text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/37

 INTRODUCTION. xxvii of Australia is precisely the same. Native children brought up amongst the settlers, quite away from their tribes and beyond the reach of their influence, almost always, and without apparent cause, leave their civilised protectors and rejoin the native camps. No matter what degree of culture they may have received amongst the whites, once back in the native camp they become quite as savage as if they had never quitted it. The Australian native is not industrious. He will hunt or fish when hunger prompts him, or perhaps sometimes for the sake of excitement, but by nature he is indolent, leaving all hard work to the females, who on their part do nothing they are not actually compelled to do. The contrast between a life of restraint and exertion and one of the most complete liberty is too great for a savage to show a marked preference for the former. At large, he can eat, drink, and sleep when and where he likes; amongst civilised people he cannot be his own master, but is constrained to live by rules which are foreign to his instincts and to his habits. While the general customs of the natives show a remarkable similarity all over the continent, the ceremonies they practise amongst themselves vary greatly in different places. In the limited space available in an introductory chapter, it will be impossible to do more than glance at them generally. Circumcision is common in the northern, western, and southern parts of the continent. In the south, south-east, and east, it is unknown.* The same thing occurs with regard to the practice of tatooing, each tribe that resorts to it having its own destinctive marks. "Some are marked all over the back and breast; some only on one half of each, others have rings or semicircles round the upper parts of the arms, and some are tatooed on the belly."† The woman whose back is to be tatooed is taken out early in the morning and squatted on the ground, with her back towards the operator (always a male). Her head is then bent down between the knees of a strong old woman who is sitting on the ground for the purpose. The operator then takes hold of a fold of the flesh
 * Eyre. †Ibid.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/38

 xxviii INTRODUCTION. on the right side with his left hand, and with the right cuts gashes about an inch long, half an inch apart, and 3-16ths of an inch deep. The blood as it flows is wiped away with tufts of grass. Whilst the operation is proceeding, the mother and other female relations lament and mourn and lacerate their bodies with shells.* Sometimes the victims resist, and escape before the work is complete; but generally the girls are anxious to be marked, as the scars are supposed to increase their personal attractions. Amongst the Adelaide tribe, it is stated on the authority of the late Dr. Moorhouse, formerly Protector of Aborigines, that before a native can become a man he must pass through five different stages. The first is from his birth to his tenth year, when he is inducted into the second by being covered over with blood drawn from the arm of a man. Between the ages of twelve and fourteen the rite of circumcision introduces him into the third stage. The operation is performed with a sharp stone or shell, the youth being led away to some distance from the women and children, who are not allowed to be present. The operation is attended by strange ceremonies, too numerous to be described here, and after it is over the young lad is kept away from the presence of all females and fed upon a vegetable diet until he has quite recovered. His head is daubed over with grease and red ochre, and encircled with a bandage ornamented with tufts of feathers. The fourth stage is entered upon at the age of twenty, when his back, shoulders, arms, and breasts are tatooed. The fifth stage is not attained until he is becoming grey-headed. All of these rites are performed with much mystery, and women are carefully excluded from witnessing them. Amongst many of the tribes the ceremony of introducing a native into manhood is said to be accompanied with some horrible and disgusting practices. The funeral ceremonies differ in almost every tribe. Amongst the Adelaide blacks the body is at once wrapped up in the garments worn during life, and in a day or two placed upon a circular bier formed of the branches of trees. It is then carried upon
 * Eyre.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/39

 INTRODUCTION. xxix the shoulders of some five or six persons to the places where the deceased had been living. Another native is hidden under the bier, who seems to be in communication with the corpse. He inquires who it was that killed him. If the answer is "no one," the inquiry ceases; but if the reply is that some person has, the bier moves round, the corpse being supposed to produce the motion, aided by "Kuingo," a fabulous personification of death. If the alleged murderer be present, the bier is carried round by the supposed agency of "Kiungo," so that one of the branches touches him. Upon this a battle takes place either immediately, or in a day or two.* The body, when removed from the bier, is laid in a grave, from four to six feet deep, with the head to the west. The same author states that children under four years are not buried for some months after death. They are carefully wrapped up and carried about by the mothers in the daytime, and made to serve the purpose of pillows at night until they become perfectly dried up, when they are buriedwhether with any special ceremonies or not is unknown. The descriptions of Mr. Taplin and Mr. Meyer will show other modes of disposing of the dead. As already stated on the occasion of a death in the Dieyeri† tribe, the relatives of the deceased devour the flesh of the dead, and then smear themselves over with charcoal and fat, making a black ring round the mouth. The women paint, in addition, two white stripes on their arms. The other members of the tribe daub themselves over with white clay as a sign of mourning. Some of the tribes light fires at the graves. At a native burial-ground, on the banks of the Torrens, the writer has frequently seen them. The firesticks were arranged in the following form, the lighted ends pointing towards each other: arranged in this way they burn for a long time. After a death takes place in a tribe the name of the deceased is never mentioned. All over the continent this singular custom prevails, and the feeling is so strong in South Australia that the tribes change the names of any places or objects after which the deceased has been called. Almost all deaths are supposed to be caused by witchcraft or sorcery, and in
 * Eyre. † Gason.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/40

 xxx INTRODUCTION. these cases vengeance is invariably taken on the offending tribe. A curious instance of sorcery and its effects upon the native imagination was brought to light recently in the Supreme Court of Adelaide, on the trial of a black for the murder of another named Chunkey. This Chunkey was one, who, contrary to the custom of his race, had accumulated some money, and had become the proprietor of a dray and some bullocks with which he followed the calling of a carrier. This effect of civilisation had not, however, weaned him from the influence of the common savage customs; for he had at different times carried off three women as wives from another tribe. A man belonging to the Bimbowrie tribe endeavoured to rescue the women; but, in doing so, was put under enchantment by Chunkey, who pointed a human hone at him. This bone is generally part of the femur, scraped to a point, smeared with red-ochre and human kidney-fat, and having a ball of fat and ochre rolled together at one end, The natives believe that if this is pointed at any member of a tribe, nothing on earth can save the victim from death. They are so convinced of this, that immediately it is done his spirits droop, he becomes melancholy, his appetite fails, and gradually he pines away and dies. Such an act of witchcraft is never forgiven. Chunkey was pursued for nearly two years, and was eventually overtaken and killed by the friends of the enchanted victim. The murder was discovered in consequence of the murderers being found in possession of the dead man’s property and his wives. The murderers were sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to one of imprisonment. It was proved on the trial that amongst the northern tribes a blackfellow who was known to have pointed the bone at another would be pursued for 500 miles, in order that revenge might be taken upon him for the crime. The ideas of religion possessed by the blacks are very indistinct, besides being ridiculous and contradictory. Dr. Moorhouse found that the Adelaide tribe believed in a spirit distinct from the body, which after death went away to a large pit in the west, where all souls of deceased persons are sent. They further believed that


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/41

 INTRODUCTION. xxxi when all the men in the world were dead, their souls would return to the scenes of their former lives, visit the graves of their forsaken bodies, and ask whether those were the bodies they had formerly inhabited. The bodies would reply, "We are not dead, but still living." They considered that souls and bodies would not be re-united, but the former would live in trees during the day, and at night alight on the ground and feed on grubs, lizards, frogs, and kangaroo-rats, but on no vegetable matter whatever. The souls, it was believed, would not die again, but would remain on earth, about the size of a boy eight years old.* All the natives entertain great dread of evil spirits, and those who lived in the neighbourhood of Adelaide never moved about at night. In other parts of the colony they would not do so without carrying firesticks with them, except on moonlight nights. With regard to marriage, the practices of the natives have already been alluded to. Amongst the Adelaide tribes polygamy existed universally, the old men possessing from one to four wives, or as many as they could obtain. The young females were bartered away by the old men for wives for themselves or their sons. The wives were the absolute property of their husbands, and were given away, exchanged, or lent, as their owners thought fit. The female children were generally betrothed at about twelve years of age, or even younger. Relatives nearer than cousins did not intermarry, and even these very rarely. Female orphans belonged to the nearest male relative, as did also widows. No ceremony attended marriages; the woman was simply ordered to take her bag and join the camp of the man on whom she was bestowed. No age was fixed for the marriage of the males, but under twentyfive they seldom obtained wives, although occasionally youths of seventeen or eighteen possessed them, As wives got old, they were often cast off by their husbands, or given to young men in exchange for their sisters or other relations at their disposal. Marriage was not looked upon as any pledge of chastity, and no such virtue was recognised; but little real affection consequently existed between husbands and wives,
 * Eyre.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/42

 xxxii INTRODUCTION. and young men valued their wives principally for their services as slaves.* The natives of South Australia had many amusements, but they were generally such as bore upon their future pursuits. Young boys had light spears, muffled at the ends with grass, with which they had fights in play, and objects were cast along the ground to represent animals in motion for them to spear at. They had besides these the songs and dances of the adults. The principal dance is common all over the continent, and "corrobboree" is the name by which it is commonly known. In Mr. Taplin’s diary he mentions one that took place on Lake Alexandrina, at the time of the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. The writer was present, and furnished the official account of the Royal visit to the colony, from which the following description is extracted:  "At a little past nine the corrobboree began. The men wore no clothes, except girdles round their loins, and they were painted in the most extraordinary mannersome with bands of white round their bodies and limbs, like the stripes of a zebra, others were dotted over with white spots, others with regular white streaks from the hips to the feet, with extraordinary devices on the breast and back; all had their faces painted; a great many of them had scars on their backs, which form some distinguishing mark of the various tribes. They are caused by incisions made in the flesh with sharp stones or shells, and treated afterwards in such a way that when they heal up they leave prominent ridges quite a third of an inch in height above the surface of the body, and from an inch and a vitam pene prostituunt. Apud plurimas tribus juventutem utriusque sexus sine discrimne concumbere in usus est. Si juvenis forte indigenorum caetum quendam in castris manentem adveniat ubi quaevis sit puella innupta mos est, nocte veniente et cubantibus omnibus illam ex loco exsurgere et juvenem accedentem cum illo per noctem manere unde in sedem propriam ante diem redit. Cui feminae sit eam amicis libenter praebet, si in itinere sit uxori in castris manenti aliquis ejus supplet ille vires.." He mentions other customs, but the above will suffice to show the general tone of morals among the Aborigines, and the difficulties that would interpose in the way of attempts at civilising them.
 * Eyre. The following is an extract from one of his notes: "Feminee sese per totam


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/43

 INTRODUCTION. xxxiii half to two inches in length. Most of the men had spears, waddies, and boomerangs, and some few of them shields. These are about two feet long, nine inches, wide in the centre, tapering off to a point at either end. They have only one handle, placed transversely across the middle of the back, and are used for warding off spears as they are thrown. They are made of hard wood, and are rudely carved on the face. "When the royal party arrived at the scene of action the dancers were seen lying on their backs on the ground in an irregular line, and perfectly motionless. The women were seated on the ground chanting their peculiar chant, and beating time with their hands on rugs made of opossum-skins folded on their laps, whilst some of the men accompanied them in their chant with an instrumental performance produced by knocking sticks together. After a few moments, the wild chorus seemed to wake the blackfellows into life. First their feet began to quiverthen they raised their right legs so as to rest the feet upon their left kneesthe left legs were then gradually drawn up, and, after rising to a sitting posture, the men suddenly started to their feet, and broke into a strange antic-dance. Their voices then swelled the song of the women, and their action was carried on in the most admirable time. They moved with as much ease and regularity as welldrilled soldiers, apparently adapting their movements to the words which formed the burden of their song. As each part of the dance came to an end, they gathered together in a crowd, and, after brandishing their weapons in a way by no means agreeable to those who were not acquainted with their peaceful nature, gave vent to a long, deep, protracted ugh! in an inexpressibly comic manner. "It is not quite clear what a corrobboree is intended to signify. Some think it a war-danceothers that it is a representation of their hunting expeditionsothers, again, that it is a religious, or pagan, observance; but on this even the blacks themselves give no information. "A corrobboree never takes place except on a bright moonlit nightfor the natives have a great objection to moving about in


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/44

 xxxiv INTRODUCTION. the dark. Seen as they were in the moonlight, daubed with paint shrieking and contorting themselves into postures that defy description it was difficult almost to regard them as human beings." The food of the South Australian tribes, in their wild state, included an immense variety. Animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, grubs, seeds, and roots, were alike prized by them; and from the fertility of the Adelaide plains and the surrounding country, the supply, for the numbers of natives which occupied them before the white settlement, must have been practically unlimited. In addition to the above, honey, white ants, and eggs, gave them variety at all seasons of the year. Their cookery was rude. Mesh was cooked in holes filled with hot stones, covered with wet grass. Small animals were thrust whole into hot ashes. When cooked, the entrails were let out through an incision in the abdomen, and the game was eaten hot. Sometimes fishes were encased in clay and then baked in hot ashes. Snakes were broiled upon embers, but the blacks would rarely partake of the flesh of any snake, unless killed by themselves. Their mode of dressing their food would scarcely tempt any one who was not in a state of semi-starvation, though those who have partaken of it speak well of it. Having no houses, and no permanent dwellings, they could lay up no store, so virtually they lived from hand to mouth, each day, except at certain seasons, providing for its own requirements. Special kinds of food were forbidden to women altogether, and to youths who had not been made men. The women, in all cases, came badly off, when they depended upon what the men of the tribes chose to give them; but as, in many cases, they were sole providers, doubtless they took good care of themselves. They were most voracious in their appetites, and gorged themselves to a most disgusting state of repletion. In Eyre’s account of his journey from Adelaide to Western Australia he gives an account of a meal made by a native who accompanied him, which may be looked upon with something more than wonder. After a considerable time of privation, Wylie (the native boy) shot a young kangaroo, large enough for two good meals; "upon this we


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/45

 INTRODUCTION. xxxv feasted at night, and for once Wylie admitted that his belly was full. He commenced by eating a pound and a-half of horseflesh and a little bread; he then ate the entrails, paunch, liver, lights, and the two hind legs of the young kangaroo; next followed a penguin that he had found dead upon the beach. Upon this he forced down the whole of the hide of the kangaroo after singing the hair off, and wound up this meal by swallowing the tough skin of the penguin. He then made a little fire and lay down to sleep."* The strange part of the tale is, that he was none the worse for the gorge, which, in the condition Eyre and his men were in, might have been expected to make him seriously ill. It shows, however, what a savage can accomplish in the way of voracity. On the subject of the dialects in use amongst the Aborigines of the continent, a strong resemblance amongst them is said to prevail. In many places, however, one tribe is unable to understand another tribe, and as far as intercourse between them goes, such dissimilarity prevails as almost to lead to the inference that the different tribes spoke totally different languages. In effect they do, but it has been established with a reasonable degree of certainty from analogies and other circumstances, for which there is no space here, that the forms of speech sprung, as the natives did, from one source, and that the modifications and variations which have taken place are due entirely to special circumstances. If the natives had possessed the art of writing, even in the most rude or symbolic form, the question would not need discussion, but they have nothing of the kind. They have not marked any single thing with which they have been connected or associated with any trace of permanence, and when the races have faded out, nothing more than the mere fact that blacks once lived in certain places remains behind. A more complete and utter obliteration of a people, as far as it has gone, has scarcely occurred within the scope of the world’s history. For those who have an interest in the subject of the native languages, the papers which follow this Introduction will be found
 * Eyre, Vol., II, pp. 42-3.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/46

 xxxvi INTRODUCTION. full of information. Without wishing to censure those who ruled the province in its early days, it seems astonishing, in a scientific age, to find that nothing was done officially to preserve the native tongue from extinction, and that what has been done, has been done as a labour of love, by private individuals, without other encouragement than that which the love of science for its own sake could afford. At this period it is unavailing, even to deplore the fact; but publications, such as those which are now coming before the world relating to the Australian Aborigines, might and ought to form incentives to the different Governments to take measures to preserve some official memorials of those tribes which are still living in the interior. If the natives of this continent, or even a portion of them, had been as united as the New Zealanders, a different tale would have been told. The task of colonising the country would not have been as easy as it has been; and if it had become necessary to deprive them of their lands by conquest, or to gain them by purchase, their heroism or acuteness would have invested them with an interest and importance which would have forced their natural claims no less than those pertaining to science upon the attention of the superior race, and of those by whom they were governed. The similarity which has been alluded to as prevailing all through the continent amongst the natives in language, manners, and customs, is observable also in their physical characteristics. When any marked departure from the general type is seen, it may be attributed to the abundance or scarcity of food. Those who live in the neighbourhood of rivers and lakes, where game of all kinds is plentiful, are the most robust. The physique of the native is always better in such localities than it is in those tracts of country where water, vegetation, and animals are scarce. As a rule, the male is strong and well-built, and between five and six feet in height. The forehead is broad and the mouth wide, the nose flat, the eyes brilliant and piercing, though somewhat deeply set in the head;* the hands and feet are moderately sized and well-shaped, but the calves of the legs and the muscles of the
 * Professor Owen gives the facial angle as 85 degrees.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/47

 INTRODUCTION. xxxvii thighs are not strongly developed. The lips are rather thick, but different altogether from those of the African black. The teeth are beautifully regular, but the incisors are not sharp, like those of the European, but flat, and not unlike molars. The trunk of the body is well-shaped, and the chest is generally both broad and deep. The hair is black and glossy, and when not disfigured by the disgusting pigments with which it is too frequently smeared, is really beautiful. The carriage is erect, and the gait marked with an elegance and grace peculiar to the race. The features of the men are certainly not handsome in any sense of the word, but the women, except in rare instances, or amongst young girls, are almost hideous. They reach the height of about five feet. Their frames are not so well developed as those of the males. The poor creatures, however, are always seen to a disadvantage, being, as before mentioned, the slaves of their husbands and of the tribes. In intellectual capacity the Aborigines seem to occupy a low position in the scale of humanity. They do not seem to have descended from a higher condition of civilisation, for there are no traces of any such transition anywhere; nor, on the other hand, is there the slightest evidence that they have advanced in any degree from their primal condition. In fact, they seem to be incapable of any permanent improvement, for none of those to whom the benefits of civilisation have been made familiar have ever adopted them when beyond the white man’s control. They seem to be like children. Their brain seems to be only partially developed, and they cannot be instructed beyond a certain point. The writer is aware that others who have had intimate acquaintance with the Aboriginal tribes hold somewhat different views. They have been considered by Captain Grey at least "as able and intelligent as any other race of men that I am acquainted with." Others, however, have formed a much lower estimate of their powers. Their perceptive faculties are great, and this is evidenced by their wonderful skill as trackers in the bush. All that has been written of the skill and cunning of the American Indian as an enemy or as a hunter does not exceed, even if it equals, those of


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/48

 xxxviii INTRODUCTION. the Australian. Their manufactures are of the rudest kind, being confined to mats, coarse nets, bark canoes, and the weapons for hunting and war. No attempt at any textile fabric has been known to be made by them, nor do the scions of a tribe ever transcend the skill or invention manifested by the elder branches. Like birds, each constructs its nest upon one pattern, which never varies from generation to generation. They are, indeed, a strange people. Without a history, they have no past; without a religion, they have no hope; and without habits of forethought or providence, they can have no future. Their doom is sealed, and all that the civilised man can do, now that the process of annihilation is so rapidly overtaking the Aborigines of Australia, is to take care that the closing hour shall not be hurried on by want, caused by culpable neglect on his part. J. D. WOODS. KENSINGTON SOUTH AUSTRALIA, September, 1878.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/49

 THE NARRINYERI: An Account of the Tribes of South Australian Aborigines INHABITING THE COUNTRY AROUND THE LAKES ALEXANDRINA, ALBERT, AND COORONG, AND THE LOWER PART OF THE RIVER MURRAY: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF THE MISSION AT POINT MACLEAY. BY THE REV. GEORGE TAPLIN, MISSIONARY TO THE ABORIGINES, POINT MACLEAY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/51

 WHEN I came to this colony in 1849, my attention was attracted by the camps of Aborigines on the Adelaide Park Lands, and I felt a desire to try to do something for their spiritual and temporal welfare; but years were to pass away before that desire could be gratified. Twenty years ago I was led to take up my residence near what is now the town of Port Elliot. The natives came about our house from the neighbouring camps, and I soon found that both men and women were useful and friendly. A severe winter came on, when food was scarce, and I felt it my duty to go to the native wurleys, which were close at hand, and see if I could do anything for their inhabitants. I found that I could do very little indeed, but I think that a bond of sympathy and kindly feeling was created between myself and the natives. Notwithstanding the personal helplessness which I felt, I was constrained from that time to earnestly, and I think prayerfully, consider if anything could be done for their welfare. In 1858 I heard that an association for the purpose of befriending the Aborigines had been begun by some good people in Adelaide. I wrote to the honorary secretary, stating my views of the steps which ought to be taken if we would do our duty to this people, but nothing came of it at that time. Twelve months after, I was led again to write to the committee of the Aborigines’ Friends’ Association, and I was soon after appointed to be their missionary agent. The results which, by the grace of God, flowed from that appointment will be seen in the following pages.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/52

 xlii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. I think it has been now proved that the Aborigines of Australia are not altogether in a hopeless case. We may hope that the Gospel of Christ will be the means of saving a remnant from extinction. I am sure that if such a result is likely to be brought about, it will rejoice the hearts of many of their kind-hearted friends in these colonies. Weak and insufficient as the instrumentality employed has beenand I have often wondered why it was used, and why some abler servant of Christ had not been chosenyet, feeble as it has been, surely the end proves that the excellency of the power was of God. The writer would take this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the generous assistance which he has received during the fourteen years of his missionary work from the various honorary officers of the Aborigines’ Friends’ Association of this colony. He feels that he cannot too highly estimate the value of the aid which their wise counsel and sympathy have afforded him. Great credit is also due to the Aborigines’ Department of the South Australian Government for the humane consideration which it has always shown for the wants of the natives. The writer would also acknowledge the valuable help which he has received from the Rev. F.W. Cox, who kindly revised the following pages, and to whom it is to be attributed that they contain no greater defects than appear thereon. GEO. TAPLIN. POINT MACLEAY, March 31, 1873.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/53

 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. AFTER the first edition of "THE NARRINYERI" was exhausted, the author received many inquiries for copies from persons who take an interest in the Aborigines. This led him to the conclusion that a second edition might meet with acceptance, especially as the first found a kind and indulgent reception, as he cannot help thinking, beyond its merits. There cannot be any doubt that the benevolent interest in the welfare of the natives which has been manifested in past years, both by the public and the press, has not abated. There is therefore a great deal to encourage us to venture upon another edition. The reader will find that some additions have been made to the book. An account has been given of the Aboriginal Council, called the Tendi, by which the clans of the Narrinyeri are governed. Some friends of the Mission complained that the history of the Mission at Point Macleay was too short, and expressed their desire that more incidents had been related. An attempt has been made to supply this deficiency by inserting some extracts from the author’s diary. It may not be inappropriate to state that the Aboriginal Native Church of Christ at Point Macleay maintains its numbers to the present date, and that its members continue to exhibit growth in Christianity and civilisation. It is the desire and prayer of the author that many such churches may arise to glorify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that these pages may be honoured by being employed to encourage Missions for this purpose. GEO. TAPLIN. POINT MACLEAY, April 12, 1878.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/54

 THE POWER OF THE LETTERS USED IN SPELLING NATIVE NAMES. THE sounds of the letters are adopted from the orthography recommended by the Royal Geographical Society. The consonants are to be sounded as in English, except that g is invariably hard. The vowels are to be sounded, for the most part, as in the following English words: a as in father; e as in there, they; ai has the sound of long i; i as in fatigue; o as in old; ow as in cow, now; u as in rude; and oo as in moon. Ng at the beginning of native words is very common, and the best rule for pronouncing it is that given by Dr. Livingstone, i. e., to say the word as if there was an i before the ng, but to give as little of the sound of the i as possible. Dl and ny are also found at the beginning of words, as dlomari (fog), nyrippin (washing), nyring-kin (warming oneself); in both of these the y has a consonantal sound.


text: Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/56


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/59

 THE NARRINYERI. CHAPTER I. THE NARRINYERI, OR TRIBES OF ABORIGINES INHABITING THE LAKES ALEXANDRINA AND ALBERT AND LOWER MURRAY. THE people who are described in the following pages call them-selves "Narrinyeri, " The name is evidently an abbreviation of Kornarrinyeri (from kornar, men, and inyeri, belonging to), and means " belonging to men." They take great pride in this designation, and call other nations of Aborigines wild black-fellows, while they say, "we are men," These Narrinyeri occupy a tract of country which would be included within lines drawn from Cape Jervis to a point about thirty miles above the place where the River Murray discharges itself into Lake Alexandrina, and from thence to Lacepede Bay. They are divided into eighteen tribes, and each is regarded by them as a family, every member of which is a blood relation, and therefore between individuals of the same tribe no marriage can take place. Every tribe has its ngaitye or tutelary genius or tribal symbol in the shape of some bird, beast, fish, reptile, insect or substance. The reader who is not sufficiently interested may skip the following names of the tribes* of an obscure race of savages. Some, however, may like to know them, and for such I write them. may either consider the Narrinyeri as a nation divided into tribes, or as a tribe of Aborigines divided into clans. The native word for tribe or clan is Lakalinyeri. 2 TRIBES. NAME OF TRIBE. LOCALITY. NGAITYE.
 * I have used the word "tribe" as that which is most intelligible to the reader. We


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/60

 1. Welinyeri River Murray Black duck, and black snake with red belly. 2. Lathinyeri River Murray Black swan, teal, and black snake with grey belly. 3. Wunyakulde River Murray Black duck. 4. Piltinyeri North-eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina Leeches, catfish (native pomery). 5. Korowalle North shore of Lake Alexandrina Whip snake. 6. Karatinyeri Point Malcolm, entrance to Lake Albert Wild dog, light colour. 7. Rangulinyeri Lake Albert River Wild dog, dark colour. 8. Mungulinyeri Lake Albert Mountain duck (chocolate sheldrake). 9. Kanmerarorn McGrath’s Flat, on the Coorong Mullet called Kanmeri. 10. Ngrangatari Lacepede Bay Kangaroo rat. 11. Pankinyeri Lake Coorong Butter fish (native Kungulde). 12. Turarorn Mundoo Island, Lake Alexandrina A kind of coot called Turi. 13. Lungundi Sea-mouth of the River Murray, south side Tern, a small kind of gull. 14. Kaikalabinyeri Lake Albert, south shore Bull Ant; a kind of water weed called by natives Pinggi. 15. Kondolinyeri Penisnula on the north-west side of sea-mouth of the River Murray. Whale (native Kondarli). 16. Tanganarin Goolwa Pelican. 17. Raminyeri Encounter Bay Wattle Gum. 18. Punguratpular Milang Musk duck. The Narrinyeri had for their neighbours the Adelaide and Murundee blacks, called "Wakanuwan," and the Tatiara natives, a cannibal tribe, called "Merkani." The Narrinyeri formed a sort of confederacy, and however the different tribes might quarrel among themselves, they always presented a united front to the neighbouring natives. In 1849 I saw a battle where about 500 of the Narrinyeri met some 800 of the Wakanuwan, and it was very evident that if the conflict had not been stopped by the colonial authorities the Narrinyeri would have signally defeated their opponents. They bore a special enmity to the Merkani because these latter had a propensity for stealing fat people and eating them. If a man had a fat wife, he was always particularly careful not to leave her unprotected lest she might be seized by prowling cannibals.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/61

 LOSS OF THE MARIA. 3 The history of these Aborigines is involved in obscurity.* Their traditions make it seem probable that they came down the Murray and Darling Rivers to reach their present place of abode. The only event which they relate as occurring before the coming of the white people is the prevalence of a terrible epidemic which came down the Murray some fifty or sixty years ago and greatly thinned their numbers. I know several men who remember the arrival of Captain Sturt; and they tell of the terror which was felt as they beheld his boat crossing the Lake Alexandrina. A memorable occurrence was the appearance of a couple of stray bullocks, from some runs in New South Wales probably. They were first seen in the neighbourhood of Lake Albert, The natives concluded they were brupar (or demons), and decamped from their presence in great terror. They named them wunda-wityerithat is, beings with spears on their heads; and they have called horned cattle by the same name ever since. The Narrinyeri at the mouth of the Murray were probably the cause of the death of Captain Barker, the discoverer of the plains of Adelaide. He incautiously left his party on one side of the river and swam to the other; he was never after seen or heard of. In the year 1840 a vessel called the Maria was wrecked at Lacepede Bay. The crew and passengers escaped to the shore, probable that the country around the Lakes was originally occupied by a tribe of Aborigines who, they say, were under the Chiefs Waiungare and Neppelli. Nurundere appears to have led a tribe down the Darling and Murray, and, on his arrival, finding the country already in the possession of the before-mentioned tribe, he united his people with them and gained an ascendancy over the whole. An intelligent native told me that before his timehe is a man between forty and fiftythe following circumstances occurred: "Some time agohow long, it is impossible so discovertwo men of the clan called Piltinyerar, who live near Wellington, on the Lower Murray, went away into the scrub to the north-east kangaroo hunting, and did not return. Many years after, the natives felt a desire to find out what had become of them; so a number of hunters, under a leader named Pilpe, started off to search the desert for some indications of the fate of their missing countrymen. They travelled a great distance into the wilds, exploring as they went, and making signals which they knew would be understood by those whom they sought. At last, after making a kowandie or signal fire, they saw an answering smoke to the north-east, and hastening in that direction,
 * Judging from the traditions current amongst the old natives, it is very


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/62

 4 LOSS OF THE MARIA. and brought with them a great many articles of value. A portion of the cargo appears to have been landed, and, it was at the time believed, a large amount in gold coin.* The natives gathered round the shipwrecked people, and were asked by signs and a few words of English to conduct them to the whaling settlement at Encounter Bay, a distance of about 120 miles. They consented, and the whole party started off down the Coorong. They must have carried with them their most portable articles of value. As they went along the number of Narrinyeri in their escort increased. There belonged to the shipwrecked party several women and children. I could never ascertain the exact number who escaped from the Maria, but I have heard amongst the natives that there were twenty-five. I think it likely that it was never exactly known. When they came to that spot on the Coorong which is parallel with the head of Lake Albert the natives had become covetous of the goods and clothing of the poor people whom they were guiding, and dark designs began to be entertained by them. In pursuance of their murderous plan they told the white people that they must now cross the Coorong. When they had put about half of them over the water in their canoes they told them to march on, thus dividing them into two parties. Then the natives quietly placed a man behind each victim as they walked, and at a signal every one was knocked down with a heavy club and soon dispatched. It was a discovered the lost men. They had got their living by hunting, and had found sufficient for their subsistence in the country where they dwelt. But they had become old, and were not inclined to return to the Murray River country, being quite contented with their then present abode. However, their friends who had so successfully sought for them returned and carried back the tidings of their discovery. "This is a good specimen of the kind of migration which has taken place amongst the Aborigines all over the continent. I have no doubt that, although only the two kangaroo hunters were mentioned, yet their wives and children would have accompanied them. It is so common for natives to omit any mention of the women. How many people have come? I have perhaps asked. Five men, would he the reply; and a stranger would suppose only five men to be meant, but would most likely find there were a dozen women and children besides. So probably these two kangaroo hunters were accompanied by three or four wives and their children. white men for blankets.
 * The natives say that they got a large sum of money and gave it to some


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/63

 LOSS OF THE MARIA. 5 horrible crime. The poor souls had marched above eighty miles from the wrecktoiled along wearily day after day through the wild and dreary waste, longing for the sight of the European faces which they were never to see! Their tracks were afterwards discovered and followed, and it could be seen where the children had got tired and had been carried by their loving friends; and then all were foully murdered! The murderers stripped them of their clothes, and thrust some of the bodies into wombat holes, and others they buried in the sand. A woman told me only a few weeks ago that she assisted in burying in the sand of the Coorong what may have been a mother and two daughters, for she said it was an elderly woman and a young woman, and a little girl. Another woman was found thrust into a wombat hole, and with her was a family Bible with the names of the family to which it belonged and their births, deaths, and marriages written therein. The spoils of the slaughtered people were of little value to the Narrinyeri. I was told by a woman who was then the wife of a shepherd on the runs on the Adelaide side of the Lakes, that she saw in the possession of the natives large and small silver spoons, rolls of silk, and clothing of all kinds. The crime was quickly made known to the authorities in Adelaide. Very soon, sufficient particulars were gathered, and the whole affair came out. An expedition then started under Major O’Halloran to avenge the crime and punish its perpetrators. They marched to the Coorong by way of Encounter Bay, swam the Murray at its mouth, and immediately came upon traces of the murders. They rapidly passed on and found a camp where large quantities of clothing and other articles made it evident that these were some of the guilty parties. Two of the most ill-looking and ferocious men were seized and hanged by the neck in trees without further ceremony, and two others were shot. I knew an old native named Pepeorn who was one of those who attempted to withstand the advance of the whites. He was a tall and powerful savage. He suddenly came out from behind a bush with a heavy spear, and proceeded to aim it at Major O’Halloran as he rode by; but the Major was too quick, and


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/64

 6 CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTES. dashed at him before he could throw. He turned to flee, but before he could escape, the sabre of his pursuer entered his buttock, and he fell disabled to the ground. He carried the scar with him as long as he lived. The Narrinyeri never forgot the punishment they received for the murder of the passengers and crew of the Maria. A man who is now a member of the Church at Point Macleay told me that his father used to relate to him the particulars of the affair. He said that Major O’Halloran’s party rounded up the blacks in the camp, and seized some men and marched them off to some trees. The white men then made signs to the rest of the natives to look at those trees, and suddenly they saw their countrymen hauled up to the limbs by ropes fastened to their necks. They gazed for a minute at the horrid sight, and then the whole party broke up and ran in every direction. Some of them fled above twenty miles in their terror before they stopped. They never afterwards touched the bodies, but left them hanging until they dropped from the trees. The Lake Albert tribe murdered, about 1844, a man named McGrath, at a place afterwards called McGrath’s Flat. McGrath, who was going overland with cattle, got some of the native young men to conduct him round Lake Albert. Afterwards he wished them to continue to guide him beyond the boundaries of their tribe, and upon their refusal tried to persuade them to do as he wished. This somehow awoke the suspicions of the old men, and they attacked and murdered him. The perpetrators of the deed were punished. The Narrinyeri were always a daring and restless people, and used to give some trouble to the authorities by their depredations and sheep-stealing. One of the first troopers of the police stationed on the Murray told me that when they went there they never dared to go to the river for a bucket of water, although it was only a few hundred yards from their huts, without pistols in their belts. The same man told me that on one occasion a native had been very insolent to him, and at last provoked him to such an extent that he kicked him out of the hut. A short


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/65

 CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTES. 7 time after, he was just awaking from sleep at the dawn of the morning, and as he opened his eyes he saw the same native standing by his bedside with an axe in his hand as if about to strike. At once the trooper’s hand silently moved towards the pistol under his pillow, and the clear click-click as he cocked it was heard. With the greatest coolness the native said in an indifferent tone, " Whitefellow, why do you leave your axe outside?by-andby somebody will steal it;" and, depositing the weapon by the bed, he made his exit from the hut. The trooper was careful the next night to see that there was such a fastening to his door as would prevent another visit under such extremely suspicious circumstances. Another story occurs to me, which, with the reader’s permission, I will tell. A rather notorious blackfellow had been sheep-stealing. Two police officers set off on horseback in pursuit of him. As they came round the side of a steep hill by the Lakes they saw their man down by the shore. Knowing that horses would be of no use in the swamp they tied their steeds to a tree, and, taking their weapons, pursued on foot. Rushing amongst the polygonum bushes, one of them came suddenly on the native, who rushed at the trooper and knocked him down. The officer, as he lay on his back, tried to kick him off, so as get a thrust at him with his sabre, which he held in his hand; but, in doing so, stuck the point of the weapon into the top of his own boot, and could not extricate it. While this was going on, the other trooper, hearing the call of his comrade, clambered over the dense polygonums, and just at this juncture came up behind the native. He shouted at the blackfellow, and he left his first antagonist and turned to meet the other. A horse-pistol was presented, the trigger pulled, and off it went, the fire scorching the native’s breast; but he did not fall and die as might have been expected, so the trooper seized him and led him to the spot where their horses were tied. There it was found that the bullet which ought to have killed the native had been shaken out of the pistol by the jolting of the horse, and was discovered in the bottom of the holster.


text: The Oldest English Epic/Chapter 1/Beowulf 18


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/66

 8 FEMALE COURAGE. One more story, illustrative not of the fierceness and savagery of the Narrinyeri, but of more attractive traits of character, faithfulness, and love. Many years ago, some white sealers on Kangaroo Island stole from the mainland near Cape Jervis three native women, and took them to the island. When the prisoners had stayed with their captors a few weeks they began to cast about for means to get back to their husbands and friends. At last they found a small dingey belonging to the sealers. It would only hold two. Now, two of the women had no children, but the third had an infant at the breast; so the two childless lubras took the dingey and started for the mainland, and reached it in safety. The poor mother left behind with her babe must have pined sadly for her country and friends; but nothing was heard of her for some time. One day the natives found her body on the beach just above high-water mark, with her baby tied to her back. She had swum Backstairs Passage, and then, in a state of utter exhaustion, crawled up the shore and died! I have related these anecdotes of the Narrinyeri because I want to enable the reader to have some idea of the people whose customs are described hereafter. I wish to try to make them live in his imagination. Perhaps I have not succeeded very well; but, at any rate, I have used what materials I had in making the attempt. In appearance the Narrinyeri are by no means such a badlooking race as some have represented Australian Aborigines to be. It is true you can find ugly old men and women amongst them, and so you can amongst Europeans. Unfortunately for aboriginal ugliness, it has no means of concealing itself such as are found in civilised nations. There are amongst the Narrinyeri many good-looking and well-proportioned specimens of the human form. The cast of countenance is different from the European, but often by no means wanting in regularity and even beauty. Many of the middle-aged and young men have quite a dignified bearing, with an air of freedom altogether different from low-class Europeans. They are very independent


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/67

 HABITS. 9 in their manner; and, while they freely ask for what they want, take it, when granted, as from equals. Amongst themselves there is a great deal of a sort of courtesy. They live in their camps without much disagreement. Custom is rigidly observed, and this contributes to maintain peace amongst the members of the tribe. Of course quarrels will arise, and bad men and women try to domineer and act unjustly, but yet not so much as might be expected. The Aborigines have suffered from the advent of Europeans perhaps more than they have gained. Their country has been occupied, and the game nearly exterminated. The reeds of which they used to build their houses, and the grass on which they used to sleep, have in many cases been made useless to them. The skins with which they used to make rugs, and the bark with which they made canoes, have been almost destroyed. Their present condition, therefore, is not to be taken as a fair representation of what they were in their natural state; and we must not expect to find amongst their broken and scattered tribes many of those good qualities which they used to possess as savages. There are now three classes of nativesthe old blacks, who hold fast all the customs of the tribes; the natives who have imitated the worst vices of Europeans and become drunkards and gamblers (these have neither religion nor morality, and are utterly lawless); and, lastly, the Christian natives, who are every year increasing in numbers, and are the healthiest of their race. The Narrinyeri exhibit no signs of becoming extinct just yet.* There are plenty of children amongst them; and the tendency of Christian civilisation, when adopted in its entirety, is to make them more vigorous and long-lived. about 3000 souls. At the time this is written there are living about 600 of all ages. 1877. There are still living 613 souls of the Narrinyeri tribe. Since 1869 I have recorded 150 births and 162 deaths at Point Macleay. But it must be borne in mind that while many natives have been brought here from a distance to die, the births have been the offspring of residents in the place.
 * In 1840 the Narrinyeri, according to the most trust-worthy evidence, numbered


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/68

 10 MARRIAGE. CHAPTER II. SOCIAL CUSTOMS. SECTION I.  MARRIAGE. ACCORDING to many authorities; marriage amongst Australian Aborigines consists in the forcible abduction of a female from her tribe, and has no particular ceremony connected with it. Our scanty knowledge of the whole of the Australian tribes would scarcely warrant us in saying that this was the case with the majority of them. The Narrinyeri are certainly an exception. Although the consent of a female is not considered a matter of the first importance, as, indeed, is the case in many uncivilised nations, yet it is always regarded as desirable. There is also some ceremony in their marriages. To show that this has always been the custom I will quote the Rev. H.E.A. Meyer, who resided with them, before they had much intercourse with Europeans. He says"They are given in marriage at a very early age (ten or twelve years). The ceremony is very simple, and with great propriety may be considered an exchange, for no man can obtain a wife unless he can promise to give his sister or other relative in exchange. The marriages are always between persons of different tribes, and never in the same tribe. Should the father be living he may give his daughter away, but generally she is the gift of the brother. The person who wishes to obtain a wife never applies directly, but to some friend of the one who has the disposal of her, and should the latter also wish for a wife the bargain is soon made; thus the girls have no choice in the matter, and frequently the parties have never seen each other before. At the time appointed for the marriage the relations on both sides come and encamp about a quarter of a mile from each other. In the night the men of one tribe arise and each takes a fire-stick in hand. The bride is taken by the hand and conducted in the midst, and


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/69

 MARRIAGE. 11 appears generally to go very unwillingly; the brother or relation who gives her away walks silently and with downcast looks by himself. As soon as they approach the camp of the other tribe the women and children of the latter must quit the hut, which upon this occasion is built larger than their huts usually are. When they arrive at the hut one of the men invites them to take their places, but before they sit down the bride and bridegroom are placed next each other, and also the brother and his intended wife if it is a double marriage. The friends and relations then take their places on each side of the principal parties. They sit in this manner silent for a considerable time until most of them fall asleep. At daybreak the brides leave the hut and go to their nearest relations and remain with them until the evening, when they are conducted to their husbands by their female friends, and the tribes then separate and go to their own districts. When married very young, the girl is frequently away from her husband upon a visit to her relations for several months at a time, but should she remain the man is under obligation to provide her with animal food (providing vegetable food is always the duty of the females), and if she pleases him he shows his affection by frequently rubbing her with grease to improve her personal appearance and with the idea that it will make her grow rapidly and become fat. If a man has several girls at his disposal, he speedily obtains several wives, who, however, very seldom agree well with each other, but are continually quarrelling, each endeavouring to be the favourite. The man, regarding them more as slaves than in any other light, employs them in every possible way to his own advantage. They are obliged to get him shell-fish, roots, and eatable plants." Now I have but little to add to these statements. It is regarded by the females as very disgraceful not to be given away in exchange for another. A young woman who goes away with a man and lives with him as his wife without the consent of her relatives is regarded as very little better than a prostitute. She is always open to the taunt that she had nothing given for her.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/70

 12 MARRIAGE. When a man has a sister or daughter whom it is his right to give away, he will often sell that right to a man who wants a wife for either money, clothes, or weapons, and then the purchaser will give the woman away in exchange for a wife for himself. A woman is supposed to signify her consent to the marriage by carrying fire to her husband’s wurley,* and making his fire for him. An unwilling wife will say, when she wishes to signify that she was forced into marriage with her husband, " I never made any fire in his wurley for him." In case of a man having two wives, the elder is always regarded as the mistress of the hut or wurley. Marriages always take place after dark, and are generally celebrated with a great deal of dancing and singing. I know that, on some occasions, amongst a certain class of natives, a great deal of licentious revelry will take place, but this is not always the case. I have known as well-matched and loving couples amongst the Aborigines as I have amongst Europeans. One singularity of their courtship is, that the suitor always tries to make out that he marries the damsel because she very much wants him to do so. When a couple are fond of each other they generally manage to get married, if not too nearly related. The aversion of the natives to even second cousins marrying is very great. They are extremely strict in this matter. The first inquiry with regard to a proposed marriage is, whether there is any tie of kindred between the parties, and if there be it prevents the match, and if the couple should cohabit afterwards they will be always looked upon with dishonour; in short, the Narrinyeri are exogamous, and never marry in their own tribe. A man’s children belong to his tribe, and not to their mother’s. This is remarkable, as it is so contrary to what is said by certain anthropologists to be the rule in savage tribes. A man’s sons always inherit their father’s property. word is mante, I have used "wurley," because it is more generally understood by the colonists.
 * This word wurley is from the language of the Adelaide tribe. The Narrinyeri


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/71

 INFANTICIDE. 13 SECTION II. INFANTICIDE. Mr. Meyer says"When a woman is near her confinement she removes from the encampment with some of the women to assist her. As soon as the child is born, the information is conveyed to the father, who immediately goes to see the child and to attend upon the mother, by carrying firewood, water, &c. If there are unmarried men and boys in the camp, as there generally are, the woman and her friends are obliged to remain at a distance in their own encampment. This appears to be part of the same superstition which obliges a woman to separate herself from the camp at certain times, when, if a young man or boy should approach, she calls out, and he immediately makes a. circuit to avoid her. If she is neglectful upon this point, she exposes herself to scolding, and sometimes to severe beating by her husband or nearest relation. "If the child is permitted to live (I say permitted, because they are frequently put to death) it is brought up with great care, more than generally falls to the lot of children of the poorer class of Europeans. Should it cry, it is passed from one person to another and caressed and soothed, and the father will frequently nurse it for several hours together." Infanticide appears to have been very prevalent among the Aborigines before the commencement of this colony. I have been assured by Narrinyeri that at that time more than one-half of the children born fell victims to this atrocious custom. One intelligent woman said, she thought that if the Europeans had waited a few more years they would have found the country without inhabitants. She herself had destroyed one infant. I know several women who have put to death two or three each of their new-born children. The details of this practice disclose the most horrible cruelty. The babe was generally deprived of life as soon as it was born, before parental love could assert its power and save it. A red-hot ember from the fire was stuffed into each of its ears as far as it could be thrust, and then the orifice closed by filling it with sand. After a few cries of agony


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/72

 14 INFANTICIDE. the child became insensible, and soon died. In the meanwhile a large fire was prepared, and the body thrown into it and burnt. This appears to have been the most usual method; but sometimes strangulation, or a blow of a waddy, was resorted to with the same intent. Infanticide is not prevalent amongst the Narrinyeri at the present time. Thirteen years ago one-third of the infants which were born were put to death. Every child which was born before the one which preceded it could walk was destroyed, because the mother was regarded as incapable of carrying two. All deformed children were killed as soon as born. Of twins, one, and often both, were put to death. About one-half of the halfcaste infants fell victims to the jealousy of the husbands of their mothers. Many illegitimate childrenthat is children who were born before their mothers were given in marriagewere murdered. This terrible crime of infanticide is covered up and concealed from the observation of the whites with extreme care. The bush life which they lead affords every facility for so doing. I was myself for some time in ignorance that it existed to such an extent as it does. Only very intimate acquaintance with the natives led me to discover its prevalence. I remember two instances of it. In one, the mother hated the child, because she had been given in marriage to its father against her will; therefore, with the assistance of another female, she murdered it in the most brutal manner. The other was an illegitimate child of a girl called Pompanyeripooritye. I was informed of the birth, and got the nearest relatives to promise that the child’s life should be spared. But an old savage, named Katyirene, a relative of the reputed father, was offended at this forbearance, so he set the wurley on fire in which the mother and infant were lying, and very nearly accomplished the destruction of both. I soon after found that the child was suffering and pining from some internal injury, and in about forty-eight hours it died. I have no doubt that foul play was the cause of its death, for it was a fine healthy child when it was newly born.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/73

 15 MAKING "YOUNG MEN." But it must not be concluded from these facts that the Narrinyeri are incapable of affection for their children. Only let it be determined that an infant’s life shall be saved, and there are no bounds to the fondness and indulgence with which it is treated. Its little winning ways are noticed with delight, and it is the object of the tenderest care. I have known men nurse their children for hours at a time in the absence or sickness of the mothers, and capital nurses they are too. I have seen a man transported with the wildest rage, and fell everybody within reach of his kanape, because he saw a slight spot of blood caused by an accidental blow on the forehead of his baby boy. I remember a man and woman being plunged in the deepest grief by the death of an infant. This child was born before the next older could walk, and consequently ought by native custom to have been destroyed. But being preserved through my influence, its parents became most devotedly attached to it, and I think I never saw more real sorrow than was manifested by them at its decease. When native children are first born they are nearly as white as Europeans. It is difficult for an inexperienced person to tell whether they are half-caste or not. The sign by which this may be known, is a smutty appearance in the pure aboriginal infant just on the upper part of the forehead, as if a smutty hand had been laid there. Children are suckled by their mothers till they are two or three years old. Girls wear a sort of apron of fringe, called kaininggi, until they bear their first child. If they have no children, it is takenfrom them and burned by their husbands while they are asleep.I have known girls have children when only fourteen years of age. SECTION III. NARUMBE, OR RITES OF INITIATION TO MANHOOD. Among the Narrinyeri, boys are not allowed to cut or comb their hair from the time they are about ten years of age until they undergo the rites by which they are admitted to the class


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/74

 16 MAKING "YOUNG MEN." of men. They are taught to believe that disease will be the result if they break this rule. For some few weeks I had been persuading a boy to cut and comb his hair, offering as an inducement the gift of new clothes; at last, after a great deal of hesitation, he did as I wished, and I gave him the clothes. Afterwards his mother reproached me for advising her son to take such an imprudent step, and I observed that the lad seemed nervous. On that very day he became ill, and I have no doubt that his illness was caused solely by superstitious fear of the result of having his hair cut. Of course, the old people will paint to this as an instance of the dangerous effects of breaking native customs. We can scarcely comprehend the power of imagination over the mind of a savage. The boys also are forbidden to eat thirteen different sorts of game; and it is said that if they eat them, they will become prematurely grey. I have no doubt that the original object of this custom was, the making of a provision for the old people and women; for the game which is forbidden to the boys is easily obtained and is nourishing food. If, therefore, they were allowed to partake of it, such animals would probably soon be exterminated, for the whole tribe would feed on them to the neglect of those animals which are more difficult to obtain; so a regulation has at some time or other been made to prevent the boys from eating them; and thus these animals are preserved to the old people and women. By this means, also, they are made sure of getting some of the spoils of the chase carried on by the young men and boys, who do not hesitate to kill such animals if they get a chance, but never eat them themselves, always reserving them for the old people. When the beard of a youth has grown a sufficient length he is made narumbe, kaingani, or young man. In order that this ceremony may be properly performed, and the youth admitted as an equal among the men of the Narrinyeri, it is necessary that members of several different tribes should be present on the occasion. A single tribe cannot make its own youths narumbe without the assistance of other tribes. This prevents any tribe


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/75

 MAKING "YOUNG MEN." 17 from increasing its number of men, by admitting those who have not yet arrived at the proper age, and thus prevents them from making a claim for a greater number of women than their proper share  an important consideration, where every tribe has to obtain wives from those which are adjacentas they never intermarry in their own tribe, all the members of which are regarded as of the same family. Generally two youths are made kainganis at the same time, so that they may afterwards during the time that they are narumbe assist each other. They are seized at night suddenly by the men, and carried off by force to a spot at some little distance from the wurley, the women all the time resisting or pretending to resist the seizure by pulling at the captives, and throwing firebrands at their captors. But they are soon driven off to their wurley and compelled to stop there, while the men proceed to strip the two youths. Their matted hair is combed or rather torn out with the point of a spear, and their moustaches and a great part of their beard plucked up by the roots. They arethen besmeared from the crown of their heads to their feet with a mixture of oil and red ochre. For three days and three nights the newly-made kainganis must neither eat nor sleep, a strict watch being kept over them to prevent either. They are allowed to drink water, but only by sucking it up through a reed; the luxury of a drinking vessel is denied to them for several months. And when, after the three days, the refreshment of sleep is permitted, they are not allowed a pillowa couple of sticks stuck in the ground crosswise are all they must rest their heads on. For six months they are obliged to walk naked or with merely the slightest covering round their loins. The condition of narumbe lasts until their beards have been pulled out three times, and each time have grown again to about the length of two inches, and during all that period they are forbidden to eat any food which belongs to women, and also from partaking of twenty different kinds of game. If they eat any of these forbidden things it is thought they will grow ugly. Only the animals which are the most difficult to obtain are assigned for their sub


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/76

 18 FUNERAL RITES. sistence; this appears to be for the purpose of making them expert hunters. Everything which they possess or obtain becomes narumbe, or sacred from the touch of women; even the bird hit by their waddy, or the kangaroo speared by their spear, or the fish taken by their hook, even when these instruments are used by other hands than their own, is forbidden to all females. They are not allowed to take a wife until the time during which they are narumbe has expired; but they are allowed the abominable privilege of promiscuous intercourse with the younger portion of the other sex. Any violation of these customs is punished by the old men with death; sometimes inflicted by millin, i.e., witchcraft, but often by more violent and certain methods. I think it is evident that all these rules for the narumbe are intended as a means of making the men of the tribe hardy, by exposing them to privation and suffering. I know, however, that at present the effect is precisely the reverse. The health of many young men is utterly destroyed, and many even come by their death from the barbarous ordeal which they are forced to undergo. A lad works about a farm or station, and is clothed and fed there until he is sixteen or eighteen years of age, and then he is seized by his relatives and forced to undergo the exposure and cold inseparable from the life of a narumbe; partly induced to acquiesce by the consideration that if he does not submit he will not get a wife; and partly bribed by the offer of licentious indulgence. The consequence usually is that he gets disease of the lungs, which either weakens him for life or causes his speedy death. SECTION IV. FUNERAL RITES. The Narrinyeri point out several stars, and say that they are deceased warriors who have gone to heaven (Wyirrewarre). There are Wyungare, and Nepalle, and the Manchingga, and several others. Every native expects to go to Wyirrewarre after


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/77

 FUNERAL RITES. l9 death. They also believe that the dead descend from thence, and walk the earth; and that they are able to injure those whom they dislike. Consequently, men who have been notorious in life for a domineering and revengeful disposition are very much dreaded after death. For instance, there is Karungpe, who comes in the dead of night, when the camp fire has burned low, and like a rushing wind scatters the dying embers, and then takes advantage of the darkness to rob some sleeper of life; and it is considered dangerous to whistle in the dark, for Karungpe is especially attracted by a whistle. There is another restless spiritthe deceased father of a boy whom I well knowwho is said to roam about armed with a rope, with which he catches people. All the Narrinyeri, old and young, are dreadfully afraid of seeing ghosts, and none of them will venture into the scrub after dark, lest he should encounter the spirits which are supposed to roam there. I have heard some admirable specimens of ghost stories from them. In one case I remember the ghost was represented to have set fire to a wurley, and ascended to heaven in the flame. The Narrinyeri regard the disapprobation of the spirits of the dead as a thing to be dreaded; and if a serious quarrel takes place between near relatives, some of their friends are sure to interpose with entreaties to the contentious parties to be reconciled, lest the spirits of the dead should be offended at unseemly disputes between those who ought to be at peace. The name of the dead must not be mentioned until his body has decayed, lest a want of sorrow should seem to be indicated by the common and flippant use of his name. A native would have the de- ceased believe that he cannot hear or speak his name without weeping. But the most direct way in which the reverence of these people is shown for the dead is in their funereal ceremonies. When a man dies they conclude at once that sorcery has been the cause of the mournful event, and that either ngadhungi or millin must have been practised against him. The first night after a man has died his nearest relation sleeps with his head on the corpse,


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/78

 20 FUNERAL RITES. in order that he may be led to dream who is the sorcerer that caused his death. The next day the corpse is elevated on men’s shoulders on a sort of bier called ngaratta. The friends of the deceased then gather round, and several names are called out to try if the mention of them produces any effect on the corpse. At last the nearest relative calls out the name of the person of whom he has dreamed, and then an impulse towards him on the part of the dead body is said to be felt by the bearers, which they pretend they cannot resist, and consequently they walk towards him. This impulse is the sign by which it is known that the right name has been called out. The deceased, still lying on the ngaratta, is then placed over a slow fire for a day or two, until the outer skin blisters. This is removed with the hair, and all the apertures of the body are sewed up. It is then rubbed over with grease and red ochre, and set up naked on a sort of stage inside the wurley in a sitting position. A great lamentation and wailing is made at this time by all the relations and friends of the dead man. They cut their hair off close to the head, and besmear themselves with oil and pounded charcoal. The women besmear themselves with the most disgusting filth; they all beat and cut themselves, and make violent demonstrations of grief. All the relatives are careful to be present and not to be wanting in the proper signs of sorrow, lest they should be suspected of complicity in causing the death. A slow fire is placed under the corpse, in order to dry it. The relations live, eat, drink, and sleep under the putrefying mass until it is dried. It is then wrapped up in mats and kept in the wurley. During the time in which it is drying the female relatives relieve one another in weeping before the body, so as to keep some women always weeping in front of it. All this has very much the appearance of idolatry. The smoke rising around the red sitting figure, the wailing women, the old men with long wands, with a brush of feathers at the end, anointing it with grease and red ochreall these contribute to give one this impression of the whole scene. When any one leaves the wurley where the body is for a few days, they are


text: Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/81


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/83

 FUNERAL RITES. 21 expected to stand before it and weep and wail on their return. However they manage the requisite amount of crying I never could imagine. For one minute a woman will appear in the deepest agony of grief and tears; a few minutes after, the conventional amount of weeping having been accomplished, they will laugh and talk with the merriest. I feel persuaded that fear has more to do with most of these exhibitions than grief. But the spirit of the dead is not considered to have been appeased until his relatives have avenged his death. They will kill the sorcerer who has caused it if they can catch him; but generally they cannot catch him, and often do not wish it. Most probably he belongs to some other tribe of the Narrinyeri. Messengers pass between the tribes relative to the affair, and the friends of the accused person at last formally curse the dead man and all his dead relatives. This constitutes a casus belli. Arrangements are forthwith made for a pitched battle, and the two tribes meet in company with their respective allies. The tribe to which the dead man belongs weep and make a great lamentation for him, and the opposing tribe sets some fellows to dance about and play antics in derision of their enemies. Then the whole tribe will set up a great laugh by way of further provocation. If there is any other cause of animosity between the tribes besides the matter of avenging the dead there will now be a pretty severe fight with spears. If, however, the tribes have nothing but the dead man to fight about, they will probably throw a few spears, indulge in considerable abuse of each other, perhaps one or two will get slightly wounded, and then some of the did men will declare that enough has been done. The dead man is considered to have been appeased by the efforts of his friends to avenge his death by fighting, and the two tribes are friendly again. In such a case the fight is a mere ceremony. The hair of the dead is spun into a cord, which is made into a headband, and commonly worn by men. They say that thereby they smell the dead, and that it makes their eyes large and their sight keen, so that in a fight they are enabled to see the spears coming, and either to parry or avoid them.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/84

 22 FUNERAL RITES. Some years after writing the foregoing the writer came upon the following passage in Ellis’s "Polynesian Researches." Describing similar customs of the inhabitants of Tahiti, he says "The bodies of the dead, among the chiefs, were, however, in general preserved above ground: a temporary house or shed was erected for them, and they were placed on a kind of bier. The practice of embalming appears to have been long familiar to them; and the length of time which the body was thus preserved depended upon the care with which the process was performed.. . . . The intestines, brain, &c., were removed, all moisture extracted from the body, which was fixed in a sitting posture during the day, and exposed to the sun. The inside was filled with cloth saturated with perfumed oils, which were carefully rubbed over the outside every day. In the course of a few weeks the muscles dried up, and the whole body appeared as if covered with a kind of parchment. It was then clothed and fixed in a sitting posture; a small altar was erected before it, and offerings of food, fruit, and flowers daily presented by the relatives, or the priest appointed to attend the body. In this state it was preserved many months; and when it decayed, the skull was carefully kept by the family, while the other bones, &c., were burned within the precincts of the family temple."


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/85

 NGADHUNGI. 23 CHAPTER III. SORCERY. SECTION I.NGADHUNGI. IT is very interesting to trace that similarity between different portions of the human race, in manners, superstitions, and traditions, which would lead us to conclude that although oceans may separate them, yet they belong to the same radical stock. In Dr. Turner’s work, called "Nineteen Years in Polynesia," I observe some remarkable points of resemblance between the inhabitants of the New Hebrides and the Narrinyeri. The learned author of the work referred to gives the following account of a custom prevalent in Tanna and the adjacent islands: "The real gods at Tanna may be said to be the diseasemakers. It is surprising how these men are dreaded, and how firm the belief is that they have in their hands the power of life and death. It is believed that these men can create disease and death by burning what is called nahak. Nahak means rubbish, but principally refuse of food. Everything of the kind they bury or throw into the sea, lest the disease-makers should get hold of it. These fellows are always about, and consider it their special business to pick up and burn with certain formalities anything in the nahak line which comes in their way. If a disease-maker sees the skin of a banana, for instance, he picks it up, wraps it in a leaf, and wears it all day hanging round his neck. In the evening he scrapes some bark off a tree, mixes it up with the bananaskin, rolls it up tightly in a leaf in the form of a cigar, and then puts one end close enough to the fire to cause it to singe and smoulder and burn away gradually. When a person is taken ill he believes that it is occasioned by someone burning his rubbish; and if he dies, his friends lay it all down to the disease-makers as having burned the rubbish to the end. The idea is that whenever it is all burned the person dies. If a


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/86

 24 NGADHUNGI. disease-maker was ill himself he felt sure that someone must be burning his nahak." I have abridged the description on account of its length; but the foregoing is the part most to my purpose. Now, the Narrinyeri of this colony have a similar practice to this nahak-burning prevalent among the Tannese, and their whole community is influenced by disease-makers. This kind of sorcery, by which disease is supposed to be produced, is called ngadhungi. It is practised in the following manner:  Every adult blackfellow is constantly on the look-out for bones of ducks, swans, or other birds, or of the fish called ponde, the flesh of which has been eaten by anybody. Of these he constructs his charms. All the natives, therefore, are careful to burn the bones of the animals which they eat, so as to prevent their enemies from getting hold of them; but, in spite of this precaution, such bones are commonly obtained by disease-makers who want them. When a man has obtained a bonefor instance, the leg bone of a duckhe supposes that he possesses the power of life and death over the man, woman, or child who ate its flesh. The bone is prepared by being scraped into something like a skewer; a small round lump is then made by mixing a little fish oil and red ochre into a paste, and enclosing in it the eye of a Murray cod and a small piece of the flesh of a dead human body. This lump is stuck on the top of the bone and a covering tied over it, and it is put in the bosom of a corpse in order that it may derive deadly potency by contact with corruption. After it has remained there for some time it is considered fit for use, and is put away until its assistance is required. Should circumstances arise calculated to excite the resentment of the disease-maker towards the person who ate the flesh of the animal from which the bone was taken, he immediately sticks the bone in the ground near the fire, so that the lump aforesaid may melt away gradually, firmly believing that as it dissolves it will produce disease in the person for whom it was designed, however distant he may be. The entire melting and dropping off of the lump is supposed to cause death.


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/87

 NGADHUNGI. 25 The Rev. W. Ellis, speaking of the Tahitians, says"The parings of the nails, a lock of the hair, the saliva from the mouth, or other, secretions from the body, or else a portion of the food which the person was to eat, this was considered as the vehicle by which the demon entered the person who afterwards became possessed..... The sorcerer took the hair, saliva, or other substance which had belonged to his victim, to his house, or marae, performed his incantations over it, and offered his prayers; the demon was then supposed to enter the substance (called tubu), and through it the individual who "suffered from the enchantment" ("Polynesian Researches," vol. ii., p. 228). When a person is ill he generally regards his sickness as the result of ngadhungi, and tries to discover who is the disease-maker. When he thinks that he has discovered him he puts down a ngadhungi to the fire, for the purpose of retaliating; that is, if he has one made of the bone of an animal from which his supposed enemy has eaten. And if he has not he tries to borrow one. Some time ago a blackfellow of my acquaintance, feeling himself unwell, as he supposed from the effects of this sorcery, rubbed himself over with soot in sign of desperation, and then taking his weapons went and fired two wurleys, and challenged the whole family to which he supposed the person who had bewitched him belonged, although he knew that the particular person whom he suspected of being the immediate agent was thirty miles away. I have seen as many as a dozen ngadhungi in a man’s basket, and have been told that one was for a man, another for a woman, another for a boy, and so on, mentioning the parties for whom they were intended. I also heard the man who had them say that when he died he should tell his relations to put them all to the fire, so as to be revenged on the people who may have accomplished his death; for no native regards death as natural, but always as the result of sorcery. Frequently, when a man has got the ngadhungi of another, he will go to him and say "I have your ngadhungi; what will you give me for it?" Per28


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/88

 26 MILLIN. haps the other man will say that he has one belonging to the person who asks him the question, and in that case they will make an exchange, and each destroy the ngadhungi. If, however, this is not the case, the man will endeavour to make a bargain with the person who has the ngadhungi, and obtain it from him by purchase. Sometimes he will give money, or spears, or nets, as the price of it. "All that a man hath will he give for his life." When he has obtained it he destroys it immediately. I believe that there are many of these Narrinyeri who make it their business to look out for anything in the shape of ngadhungi, in order to sell it in the manner above mentioned. Of course, a great deal of imposture is practised by such parties. It is not necessary that I should specify the particular points of resemblance between ngadhungi and the nahak of the Tannese. I trust that from the description which I have given they will be sufficiently apparent. A correspondent in the far north of this colony wrote to me in 1862 as follows: "The Pando and Blanchewater blacks have a peculiar superstition. They take the bone of some defunct friend, and it is chewed by two or three of the old men; they then make little graves in the hot ashes, and put in the bone, calling it by the name of some enemy. They believe that when the bone is consumed their enemy will die." SECTION II. MILLIN. This is another kind of sorcery practised amongst the Narrinyeri. When a man intends to set out on an expedition for the purpose of taking his revenge, by means of millin, against any one whom he dislikes, he marks his face and body all over with white streaks for the purpose of disguising himself. The concealment obtained by this means is almost complete: but it is also used for other purposes besides the above. He then takes his plongge, which is a stout club with a large conical-shaped knob, and puts it in his basket with a few more clubs (native


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/89

 MILLIN. 27 kanake), and generally taking a companion with him, similarly equipped, starts on his enterprise. They proceed to prowl through the hunting grounds of the tribe to which the person they seek belongs, taking care to conceal themselves as much as possible. When they see their victim alone, they steal noiselessly upon him, and rushing at him, suddenly strike him a heavy blow on the head with the plongge, for the purpose of stunning him. Then as he lies there insensible, they strike him moderately hard with the plongge on the joints of the legs and arms, on the nape of the neck, and on the naked chest, the blows not being severe enough to break the bones, as a touch of the instrument is considered sufficient. In conclusion, they pull the victim’s ears until they crack, and then leave him to recover as he best can. This last operation is for the purpose of rendering the person incapable of telling who attacked him. He is now said to be plongge watyeri, and by the operation he is delivered over to the power of a certain demon called "Nalkaru." If he goes into battle, the malignant spirit will be at his ear, and by whispering in his ear seek to divert his attention from the proper management of the shield, so that he may receive a fatal wound. If the victim of the plongge walks into the bush his invisible pursuer, Nalkaru, will seek to divert his attention from his path, so that he may tread on a deadly snake. Or perhaps the millin may produce disease. I have frequently heard men say that they felt the plongge in their chests. But it is not only on an expedition for the purpose that millin is perpetrated. Frequently a man will get up in the dead of night, and after warming the plongge at the fire, so that its cold surface may not awaken the sleeper, proceed to operate on some unsuspecting occupant of the same wurley, taking care to do it so gently as not to be felt by the sleeping victim. In this way the malice of one person against another is frequently gratified. The dread of millin is universal amongst the Narrinyeri. I have often tried to argue people out of their belief in it, but in vain. Only adult males are considered able to practise it, and it is regarded as the greatest crime of which an enemy can be


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/90

 28 MILLIN. guilty. Its perpetrator is called Malpuria term signifying a murderer by intent. Anybody convicted of millin is generally put to death by the relations of his victims on the first convenient opportunity. The avenger of blood is not very particular who is sacrificed to the desire for revenge; the brother of a guilty person is put to death in his stead without hesitation, if he comes in the way. I should far exceed my proper limits were I to relate all the tales of adventures connected with millin which I have heard from the natives. I will, however, give a specimen or two:  About fifteen years ago a lad and girl, each of about thirteen years of age, were fetching wood for a white fisherman, who had encamped at Poingully. The greatest part of the tribe to which they belonged were absent at a fight at Piltangk, and only these two, with some old women, had been left at the wurley. In course of their work they had wandered off in search of wood some seven or eight hundred yards from the encampment. All on a sudden the lad discovered that they were being watched by two men, painted with white streaks, who were hiding behind some bushes. Well knowing their purpose, he pointed them out to the girl, and told her to run, at the same time setting her the example. The two fellows no sooner saw that they were perceived than they gave chase. The girl was overtaken and brought to the ground with the plongge by one of the pursuers. The other followed the boy, and nearly caught him; but he saved himself by catching up a stick and holding it with both hands up to the back of his head as he ran to ward off the expected blow, at the same time shouting to the white fisherman for help. Thus he succeeded in escaping, as the pursuer was afraid to approach too near the camp. When the lad arrived he entreated the old women to go in search of the girl, and after a short time they did so, and found her dead; the blow of the plongge had killed her. A couple of blackfellows discovered that depredations had been made upon the fish which they kept in the usual enclosure, or fishpound, for the subsistence of themselves and families, so they concealed themselves in the neighbourhood, and watched


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/91

 MILLIN. 29 for the thief. They saw a man come down to the pond, and begin getting out fish. They made a dash at him, he ran, and one of them threw a barbed spear at him, which stuck in his leg, and stopped him. Pulling out the plongge they stunned him with it, and then operated on him in the usual manner with that instrument. After extracting the spear, probably by passing its whole length through the limb, they left him lying senseless on the lake shore. The nest morning they found that he had gone away. The belief in sorcery makes the Narrinyeri, as a people, less bloodthirsty than they otherwise would be; for instead of exacting sanguinary vengeance for any injury, they are generally content to use the more secret means of revenge, which ngadhungi or millin affords. And I am certain, from my own observation, that so strong is their conviction of the deadly power of the latter, that any of them who became aware of its having been used upon them, would give themselves up to despair. This is especially true of the women. On the other hand, although their belief in sorcery renders them less bloodthirsty, yet it has the baneful effect of making them careless of the natural causes of disease. They do not seem to recognise cold, or repletion, or unwholesome food, or contagion, as causes of sickness; and are not careful to use precautions for its prevention. It is enough for them to believe that ngadhungi has been burnt, or millin practised. And in them they find a sufficient cause for every disease, and what would render all precaution useless. The Narrinyeri abhor the horrible practice of the upper river tribes of taking out the kidney fat of their living enemies. SECTION III. NEILYERI, OR THE POISON REVENGE. There is a horrid method of seeking revenge prevalent amongst the Narrinyeri, which is not witchcraft, but more deadly in its nature. It was introduced about sixteen years ago from the Upper Murray, and has no doubt been the means whereby


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/92

 30 NEILYERI.

many a life has been taken. It is called neilyeri. When a heathen native wants a method of revenge he takes, either a spearhead, a piece of bone (often human), or else a piece of iron, sharpens it to a keen point, and cuts it a convenient length, generally about six or eight inches. He then sticks it into the fleshy part of a putrid corpse, and keeps it there for some weeks. He then takes either a bunch of spun hair, or feathers, and soaks them in the fat of a corpse extracted for the purpose. In this he wraps up the point of the short dagger-like neilyeri, and thus possesses himself of a most deadly poisoned weapon. Let him only get near his enemy when he is asleep, and a single prick with the neilyeri will cause him to be inoculated with the virus of death, and he will be doomed to horrible agonies and probably death. The effect is exactly the same as when a surgeon, in dissecting a human body, scratches himself with his scalpel, and, as we know, produces serious if not fatal results, called blood poisoning. The old natives are well acquainted with the virulent nature of the fluids of a corpse; and I have no doubt that they strenuously resist every attempt to make them bury their dead in order to retain this means of revenge in their hands. I heard of a case some time ago of the practice of neilyeri. A native of Mundoo Island was sleeping in his wurley, when he suddenly felt something prick his foot. He jumped up and saw a man by his foot doing something, and immediately seized him. The fellow burst from his grasp, dropping a small sharp pocket knife as he did so, and escaped; but the assailed person could see in his hand the bunch of spun hair, containing the deadly poison. The intending murderer had pricked his victim a little too sharply with the knife and awoke him; if he had been more skilful he would have just raised the skin sufficiently to draw blood, and then gently dabbed the wound with the venom of death, and departed. Probably the victim would have lost either his leg or his life. Neilyeri was not the invention of the Narrinyeri, it came from the upper river, but one can easily conceive how easily the old


text:
Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/93

 NEILYERI. 31 natives would grasp it as a means of maintaining their reign of terror, now that the power of all sorceries is waning before the enlightenment of the young people. And they are dreadfully afraid of it; the mere pointing of the neilyeri at them makes them feel ill. I think this abominable practice ought to induce the authorities to put down the keeping of dead bodies with a strong hand. Without corpses there could be no neilyeri.