Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/420

394

Rain-makers and weather-changers are important persons in most parts of Australia, but especially in those parts of the continent which are subject to frequently recurring periods of drought.

In the Dieri country the whole tribe joins under the direction of the medicine-man in "making rain." The sky is supposed to be a vast plain inhabited by wild savage tribes, between whom and the inhabitants of the earth there is no connection. But the legends tell of former inhabitants of the earth, especially the Mura-muras, who live up there, some in constellations, others in hideous forms, such as snakes with feet. The Kunkis sometimes relate their wanderings in that country in the form of crows, snakes, and other creatures, perhaps the result of nightmare. The clouds are supposed to be bodies in which rain is made by the rain-making Mura-muras, influenced by the ceremonies of the Dieri. The clouds are called Thallara-paulka, or the body or substance of rain.

In time of severe drought Mr. Gason has witnessed the Dieri calling upon the rain-making Mura-muras to give them power to make a heavy rainfall, crying out in loud voices the impoverished state of the country, and the half-starved condition of the tribe, in consequence of the difficulty in procuring food in sufficient quantity to preserve life.

During such a drought, to which the Dieri country is much subject, the rain-making ceremonies are considered of much consequence. Mr. Gason witnessed them many times, and gave the following account of them.

When the great council has determined that such a ceremony is to be held, women, accompanied by their Pirraurus, are sent off to the various subdivisions of the tribe, to summon the people to attend at some appointed place. When the tribe is gathered together, they dig a hole about two feet deep, twelve long, and from eight to ten feet wide. Over this they build a hut of logs with the interstices filled in with slighter logs, the building being conical