Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/127

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ence. The suit of woe was, as in China, white> pipe-clay being daubed over the body, not in the gruteaque and wav- ing lines used in eiiuipinent for dance or war, but in large unsightly masses. When death took place there was often suspicion of sor- } eery in a nei;^hbouring tribe, and the karadgy, or leetdi and sorcerer, of the tribe of the deceased was called upon to divine the cause, and point out the quarter whence it caaie.^ In Western Australia the sorcerer (or boylya) watched the fumes arising from leaves and twigs thrown into a grave [prepared for the deceased, and was deemed capable of see- ling, although hidden from common eyes, the way in which jthe arouseil evil spirit would wing its flight. It would go fto the quarter whejice the offence had come. War and , reprisal would ensue with the tribe which lived in that direction. In South Australia the body was opened, and, Ion examination of the entrails and omentum, it was decided w^hetber foul jday luid been used. Sometimes the wise i men received intimations without these practices, but the witenagemote had always to determine what steps should be taken to avenge the death. Eevenge was a [sacred duty. The raising of ridges on the skin, prevalent in many tribes, was unpractised in others. Ab the man became a warrior he added to his adornments. The women also had their peculiar marks, but it does not appear that they were f^compelled to be scarred. The men were proud of scars ' which indicated hardihood. The face was never disfigured. Many travellers were astonished to Mnd in caves figures iof men and of animals vividly painted with some art and , great care. On the sides of rocks heads and hands of gigantic size have been often seen. Governor Phillip wrote (May, 1788) that he saw figures of men, " shields, and fish roughly cut on the rocks, and on the top of a mountain 1 1 saw the figure of a man in the attitude they put themselves in when they are going to dance, which was much better done than I had seen before, and the figure of a large lizard was sufiiciently well done to satisfy everyone what animal was meant/' Flinders described these paintings on rock, which he saw on Chasm Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. .Subsequent explorers, Allan Cunningham, Ca^taiw GrCi^^