DEATH AND BURIAL OF A NATIVE NEAR PERTH.
Friday June 14 1839.
Yenna came to me this afternoon to tell me that Mulligo was now so ill
there was but little chance of his living for many hours longer, and
further to request that I would accompany him to see the sufferer. Nearly
two months had elapsed since Mulligo had severely injured his spine by a
fall from a tree; and immediately after the occurrence of this accident
he had completely lost the use of his lower extremities, and had day by
day declined until he was now reduced to a perfect skeleton. I was
therefore but little surprised at the intelligence which Yenna brought
me; and as I was anxious to see the ceremonies that would accompany his
last moments I at once started for the native encampment.
CONTENTION FOR MULLIGO'S WIDOWS.
Mulligo was a Ngotak and had two wives, Kokoobung and Mugarwit, both of
the Ballaroke family, and neither of them deficient either in youth, or
in such personal charms as find favour in the eyes of the natives. I
anticipated therefore that from some quarter or the other objections
would be raised to allowing Miago, the uterine brother of Mulligo (and
therefore also a Ngotak) to carry off unmolested two such attractive
young widows. According to native custom however they of right, upon
their husband's death, became the wives of Miago.
On approaching the point where Mulligo was lying, distant about a mile
from Perth, I found that my anticipations were correct. I fell in with
the encampment of the friends of a native named Bennyyowlee, of the
Tdondarup family. This native had signified his intention of asserting
his claims to the possession of one of these young women, and even some
of Miago's friends were disposed to favour him. Bennyyowlee was absent at
the Canning River with a party of natives for the purpose of procuring
spears, and thus preparing himself for coming events. His friends however
had constructed their huts within a few hundred yards of those of
Mulligo's relatives, so that in the event of the arrival of the
Murraymen, who they were apprehensive would make an attempt to carry off
Mulligo's wives, they might be able to assist Miago in his endeavours to
prevent such an outrage, whilst at the same time their proximity to his
party enabled them to see that no foul play took place.
As I passed them they endeavoured to impress upon my mind that one wife
was enough for Miago, and that if he surrendered the other to Bennyyowlee
they would assist him against the Murraymen. I however resolved not to
interfere in the business, and thus telling them I bent my steps to the
other encampment.
DYING SCENE IN HIS TENT.
On my arrival I found poor Mulligo sinking fast; his two wives and his
mother were watching by his side. He just recognised me, and faintly and
slowly said, "men-dyke boola nganya" (I am very ill.) The native women
near him were much alarmed because he could not swallow, and to support
him were slowly dropping water into his ear. His last moment was
evidently near at hand, and, after having felt his pulse and paid him a
few little attentions, which always gratify them much, I turned away to
examine the dispositions of the encampment.
I found that Miago's hut was close to Mulligo's, and he himself was
present, ready to assert his right to the wives of his dying brother
should anyone appear to dispute his claims; he was evidently well
supported, for the Nagarnook family mustered strong around his hut, and
the two half-brothers of one of the ladies in dispute were members of it.
Weyup, the half-brother of the other native girl, was also present, and
therefore evidently favoured Miago's cause. They were all in anxious
expectation of the return of Moorroongo, who had gone off with a party
for the purpose of cutting spears, with which the friends of his stepson
(Miago) might be able to act either offensively or defensively as
circumstances should require. As I conceived that there was every
possibility of Mulligo's having sufficient strength left to linger
through the night, and as the evening was fast closing in, after a little
casual conversation with the natives I returned home.
MOURNING WOMEN. THEIR SONGS AND CEREMONIES.
June 15.
Soon after daybreak I reached the entrance of Mulligo's hut: he was alive
but his respiration was scarcely visible. His head rested on his mother's
knees, and her withered breasts now rested on his lips as she leant
crying over him; other women were seated round, their heads all verging
to a common centre over the wasted frame of the dying man; they were
crying bitterly and scratching their cheeks, foreheads, and noses with
their nails until the blood trickled slowly from the wounds. The men in
the front of the huts were busied in finishing off their spears, ready
for the coming fight.
I stood for some time watching the mournful scene, but other native
females soon began to arrive; they came up in small parties, generally by
threes, marching slowly forward with their wan-nas (a long stick they use
for digging up roots) in their hands; the eldest female walked first, and
when they approached within about thirty or forty yards of the hut in
which the dying man lay they raised the most piteous cries, and, hurrying
their pace, moved rapidly towards the point where the other women were
seated, recalling the custom alluded to by Jeremiah (9:17, 18) Call for
the wailing women that they may come, and let them make haste, and take
up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our
eyelids gush out with waters.
CEREMONY ON MULLIGO'S DEATH.
As they came up to the bark hut many of them struck it violently with
their wan-nas, producing by the blow a dull hollow sound; they then
seated themselves in the circle, scratching their faces and joining in
mournful chants, of which the one already given above was that most
frequently uttered, and which, as I sat by the young men's fire, they
slowly repeated to me.
The female relatives standing in the relation of mothers to Mulligo,
sang:
Mam-mul, Mam-mul,
My son, my son.
Those in the relation of sister, sang:
Kar-dang, kar-dang.
And the next part was sung indifferently by both of them:
Garro. Nad-joo,
Meela,
Nung-a-broo.
Again, I shall
Not see in future.
Then one of the women, having worked herself to a pitch of frenzy, would
now and then start up and, standing in front of the hut whilst she waved
her wan-na violently in the air, would chant forth dire imprecations
against certain boyl-yas, or magicians, or rather wizards, who she
believed to be the cause of the death of poor Mulligo. Whilst thus
chanting she faced and addressed her words to the men who were grouped
around their huts, and it was strange to see the various effects produced
on their minds by these harangues working in their savage countenances:
one while they sat in mournful silence; again they grasped firmly and
quivered their spears; and by-and-bye a general "Ee-Ee" (pronounced in
their throat with the lips closed) burst forth as sign of approbation at
some affecting part of the speech.
Time wore on. Each withered beldame by turns addressed the party, whilst
the poor wretch, the tranquillity of whose dying moments was interrupted
by these scenes, gradually sank. At last the vital spark departed, and
that moment an old woman started up, mad with grief and rage, tore the
hut in which he had lain to atoms, saying, "this is now no good;"* and
then poured forth a wild strain of imprecations against the
before-mentioned boyl-yas.
(*Footnote. Burckhardt remarked a similar custom among the Bedouin Arabs.
He says: If the deceased have not left any male heir, or that the whole
property is transferred to another family, or if his heir is a minor, and
goes to live with his uncle or some other relative, the tent posts are
torn up immediately after the man has expired, and the tent is
demolished. Travels in Arabia page 58.)
As she proceeded the men became more and more excited, and at last
Moondee, the most violent of them, started forward and was on the point
of spearing one of Mulligo's wives; none of the men attempted to
interfere with him; but, as I anticipated, the women seized him, and held
him, so as to prevent him from executing his purpose. This conduct on his
part at first appeared to me to arise from passion alone, but the reason
of it was soon explained.
SUPPOSED CAUSE OF HIS DECEASE.
It appears that some two or three months before this period Weenat, a
native of the upper part of the Swan, had stolen a cloak belonging to
Miago, Mulligo's brother, and had, according to their belief, from
malicious motives given this cloak to one of the native sorcerers, or
boyl-yas, who by this means acquired some mysterious power over either
Miago or his brother, but selected the latter for his victim, when he
fell and broke his back. Another of these boyl-yas (according to the
usual custom) was called in to give his advice, and he applied fire to
the injured part. This treatment not succeeding, and the poor fellow
wasting daily away, the natives became convinced that the unfriendly
boyl-yas were in the habit of rendering themselves invisible, and nightly
descending for the purpose of feasting on poor Mulligo's flesh whilst he
slept, and being under the influence of a charm he was not aware of what
was taking place; but Moondee chose to imagine that if his wife had been
more vigilant the boyl-yas might have been detected, and hence intended
to spear her in the leg as a punishment for her imputed neglect.
As I have before stated the women prevented this outrage from having
effect, and the two trembling girls, neither of whom could have been more
than fifteen, fled into Perth, to take refuge in some European's house.
The native men and women, after their departure, indulged in the most
unlimited abuse of boyl-yas in general, and of the Guildford boyl-yas in
particular, against whom, according to the idea of the natives, they had
very strong presumptive evidence from the circumstance of the cloak
having been stolen by a Guildford man. It was still very doubtful what
boyl-yas were the actual perpetrators of the crime, so they were
contented with vowing to kill a great many of them in some direction or
the other, as soon as anyone could detect that in which the suspected
ones retired. This resolution having been formed the men went into Perth
in order to see that no strange natives stole either of the young widows,
whilst the women lay weeping over the dead body.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE FUNERAL. FORMATION OF THE GRAVE.
I accompanied the men into Perth, and in the course of an hour was
summoned by the natives to witness the funeral ceremony. They had moved
the body about half a mile from the spot where the man died; the women
still leant over it, uttering the words, yang, yang, yang, and
occasionally chanting a few sentences.
There were but few men present, as they were watching the widows in
Perth. Yenna and Warrup, the brothers-in-law of Mulligo, were digging his
grave, which as usual extended due east and west; the Perth boyl-ya,
Weeban by name, who, being a relation of the deceased, could of course
have had no hand in occasioning his death, superintended the operations.
They commenced by digging with their sticks and hands several holes in a
straight line, and as deep as they could; they then united them, and
threw out the earth from the bottom of the pit thus made; all the white
sand was thrown carefully into two heaps, nearly in the form of a
European grave, and these heaps were situated one at the head and the
other at the foot of the hole they were digging, whilst the
dirty-coloured sand was thrown into two other heaps, one on each side.
The grave was very narrow, only just wide enough to admit the body of the
deceased. Old Weeban paid the greatest possible attention to see that the
east and west direction of the grave was preserved, and if the least
deviation from this line occurred in the heaps of sand, either at the
head or foot, he made some of the natives rectify it by sweeping the sand
into its proper form with boughs of trees.
Before the digging of the grave was completed many Europeans had arrived
at the spot for the purpose of witnessing the ceremony; the natives were
not a little annoyed at this, however they proceeded rapidly in their
work, occasionally employing a spade, but from the extreme narrowness of
the grave, it was by no means easy to make use of this tool. During the
process of digging, an insect having been thrown up, its motions were
watched with the most intense interest, and as this little animal thought
proper to crawl off in the direction of Guildford, an additional proof
was furnished to the natives of the guilt of the boyl-yas of that place.
SUPERSTITIOUS RITES.
When the grave was completed, they set fire to some dried leaves and
twigs, then throwing them in they soon had a large blaze in it: during
this part of the ceremony old Weeban knelt on the ground at the foot of
the grave with his back turned towards the east, and his head bowed to
the earth, his whole attitude denoting the most profound attention; the
duty he had now to perform was a very important one, being no less than
to discover in which direction the boyl-yas, when drawn out of the earth
by the fire, would take flight. Their departure was not audible to common
ears or visible to the eyes of ordinary mortals, but his power of boyl-ya
gaduk enabled him to distinguish these sights and sounds which were
invisible and inaudible to the bystanders.
The fire roared for some time loudly in the grave, and every eye rested
anxiously on old Weeban; the hollow, almost mysterious, sound of the
flames as they rose from the narrow aperture evidently had a powerful
effect upon the superstitious fears of the natives, and when he suddenly
raised his meerro and then let it fall over his shoulder in a due east
direction (the direction of Guildford) a grim smile of satisfaction
passed over the countenances of the young men, who now knew in what
direction to avenge the foul witchcraft which they felt assured had
brought about the death of their brother-in-law.
THE BURIAL.
The next part of their proceedings was to take the body of Mulligo from
the females: they raised it in a cloak; his old mother made no effort to
prevent its being removed, but passionately and fervently kissed the cold
rigid lips, which she could never press to hers again. The body was then
lowered into the grave and seated upon a bed of leaves which had been
laid there directly the fire was extinguished, the face being, according
to custom, turned towards the east. The women still remained grouped
together, sobbing forth their mournful songs, whilst the men placed small
green boughs upon the body until they had more than half filled up the
grave with them; cross-pieces of wood of considerable size were then
fixed in the opposite sides of the grave, green boughs placed on these,
and the earth from the two side heaps thrown in, until the grave was
completed; which then, owing to the heaps at the head and foot, presented
the appearance of three graves, nearly similar in size and form, lying in
a due east and west direction.
The men having now completed their task the women came with bundles of
blackboy tops which they had gathered, and laid these down on the central
heap so as to give it a green and pleasing appearance; they placed
neither meerro nor spear on the grave, but whilst they were filling in
the earth old Weeban and another native sat on their hams at the head of
it, facing the one to the north, and the other to the south, their
foreheads leaning on their clasped hands, which rested on one end of a
meerro whilst the other end was placed on the ground. The ceremonies
having been thus concluded I returned to Perth.
WATCHING THE GRAVE.
Sunday June 16.
This evening I walked out to Mulligo's grave and found his old mother
seated there, crying bitterly. She had indeed good reason to weep, for
those infamous boyl-yas, not content with eating the flesh of her son
during his lifetime, and thereby causing his death, had been detected by
her in the very act of sitting round his grave for the purpose of preying
on his miserable remains. There could, it appears, be no doubt of the
truth of this strange fact, for the poor old lady triumphantly pointed
out their tracks, at the spot from whence they sprang into the air, in
the direction of Guildford; but my eyes unfortunately were not good
enough to detect the slightest vestige of any traces, either human or
spiritual. However much this might have made me suspect the old lady's
veracity it had no such effect upon the natives, and being now firmly
convinced that the Guildford boyl-yas were the guilty parties, they
announced their intention of starting in a few days for the purpose of
putting Weenat to death.
CONTEST FOR MULLIGO'S WIDOWS.
June 17.
Miago ought, according to custom, to have allowed three full days to
elapse before his brother's widows entered his hut, but as Bennyyowlee
appeared resolved not to renounce his intention of claiming the hand of
one of the ladies Miago's friends thought it more prudent to bring
matters to a speedy issue, lest, in the interim, his rival might carry of
Mugawit, the young lady he was desirous of possessing. On Monday evening
therefore when I went to the native encampment I found that the first
forms of the marriage ceremony had taken place, which were as follows:
Miago ordered the two widows of his brother to prepare his hut, that as
soon as the sun had set he might sleep there. Bennyyowlee, who, with his
friends and supporters were encamped within a few yards of the other
party, went up to Mugawit and ordered her to follow him to his Mya, or
bark hut; this she declined doing, and he immediately speared her in the
thigh. Miago now, as in duty bound, threw a quartz-headed spear at
Bennyyowlee, which, if the latter had not most dexterously avoided, must
have proved fatal. A general disturbance would have taken place had not I
and several other Europeans come up at the same moment and pacified
Miago, whilst Bennyyowlee took advantage of this temporary calm to
evacuate the field, followed by insulting shouts of laughter from Miago's
friends.
A circumstance strongly illustrating the peculiar family customs of this
people occurred this evening. Moorroongo, Miago's stepfather, was a
Tdondarup, and as such stood in the relation of matta-gyne to
Bennyyowlee; his hut stood therefore amongst those of this native's
friends, and Miago's future wives remained in the care of his mother, and
of course amongst the friends of his rival. When however Bennyyowlee
departed Miago's mother and the two native girls went over to the Ngotak
and Nagarnook party, who were, on this occasion, united. They then built
a hut for Miago and lighted a fire; the old mother herself swept out the
hut, so as to make it perfectly clean and nice; the brides then laid down
in it, one on each side, so as to leave a vacant place in the centre for
their new lord and master; and Miago's mother, having seen all these
arrangements completed, returned once more to the hut of her husband.
This was a remarkable instance of a stepfather and son being by custom
compelled to espouse opposite sides of a quarrel because they bore
different family names.
BURIAL OF A NATIVE IN THE LESCHENAULT DISTRICT. BURIAL AT THE VASSE.
As these forms of interment have considerable interest and are somewhat
varied in their details in different localities, I have subjoined the
following account of the burial of a native, as described in an extract
of a letter from Mr. Bussel, a gentleman resident near the Vasse River in
Western Australia:
PROCESSION TO THE GRAVE.
The funeral is a wild and fearful ceremony. Before I had finished in the
stockyard the dead man was already removed and on its way to the place of
interment, about a quarter of a mile from where the death took place,*
and I left our house entirely guided by the shrill wailing of the female
natives as they followed, mourning, after the two men who bore the body
in their arms.
(*Footnote. He had been murdered by his countrymen whilst tending Mr.
Bussel's cattle.)
The dirge, as distance blended all the voices, was very plaintive, even
musical; nor did the diminution of distance destroy the harmony entirely;
some of the chants were really beautiful, but rendered perhaps too harsh
for our ears in actual contact: for as I joined myself to the procession,
and became susceptible of the trembling cadence of each separate
performer--the human voice in every key which the extremes of youth and
age might produce, there was a sensation effected which I cannot well
describe--a terrible jarring of the brain. The fact that the involuntary
tears rolled down the cheeks of those infants who sat passively on their
mothers' shoulders, not appreciating the cause of lament, but merely as
listeners, must prove that these sounds are calculated to affect the
nervous system powerfully.
CEREMONIES ON INTERMENT.
The procession moved slowly on and at length arrived at the place fixed
upon for the burial. There had been a short silence previous to coming
thus far, as if to give the voice a rest; for as the body touched the
ground, and the bearers stood erect and silent, a piercing shriek was
given, and as this died away into a chant some of the elder women
lacerated their scalps with sharp bones until the blood ran down their
furrowed faces in actual streams. The eldest of the bearers then stepped
forward and proceeded to dig the grave. I offered to get a spade, but
they would not have it; the digging stick was the proper tool, which they
used with greater despatch than from its imperfect nature could have been
expected at first sight. The earth being loosened with this implement was
then thrown out with the hands with great dexterity, in complete showers
so as to form, in the same line with the grave, at both ends, two
elongated banks, the sand composing them so lightly hurled as to seem
almost like drift-sand on the seashore. In the throw, if perchance the
right limit was outstepped, the proper form was retained by sweeping.
The digging, notwithstanding the art displayed, was very tedious: they
all sat in silence, and there were no chants to understand, or to fancy
one understood, or perhaps to make meanings to.
But at length the grave was finished, and they then threw some dry leaves
into it, and, setting fire to them, while the blaze was rising up,
everyone present struck repeatedly a bundle of spears with the mearu
which they held with the butts downwards, making a rattling noise. Then,
when the fire had burnt out, they placed the corpse beside the grave, and
gashed their thighs, and at the flowing of the blood they all said, "I
have brought blood," and they stamped the foot forcibly on the ground,
sprinkling the blood around them; then, wiping the wounds with a wisp of
leaves, they threw it, bloody as it was, on the dead man; then a loud
scream ensued and they lowered the body into the grave, resting on the
back, with the soles of the feet on the ground and the knees bent; they
filled the grave with soft brushwood, and piled logs on this to a
considerable height, being very careful all the time to prevent any of
the soil from falling into the apertures; they then constructed a hut
over the woodstack, and one of the male relations got into it and said,
"Mya balung einya ngin-na" ("I sit in his house.") One of the women then
dropped a few live coals at his feet, and, having stuck his dismantled
meerro at the end of one of the mounds, they left the place, retiring in
a contrary direction from that in which they came, chanting.
...
BURIAL AT KING GEORGE's SOUND.
The two foregoing descriptions exhibit the native funeral ceremonies as
practised at Perth, and at the Vasse on the sea-coast to the south of
Perth. I shall now add a third description of the usages at King George's
Sound as given by Mr. Scott Nind in the first volume of the Journal of
the Royal Geographical Society page 46:
Their funeral solemnities are accompanied by loud lamentations. A grave
is dug, about four feet long and three wide, and perhaps a yard in depth;
the earth that is removed is arranged on one side of the grave in the
form of a crescent; at the bottom is placed some bark, and then small
green boughs, and upon this the body, ornamented and enveloped in its
cloak, with the knees bent up to the breast, and the arms crossed.* Over
the body are heaped more green boughs and bark, and the hole is then
filled with earth. Green boughs are placed over the earth, and upon them
are deposited the spears, knife, and hammer of the deceased, together
with the ornaments that belonged to him; his throwing-stick on one side,
and his curl (kiley) or towk (dowak) on the other side of the mound. The
mourners then carve circles in the bark of the trees that grow near the
grave, at the height of six or seven feet from the ground; and, lastly,
making a small fire in front, they gather small boughs and carefully
brush away any portion of the earth that may adhere to them. The face is
coloured black or white, laid on in blotches across the forehead, round
the temples, and down the cheek bones, and these marks of mourning are
worn for a considerable time. They also cut the end of the nose, and
scratch it for the purpose of producing tears.
(*Footnote. Charlevoix, in describing the funeral of the North American
Indians, says: Le cadavre est expose a la porte de la cabanne dans la
posture qu'il doit avoir dans le tombeau, et cette posture en plusieurs
endroits est cela de l'enfant dans la sein de sa mere. Nor was this
custom confined to these races, for, in the words of Cicero:
Antiquissimum sepulturae genus id fuisse videtur, quo apud Xenophontem
Cyrus utitur; redditur enim terrae corpus, et ita locatum ac situm, quasi
operimento matria obducitur. De Legibus 11 66.)
...
CUSTOMS OF SELF-LACERATION, AND OF REMAINING WATCHING AMONG THE GRAVES.
The foregoing relations of the ceremonies practised at a native funeral
exhibit some instances of the way in which they lacerate themselves in
the exercise of certain superstitious rites, a custom very prevalent
throughout all the yet known parts of Australia, and according with those
described in the first book of Kings chapter 18 verse 28: And they cried
aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till
the blood gushed out upon them.
And again, Jeremiah chapter 48 verse 37: For every head shall be bald,
and every beard clipped; upon all the hands shall be cuttings, etc.
The natives of many parts of Australia when at a funeral cut off portions
of their beards, and, singeing these, throw them upon the dead body; in
some instances they cut off the beard of the corpse, and, burning it, rub
themselves and the body with the singed portions of it.
"It may be also remarked," says Major Mitchell,* "that a superstitious
custom prevailed among the Gentiles in mourning for the dead. They cut
off their hair, and threw it into the sepulchre with the bodies of their
relations and friends, and sometimes laid it upon the face or breast of
the dead as an offering to the infernal gods, whereby they thought to
appease them, and make them kind to the deceased." See Maimonides de Idol
112 1, 2, 5.
(*Footnote. Australian Expedition volume 1 page 254 note.)
It is enjoined in Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 1: Ye are the children of
the Lord your God, ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness
between your eyes for the dead. Now the native females invariably cut
themselves and scratch their faces in mourning for the dead; they also
literally make a baldness between their eyes, this being always one of
the places where they tear the skin with the finger nails.
The custom of remaining amongst the graves is found among the natives of
nearly all known portions of Australia. A similar practice is reprehended
in Isaiah chapter 45 verses 4 and 5: A people that provoke me to anger
continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense
upon altars of brick, which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
monuments. See also on this subject, Lewis's Origines Hebraeae, volume 3
page 381.
In Australia the object supposed to be obtained by this custom is a
revelation as to what individual caused the death of the deceased; this
revelation is made either by the means of actual visions or by dreams.
MYSTERIOUS BONES.
Although the natives of the different portions of Australia have various
modes of effecting the discovery of the sorcerers who caused the death of
the deceased, as well as different modes of avenging his death, I feel
sure that they have all one common object in view. In another part of
this work I have given an account of an old woman watching by a grave
with this intention; I have frequently however seen their sorcerers
fulfil this duty; and the following extract from Mr. Threlkeld's
Vocabulary will show the prevalence of this custom on the eastern side of
the continent:*
Mur-ro-kun, the name of a mysterious bone which is obtained by the
Ka-ra-kul, a doctor or conjuror, three of which sleep on the grave of a
recently interred corpse; when in the night, during their sleep, the dead
person inserts a mysterious bone into each thigh of the three doctors,
who feel the puncture not more severe than that of the sting of an ant.
The bones remain in the flesh of the doctors without any inconvenience to
them, until they wish to kill any person, when by unknown means, it is
said and believed, they destroy in a supernatural manner their ill-fated
victim by the mysterious bone, causing it to enter into their bodies, and
so occasion their death.
(*Footnote. Threlkeld's Vocabulary page 88.)
...
THE BOYL-YAS OR NATIVE SORCERERS.
I have already had occasion to mention incidentally, on more than one
occasion, the Boyl-yas, or native sorcerers, and their supposed powers
have a mighty influence upon the minds and actions of the natives of
Western Australia, in whose superstitious belief the boyl-yas are objects
of mysterious dread. It is supposed that they can transport themselves
through the air at pleasure, and can render themselves invisible to all
but other boyl-yas. If they have a dislike to a native they can kill him
by stealing on him at night and consuming his flesh. They enter him like
pieces of quartz, and the pain they occasion is always felt. Another
boyl-ya has however the power of drawing them out and curing the affected
person by certain processes of disenchantment. When this operation is
effected the boyl-yas are drawn out in the form of pieces of quartz,
which are kept and considered as great curiosities by the natives. All
natural illnesses are attributed to these boyl-yas, or to the Wau-guls,
hence the reason of some native being killed when another dies. The
individual dies either by the hands of another native, from the effects
of accident, or from some natural cause. In the first case his death is
avenged on his murderer, or on some near relative of his; in either of
the other two cases it is avenged on some connexion of the supposed
boyl-yas against whom they have a spite.
KAIBER'S ACCOUNT OF THE BOYL-YAS.
Interested by an account I had received of the boyl-yas from the women,
after Mulligo's death, I endeavoured to obtain from Kaiber a more ample
statement of their belief relative to these people. The difficulty I
laboured under upon this head, as well as the dread they entertain of
these sorcerers, will be best shown by the following account of his
answers to my questions, together with his incidental remarks:*
(*Footnote. His words were nearly as follows:
Boyl-ya yongar boyl-ya gaduk. Djerral, way-lo, wor-rar ngin noween;
Boyl-ya windoo; boko-djee wattoo; boorda nganya men-dyke ngoomon. Boyl-ya
yongar boola ngan-noween, kalla moquoin, boorda ngin-nee nganya men-dyke
ngoomon. Boyl-ya donga gaduk, boorda gurrang ngoomon, nadjoo nginnee
wangow broo.
Boyl ya kote yan-na, ngin-nee bid-jar, bal-goon kote yan-na; kote yool
yannow boyl-ya. Boyl-ya windoo-buk; boorda nganneel men-dyke ngoomon;
nadjoo wanga-broo. Goodjyte yool yannow. Boyl-ya wunja nginnee? Nganya
goree katta mendyke. Boorda nginnee nganya goodjall waingur; Yoongar
nungow broo. Boyl-ya bakkan broo kote ngan-now. Ko-tdje ngannow broo.
Yel-line ngan-now (ngin-nee nganya yonga, nadjoo wattoo yan-na.) Boyl-ya
yoongar bogal boola ngin-now. Yoongar mendyke, boyl-ya wal-byne,
wal-byne, wal-byne, etc. etc. boorda bar-rab-a-ra yoongar.)
The boyl-yas are natives who have the power of boyl-ya; they sit down to
the northward, the eastward, and southward; the boyl-yas are very bad,
they walk away there (pointing to the east). I shall be very ill
presently.
The boyl-yas eat up a great many natives, they eat them up as fire would;
you and I will be very ill directly. The boyl-yas have ears: by-and-by
they will be greatly enraged. I'll tell you no more.
The boyl-yas move stealthily, you sleep and they steal on you, very
stealthily the boyl-yas move. These boyl-yas are dreadfully revengeful;
by-and-by we shall be very ill. I'll not talk about them.
They come moving along in the sky, cannot you let them alone. I've
already a terrible headache, by-and-by you and I will be two dead men.
The natives cannot see them. The boyl-yas do not bite, they feed
stealthily; they do not eat the bones, but consume the flesh. Just give
me what you intend to give, and I'll walk off.
The boyl-yas sit at the graves of natives in great numbers. If natives
are ill, the boyl-yas charm, charm, charm, charm, and charm, and by and
by the natives recover.
...
I could learn nothing further from him.
The Wau-gul is an imaginary aquatic monster, residing in fresh water and
endowed with supernatural power which enables it to consume the natives,
although it generally attacks females. The person it selects for its
victim pines away almost imperceptibly and dies.
SUPERSTITION AND THEIR OPINION REGARDING THE NIGHTMARE.
The natives believe that the nightmare is caused by some evil spirit. The
way in which they get rid of this evil being is by jumping up, seizing a
lighted brand from the fire, twirling it round the head, and muttering a
variety of imprecations; they then throw the stick away in the direction
they conceive the spirit to be in. Some of them have explained this
custom to me by stating that this evil spirit wants a light, and that
when he gets it he will go away. They however also take the precaution of
moving their position and getting as far as they can into the group of
natives who are sleeping round the fire.
If they are obliged to move away from the fire after dark, either to get
water or for any other purpose, they carry a light with them and set fire
to dry bushes as they go along.
VENERATION FOR CRYSTAL STONES.
The natives of South-western Australia likewise pay a respect, almost
amounting to veneration, to shining stones or pieces of crystal, which
they call Teyl. None but their sorcerers or priests are allowed to touch
these, and no bribe can induce an unqualified native to lay his hand on
them.
The accordance of this word in sound and signification with the Baetyli
mentioned in the following extract from Burder's Oriental Customs (volume
1 page 16) is remarkable:
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had
put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the
top of it, and he called the name of that place Bethel. Genesis 28:18.
From this conduct of Jacob and this Hebrew appellation, the learned
Bochart, with great ingenuity and reason, insists that the name and
veneration of the sacred stones called Baetyli, so celebrated in all
Pagan antiquity, were derived.
These Baetyli were stones of a round form, they were supposed to be
animated by means of magical incantations, with a portion of the Deity;
they were consulted on occasions of great and pressing emergency as a
kind of divine oracle, and were suspended either round the neck or some
other part of the body.
...
That this veneration for certain pieces of quartz or crystal is common
over a very great portion of the continent is evident from the following
extracts from Threlkeld's Vocabulary, page 88:
Mur-ra-mai: The name of a round ball, about the size of a cricket-ball,
which the Aborigines carry in a small net suspended from their girdles of
opossum yarn. The women are not allowed to see the internal part of the
ball; it is used as a talisman against sickness, and it is sent from
tribe to tribe for hundreds of miles on the sea-coast, and in the
interior; one is now here from Moreton Bay, the interior of which a black
showed me privately in my study, betraying considerable anxiety lest any
female should see its contents.
After unrolling many yards of woollen cord made from the fur of the
opossum, the contents proved to be a quartz-like substance of the size of
a pigeon's egg, he allowed me to break it and retain a part. It is
transparent like white sugar-candy; they swallow the small crystalline
particles which crumble
off as a preventative of sickness. It scratches glass, and does not
effervesce with acids. From another specimen the stone appears to be
agate of a milky hue, semi-pellucid, and strikes fire. The vein from
which it appears broken off is one inch and a quarter thick. A third
specimen contains a portion of cornelian, partially crystallized, a
fragment of chalcedony, and a fragment of a crystal of white quartz.
...
And again in Mitchell's Expeditions into Australia, volume 2 page 338: In
these girdles the men, and especially their coradjes or priests,
frequently carry crystals of quartz or other shining stones, which they
hold in high estimation, and very unwillingly show to anyone; invariably
taking care, when they do unfold them, that no woman shall see them.
...
FORMS ON MAKING VOWS AND PLEDGES.
Genesis chapter 24 verse 9. And the servant put his hand under the thigh
of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.
This is exactly the form that is observed in South-western Australia,
when the natives swear amity to one another, or pledge themselves to aid
one another in avenging a death.
One native remains seated on the ground with his heels tucked under him,
in the Eastern manner; the one who is about to narrate a death to him
approaches slowly and with averted face, and seats himself cross-legged
upon the thighs of the other; they are thus placed thigh to thigh, and
squeezing their bodies together they place breast to breast. Both then
avert their faces, their eyes frequently fill with tears, no single word
is spoken; and the one who is seated uppermost places his hands under the
thighs of his friend; having remained thus seated for a minute or two he
rises up and withdraws to a little distance without speaking, but an
inviolable pledge to avenge the death has by this ceremony passed between
the two.
One remarkable custom prevalent equally amongst the most ancient nations
of whom any records are preserved, and the modern Australians, is that of
naming children from some circumstance connected with their birth or
early infancy. Thus in Genesis chapter 30 verse 11: And Leah said, A
troop cometh, and she called his name Gad; etc. etc. etc.
Burckhardt observed the same custom among the Bedouins and says:
A name is given to the infant immediately on his birth; the name is
derived from some trifling accident, or from some object which had struck
the fancy of the mother or any of the women present at the child's birth.
Notes on the Bedouins, page 55.
CUSTOM OF CIRCUMCISION.
The natives of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and also those on the eastern
shores of St. Vincent's Gulf, practise the rite of circumcision. That is,
this remarkable rite is known to be observed in two points of the
continent of Australia exactly opposite to one another, and which are
separated by a distance of about twelve hundred miles.
OTHER SCRIPTURAL CUSTOMS.
The injunctions contained in Deuteronomy chapter 23 verses 12 and 13 are
literally fulfilled by the natives in several parts of the continent. In
addition to my own testimony on this point I will refer to Wilson's
Voyage round the World, page 165, where he states:
They are cleanly in their manners, and in some respects superior to the
Europeans, fulfilling the injunction of Moses in the twelfth and
thirteenth verses of the twenty-third chapter of Deuteronomy.
This passage relates to the natives of Raffles Bay on the extreme north
of the continent of Australia, whereas I have observed the custom in the
South-western parts of Australia.
They also conform strictly to the injunctions in Leviticus chapter 15
verse 19.