Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/75

Rh unfortunately shot by the manager of a station near Mount Kolor; and his death caused much grief to all the tribes far and near.

On one occasion, when the tribe had a great meeting at a lake called 'Tarræ Yarr,' to the north of Mount Kolor, doubts were expressed as to his power to summon spirits, and make them appear at mid-day. To show he could do this, he went up to the clouds and brought down a gnulla gnulla gneear, in form of an old woman, enveloped in an opossum rug, tied round her waist with a rope of rushes. In order to thoroughly frighten the people, he held her tethered with a grass rope like a wild beast, as though to prevent her chasing and hurting them. He did not allow her to go nearer to the wuurns than about fifty yards. After exhibiting her for half an hour, he led her off. Everyone was intensely terrified at the gnulla gnulla gneear, and the doctor found her a profitable invention, as he received numerous presents of weapons, rugs, and food to keep her away. When he was in want of a fresh supply, he could always command it by a threat of another visit from the gnulla gnulla gneear.

The doctor pretends to cure pains of every description, and makes his patients believe—not unwillingly—that he extracts foreign substances from the body by sucking the sore places. He actually spits out bits of bone, which he had previously concealed in his mouth. He also, by rubbing, apparently makes stones jump out from the affected part.

To cure toothache, a cape made of the basket rush is worn over the shoulders and round the neck, and is laid aside when the pain is gone—its name is weearmeetch. Another remedy is the application of a heated spear-thrower to the cheek. The spear-thrower is then cast away, and the toothache goes with it in the form of a black stone, about the size of a walnut, called karriitch. Stones of this kind are found in the old mounds on the banks of the Mount Emu Creek, near Darlington. The natives believe that when these stones are thrown into the stream at a distance from their residence, they will return to the place where they were found; and as they are considered an infallible remedy for toothache, they are carefully preserved. They are also employed to make an enemy ill, and are thrown in the direction of the offending tribe, with a request to punish it with toothache. If, next day, the stones are found where originally picked up, it is believed that they have fulfilled their mission. Not far from the spot where these stones are plentiful, there is a clump of trees called karriitch—meaning toothache—and the natives of the locality warn their friends never to go near it, for if they do they will be sure to get toothache. Stones of a