Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/68

 and if a meteor is seen about the same time, it is believed to be fire taken up with it. Should fresh grass be found near the cave, when no recent burial has taken place, it indicates that some one has been murdered, and no person will venture near it till the grass decays or is removed.

Witches appear always in the form of an old woman, and are called kuin'gnat yambateetch, meaning 'solitary,' or 'wandering by themselves.' No one knows where they come from or where they go to; and they are seldom seen unless at great meetings. They are dressed in an old ragged kangaroo skin rug, sewn together with rushes, and carry on their backs a worn-out basket containing various charms, and bits of the flesh of opossums and bandicoots. They belong to no tribe, and have no friends; and, as everyone runs away on their approach, they neither speak to anyone nor are spoken to. They are considered harmless.

There is a belief in prognostication of dreams. If a man dreams he will find a swan's nest in some particular spot, he visits the place with the expectation of finding it. If he dreams that something serious happens to him, as, for example, that he is mortally wounded in battle, and if, afterwards, he is wounded, he says, 'I knew that this would take place, for I dreamt it;' and so deeply is he impressed with the idea of approaching death, that he rushes wildly into the fight. If a man is told by a friend that he had a bad dream about him, this will make him very miserable and ill for a long time. If a dog shows agitation while asleep, that is a sign that he dreams of hunting kangaroos, and that he will kill one next day; and so confident is his master in the dog's dream, that he will go out with him the next day to help him.

The aborigines have superstitious ideas connected with certain animals. The grey bandicoot belongs to the women, and is killed and eaten by them, but not by the men or children. Boys are not allowed to eat any female quadruped. When they are caught eating a female opossum, they are punished by their parents, as it makes them peevish and discontented. The common bat belongs to the men, who protect it against injury, even to the half-killing of their wives for its sake. The fern owl, or large goatsucker, belongs to the women, and, although a bird of evil omen, creating terror at night by its cry, it is jealously protected by them. If a man kills one, they are as much enraged as if it was one of their children, and will strike him with their long poles. Children are severely punished if they kill and eat the magpie lark, for it makes their hair prematurely white. The shepherd's companion belongs to both men and women, and is never killed, because it attacks snakes, and gives warning of their