operation is performed as soon as the body becomes rigid, and when completed, it is borne to the grave at once. The graves are usually about four feet deep, and in every instance bearing east and west. In the bottom of the grave a sheet of bark is placed, or should bark be difficult to procure, it is thickly strewn with grass instead; the body is then let down with the feet towards the east. All the property which belonged to the deceased, such as weapons, nets, &c., is laid beside the body; then sticks are placed across the grave, the ends of which rest on ledges a few inches above the body; over these, and crossing them at right angles, sticks the length of the grave are arranged, then bark or a good thick covering of grass hides the body from sight and prevents the earth, which is now filled in, from coming into contact therewith.

When all this is properly completed, the relations of the deceased fling themselves prone upon the grave, howling, tearing their hair out by handfuls, and rubbing earth over their heads and bodies in vast quantities; besides this, they rip up the green mourning ulcers in the most loathsome manner, until with blood and grime combined they present a ludicrous and ghastly spectacle. There is about an hour of these proceedings before the ceremony terminates; after it is concluded the mourners trudge back to the camp in twos or threes; on their arrival there they sit down silently and stolidly for about an hour, after which, they again wake up into every day activity, their grief from thenceforth is forgotten, unless at the morning and evening intervals of prescribed mourning. The self-inflicted sores, however, remain long unhealed, and no doubt have the effect of keeping their bereavement fresh and green in their memories.

Should the person buried have been esteemed of consideration prior to death a neat hut is erected over the grave, the covering thereof being generally thatch, made of a hard knotty grass, having many joints, probably, therefore, akin to polygonum. This thatch is firmly secured to the frame by cord, many hundred yards of which are used in the work.

On some occasions a net is made, having meshes 4 inches square, with which the hut is completely enveloped.

These mausoleums cover the grave entirely; they are about 5 feet high, and are of an oval shape; a small opening or doorway is left at the eastern end; these openings are never more than 30 inches high, only being large enough to allow of a full grown man creeping in; the tops of the graves or floors of the huts are covered with grass, which is renewed from time to time as it becomes withered. The tombs are enclosed by brush fencing, the forms of the enclosures being of a diamond-shape; the tomb in every instance is exactly in the centre; all the grass inside of the fence is neatly shaved off, and the ground swept quite clean. It

is kept in this tidy condition for two or three years; after the lapse of that time, however, the whole arrangement is left to dwindle to decay, and after a few more years the very site of it is forgotten.

When a first-born child dies, should it be a son (if a daughter it is hidden out of sight as soon as possible), and under two years of age, instead of being buried in the usual manner, the little body is tightly swaddled in a cloak, well fastened round with cord, until it assumes the appearance of a long narrow bundle, without, however, showing the outline of the figure, as is the case with a body prepared for burial, but looking exactly similar to a bale of skins ready for dispatch to market. This bundle the mother carries with her wherever she goes, and at night sleeps with it by her side; and this loathsome custom she continues to carry out for six months, until, from decay, nothing but a few bones remain in the bundle; after this, the bones are put in the ground and forgotten.

These decomposing atoms of mortality do not tend to render the atmosphere in the vicinity of the camp either pleasant or healthful, still, these benighted savages bear with the offensive effluvium without the slightest murmur, deeming it, doubtless, one of those sacred customs which have been habitual to them from the remotest period, and which to omit would be sacrilege of the very worst.

When very old women die or wittals of long standing, of whom there are generally a few in each tribe, a shallow hole is merely scraped in the most convenient spot, having due regard to proximity and softness of soil, wherein the body is carelessly thrown without the slightest preparation or ceremony, covered up and forgotten, unless, indeed, the shallow grave chances to be scraped out by the hungry dogs of the camp, which is not by any means unusual, and the poor remains of humanity voraciously devoured by the ghoul-like brutes; then, instead of viewing this disgusting desecration with horror, they actually make merry thereon, bandying obscene facetiæ with each other on the subject; such occurrences, in fact, being deemed fitting in every respect for the display of their vile and prurient wit.

BREVITY OF ABORIGINAL LIFE.

-Snake-bite

The Sick and how attended-Bleeding and other modes of cure

and its treatment-Obstetrical.

Length of life is not a feature that pertains to these people; in most subjects, old age sets in ere thirty-five years have been attained; in fact long before these comparatively few years have been passed they are quite grey, and frequently bald. About that time, too, their muscular development begins to tend towards attenuation; few of the women reach even those years, being

mostly worn out by drudgery and disease together before they are well past their teens. Unless in the cases of old worn-out women, or bed-ridden subjects of long standing, who are grudged the very slightest attention, the sick are attended carefully enough. Not being subject to infectious diseases, those attending the sick have not the least fear of contracting the illness from a patient during their ministrations; in fact, they are quite ignorant of the nature of infection, and are not aware that disease can be contracted by coming into contact with or breathing the same air even as patients suffering from ailments do.

Phlebotomy is practised to a very considerable extent for many of their ailments; it is performed upon the cupping principle merely, their surgical knowledge being too limited to allow of their understanding the efficacy of opening one of the larger veins. When blood-letting is desirable, their cupping operation is effected in the following manner :-The part from which they wish to draw the blood is scarified pretty deeply by means of a sharpened mussel shell; when this has been done sufficiently well, the operator sucks the wound with his mouth, spitting out the blood from time to time, until he feels satisfied that sufficient has been extracted. Much relief is afforded by this practice to those suffering from headache, inflammation of the bowels, ophthalmic sore eyes, &c., all of which ills prevail amongst the aborigines to an unenviable extent.

For pulmonary affections and rheumatic fevers (these two diseases are very common and very fatal in the aboriginal tribes) they make use of the vapour bath, from the use of which much benefit is obtained. The bath is constructed in a very primitive though at the same time very effectual manner. A hole long enough and wide enough to hold the subject to be operated on is dug to a depth of about 18 inches; it is then filled with firewood to the top and ignited, when the wood is all consumed the ashes are scraped out and damp pine leaves filled in to the thickness of a foot; over the pine leaves an opossum cloak is spread and the patient placed carefully thereon; he is then covered all over, with the exception of his face, with another cloak, then all over the cloak earth is spread of a thickness capable of retaining the steam without weighing too heavily upon the patient; to attain the former and obviate the latter the finest earth that can be procured is only used, that is in the absence of sand, sand in all cases being preferred when comeatable.

During the progress of the bath the perspiration exudes from the face in great globules, and the hair becomes quite wet from the same cause, a female attendant is seated by the side of the patient, and it is her duty to wipe off the perspiration as occasion requires, the napkin used for this purpose being a soft piece of the ever useful opossum skin.

When the Baangal (doctor) thinks that the patient has been steamed enough, he is removed from the pit carefully, and expeditiously rubbed dry, after which he is closely rolled up in cloaks, and placed so that a breath of wind cannot reach him.

Although the aborigines are perfectly well aware of the vast benefit which patients suffering from many complaints derive from the use of these baths, it is but seldom that their efficacy is tested, simply because the preparation of them entails more labour than they care about expending, unless indeed in extreme cases, or when the patient is held in high estimation by the tribe; then, of course, no degree of trouble is deemed burdensome.

Hot sand baths are also used for local application, more especially for rheumatic affections of the joints. The sand is heated by simply being poured on to a fire, prepared to that end only, and allowed to remain there until the fire is consumed, when it is withdrawn in portions as required, such portions being brought to the right temperature by the admixture of cold sand. The sand as prepared is applied by the Baangal to the affected part: he takes it up in double handfuls, and holds it against the seat of pain, and as the sand becomes cool he lets it fall and applies a fresh lot, so he continues until the pain is removed or the sand exhausted.

Sin autem nec venis incidendis quidquam profecerint, et calidi vaporis usus, quod quidem varo accidit, curantium spem fefellerit, ingravescente morbo, ad extremum remedium confugiunt, foedum illud quidem et quod referre pudeat, verum tamen, si hujus gentis medicos audias vel in gravissimis morbis certissimum. Mulierem ob guventutem firmitatemque corporis lectam sex vel plures vivi in locum haud procul a castris remotum deducunt; ibique omnes deinceps in illa libidinem explent. Tum mulier ad pedas surgere jubetur, quo facilius, id quod maribus excepit, effluere possit; quod in vase collectum agrotanti ebibendum praebent. Infandam sane potionem, cujus tamen vim salutiferam hujus regionis incolae plurimis exemplis demonstratam esse confirmant. Equidem ipse in pluribus periculum factum esse comperi, sed ne in uno quidem languentis corporis vires fuisse redintegratas. Ceterum haud provsus incredibile videtur liquorem, qui vitae communicandae enservit, eundem vi quadam vitali esse praeditum; ideoque fieri potest, ut quemadmodum ipsi uno ore testantur, homines ex illo haustu haud quidem morbo liberentur, sed in morbus excesserit, vires mali dituonitate affliatas denuo recipiant. Sed quoniam in hugus modi quæstionibus plane hospes sum, artis mediiae peritis rem dijudicandam relinquo.

In the treatment of snake-bites they are singularly successful. In my long experience of the aborigines I only know of one death resulting from that cause, although I have been cognizant of many aborigines being bitten from time to time. Their method of extracting the poison, though primitive, is most effectual. The

moment an aborigine is bitten, he squats down and pinches the bitten part between his thumb-nails. This causes the blood to exude from the fang punctures, which is rubbed off every now and then as it gathers. During this pinching part of the operation, his murtoomoo (wife) or companion, as the case may be, has not been idle. A small fire has been made, and a piece of of opossum skin heated thereat, to as high a temperature as the material will bear without shrivelling. When the blood ceases to flow from the pinchings, the heated skin is placed on the fang marks and kept there firmly by the palm of the hand; when the skin gets slightly cool it is removed, and the punctures sucked until the skin is reheated, when the sucking ceases, and the hot skin is again applied, and so the cure progresses, alternate sucking and the hot opossum skin applications until the patient is deemed out of danger. The whole operation seldom lasts more than three-quarters of an hour.

If one

A sting from a deaf adder, however, is considered by the natives hopelessly fatal, therefore they rarely attempt the extraction of the deadly virus injected by that reptile's horny tail spur, in fact, they have not any time to try a cure, for the victim seldom lives twenty minutes after being wounded. These reptiles are the most dreaded of all the snake kind by the aborigines, by reason of their superior virulency. To add to the danger arising from these reptiles, nothing will move them from the position in which they are met. is touched by a careless foot, or even by a piece of stick, as he lies in the path, he does not crawl away from the interrupting object as quickly as possible, as is the habit of most other reptiles; no indeed, he merely raises his head and tail simultaneously, and with the rapidity of thought, seizes the disturbing object with his mouth, holding firmly thereby, whilst he drives his tail spur into it repeatedly.

I once saw a native bitten by a black snake; the punctures were on the shin a little above the ancle; it occurred whilst we were shooting ducks on a Murray lagoon. On being bitten, the first thing the blackfellow did was to kill the snake, he then squatted on the ground and pinched the fang punctures very hard; the blood as a matter of course under this treatment oozed from the wounds pretty freely, and as long as the faintest trace of blood came so long did the pinching continue; however, the whole proceedings did not occupy more than ten minutes. When the aborigine got up he said it was all right, and there was an end of the matter.

On another occasion, I knew of a native being struck on the great toe, also by a black snake. He was walking from the fishing ground to the camp after sunset when it happened, and as he had still 2 miles to go after the accident the poison had ample time to get into the circulation. As a matter of course, in this case the poison could not be pinched out, because the punctures were

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