would speak to anj European except to the few who were implicitly trusted. In NoveiJiber 1882 Mr. James Manning read to the Eojal Society of New South IfVales an elaborate paper,'" embody- ing information which he had procured in frequent conver- sations in 1844 with a native whose confidence lie had obtained. The accurate narrative given to Mr. Manning about the ceremonies with which young men are initiated, and the injunction of secrecy, are corroborative testimonies to the genuineness of liis paper. Differeucea between customs of tribes make it probable that the tradition intrusted to Mr. Manning would not have found an exact counterpart in any remote locality ; but the great fact of belief in a Creator and Ruler was perhaps common in all. The Kev* Mr. Gunther, wl^o was for many years a missionar}^ at Wellington Valley, far from the scene of Mr, Manning's iuLpnries near the Murrumbidgee River, received from the most aged natives assurances that their people firmly believed in a creative and all-powerful Deity, and the name ascribed to him was there almost the same as that which prevailed among tribes speaking diverse dialects. There have been many disquisitions as to religious belief among the Australians. Count Strzelecki came to the conclusion that they recognised a God, believed in an inimortatity of everlasting enjoyment among the stars, and reserved their fears for an evil spirit, indicating them by mysterious belief in omens. That they beheved in an iutbrming soul in ilieir own bodies, was the result of inquiry | in all parts of the continent. Sir George Grey ascribed no religious faith to them, but described their superstitious observances. The Rev. Mr. Eidley, after years of intelligent labour and study, wrote: — ** Their tradition concerning Baiarae***** the
- " Various opinions were expressed at the meeting of {he Bociety. Ooe
qjeaktir «akl that *' his experience of thu aborigines of Northern QueeiiB- laml aupporttrtl what had been stated m Mr. Slaiining*a notea,'*— i^j/rfney MurniHit Herald, 4th Nov. 1882.
- iSaianie, in the Kaniilaroi widdyextended dialect. Baiamai, in the
et|naUy widtdy ex tended Wiradhnri. Biumbai (thmij^'h Mr. Ridley docs lint iTieution the fact), on the Lower Hunter River, once thitkly popnlated hy a jjeop}o who have disap^peared within the memory of the auth(n who fipoke ami has survived their dialect. The Rev. Mr, Threlkehl spella t^s
