Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/134

 would speak to any European except to the few who were implicitly trusted.

In November 1882 Mr. James Manning read to the Royal Society of New South Wales an elaborate paper, embodying information which he had procured in frequent conversations in 1844 with a native whose confidence he 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 his paper. Differences 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 Rev. Mr. Gunther, who was for many years a missionary at Wellington Valley, far from the scene of Mr. Manning's inquiries 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 immortality of everlasting enjoyment among the stars, and reserved their fears for an evil spirit, indicating them by mysterious belief in omens. That they believed in an informing soul in their 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. Ridley, after years of intelligent labour and study, wrote: "Their tradition concerning Baiame, the