Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/391

VII times, and dreams are generally true.' Sometimes the suspected Bangal (medicine-man), seeing no other way out of it, admits that he has something that he is burning, but makes the excuse that it was given to him to burn, and that he did not know to whom it belonged. In such a case he would give the thing to the friends of the sick man, telling them to put it in water to put the fire out; and when this had been done, the man would probably feel better."

In the Jupagalk tribe the method was to tie the thing, or fragment which had belonged to, or been touched by, the intended victim, to the end of a digging-stick, by a piece of cord. This was stuck in the ground in front of a fire; and as it swung there, the Bangal sang over it till it fell, which was a sign that the spell was complete.

Among the Kulin tribes the practice was to use a spear-thrower for this purpose instead of a digging-stick, and it was called Kalbura-murriwun, or broken spear-thrower.

The Wurunjerri believed firmly that the Wirrarap (medicine-man) could kill persons, far or near, by means of Mung, or evil magic, through the agency of many substances, among which the Thundal, or quartz crystals, stood first. This he could project, either invisibly, or else as a small whirlwind a foot or so high. The effect on a man caught in such a way was, according to Berak, that he felt a chill, then pains and shortness of breath. A medicine-man, being consulted, would look at him and say, "Hallo! there is a lot of Mung in you." Then alone, or with other medicine-men, he sat near and watched the man, until one of them saw the magical substance trying to escape, it might be in the middle of the night. Then he would run after it, catch it, and breaking a piece off it to prevent it escaping again, put it into his magic-bag for future use. Any article once belonging to, or having been used by, the intended victim, would serve to work an evil spell. A piece of his hair, some of his faeces, a bone picked up by him and dropped, a shred of his opossum rug, would suffice, and among the Wotjobaluk, if he were seen to spit, this would be carefully picked up with a piece of wood, and used for his destruction.

The old beliefs are also adapted to their new