SKETCHES OF LIFE AMONG THE NATIVES.
The Natives have very few traditions, and most of those which they
relate resemble the disconnected phantasies of a dream rather than
the record of a series of facts.
They have some indistinct ideas about Chingi, the Evil Spirit, but no
notion whatever of a Supreme God. When first the English arrived,
many of the Aborigines considered them to be the spirits of their
deceased relatives; and some of them fancied they could trace the
features of former friends in the lineaments of individuals among the
whites. One of these natives, still living, has more than once told
me that his late uncle is now a certain eloquent and popular member
of the Legislative Council. The nephew and resuscitated uncle
occasionally meet, when the former never fails to claim the
relationship, which the latter good-humouredly acknowledges; and the
relatives separate with mutual expressions of politeness and
good-will.
One of their most remarkable and most intelligible traditions was
recorded some time ago in the 'Perth Inquirer', by Mr. Armstrong,
Interpreter to the Natives.
It is as follows: --
"The natives assert that they have been told from age to age, that
when man first began to exist, there were two beings, male and
female, named Wal-lyne-up (the father) and Doronop (the mother); that
they had a son called Biu-dir-woor, who received a deadly wound,
which they carefully endeavoured to heal, but without success;
whereupon it was declared by Wal-lyne-up, that all who came after him
should also die in like manner. Could the wound have been healed in
this case, being the first, the natives think death would have had no
power over them. The place where the scene occurred, and where
Bin-dir-woor was buried, the natives imagine to have been on the
southern plains, between Clarence and the Murray; and the instrument
used is said to have been a spear thrown by some unknown being, and
directed by some supernatural power. The tradition goes on to state
that Bin-dir-woor, the son, although deprived of life and buried in
his grave, did not remain there, but arose and went to the west; to
the unknown land of spirits across the sea. The parents followed
after their son, but (as the natives suppose) were unable to prevail
upon him to return, and they have remained with him ever since."
The following is one of their fables: -- The kangaroo was originally
blind, and could only walk or crawl. The frog seeing it so much at
the mercy of its enemies, took compassion on it, and anointed the
sightless eyeballs of the kangaroo with its saliva, and told it to
hop as he did. The kangaroo did so, and is now become the most
difficult animal in the world to catch.
Besides Chingi, the evil spirit who haunts the woods, there is
another in the shape of an immense serpent, called Waugul, that
inhabits solitary pools. Snakes that frequent both water and land,
of great size -- twenty feet long, according to some authorities --
have been occasionally seen, and give a colour to this belief of the
natives. One day, whilst bivouacking at a lonely and romantic spot,
in a valley of rocks, situated some forty miles north of Perth,
called the 'Dooda-mya', or the Abode of Dogs, I desired a native to
lead my horse to a pool, and let him drink. The man, however,
declined with terror, refusing to go near the pool, which was
inhabited by the Waugul. I therefore had to take my horse myself to
the spot, whilst the native stood aloof, fully expecting that the
Waugul would seize him by the nose and pull him under water.
The natives are polygamists. Each male is entitled to all the
females who are related to him in a certain degree. A newly-born
child is therefore the betrothed spouse of a man who may be thirty
years of age, and who claims her from her parents so soon as she is
marriageable -- when she is twelve years old, or earlier. Some men
have, consequently, four or six wives of various ages, whilst others
have none at all. The latter are therefore continually engaged in
stealing the wives of other people.
This causes incessant wars among the tribes. When the legitimate
husband recovers his wife, he does not restore her to the full
enjoyment of domestic happiness, until he has punished her for
eloping. This he does by thrusting a spear through the fleshy part
of her leg or thigh.
The natives are very good-natured to one another; sharing their
provisions and kangaroo-skin cloaks without grudging. The head of a
family takes the half-baked duck, opossum, or wild-dog, from the
fire, and after tearing it in pieces with his teeth, throws the
fragments into the sand for his wives and children to pick up. They
are very fond of rice and sugar; and bake dampers from flour, making
them on a corner of their cloaks.
Fish and other things are frequently baked in the bark of the paper-tree.
The following observations have been sent to me by my youngest
brother: "Every tribe possesses a certain tract of country which is
called after the name of the tribe -- as Moenaing Budja -- the
Moenai-men's ground. They are not always very particular about
trespassing on their neighbour's territory. Many of the colonists
say that each tribe has its chief or king; but among all whom I have
seen, I never could discover that they paid any particular respect to
one individual, though they appear to reverence old age; and I have
frequently seen a party of young men, alternately carrying an old
grey-headed patriarch during their excursions from one encampment to
another.
"They have no religion whatever, but they believe in some kind of an
evil spirit. I have often tried to discover, but could never clearly
understand, whether they believe in only one all-powerful evil
spirit, or whether it is merely the spirits of their departed friends
that they fear; or, (as I am inclined to believe) they fear both; and
for these reasons: -- wherever there is a large encampment of
natives, each family has its own private fire and hut, but you will
always perceive another fire about one hundred yards from the camp,
which apparently belongs to no one; but which the old hags take care
shall never go out during the night; for they will frequently get up
and replenish that fire, when they are too lazy to fetch fuel for
their own. They call that Chingi's fire; and they believe if he
comes in the night he will sit quietly by his own fire and leave them
undisturbed. That they likewise believe in the reappearance of
departed spirits, may be easily proved by the manner and the
formalities with which they bury their dead. In the first place they
cut off the hair and beard; they then break his finger-joints and tie
the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand together; so that if he
rise again, he may not have the power to use a spear and revenge
himself. They then break his spears, throwing-stick, and all his
other implements of war, and throw them into the grave, over which
they build a hut; and a fire is kept lighted for a certain length of
time. It is likewise customary for his wife or nearest relation, if
at any future period they should happen to pass near the grave, to
repair the hut, rekindle the fire, and utter a long rigmarole to the
departed, to induce him to lie still, and not come back and torment
them. Nothing will induce a stranger to go near a new grave, or to
mention the name of the departed for a long time after his death.
They always speak of him as So-and-so's brother, or father. If the
deceased be the father of a family, it is the duty of his eldest son,
or nearest relation, to avenge his death by killing one of the next,
or any other tribe; and this often leads to furious battles or
cold-blooded murders; for they are by no means particular whether it
be man, woman, or child who is the victim; and it is generally the
poor women who suffer on these occasions; the men being too cowardly,
unless under the influence of very strong passion, to attack those of
equal strength with themselves. The women do all the work, such as
building huts, carrying water, digging up roots, and procuring grubs
out of the wattle and grass-trees. I have seen a poor unfortunate
woman marching twenty miles a-day, with (at least) a hundred
pounds'-weight on her back, including the child and all their
effects; whilst the husband has been too lazy to carry even his
cloak. A hunting excursion with a large party of natives is capital
sport. They choose, if possible, a valley, at one end of which they
station ten or twenty of the most expert spearmen; with whom, if you
want any fun, you must station yourself, taking care to remain
concealed. All the juveniles of the party then start off, and make a
circuit of many miles in extent, shouting and hallooing the whole
time. They form a semicircle, and drive all the kangaroos before
them down the valley, to the spot where the old hunters are placed.
Then comes the tug of war, the crashing of bushes, the flying of
spears, and the thump, thump of the kangaroos, as they come tearing
along, sometimes in hundreds, from the old grey grandfather of six
feet high, to the little picanniny of twelve inches, who has tumbled
out of his mother's pouch; and numbers fall victims to the ruthless
arms of the hunters. The evening terminates with a grand feast and a
corrobery."
[etching opposite p. 214 "Spearing Kangaroos"]
Each tribe has its doctor, or wise man, who is supposed to have
supernatural powers of healing wounds, and is the oracle of the
tribe. One of these fellows described to me the mode of his
initiation. He said his father, himself a wise man, took him one
night to the edge of a steep hill, where he left him lying wrapped in
his kangaroo-skin cloak. He was very much frightened, but durst not
stir. During the night Chingi came and tried to throw him down the
hill, and to strangle him, but did not succeed. Chingi was like
something very black. He afterwards came again, and told him a great
many secrets; and thus is was that my informant became a doctor and a
wise man. I think I have heard of people obtaining the power of
second sight in the Isle of Skye by lying on a rock all night,
wrapped in a bull's hide, and receiving a visit from the devil. The
similarity between these initiatory processes struck me forcibly.