
92. Damara warrior and wife 308
93. Damara girl resting 308
94. Portrait of Ovambo girl 317
95. Ovambo women pounding corn 317
96. Ovambo houses 329
97. Makololo house building 329
98. Children’s games among the Makololo 333
99. M’Bopo, a Makololo chief, at home 333
100. Spearing the hippopotamus 343
101. The final attack 343
102. Boating scene on the Bo-tlet-le River 351
103. Batoka salutation 351
104. Batoka men 357
105. Pelele, or lip ring, of the Manganjas 357
106. Hippopotamus trap 363
107. Axes of the Banyai 363
108. The marimba, or African piano 371
109. Singular headdress of the Balonda women 371
110. Wagogo greediness 387
111. Architecture of the Weezee 387
112. A husband’s welcome among the Weezee 391
113. Sultan Ukulima drinking pombé 391
114. Harvest scene among the Wanyamuezi 397
115. Salutation by the Watusi 397
116. Rumanika’s private band 404
117. Arrest of the queen 412
118. Reception of a visitor by the Waganda 417
119. The magician of Unyoro at work 417
120. Wanyoro culprit in the shoe 423
121. Group of Gani and Madi 431
122. Removal of a village by Madi 431
123. Group of the Kytch tribe 437
124. Neam-Nam fighting 437
125. Wooden chiefs of the Dôr 449
126. Scalp-locks of the Djibbas 449
127. Bracelets of the Djibbas 449
128. Ornaments of the Djour 449
129. Women’s knives 449
130. A Nuehr helmet 449
131. The Latooka victory 457
132. Gorilla hunting by the Fans 457
133. A Bari homestead 465
134. Funeral dance of the Latookas 465
135. The ceremony of M’paza 478
136. Obongo market 478
137. The giant dance of the Aponos 486
138. Fishing scene among the Bakalai 486
139. Ashira farewell 499
140. Olenda’s salutation to an Ishogo chief 499
141. A Camma dance 508
142. Quengueza’s (chief of the Camma) walk 508
143. The Camma fetish man ejecting a demon 517
144. Olanga drinking mboundou 517
145. Fate of the Shekiani wizard 526
146. The Mpongwé coronation 526
147. Attack on a Mpongwé village 537
148. Bargaining for a wife by the Fanti 537
149. The primeval child in Dahome 552
150. Fetishes, male and female, of the Krumen 552
151. Dahoman ivory trumpets 558
152. Dahoman war drum 558
153. War knives of the Fanti 558
154. Fetish trumpet and drum 558
155. Ashanti caboceer and soldiers 564
156. Punishment of a snake killer 564
157. “The bell comes” 569
158. Dahoman amazons 569
159. Amazon review 576
160. The Dahoman king’s dance 576
161. The basket sacrifice in Dahome 583
162. Head worship in Dahome 595
163. The attack on Abeokuta 595
164. The Alaké’s (king of the Egbas) court 605
165. Mumbo Jumbo 605
166. A Bubé marriage 612
167. Kanemboo man and woman 612
168. Washing day in Abyssinia 617
169. A Congo coronation 617
170. Ju-ju execution 619
171. Shooa women 631
172. Tuaricks and Tibboos 631
173. Begharmi lancers 638
174. Musgu chief 638
175. Dinner party in Abyssinia 643
176. Abyssinian heads 643
177. King Theodore and the lions 652
178. Pleaders in the courts 652
179. A battle between Abyssinians and Gallas 662
180. Interior of an Abyssinian house 662
181. Buffalo dance in Abyssinia 670
182. Bedouin camp 670
183. Hunting the hippopotamus 679
184. Travellers and the mirage 679
185. Travelling in Madagascar 692
186. Australian man and woman 698
187. Women and old man of Lower Murray 698
188. Hunter and his day’s provision 707
189. The sea-grass cloak 707
190. Bee hunting 716
191. Australian cooking a snake 716
192. Australian tomahawks 722
193. Australian clubs 722
194. Australian saw 722
195. Tattooing chisels 722
196. Man of Torres Strait 722
197. Basket--South Australia 722
198. Heads of Australian spears 731
199. Throw-sticks of the Australians 731
200. Boomerangs of the Australians 731
201. Spearing the kangaroo 739
202. Catching the cormorant 739
203. Australian shields 742
204. The kuri dance 749
205. Palti dance, or corrobboree 749
206. An Australian feast 759
207. Australian mothers 759
208. Mintalta, a Nauo man 765
209. Young man and boy of South Australia 765
210. Hut for cure of disease 765
211. Tomb of skulls 765
212. Tree tomb of Australia 775
213. Smoking bodies of slain warriors 775
214. Carved feather box 775
215. Australian widows and their caps 781
216. Cave with native drawings 781
217. Winter huts in Australia 787
218. A summer encampment 787
219. New Zealander from childhood to age 794
220. Woman and boy of New Zealand 803
221. A tattooed chief and his wife 803
222. Maori women making mats 809
223. The Tangi 809
224. Parátene Maioha in his state war cloak 820
225. The chiefs daughter 820
226. Hongi-hongi, chief of Waipa 820
227. Maories preparing for a feast 831
228. Maori chiefs’ storehouses 831
229. Cannibal cookhouse 835
230. Maori pah 835
231. Green jade ornaments 841
232. Maori weapons 841
233. Wooden and bone merais 841
234. Maori war dance 847
235. Te Ohu, a native priest 860
236. A tiki at Raroera pah 860
237. Tiki from Whakapokoko 860
238. Mourning over a dead chief 872
239. Tomb of E’ Toki 872
240. Rangihaeta’s war house 877
241. Interior of a pah or village 877
242. Maori paddles 881
243. Green jade adze and chisel 881
244. Common stone adze 881
245. A Maori toko-toko 881
246. New Caledonians defending their coast 893
247. Andamaners cooking a pig 893
248. A scene in the Nicobar Islands 903
249. The Outanatas and their weapons 903
250. The monkey men of Dourga Strait 909
251. Canoes of New Guinea 909
252. Huts of New Guinea 916
253. Dance by torchlight in New Guinea 916
254. The ambassador’s message 924
255. The canoe in a breeze 924
256. Presentation of the canoe 937
257. A Fijian feast 943
258. The fate of the boaster 943
259. Fijian idol 949
260. The orator’s flapper 949
261. Fijian spear 949
262. Fijian clubs 949
263. A Fijian wedding 957
264. House thatching by Fijians 957
265. A Buré, or temple, in Fiji 963
266. View in Makira harbor 963
267. Man and woman of Vaté 973
268. Woman and child of Vanikoro 973
269. Daughter of Tongan chief 973
270. Burial of a living king 980
271. Interior of a Tongan house 980
272. The kava party in Tonga 988
273. Tongan plantation 991
274. Ceremony of inachi 991
275. The tow-tow 999
276. Consulting a priest 999
277. Tattooing day in Samoa 1012
278. Cloth making by Samoan women 1012
279. Samoan club 1018
280. Armor of Samoan warrior 1018
281. Beautiful paddle of Hervey Islanders 1018
282. Ornamented adze magnified 1018
283. Spear of Hervey Islanders 1018
284. Shark tooth gauntlets 1025
285. Samoan warriors exchanging defiance 1027
286. Pigeon catching by Samoans 1027
287. Battle scene in Hervey Islands 1035
288. Village in Kingsmill Islands 1035
289. Shark tooth spear 1041
290. Shark’s jaw 1041
291. Swords of Kingsmill Islanders 1041
292. Tattooed chiefs of Marquesas 1046
293. Marquesan chief’s hand 1046
294. Neck ornament 1046
295. Marquesan chief in war dress 1046
296. The war dance of the Niuans 1054
297. Tahitans presenting the cloth 1054
298. Dressing the idols by Society Islanders 1067
299. The human sacrifice by Tahitans 1077
300. Corpse and chief mourner 1077
301. Tane, the Tahitan god, returning home 1084
302. Women and pet pig of Sandwich Islands 1084
303. Kamehameha’s exploit with spears 1089
304. Masked rowers 1089
305. Surf swimming by Sandwich Islanders 1093
306. Helmet of Sandwich Islanders 1097
307. Feather idol of Sandwich Islanders 1097
308. Wooden idol of Sandwich Islanders 1097
309. Romanzoff Islanders, man and woman 1101
310. Dyak warrior and dusum 1101
311. Investiture of the rupack 1105
312. Warrior’s dance among Pelew Islanders 1105
313. Illinoan pirate and Saghai Dyak 1113
314. Dyak women 1113
315. Parang-latok of the Dyaks 1122
316. Sumpitans of the Dyaks 1122
317. Parang-ihlang of the Dyaks 1122
318. The kris, or dagger, of the Dyaks 1129
319. Shields of Dyak soldiers 1129
320. A parang with charms 1129
321. A Dyak spear 1129
322. Canoe fight of the Dyaks 1139
323. A Dyak wedding 1139
324. A Dyak feast 1147
325. A Bornean adze axe 1152
326. A Dyak village 1153
327. A Dyak house 1153
328. Fuegian man and woman 1163
329. Patagonian man and woman 1163
330. A Fuegian settlement 1169
331. Fuegians shifting quarters 1169
332. Araucanian stirrups and spur 1175
333. Araucanian lassos 1175
334. Patagonian bolas 1175
335. Spanish bit and Patagonian fittings 1175
336. Patagonians hunting game 1180
337. Patagonian village 1187
338. Patagonian burial ground 1187
339. A Mapuché family 1201
340. Araucanian marriage 1201
341. Mapuché medicine 1207
342. Mapuché funeral 1207
343. The macana club 1212
344. Guianan arrows and tube 1214
345. Gran Chaco Indians on the move 1218
346. The ordeal of the “gloves” 1218
347. Guianan blow guns 1225
348. Guianan blow-gun arrow 1225
349. Guianan winged arrows 1225
350. Guianan cotton basket 1225
351. Guianan quiver 1225
352. Guianan arrows rolled around stick 1225
353. Guianan arrows strung 1225
354. Feathered arrows of the Macoushies 1231
355. Cassava dish of the Macoushies 1231
356. Guianan quake 1231
357. Arrow heads of the Macoushies 1231
358. Guianan turtle arrow 1231
359. Guianan quiver for arrow heads 1231
360. Feather apron of the Mundurucús 1231
361. Head-dresses of the Macoushies 1238
362. Guianan clubs 1238
363. Guianan cradle 1238
364. A Warau house 1244
365. Lake dwellers of the Orinoco 1244
366. Guianan tipiti and bowl 1249
367. Guianan twin bottles 1249
368. Feather apron of the Caribs 1249
369. Bead apron of the Guianans 1249
370. The spathe of the Waraus 1249
371. The Maquarri dance 1260
372. Shield wrestling of the Waraus 1260
373. Jaguar bone flute of the Caribs 1265
374. Rattle of the Guianans 1265
375. Mexican stirrups 1265
376. Iron and stone tomahawks 1265
377. Indian shield and clubs 1265
378. Mandan chief Mah-to-toh-pa and wife 1277
379. A Crow chief 1284
380. American Indians scalping 1284
381. Flint-headed arrow 1290
382. Camanchees riding 1291
383. “Smoking” horses 1291
384. Snow shoe 1295
385. Bison hunting scene 1299
386. Buffalo dance 1299
387. The Mandan ordeal 1305
388. The last race 1305
389. The medicine man at work 1311
390. The ball play of the Choctaws 1311
391. Indian pipes 1315
392. Ee-e-chin-che-a in war costume 1318
393. Grandson of a Blackfoot chief 1318
394. Pshan-shaw, a girl of the Riccarees 1318
395. Flat-head woman and child 1319
396. Indian canoe 1322
397. Snow shoe dance 1322
398. Dance to the medicine of the brave 1322
399. The canoe race 1327
400. Esquimaux dwellings 1327
401. Esquimaux harpoon head 1337
402. Burial of Blackbird, an Omaha chief 1341
403. Esquimaux spearing the walrus 1341
404. The kajak and its management 1347
405. Esquimaux sledge driving 1347
406. Wrist-guard of the Esquimaux 1353
407. Esquimaux fish-hooks 1353
408. Feathered arrows of Aht tribe 1356
409. Ingenious fish-hook of the Ahts 1357
410. Remarkable carved pipes of the Ahts 1357
411. Bow of the Ahts of Vancouver’s Island 1357
412. Beaver mask of the Aht tribe 1357
413. Singular head-dress of the Aht chiefs 1357
414. Decorated paddles of the Ahts 1357
415. Canoe of the Ahts 1361
416. Aht dance 1367
417. Initiation of a dog eater 1367
418. A Sowrah marriage 1387
419. A Meriah sacrifice 1387
420. Bows and quiver of Hindoos 1394
421. Ingenious ruse of Bheel robbers 1397
422. A Ghoorka attacked by a tiger 1397
423. A Ghoorka necklace 1403
424. A kookery of the Ghoorka tribe 1403
425. The chakra or quoit weapon 1403
426. Indian arms and armor 1403
427. Suit of armor inlaid with gold 1406
428. Chinese repeating crossbow 1425
429. Mutual assistance 1427
430. Chinese woman’s foot and shoe 1428
431. Mandarin and wife 1437
432. Various modes of torture 1437
433. Mouth organ 1445
434. Specimens of Chinese art 1446
435. Decapitation of Chinese criminal 1451
436. The street ballad-singer 1451
437. Japanese lady in a storm 1454
438. Japanese lady on horseback 1455
439. Capture of the truant husbands 1464
440. Candlestick and censers 1465
441. Suit of Japanese armor 1469
442. King S. S. P. M. Mongkut of Siam 1469
443. Portrait of celebrated Siamese actress 1469
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME I.
Chap. Page.
KAFFIRS OF SOUTH AFRICA.
I. INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER 11
II. COURSE OF LIFE 17
III. COURSE OF LIFE--_Concluded_ 20
IV. MASCULINE DRESS AND ORNAMENTS 28
V. MASCULINE DRESS AND ORNAMENTS--_Concluded_ 36
VI. FEMININE DRESS AND ORNAMENTS 48
VII. ARCHITECTURE 56
VIII. CATTLE KEEPING 66
IX. MARRIAGE 75
X. MARRIAGE--_Concluded_ 82
XI. WAR--OFFENSIVE WEAPONS 92
XII. WAR--DEFENSIVE WEAPONS 108
XIII. HUNTING 126
XIV. AGRICULTURE 138
XV. FOOD 143
XVI. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS 159
XVII. RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION 169
XVIII. RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION--_Continued_ 180
XIX. SUPERSTITION--_Concluded_ 192
XX. FUNERAL RITES 200
XXI. DOMESTIC LIFE 206
HOTTENTOTS.
XXII. THE HOTTENTOT RACES 217
XXIII. MARRIAGE, LANGUAGE, AMUSEMENTS 232
THE BOSJESMAN, OR BUSHMAN.
XXIV. APPEARANCE--SOCIAL LIFE 242
XXV. ARCHITECTURE--WEAPONS 251
XXVI. AMUSEMENTS 262
VARIOUS AFRICAN RACES.
XXVII. KORANNAS AND NAMAQUAS 269
XXVIII. THE BECHUANAS 280
XXIX. THE BECHUANAS--_Concluded_ 291
XXX. THE DAMARA TRIBE 304
XXXI. THE OVAMBO, OR OVAMPO 315
XXXII. THE MAKOLOLO TRIBE 324
XXXIII. THE BAYEYE AND MAKOBA 337
XXXIV. THE BATOKA AND MANGANJA 348
XXXV. THE BANYAI AND BADEMA 361
XXXVI. THE BALONDO, OR BALONDA, AND ANGOLESE 369
XXXVII. WAGOGO AND WANYAMUEZI 384
XXXVIII. KARAGUE 399
XXXIX. THE WATUSI AND WAGANDA 408
XL. THE WANYORO 422
XLI. GANI, MADI, OBBO, AND KYTCH 429
XLII. THE NEAM-NAM, DÔR, AND DJOUR TRIBES 440
XLIII. THE LATOOKA TRIBE 453
XLIV. THE SHIR, BARI, DJIBBA, NUEHR, DINKA, AND SHILLOOK
TRIBES 461
XLV. THE ISHOGO, ASHANGO, AND OBONGO TRIBES 475
XLVI. THE APONO AND APINGI 484
XLVII. THE BAKALAI 491
XLVIII. THE ASHIRA 496
XLIX. THE CAMMA OR COMMI 504
L. THE SHEKIANI AND MPONGWÉ 521
LI. THE FANS 529
LII. THE FANS--_Concluded_ 535
LIII. THE KRUMEN AND FANTI 544
LIV. THE ASHANTI 554
LV. DAHOME 561
LVI. DAHOME--_Continued_ 573
LVII. DAHOME--_Concluded_ 581
LVIII. THE EGBAS 590
LIX. BONNY 600
LX. THE MAN-DINGOES 607
LXI. THE BUBES AND CONGOESE 610
LXII. BORNU 620
LXIII. THE SHOOAS, TIBBOOS, TUARICKS, BEGHARMIS, AND MUSGUESE 628
LXIV. ABYSSINIANS 641
LXV. ABYSSINIANS--_Continued_ 649
LXVI. ABYSSINIANS--_Concluded_ 658
LXVII. NUBIANS AND HAMRAN ARABS 673
LXVIII. BEDOUINS, HASSANIYEHS, AND MALAGASY 681
AUSTRALIA.
LXIX. APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER OF NATIVES 694
LXX. DRESS--FOOD 703
LXXI. WEAPONS 719
LXXII. WEAPONS--_Concluded_ 727
LXXIII. WAR--AMUSEMENTS 744
LXXIV. DOMESTIC LIFE 755
LXXV. FROM CHILDHOOD TO MANHOOD 761
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME II.
Chap. Page.
LXXVI. MEDICINE--SURGERY--DISPOSAL OF DEAD 769
LXXVII. DWELLINGS--CANOES 784
NEW ZEALAND.
LXXVIII. GENERAL REMARKS 792
LXXIX. DRESS 800
LXXX. DRESS--_Concluded_ 807
LXXXI. DOMESTIC LIFE 816
LXXXII. FOOD AND COOKERY 826
LXXXIII. WAR 838
LXXXIV. CANOES 852
LXXXV. RELIGION 856
LXXXVI. THE TAPU 863
LXXXVII. FUNERAL CEREMONIES--ARCHITECTURE 869
NEW CALEDONIA.
LXXXVIII. APPEARANCE--DRESS--WARFARE 883
ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS.
LXXXIX. ORIGIN OF NATIVES--APPEARANCE--CHARACTER--EDUCATION 888
NEW GUINEA.
XC. PAPUANS AND OUTANATAS 898
XCI. THE ALFOËRS OR HARAFORAS 905
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
XCII. THE AJITAS OR AHITAS 919
FIJI.
XCIII. APPEARANCE--DRESS 922
XCIV. MANUFACTURES 929
XCV. GOVERNMENT--SOCIAL LIFE 934
XCVI. WAR--AMUSEMENTS 948
XCVII. RELIGION--FUNERAL RITES 960
SOLOMON ISLANDS AND NEW HEBRIDES.
XCVIII. CHARACTER--DRESS--CUSTOMS 968
TONGA.
XCIX. GOVERNMENT--GRADATIONS OF RANK 976
C. WAR AND CEREMONIES 984
CI. SICKNESS--BURIAL--GAMES 997
SAMOA, OR NAVIGATOR’S ISLAND.
CII. APPEARANCE--CHARACTER--DRESS 1008
CIII. WAR 1016
CIV. AMUSEMENTS--MARRIAGE--ARCHITECTURE 1028
HERVEY AND KINGSMILL ISLANDS.
CV. APPEARANCE--WEAPONS--GOVERNMENT 1032
MARQUESAS ISLANDS.
CVI. DRESS--AMUSEMENTS--WAR--BURIAL 1044
NIUE, OR SAVAGE ISLANDS.
CVII. ORIGIN--COSTUME--LAWS--BURIAL 1052
SOCIETY ISLANDS.
CVIII. APPEARANCE--DRESS--SOCIAL CUSTOMS 1057
CIX. RELIGION 1064
CX. HISTORY--WAR--FUNERALS--LEGENDS 1072
SANDWICH ISLANDS.
CXI. CLIMATE--DRESS--ORNAMENTS--WOMEN 1081
CXII. WAR--SPORT--RELIGION 1088
CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO.
CXIII. DRESS--ARCHITECTURE--AMUSEMENTS--WAR 1100
BORNEO.
CXIV. THE DYAKS, APPEARANCE AND DRESS 1110
CXV. WAR 1119
CXVI. WAR--_Concluded_ 1128
CXVII. SOCIAL LIFE 1137
CXVIII. ARCHITECTURE, MANUFACTURES 1149
CXIX. RELIGION--OMENS--FUNERALS 1157
TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
CXX. APPEARANCE--ARCHITECTURE--MANUFACTURES 1161
PATAGONIANS.
CXXI. APPEARANCE--WEAPONS--HORSEMANSHIP 1172
CXXII. DOMESTIC LIFE 1183
ARAUCANIANS.
CXXIII. DRESS--ETIQUETTE--GOVERNMENT 1190
CXXIV. DOMESTIC LIFE 1196
CXXV. GAMES--SOCIAL CUSTOMS 1204
THE GRAN CHACO.
CXXVI. APPEARANCE--WEAPONS--CHARACTER 1211
THE MUNDURUCÚS.
CXXVII. MANUFACTURES--SOCIAL CUSTOMS 1215
THE TRIBES OF GUIANA.
CXXVIII. WEAPONS 1221
CXXIX. WEAPONS--_Concluded_ 1228
CXXX. WAR--SUPERSTITION 1239
CXXXI. ARCHITECTURE--SOCIAL CUSTOMS 1245
CXXXII. DRESS--AMUSEMENTS 1255
CXXXIII. RELIGION--BURIAL 1263
MEXICO.
CXXXIV. HISTORY--RELIGION--ART 1271
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
CXXXV. GOVERNMENT--CUSTOMS 1273
CXXXVI. WAR 1281
CXXXVII. HUNTING--AMUSEMENTS 1293
CXXXVIII. RELIGION--SUPERSTITION 1301
CXXXIX. SOCIAL LIFE 1316
ESQUIMAUX.
CXL. APPEARANCE--DRESS--MANNERS 1333
CXLI. HUNTING--RELIGION--BURIAL 1338
VANCOUVER’S ISLAND.
CXLII. THE AHTS, AND NEIGHBORING TRIBES 1354
CXLIII. CANOES--FEASTS--DANCES 1362
CXLIV. ARCHITECTURE--RELIGION--DISPOSAL OF DEAD 1369
ALASKA.
CXLV. MALEMUTES--INGELETES--CO-YUKONS 1374
SIBERIA.
CXLVI. THE TCHUKTCHI--JAKUTS--TUNGUSI 1377
CXLVII. THE SAMOÏEDES--OSTIAKS 1381
INDIA.
CXLVIII. THE SOWRAHS AND KHONDS 1385
CXLIX. WEAPONS 1395
CL. SACRIFICIAL RELIGION 1407
CLI. THE INDIANS, WITH RELATION TO ANIMALS 1416
TARTARY.
CLII. THE MANTCHU TARTARS 1422
CHINA.
CLIII. APPEARANCE--DRESS--FOOD 1426
CLIV. WARFARE 1433
CLV. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS 1441
JAPAN.
CLVI. DRESS--ART--AMUSEMENTS 1449
CLVII. MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS 1458
SIAM.
CLVIII. GOVERNMENT--DRESS--RELIGION 1467
ANCIENT EUROPE.
CLIX. THE SWISS LAKE-DWELLERS 1473
CENTRAL AFRICA.
CLX. THE MAKONDÉ 1475
CLXI. THE WAIYAU 1478
CLXII. THE BABISA AND BABEMBA 1482
CLXIII. THE MANYUEMA 1487
CLXIV. THE MANYUEMA--_Concluded_ 1492
CLXV. UNYAMWEZI 1496
CLXVI. UVINZA AND UHHA 1500
CLXVII. THE MONBUTTOO 1503
CLXVIII. THE PYGMIES 1508
CLXIX. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRICAN TRIBES 1511
CLXX. THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE 1515
CENTRAL ASIA.
CLXXI. THE KAKHYENS 1520
CHAPTER LXXVI.
AUSTRALIA--_Continued_.
MEDICINE, SURGERY, AND THE DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD.
BILBOS, OR NATIVE DOCTORS -- WOUNDS AND BRUISES -- A STRANGE CURE --
TREATMENT OF THE HEADACHE -- A DREAM AND ITS RESULTS -- THE MAGIC
CRYSTAL, OR DOCTOR-STONE -- ITS EFFECTS ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN -- THE
DOCTOR-HOUSE -- SUCTION AS A MEANS OF CURE -- BELIEF IN CHARMS --
THE PARENT’S SKULL -- CEREMONIES OF MOURNING -- CUTTING THE HEAD AND
BODY AS A SIGN OF WOE -- DRIVING AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS -- FEAR OF
GHOSTS -- BURIAL AMONG THE PARNKALLAS AND NAUOS -- THE TOMB OF SKULLS
-- A SUMMARY MODE OF BURIAL -- FUNERAL OF BOYS -- THE TREE-TOMBS
-- SMOKING THE WARRIORS -- INCONSISTENT BEHAVIOR -- BURIAL OF OLD
WOMEN -- THE WIDOWS’ CAPS -- RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF THE ABORIGINES --
THE VARIOUS EVIL SPIRITS -- THE BUNYIP -- ROCK AND CAVE PAINTINGS --
THEORY OF TRANSMIGRATION.
We will now see how the Australian natives treat sickness of various
kinds. Among them are certain personages called bilbos, or doctors, to
whom the sick usually appeal in cases of illness or pain. It is not
known, however, whether the mere fact of age gives a man the rank of
bilbo, or whether it is attained by sundry ceremonials, as is the case
with the Africans and other savages.
The most usual mode of treating any local disease or pain is by
pressing the hands upon the affected part, and kneading it, a remedy
which is found in every part of the world, and which is really
efficacious in many complaints, especially in rheumatic affections, or
in sprained or over-exerted muscles. If a limb be wounded, bruised, or
sore, the native practitioners tie a fillet tightly above it, for the
purpose, as they say, of preventing the malady from reaching the body.
Headaches are treated by tying a bandage firmly round the temples, and,
if the pain be obstinate, the doctors bleed the patient under the arm,
using a sharp piece of quartz as a lancet. The flowing blood is never
allowed to be wasted, but is received on the body of the operator, and
diligently rubbed into the skin, under the notion that by this process
both parties are strengthened. This depends, however, on the sex of the
patient, women being never bled, nor allowed to have the blood of any
other person sprinkled upon them.
About 1832, a curious disease broke out among the natives of Wellington
Valley, resembling the small-pox in many things, and yet displaying
symptoms which scarcely belong to that dread disease, the one fatal
scourge of savage tribes. It was preceded by headache, fever,
sore-throat, &c., and accompanied by pustules very much resembling
those of the small-pox. It was, however, scarcely virulent enough for
the real disease, though it was probably a milder form of it, and was
subject to the power of vaccine matter. It was not limited to the
natives, but attacked many Europeans just like the genuine small-pox,
and in one case was fatal.
It is here mentioned on account of the mode of cure adopted by the
native doctors. They punctured the pustules with sharp fish-bones, and
squeezed them well with the blunt end of their rude lancets, and it is
a noteworthy fact that the rate of mortality was very much reduced. Of
course the doctors used other modes, whereby they gave their patients
confidence in their powers. The chief of these was performed by means
of a number of slender rods, six to nine feet in length, which were
stuck in the ground in the form of a crescent, and addressed with
long speeches and many mysterious gestures. Among the Australians,
this disease, whatever it may be, does not strike the abject terror
with which it is usually accompanied. Although they know that it is
infectious, they do not abandon the sick person, unless perhaps the
doctor pronounces the patient incurable; in which case they save him
prolonged pain, and themselves useless trouble, by burying him alive.
The native term for this disease is “thunna-thunna,” and it is known to
have existed when the country was first discovered, so that it is not
imported from civilized countries.
Another remarkable kind of cure for the headache is mentioned by Mr.
Angas. The patient being seated on the ground, a string is tied round
his head, the knot being carefully adjusted to the middle of the
forehead. The operator, who is always a woman, seats herself opposite
the patient, places the line between her lips, and frets them with it
until they bleed freely. The idea is that the disease, attracted by the
blood, passes along the line from the patient’s head, and is cast out
together with the blood.
A very remarkable instance of this mode of cure is related in Tyerman
and Bennett’s “Voyage round the World.” A man had dreamed that he
had been speared in the side, and had died in consequence of the
wound. Although, when he woke, he knew it was but a dream, he was so
frightened that he became very ill, retired to his hut, chose the place
of his burial, and lay down to die.
Nearly a week elapsed, during which he could take no food, grew worse
and worse, and it was plain that nature would not hold out much longer.
The priests--or rather sorcerers, for it cannot be ascertained that
the New Hollanders have any other kind of priests, having, in fact,
no religious worship--came to do what they could for him with their
enchantments. By their order he was carried down to the side of a
running water, and tumbled into the stream, where it was pretty deep,
head foremost. When taken out, he was rolled in the sand till his body
was quite encased with it. This again was washed off by pouring water
over him.
“Meanwhile a young woman of the company was perceived plaiting a cord
of kangaroo’s hair, which, when completed, was bound round his chest,
and a knot, very cunningly implicated by one of the operators, was
placed over that part of his side into which the spear of his dream
had entered. From this knot a line was passed to the young woman who
had prepared the bandage. This she drew through her mouth backward and
forward (as children sometimes do with a piece of packthread) until
she began to spit blood, which was said to be sucked by that process
from the wound in the sick man’s side. _There_ it was now perceptible
that, from whatever cause, a considerable swelling had arisen under the
knot. Toward this one of the sorcerers began to stroke the man’s flesh
from all the adjacent regions of the back, belly, and chest, as though
to force the blood thither. He then applied his mouth to the swelling,
and, with hideous noises, sometimes sucked it with his lips, sometimes
pressed it violently with his hands, till _forth came the point of a
spear_, four inches in length, which he presented to the astonished
spectators and the expecting sufferer, as verily extracted from the
man’s side.
“Then he applied his mouth again to the swollen part, from which,
although there was no visible wound, he appeared to draw blood and
corrupt matter, stains of both being soon seen on the swarthy skin.
At length, with distended cheeks, as though he had filled his mouth
with the abominable matter, he ran about, anxiously looking for a fit
place to discharge it upon; but, affecting to find none, he crossed
the water, and deposited the nauseous extract behind a bush. The poor
man’s hopes revived, and he now believed that he should get well again.
Mr. Dunlop thereupon sent him some tea, which, however, he would not
drink, but requested that it might be given to the sorcerer, and, if he
drank it, then it would do himself (the patient) good. He was deceived,
disappointed, and died.”
The Australians are tolerably good surgeons in a rough-and-ready sort
of way, and are clever at setting broken limbs. After bringing the
broken ends of the bone together, they support the limb by several
pieces of wood which act as splints, and then make the whole secure by
bandages, which they often strengthen with gum, exactly as is done in
modern surgery.
One of the most powerful remedies employed by the native practitioners
is the “doctor-stone.” This is nothing but a common quartz crystal;
but the doctors aver that they manufacture it themselves, and that
the ingredients are kept secret. Like the witarna, mentioned on page
747, women are never allowed even to look upon the doctor-stone, and
are impressed with the belief that, if they dared to set their eyes
upon the forbidden object, they would be immediately killed by its
radiant powers. The larger the crystal, the more valuable is it; and a
tolerably large one can scarcely be procured from the natives at any
price.
The doctors say that this stone is not only fatal to women, but also
destroys men if flung at them with certain incantations. An European
settler once challenged a native doctor to say as many charms as he
liked, and throw the magic stone as much as he pleased. This offer,
however, he declined, giving the usual excuse of savages, that the
white man belonged to a totally different order of beings, and,
although the poor black fellow would die from the effects of the
doctor-stone, the white man was much too powerful to be hurt by it.
The mode in which the crystal is used is very curious, and has been
described by an eye-witness.
A native of the Tumat country, named Golong, was suffering from a spear
wound received in a skirmish with a hostile tribe, and was brought to
a bilbo, named Baramumbup, to be healed. The patient being laid on the
ground outside the encampment so that women could not run the risk of
death through the accidental sight of the crystal, the doctor began a
close examination of the wound, and sucked it. He then retired to a
distance from the patient, muttered some magic words for a minute or
so, and placed the crystal in his mouth. Having retained it there for
a short time, he removed it, spat on the ground, and with his feet
trampled on the saliva, pressing it deeply into the ground. This was
repeated several times, and the doctor took his leave.
For several successive evenings the whole of the process was gone
through, and the recovery of the patient, which was really rapid,
was attributed by all parties to the wonderful efficacy of the
doctor-stone. “On making inquiry,” writes Dr. Bennett, “why the
physician is so careful in trampling the saliva discharged from his
mouth into the ground, no satisfactory reason could be obtained, a
vague answer only being returned to the query. But it is not improbable
that they consider, by this practice, that they finally destroy the
power of the evil spirit, extracted by the operation through the
virtues of the stone. Some such reason for this proceeding may be
inferred from an observation made to any European who may be present at
this part of the ceremony, ‘that he (_i. e._ the disease) may not come
up again.’”
It is remarkable that a ceremony almost exactly identical in principle
is employed by the Guaycura tribe of Brazil. Among them the doctors, or
payés, cure local ailments, whether wounds or otherwise, by sucking the
part affected, spitting into a hole dug in the ground, and then filling
in the earth, as if to bury the complaint.
The Australian doctors make great use of the principle of suction, and
employ it in all kinds of cases. If, for example, a patient has a bad
pain in his stomach from overeating, or suffers more than he thinks
right from the blow of a waddy, the doctor sucks at the afflicted part
vigorously, and at last produces from his mouth a piece of bone, or
some other hard substance, which he asserts to be the concentrated
essence of the pain, or other ailment. The reader may remark that the
bones with which the gums of youths are lanced in the ceremonies of
initiation are supposed to be produced from the bodies of the operators
by means of suction.
A very remarkable curative agent is shown in the illustration No. 3,
page 765, which is taken from a sketch by Mr. Baines. It consists
of a stone building, which at first sight looks so like an ordinary
Druidical remain that it might be taken for one, except for its
dimensions. Instead, however, of being composed of huge stones, each
weighing several tons, it is quite a tiny edifice, scarcely larger than
the grotto which children erect with oyster-shells. The patient lies
in, or rather under it, the aperture being just wide enough to admit
his body, and the small roof only covering a very small portion of
the inmate. Sundry superstitious rites are employed at the same time,
and the remedy is efficacious, like the crystal already mentioned, in
consequence of enlisting the imagination of the sufferer.
These little buildings are found along the Victoria River, and for a
considerable time the object for which they were built greatly puzzled
the discoverers.
A medicine scarcely less efficacious than the doctor’s stone is human
fat, which is carefully preserved, and administered by being rubbed in
and around the affected part. As, however, it is highly valued by the
warriors it is not easily procured, and, had it to be taken solely from
the bodies of slain enemies, would in all probability never be used
at all. The efficacy of this repulsive remedy does not depend on the
individual from whom it is taken, that of a child or woman being quite
as useful as that of a warrior.
According to Mr. G. T. Lloyd, the practice of deserting the helpless
is found in Australia as well as in other countries, and is practised
exactly as is the case in Africa. When a person is ill the relations,
as a rule, do not trouble themselves to visit the sick person, and,
when there is no apparent hope of recovery, a supply of food and firing
enough to last them for several days is left near them, and they are
then abandoned to their fate. Even in the case of poor old Tarmeenia,
mentioned on page 747, the son, although he carried his wounded father
more than four miles in order to place him in safety, never once came
to see him.
Seeing that the natives place such implicit faith in the healing power
of the doctor’s stone, it is natural that they should also believe in
sundry charms as preservatives against disease and misfortune. One of
these charms is a sort of girdle, several inches wide in the middle,
and tapering to a mere thong at each end. If it be made of string
prepared from the bulrush root, it is called Taara or Kuretti; and if
made of human hair, it goes by the name Godlotti. It is used more as a
curative than a preventive, and is mostly found among the tribes of the
lower Murray River. The hair, when twisted into thread, is wound upon a
curious spindle, consisting of two slender pieces of wood placed across
each other at right angles.
Another charm is shown in the illustration No. 2, on the 765th page,
slung round the neck of the boy. It is the beak of the black swan,
which, from its scarlet color, contrasts well with the black skin of
the wearer. The little boy’s name is Rimmilliperingery, and Mr. G.
F. Angas remarks that he was an engaging little fellow, and had the
largest and softest pair of dark eyes that could be imagined. The
elder figure is that of a young man named Tyilkilli, belonging to the
Parnkalla tribe of Port Lincoln. He has been selected as a favorable
example of the Australian young man in good circumstances, well-fed,
careless, and gay with the unthinking happiness of mere animal life,
which finds a joy in the very fact of existence.
Among many of the tribes may be seen a strange sort of ornament, or
rather utensil; namely, a drinking-cup made of a human skull. It is
slung on cords and carried by them, and the owner takes it wherever he
or she goes. These ghastly utensils are made from the skulls of the
nearest and dearest relatives; and when an Australian mother dies,
it is thought right that her daughter should form the skull of her
mother into a drinking-vessel. The preparation is simple enough. The
lower jaw is removed, the brains are extracted, and the whole of the
skull thoroughly cleaned. A rope handle made of bulrush fibre is then
attached to it, and it is considered fit for use. It is filled with
water through the vertebral aperture, into which a wisp of grass is
always stuffed, so as to prevent the water from being spilled.
Inconsistency is ever the attribute of savage minds. Although they
consider that to convert the skull of a parent into a drinking vessel,
and to carry it about with them, is an important branch of filial
duty, they seem to have no very deep feelings on the subject. In fact,
a native named Wooloo sold his mother’s skull for a small piece of
tobacco. His mind was evidently not comprehensive enough to admit two
ideas together, and the objective idea of present tobacco was evidently
more powerful than the comparative abstraction of filial reverence.
Mr. Angas saw one which was carried by a little girl ten years of
age. Like “Little Nell,” she was in attendance upon an old and infirm
grandfather, and devoted her little life to him. In nothing was the
difference of human customs shown more plainly than in the use of the
mother’s skull as a drinking vessel--an act which we should consider as
the acme of heathen brutality, but with these aborigines is held to be
a duty owed by the child to the parent.
Perhaps my classical readers will remember a chapter in Herodotus which
bears on this very subject. He finds fault with Cambyses for breaking
into the temples of the Cabeiri, burning their idols, and so hurting
the religious feelings of the people; and remarks that he was wary in
offending against any religious sentiment, however absurd it might
appear to himself. He then proceeds to tell an anecdote of Darius, who
had at his court some “Indians called Callatians,” and some Greeks. He
asked the Greeks (who always burned their dead, as the Hindoos do now),
what bribe would induce them to eat the bodies of their dead parents,
and they naturally replied that for no bribe could they perform so
horrible a deed. Then, in the presence of the Greeks, he asked the
Callatians, who ate their dead (as several savage nations do now), for
what sum they would consent to burn the bodies of their dead. They, as
it appears from the style of their answer, were even more shocked than
the Greeks at the idea of such horrible sacrilege, and would not deign
to give a direct answer, but begged Darius to “speak words of good
omen.” (See _Thalia_, xxxvii. 8.)
A somewhat similar proceeding is narrated in the life of
Nussir-er-deen, the late king of Oude. His native ministers, jealous
of the influence exercised over him by some of his European friends,
complained that the English guests treated the monarch with disrespect,
by retaining their shoes in his royal presence. The king, who,
enervated as he was by vanity, dissipation, self-indulgence, and
flattery, was no fool, immediately proposed a compromise. “Listen to
me, nawab; and you, general, listen to me. The King of England is my
master, and these gentlemen would go into his presence with their shoes
on. Shall they not come into mine, then? Do they come before me with
their hats on? Answer me, your excellency.”
“They do not, your majesty.”
“No, that is _their_ way of showing respect. _They_ take off their
hats, and _you_ take off your shoes. But come now, let us have a
bargain. Wallah! but I will get them to take off their shoes and leave
them without, as you do, if you will take off your turban and leave
it without, as they do.” (See Knighton’s “Private Life of an Eastern
King.”)
We now come naturally to the burial of the dead, and the various
ceremonies which accompany the time of mourning. Although the relatives
seem so careless about the sick person, they really keep a watch, and,
as soon as death actually takes place, they announce the fact by loud
cries. The women are the principal mourners, and they continue to
sob and shriek and moan until they are forced to cease from absolute
exhaustion. They cut their bodies until the blood streams freely
from their wounds, and some of them chop their own heads with their
tomahawks until their shoulders and bodies are covered with blood.
The reader will probably have noticed how widely spread is this custom
of wounding the body as a sign of mourning, and especially as a
lamentation for the dead. We have seen that it exists in Africa, and we
shall see that it is practised in many other countries. That it was
practised in ancient days by the people among whom the Jews lived, we
see from several passages of Scripture. See for example Deut. xiv. 1:
“Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes
for the dead.” Also Jer. xvi. 6: “They shall not be buried, neither
shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves
bald for them.” There is also the well-known passage concerning the
sacrifice that the priests of Baal offered, in the course of which they
“cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the
blood gushed out upon them.”
The body is not disposed of at once, but is suffered to remain for
a considerable time, during which decomposition takes place, and is
allowed to work its course until the flesh is separated from the bones.
The body is watched carefully during the night; and if a passing meteor
should appear in the sky, the people shout and wave firebrands in order
to drive away a certain evil spirit named _Yúmburbar_, which is thought
to be the real though invisible cause of death and all calamities, and
to haunt the spot where a dead body lies for the purpose of feeding
upon it.
When decomposition has done its work, the bones are carefully
collected, cleaned, and painted red, after which they are wrapped up
in bark, and carried about with the tribe for a time. This term being
fulfilled, they are finally disposed of in various ways, according to
the customs of the tribe to which they belonged. Some tribes scoop
holes in soft rocks, and place the remains therein, while others prefer
hollow trees for that purpose. Sometimes the body is placed in the cave
without being reduced to a skeleton, and in some places the soil is
of such a nature that the body becomes dried before decomposition can
proceed very far. During the Exhibition of 1862 one of these desiccated
bodies was exhibited in England, and called the “petrified” man. It
was, however, nothing but a shrivelled and dried-up body, such as is
often found in very dry soils.
Near the Murrumbidgee River, in the Wellington Valley, there is a
remarkable stalactitic cavern, divided into several “halls.” This
cavern is, or has been, a favorite burying-place of the aborigines, who
seem to have employed it for the same purpose that Abraham purchased
the cave of Machpelah. In consequence of the use of the cavern as a
burial place, the natives are rather nervous about entering it, and
they flatly refuse to venture into the darker recesses, for fear of
the “dibbil-dibbil.” When Dr. Bennett visited it in 1832, he found in
a small side cave the skeleton of a woman. The bones had been placed
there nearly twenty years before.
The Parnkalla and Nauo tribes have another mode of burial, which
somewhat resembles that which is employed by the Bechuanas. The body
is placed in a crouching or squatting position, such as is employed
by the natives when sitting, the knees being drawn up to the chin, the
legs close to the body, and the hands clasped over the legs. Examples
of this attitude may be seen in many of the illustrations. A circular
pit or grave, about five feet in depth, is then dug, and after the body
is lowered into the pit a number of sticks are laid over the grave,
nearly touching one another. A thick layer of leaves and another of
grass are then placed on the sticks, and over all is heaped the earth
which has been dug out of the pit, so that the grave looks something
like a huge anthill.
In Northern Australia the natives have a curious method of disposing
of the dead. They gather the skulls together, and heap them into
a circular mound, placing stones round them to keep them in their
places. They do not cover the skulls, but make the tomb in an open and
conspicuous place. Such a tomb is illustrated on page 765.
The blacks of the Clarence River build monuments which are somewhat
similar in appearance, but are made of different materials. They place
a number of stones in a circle, and in the centre they erect an upright
slab of stone. They can give no reason for this custom, but only say
that “black-fella make it so,” or “it belong to black-fella.” The
former reply signifies that the custom has always prevailed among the
natives; and the second, that the tomb shows that a native lies buried
beneath the upright stone.
Some of the tribes along the Clarence River have a curious mode of
disposing of the dead--a mode which certainly has its advantages in its
great economy of trouble. When an old man feels that the hand of death
is on him, he looks out for a hollow tree, climbs it, lets himself down
to the bottom of the hollow, and so dies in his tomb.
In New South Wales the young people are buried beneath small tumuli,
but the adults are buried in a rather curious fashion. A pile of dry
wood, leaves, &c. is built, about three feet in height and six or seven
in length. On the pile the body is laid on its back, having the face
directed toward the rising sun. The fishing apparatus, spears, and
other weapons and implements of the dead man are next laid on the pile,
and the body is then covered over with large logs of wood. The pile is
fired by the nearest relative, and on the following day, when the place
is cool, the ashes of the dead are collected, and carefully buried.
Should a woman die, leaving an unweaned child, the poor little creature
is buried together with the ashes of its mother. The natives defend
this practice as a humane one, saying, with savage justice, that it is
better to kill the child speedily than to allow it to pine to death
from starvation.
As is the case with many tribes in different parts of the world,
as soon as any one dies the name borne by the deceased is no more
mentioned. So strictly is this rule observed, that if another member of
the tribe should happen to bear the same name, it must be abandoned,
and a new name taken, by which the bearer will ever afterward be known.
Mr. Angas, to whom we are indebted for so much of our knowledge of the
Australians, gives an interesting account of the burial of a boy, as
described to him by an eye-witness:
“Previously to burying the corpse of the boy, a contest with clubs and
spears took place, but no injury was done to the parties engaged. The
body was placed in a bark canoe, cut to the proper length, a spear,
a fishing-spear, and a throwing-stick, with several other articles,
being placed besides the corpse. The women and children made great
lamentations during the ceremony, and the father stood apart, a picture
of silent grief.
“The canoe was placed on the heads of two natives, who proceeded with
it slowly toward the grave; some of the attendants waving tufts of
dried grass backward and forward under the canoe and amongst the bushes
as they passed along. The grave being dug, a native strewed it with
grass, and stretched himself at full length in the grave, first on his
back and then on his side. As they were about to let down the child
into the grave, they first pointed to the deceased and then to the
skies, as though they had a vague idea that the spirit had ascended to
another world.
“The body was then laid in the grave, with the face looking toward
the rising sun, and, in order that the sunshine might fall upon the
spot, care was taken to cut down all shrubs around that could in any
way obstruct its beams. Branches were placed over the grave, grass and
boughs on them, and the whole was crowned with a log of wood, on which
a native extended himself for some minutes, with his face to the sky.”
At the beginning of this description is mentioned a sham fight. This is
held in consequence of a curious notion prevalent among the aborigines,
that death from natural causes must be ransomed with blood. It suffices
if blood be drawn even from a friend, and the mode by which they make
the required offering, and at the same time gratify their combative
nature, is by getting up a sham fight, in which some one is nearly sure
to be wounded more or less severely.
Sometimes the body of the dead man is disposed of rather oddly. In some
parts of Australia the natives, instead of consuming the body by fire,
or hiding it in caves or in graves, make it a peculiarly conspicuous
object. Should a tree grow favorably for their purpose, they will
employ it as the final resting-place of the dead body. Lying in its
canoe coffin, and so covered over with leaves and grass that its shape
is quite disguised, the body is lifted into a convenient fork of the
tree, and lashed to the boughs by native ropes. No further care is
taken of it, and if, in process of time, it should be blown out of the
tree, no one will take the trouble of replacing it.
Should no tree be growing in the selected spot, an artificial platform
is made for the body, by fixing the ends of stout branches in the
ground, and connecting them at their tops by smaller horizontal
branches. Such are the curious tombs which are represented in the
illustration No. 3, on page 775. These strange tombs are mostly placed
among the reeds, so that nothing can be more mournful than the sound of
the wind as it shakes the reeds below the branch in which the corpse
is lying. The object of this aerial tomb is evident enough, namely, to
protect the corpse from the dingo, or native dog. That the ravens and
other carrion-eating birds should make a banquet upon the body of the
dead man does not seem to trouble the survivors in the least, and it
often happens that the traveller is told by the croak of the disturbed
ravens that the body of a dead Australian is lying in the branches over
his head.
The aerial tombs are mostly erected for the bodies of old men who have
died a natural death; but when a young warrior has fallen in battle the
body is treated in a very different manner. A moderately high platform
is erected, and upon this is seated the body of the dead warrior,
with the face toward the rising sun. The legs are crossed, and the
arms kept extended by means of sticks. The fat is then removed, and,
after being mixed with red ochre, is rubbed over the body, which has
previously been carefully denuded of hair, as is done in the ceremony
of initiation. The legs and arms are covered with zebra-like stripes of
red, white, and yellow, and the weapons of the dead man are laid across
his lap.
The body being thus arranged, fires are lighted under the platform,
and kept up for ten days or more, during the whole of which time the
friends and mourners remain by the body, and are not permitted to
speak. Sentinels relieve each other at appointed intervals, their duty
being to see that the fires are not suffered to go out, and to keep the
flies away by waving leafy boughs or bunches of emu feathers. When a
body has been treated in this manner, it becomes hard and mummy-like,
and the strangest point is, that the wild dogs will not touch it after
it has been so long smoked. It remains sitting on the platform for two
months or so, and is then taken down and buried, with the exception of
the skull, which is made into a drinking-cup for the nearest relative,
as has already been mentioned.
[Illustration: (1.) CARVED FEATHER BOX, NEW ZEALAND. (See page 813.)]
[Illustration: (2.) SMOKING THE BODIES OF SLAIN WARRIORS. (See page
777.)]
[Illustration: (3.) TREE TOMBS OF AUSTRALIA. (See page 774.)]
Considering the trouble which is taken in the preparation of these
bodies, and the evident respect which is felt for a brave warrior
in death as well as in life, the after treatment of them is very
remarkable. When a friend, or even an individual of the same tribe,
sees one of these mummified bodies for the first time, he pays no honor
to it, but loads it with reproaches, abusing the dead man for dying
when the tribe stood in such need of brave and skilful men, and saying
that he ought to have known better than to die when there was plenty of
food in the country. Then, after contemplating the body for some time,
he hurls his spear and club at it, crying out at the same time, “Why
did you die? Take that for dying.”
In the illustration No. 2, on page 775, two of these bodies are seen
seated on the platform, supported by being tied to the uprights by
their hands and heads, and having their weapons in their laps. On one
side is one of the sentinels engaged in driving away the flies with his
flapper, and on the other is a second sentinel bringing fuel for the
fire. The seated figures belong to the same tribe.
Around Portland Bay, and toward the south-eastern parts of the
continent, the natives have a curious combination of entombment and
burning. They let the dead body down into one of the hollow trees,
where it is supported in an upright position. A quantity of dry leaves
and grass is then heaped upon the tree, and the whole consumed by fire,
amid the dismal screams and cries of the women.
It is rather curious that funeral ceremonies are only employed in the
case of those whose death is supposed to be a loss to the tribe. Men,
and even boys, are therefore honored with funeral rites, because the
younger men are warriors, the boys would have been warriors, and the
old men have done service by arms, and are still useful for their
wisdom. Even young women are buried with some amount of show, because
they produce children for the tribe.
But of all beings an old woman is most utterly despised. She can render
no service; she has never been considered as anything but a mere
domesticated animal, and even for domestic purposes she has ceased to
be useful. When she dies, therefore, no one regrets her. She is nothing
but a useless burden on her people, consuming food which she does not
earn, and sitting by the fire when the younger women are engaged in
work. It is nothing to them that she has worn herself out in the hard,
thankless, and never ceasing labor which constitutes the life of an
Australian woman, and so when she dies her body is drawn away out of
the camp by the heels, and stuffed away hastily in some hollow tree
or cave that may be most convenient. Sometimes the body is laid on a
bough, as has already been described; but even in such a case it is
merely laid on the branch, without being placed in a canoe, or covered
with matting, boughs, and leaves, as is the case with the bodies of
men. The corpse is allowed to remain on the branch until it falls to
pieces; and when any of her relatives choose to take the trouble, they
will scrape a hole in the sand and bury the scattered bones.
The shee-oak, or casuarina, is the tree which is generally selected
for this purpose, partly because it is one of the commonest trees of
Australia, and partly because the peculiar growth of its boughs affords
a firm platform for the corpse.
The time of mourning does not cease with the funeral, nor, in case of a
tree-tomb, with the subsequent interment of the bones. At stated times
the women, by whom the mourning is chiefly performed, visit the tomb,
and with their kattas, or digging-sticks, peck up the earth around
them, and make the place look neat. This done they sit down and utter
their most doleful cries and lamentations. In some places they content
themselves with vocal lamentations, but in others the women think it
necessary to show their grief by repeating the head chopping, limb
scarring, and other marks of blood-letting which accompany that portion
of the funeral ceremonies.
In one part of Australia, near the north-west bend of the Murray,
a most remarkable custom prevails. Widows attend upon the tombs of
their dead husbands, and, after shaving their heads, cover them with
pipe-clay kneaded into a paste. The head is first covered with a net,
to prevent the pipe-clay from sticking too tightly to the skin, a
misfortune which is partly averted by the amount of grease with which
every Australian is anointed.
A layer of this clay more than an inch in thickness is plastered
over the head, and when dry it forms a skull-cap exactly fitting the
head on which it was moulded, and on account of its weight, which is
several pounds, must be very uncomfortable to the wearer. These badges
of mourning may be found lying about near the tumuli, and, until
their real use was discovered, they were very mysterious objects to
travellers. In the illustration No. 1, on the 781st page, is seen a
burying place near the river. Several of the mound tombs of the natives
are shown, and in the foreground are two widows, seated in the peculiar
attitude of Australian women, and wearing the widow’s cap of pipe-clay.
Several other caps are lying near the tombs, having been already
employed in the ceremonies of mourning.
So careful are the natives of the marks of respect due from the
survivors to the dead, that a widow belonging to one of the tribes on
the Clarence River was put to death because she neglected to keep in
order the tomb of her late husband, and to dig up periodically the
earth around it.
* * * * *
From the disposal of the dead, we are naturally led to the religious
belief of the Australians. Like all savages, they are very reticent
about their religious feelings, concealing as far as possible their
outward observances from the white people, and avowing ignorance, if
questioned respecting the meaning of those which have become known
to the strangers. Some observances, however, have been explained by
Gi’ôm, the unfortunate Scotch woman who had to reside so long among the
Kowráregas, and others by native converts to Christianity. Even these
latter have not been able to shake off the superstitious ideas which
they had contracted through the whole of their previous lives, and
there is no doubt that they concealed much from their interrogators,
and, if pressed too closely, wilfully misled them.
The following short account will, however, give an idea of the state of
religious feeling among the aborigines, as far as can be ascertained.
And, in consequence of the rapid and steady decrease of the native
tribes, it is possible that our knowledge of this subject will never be
greater than it is at present.
In the first place, there are no grounds for thinking that the
aborigines believe in any one Supreme Deity, nor, in fact, in a deity
of any kind whatever. As is usual with most savage nations, their
belief in supernatural beings is limited to those who are capable of
doing mischief, and, although the conception of a beneficent spirit
which will do good never seems to enter an Australian’s mind, he
believes fully, in his misty fashion, in the existence of many evil
spirits which will do harm.
Of these there are many. One of them is the _Arlak_, a being which
takes the shape of a man. It is only seen at night, and is in the habit
of watching for stragglers in the dark, seizing them and carrying
them off. Several natives told Mr. M’Gillivray that they had seen the
arlak; and one man, who had summoned enough courage to fight it when
it attacked him, showed the marks of the demon’s teeth upon his body.
Fortunately, the arlak cannot endure light, and therefore the natives,
if they have to go the smallest distance in the dark, take a fire-stick
in one hand and a weapon of some sort in the other.
One kind of evil spirit, which is very much dreaded by the aborigines,
is the one in whom death is personified. He is short, thick, very ugly,
and has a disagreeable smell. The natives of the Moorundi district
believe in a native spirit, wonderfully similar in attributes to the
Necker of German mythology. Although, according to their accounts, it
is very common, they have great difficulty in describing it, and, as
far as can be ascertained from their statements, it is like a huge
star-fish. This demon inhabits the fresh water, or there might have
been grounds for believing it to be merely an exaggeration of the
cuttle-fish.
Throughout the greater part of Australia is found the belief in the
Bunyip, a demon which infests woods, and which has been seen, as is
said, not only by natives but by white men. The different accounts of
the animal vary extremely. Some who have seen it aver it to be as large
as a horse, to have a pair of eyes as big as saucers, and a pair of
enormous horns.
Others give a very different account of it, and one of the Barrabool
Hill natives gave a very animated description of the dreaded bunyip.
He illustrated his lecture by a spirited drawing, in which the bunyip
was represented as having a long neck and head, something like that of
the giraffe, a thick flowing mane, and two short and massive fore-legs,
each of which was armed with four powerful talons. The entire body was
covered with strong scales, overlapping each other like those of the
hawksbill turtle. This creature he represented as half beast, half
demon, and vaunted the superior courage of his ancestors, who ventured
to oppose this terrible creature as it lay in wait for their wives and
children, and drove it out of the reeds and bush into the water whence
it came.
Thinking that some large and now extinct beast might have lived in
Australia, which might have been traditionally known to the aborigines,
scientific men have taken particular pains to ransack those portions
of the country which they could reach, in hopes of finding remains
which might be to Australia what those of the megatherium and other
huge monsters are to the Old World. Nothing of the kind has, however,
been found. Some very large bones were once discovered on the banks of
a shallow salt lagoon (just the place for the bunyip), but when sent
to the British Museum they were at once found to be the remains of a
gigantic kangaroo. At present, the legend of the bunyip stands on a
level with that of the kraken--every native believes it, some aver that
they have seen it, but no one has ever discovered the least tangible
proof of its existence.
To these evil spirits the natives attribute every illness or
misfortune, and in consequence are anxious to avoid or drive them
away. All meteors are reckoned by them among the evil spirits, and are
fancifully thought to be ghosts which multiply by self-division. The
aborigines think, however, that by breathing as loudly as they can, and
repeating some cabalistic words, they disarm the demons of their power.
They have one very curious belief,--namely, that any one who ventured
to sleep on the grave of a deceased person, he would ever afterward
be freed from the power of evil spirits. The ordeal is, however, so
terrible that very few summon up sufficient courage to face it. “During
that awful sleep the spirit of the deceased would visit him, seize him
by the throat, and, opening him, take out his bowels, which it would
afterward replace, and close up the wound! Such as are hardy enough to
go through this terrible ordeal--encounter the darkness of the night
and the solemnity of the grave--are thenceforth ‘koradjee’ men, or
priests, and practise sorcery and incantations upon the others of their
tribe.”
In Southern Australia, the natives believe that the sun and moon
are human beings, who once inhabited the earth. The planets are
dogs belonging to the moon, who run about her; and the various
constellations are groups of children. An eclipse of either the sun
or moon is looked upon as a terrible calamity, being sure to be the
forerunner of disease and death.
All burial-places of the dead are held as liable to be haunted by evil
spirits, and are therefore avoided. Promontories, especially those
which have rocky headlands, are also considered as sacred; and it is
probably on account of that idea that the skull monuments, mentioned on
page 773, are raised.
Some of these places are rendered interesting by specimens of native
drawings, showing that the aborigines of Australia really possess the
undeveloped elements of artistic power. Owing to the superstition
which prevails, the natives can scarcely be induced to visit such
spots, giving as their reason for refusing that “too much dibbil-dibbil
walk there.” Mr. Angas was fortunate enough, however, to discover a
considerable number of these drawings and carvings, and succeeded in
impressing into his service an old native woman. His description is so
vivid, that it must be given in his own words:--
“The most important result of our rambles around the bays and rocky
promontories of Port Jackson was the discovery of a new and remarkable
feature connected with the history of the natives formerly inhabiting
this portion of New South Wales.
“I refer to their carvings in outline, cut into the surface of flat
rocks in the neighborhood, and especially on the summits of the various
promontories about the harbors of the coast. Although these carvings
exist in considerable numbers, covering all the flat rocks upon many
of the headlands overlooking the water, it is a singular fact that up
to the present time they appear to have remained unobserved; and it
was not until my friend Mr. Miles first noticed the rude figure of a
kangaroo cut upon the surface of a flat rock near Camp Cove, that we
were led to make a careful search for these singular and interesting
remains of a people who are now nearly extinct.
“About a dozen natives of the Sydney and Broken Bay tribes were
encamped amongst the bushes on the margin of a small fresh-water lake,
close to Camp Cove; and from amongst them we selected ‘Old Queen
Gooseberry’ (as she is generally styled by the colonists) to be our
guide, promising her a reward of flour and tobacco if she would tell us
what she knew about these carvings, and conduct us to all the rocks and
headlands in the neighborhood where like figures existed. At first the
old woman objected, saying that such places were all _koradjee_ ground,
or ‘priest’s ground,’ and that she must not visit them; but at length,
becoming more communicative, she told us all she knew, and all that she
had heard her father say, respecting them. She likewise consented at
last to guide us to several spots near the North Land, where she said
the carvings existed in greater numbers; as also the impressions of
hands upon the sides of high rocks.
“With some difficulty we prevailed upon the haggard old creature to
venture with us into a whale-boat; so, with Queen Gooseberry for our
guide, we crossed to the North Land. After examining the flat rocks
in every direction, we found sufficient examples of these singular
outlines to confirm at once the opinion that they were executed by the
aboriginal inhabitants; but at what period is quite uncertain. From
the half-obliterated state of many of them (although the lines are cut
nearly an inch deep into the hard rock), and from the fact that from
several of them we were compelled to clear away soil and shrubs of
long-continued growth, it is evident that they have been executed a
very long time.
“At first we could not bring ourselves to believe that these carvings
were the work of savages, and we conjectured that the figure of the
kangaroo might have been the work of some European; but when, pursuing
our researches further, we found all the most out-of-the-way and least
accessible headlands adorned with similar carvings, and also that
the whole of the subjects represented _indigenous_ objects--such as
kangaroos, opossums, sharks, the _heileman_ or shield, the boomerang,
and, above all, the human figure _in the attitudes of the corrobboree
dances_--we could come to no other conclusion than that they were of
native origin. Europeans would have drawn ships, and horses, and men
with hats upon their heads, had they attempted such a laborious and
tedious occupation.
“An old writer on New South Wales, about the year 1803, remarks,
when referring to the natives, ‘They have some taste for sculpture,
most of their instruments being carved with rude work, effected with
pieces of broken shell; and _on the rocks_ are frequently to be seen
various figures of _fish_, _clubs_, _swords_, _animals_, _&c._, not
contemptibly represented.’
“Some of the figures of fish measured twenty-five feet in length;
and it is curious that the representations of the shield exactly
corresponded with that used by the natives of Port Stephens at the
present day. These sculptured forms prove that the New Hollanders
exercised the art of design, which has been questioned, and they also
serve to corroborate Captain Grey’s discoveries of native delineations
in caves upon the north-west coast of Australia, during his expedition
of discovery. At Lane Cove, at Port Aiken, and at Point Piper, we also
met with similar carvings. Whilst on a visit at the latter place,
it occurred to me that on the flat rocks at the extremity of the
grounds belonging to the estate where I was staying, there might be
carvings similar to those at the Heads; and on searching carefully
I found considerable numbers of them in a tolerably perfect state
of preservation. Of all these I took measurements, and made careful
fac-simile drawings on the spot.”
In the appendix to his work, Mr. Angas gives reduced copies of
these figures, some of which are executed with wonderful spirit and
fidelity. Even the human figures, which are shown with extended arms
and spread legs, as in the dance, are far better than those usually
drawn by savages, infinitely superior to those produced by the
artists of Western Africa, while some of the animals are marvellously
accurate, reminding the observer of the outline drawings upon Egyptian
monuments. The best are, perhaps, a shark and a kangaroo. The latter is
represented in the attitude of feeding.
In some parts of Australia, the carvings and paintings are usually in
caves by the water’s edge, and of such a character is the cave which is
shown in the illustration No. 2, on the following page. These caves are
in sandstone rock, and the figures upon them are mostly those of men
and kangaroos, and it is a remarkable fact that in the human figures,
although their eyes, noses, and even the joints of the knees, are
boldly marked, the mouth is invariably absent.
Human hands and arms are often carved on rocks. One very remarkable
example was discovered by Captain Grey in North-West Australia. When
penetrating into a large cave, out of which ran a number of smaller
caves, the explorers were struck by a really astonishing trick of
native art. The sculptor had selected a rock at the side of the cavity,
and had drawn upon it the figure of a hand and arm. This had then been
painted black, and the rock around it colored white with pipe-clay, so
that on entering the cave it appeared exactly as if the hand and arm of
a black man were projecting through some crevice which admitted light.
Their belief in ghosts implies a knowledge that the spirit of man is
immortal. Yet their ideas on this subject are singularly misty, not to
say inconsistent, one part of their belief entirely contradicting the
other. They believe, for example, that when the spirit leaves the body,
it wanders about for some time in darkness, until at last it finds a
cord, by means of which a “big black-fella spirit” named Oomudoo pulls
it up from the earth. Yet they appropriate certain parts of the earth
as the future residence of the different tribes, the spirits of the
departed Nauos being thought to dwell in the islands of Spencer’s Gulf,
while those of the Parnkallas go to other islands toward the west. As
if to contradict both ideas, we have already seen that throughout the
whole of Australia the spirits of the dead are supposed to haunt the
spots where their bodies lie buried.
And, to make confusion worse confounded, the aborigines believe very
firmly in transmigration, some fancying that the spirits of the
departed take up their abode in animals, but by far the greater number
believing that they are transformed into white men. This latter belief
was put very succinctly by a native, who stated in the odd jargon
employed by them, that “when black-fella tumble down, he jump up all
same white-fella.”
This idea of transmigration into the forms of white men is very
remarkable, as it is shared by the negro of Africa, who could not have
had any communication with the black native of Australia. And, still
more strangely, like the Africans, they have the same word for a white
man and for a spirit. The reader may remember that when Mrs. Thompson
was captured by the natives, one of them declared that she was his
daughter Gi’ôm, who had become a white woman, and the rest of the tribe
coincided in the belief. Yet, though she became for the second time a
member of the tribe, they always seemed to feel a sort of mistrust, and
often, when the children were jeering at her on account of her light
complexion and ignorance of Australian accomplishments, some elderly
person would check them, and tell them to leave her in peace, as, poor
thing, she was nothing but a ghost.
It has been found, also, that numbers of white persons have been
recognized by the blacks as being the spirits of their lost relatives,
and have in consequence been dignified with the names of those whom
they represented. Mr. M’Gillivray mentions that the natives of Port
Essington have a slight modification of this theory, believing that
after death they become Malays.
Of their belief in the metempsychosis, or transmigration into animal
forms, there are but few examples. Dr. Bennett mentions that on one
occasion, at Bérana Plains, when an European was chasing one of the
native animals, a native who was with him begged him not to kill it,
but to take it alive, as it was “him brother.” When it was killed, he
was very angry, and, as a proof his sincerity, refused to eat any of
it, continually grumbling and complaining of the “tumbling down him
brother.”
[Illustration: (1.) AUSTRALIAN WIDOWS AND THEIR CAPS. (See page 777.)]
[Illustration: (2.) CAVE WITH NATIVE DRAWINGS. (See page 780.)]
The Nauo tribe preserve a tradition which involves this metempsychosis.
Once upon a time, a certain great warrior, named Willoo, fought their
tribe, and carried off all the women, and killed all the men except
two. The survivors climbed up a great tree, followed by Willoo. They,
however, broke off the branch on which he was climbing, so that he fell
to the ground, and was seized by a dingo below, when he immediately
died, and was changed into an eagle hawk, which has ever afterward been
called by the name of Willoo.
The same tribe think that a small lizard was the originator of the
sexes, and in consequence call it by different names; the men using the
term _ibirri_, and the women _waka_. Following up the idea, the men
kill every male lizard that they can find, while the women do the same
by the females.
Connected with this subject is their idea of creation. Of a single
Creator of all things they have not the least notion, but they possess
some traditions as to the origin of men or natural objects. The
Kowrárega tribe say that the first created man was a huge giant named
Adi. One day, while he was fishing off Hammond Island, he was caught by
the tide and drowned, a great rock starting up to mark the spot. This
is now called Hammond’s Rock. His wives saw his fate, committed suicide
by flinging themselves into the sea, and were immediately changed into
a series of dry rocks on a neighboring reef. These rocks are still
called by the natives _Ipīle_, _i. e._ the Wives.
The natives of the Lower Murray have a curious tradition respecting the
origin of the river, and the Alexandrina and Albert Lakes. The river
was made by Oomudoo, the “big black-fella spirit,” already mentioned.
He came down from the sky in his canoe, and ordered the water to rise
and form the river, which he then clothed with bulrushes and populated
with fish. He brought two wives with him, but they unfortunately proved
intractable, and ran away from him, whereupon Oomudoo made the two
lakes in question, one of which drowned each wife.