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THE ABORIGINES OP AUSTRALIA. 17 That these caves may he places of worship, like the caves in India, is not improbable, especially when we see the offering of the kangaroo, and the seat for some presiding person, priest, or doctor. The whole no doubt is mysterious, but we hardly think that these people could be entirely destitute of some form of religion, when we take these cave figures into consideration, with the ceremony of initiating young men to manhood, the exclusion of women, prohibition of certain food, their belief in spirits and a future condition, the deification of their chiefs into stars, the deification of heroes, and even of the lowest reptiles and animals. One figure, representing a whale, was carved near Dawes Battery, Sydney, besides many figures carved on rocks and cut on trees—a kind of picture-painting. On another rock there was a figure of a man 10 feet high, wearing a light red robe, close at the neck, reaching to his feet. He had. a pair of eyes, and his face was surrounded by a circle of yellow, and an outward circle of white edged with red. There were many such paintings, and in an isolated rock was the profile of a man cut in solid stone, of a character more European than Native, executed in a style beyond what any savage would be thought capable of. Both Blinders and King, along the coast, discovered drawings of porpoises, turtles, fish, &c., and a human head, done in charcoal or burnt stick and something like white paint, upon the face of the rock. These paintings are on the coast or near it, and may be the work probably of some persons who had visited the coast, and not of the aboriginals themselves, as the Malays frequently visited the coast. The red hand seen in the caves is another singular device, which is also met with amongst the North American Indians. But what are most remarkable are the stone circles at Mount Elephant, Victoria, resembling the stone monuments at Stonehenge in England. The stones in these structures are of ponderous masses, raised upright, seemingly pointing to a fact that the same people were spread far and wide, of which we know nothing at present. With regard to superstition, Sir Gr. G-rey’s party had reached a stream of fresh water, where there was abundance of mussels, but Kaiber would not touch any of them, and was in great terror on seeing the whites devour them. A storm of thunder set in, which made the party rather chilly and miserable. He chanted a glowing song by way of reproach. Oh ! wherefore would you eat the mussels ? Now the boyl-yas storm and thunder make ; Oh ! wherefore would you eat the mussels ? If boys eat proscribed food they believe they will have sore legs, or turn grey, or suffer under some other infliction. The Ngia-Ngiampe, a chief, carries on trade between the tribes in the exchange of baskets, rugs, clubs, &c. The umbilical cord is preserved, and this is supposed to confer some peculiar virtue on the Ngia- Ngiampe. Those possessing these charms never speak to each other, and employ a third person to carry on the traffic, so that there is no danger of collusion in their dealings. Sorcery is practised extensively, as in the Pacific Islands. Through fear of disease they collect and destroy all the refuse in their vicinity; but should the disease-maker find a bone of some bird or animal he proceeds with this to inflict disease. So with the Tahitians—the disease-maker picks up the parings of nails, hair, saliva, and other secretions of the body as vehicles which the Demon introduces into his victim, or they often exchange their ngadhungi and each destroys it. When the ngaitye of a tribe is killed, if a hostile kuldukke of another tribe gets a bone, he ties it in the corner of a wallaby’s skin and flings at the people, and they are made sick. They state that they could or did kill a magpie by sorcery. One day two children were at play—one chopped off the joint of the other child’s finger ; the father swallowed it with the view that no sorcery man should get it. Next is the avenger. The man seeking revenge disguises himself, marking his face over with streaks, and then with a heavy club prowls about the hunting ground. If he sees his victim alone, he rushes on him and kills him, breaking his bones. The perpetrator is called malpuri (murderer), and is subject to bo put to death by the relatives of the victim, as the avenger of blood. This belief in sorcery makes them careless of illness. From a belief in its curative properties, some of the tribes take the kidney fat from the enemies they slay. C
