Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/387

VII front of a fire. This is said to catch the smell of the person from his clothing. The former wearer of it is then expected to fall ill and die shortly after. This form of evil magic is called Murrai-illa.

The medicine-man of the Wiradjuri also uses a kind of charm called Yangura, consisting of the hair of a dead man mixed with his fat and that of the lace-lizard, rolled into a ball and fastened to a stick about six inches long. This is carefully concealed by the medicine-man until he wishes to make a person ill, or cause his death. Then it is unwrapped and laid before a fire, pointing in the direction of the intended victim, it is believed that the spirit of the dead man whose fat has been used will help the charm to act.

In the Wotjobaluk tribe when a man was believed to have "pointed the bone" at another, the friends of the latter would request the former to place the bone in water so as to undo the mischief which he might have caused. If a man died from "pointing the bone," his friends would take measures to kill the offender by the same means, or by direct violence.

The Kurnai fastened some personal object belonging to the intended victim to a spear-thrower, together with some eagle-hawk's feathers and some kangaroo or human fat. The spear-thrower was then stuck slanting in the ground before a fire, and over it the medicine-man sang his charm. This was generally called "singing the man's name" until the stick fell, when the magic was considered to be complete. Those who used this form of evil magic were called Bunjil-murriwun, the latter word being the name of the spear-thrower. It was, as the Kurnai say, made strong, that is, magically powerful, by being rubbed with kangaroo fat. Although most commonly used for roasting things, it could be also used, as the Kurnai think, in a very fatal manner, by sticking it in the ground where the victim had attended to a call of nature, and in such a case the medicine-man sang the name of the victim, mentioning also the death which he was to die.

An instance of the manner in which the spear-thrower is used, or rather in which Tankowillin wished to use it, came