Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/518

492 a whirlwind, which Bellin-bellin (the Musk-crow) let out of his skin bag at his order. There, as the old men instructed the boys, he still remains, looking down on the Kulin. A significant instance of this belief is that Berak, when a boy, "before his whiskers grew," was taken by his Kangun (mother's brother) out of the camp at night, who, pointing to the star Altair with his spear-thrower, said: "See! that one is Bunjil; you see him, and he sees you." This was before Batman settled on the banks of the Yarra River, and is conclusive as to the primitive character of this belief.

One of the legends about Bunjil in the Woëworung tribe is perpetuated in a corrobboree which was witnessed in the early forties by Richard Howitt. The legend is that Bunjil held out his hand to the sun (Gerer) and warmed it, and the sun warmed the earth, which opened, and blackfellows came out and danced this corrobboree, which is called Gayip. At it images curiously carved in bark were exhibited.

Usually Bunjil was spoken of as Mami-ngata, that is, "Our Father," instead of by the other name Bunjil.

It is a striking phase in the legends about him that the human element preponderates over the animal element. In fact, I cannot see any trace of the latter in him, for he is in all cases the old blackfellow, and not the eagle-hawk, which his name denotes; while another actor may be the kangaroo, the spiny ant-eater, or the crane, and as much animal as human.

Protector Thomas and Protector Parker, who had much knowledge of the Kulin tribes, give some particulars of their beliefs as to Bunjil which are worth quoting. Bunjil was the maker of the earth, trees, and men, and his name exists in the language as the term for wisdom or knowledge.

Among the Kurnai, under the influence of the initiation ceremonies, the knowledge of the being who is the equivalent of Bunjil is almost entirely restricted to the initiated men. The old women know that there is a supernatural being in