Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/774

748 eyes with her hand to give him good sight. She will also plait a hair cord to put on her son when about three years old. It is put under each arm and round the neck, being fastened together on the chest and between the shoulder-blades. This is done that he may develop muscle and strength in the back and chest, and it is generally kept on till he is made into a man, at about the age of puberty. A curious method of counting the children obtained in the Wakelbura tribe. A father having five children would in speaking of or calling them use the following terms: first born, Tayling (thumb); second born, Burbi (first finger); third born, Youlgo (second finger); fourth born, Baljinbura (third finger); fifth born, Nallembrew (little finger). The exceptions to the above are that if there is only one child, and it be a boy, and if he happen to be small, the mother's brother's and sister's children may call him Nallembrew, as a joke; but his parents do not join in this humour. They call him Walbah (boy) till initiation, when he becomes Kaula (young man); if a girl, she is called Umbel (girl) till about eighteen years of age, when she is called by them Unguie (young woman).

Infanticide is practised by the Mining to some extent, the mode of killing being by starvation. After a few days of short commons the child becomes peevish and troublesome, and in consequence more neglected, being placed by itself away from the camp and fires, and is said to be afflicted with Muparn (magic). When death ends its sufferings, Muparn is the cause. The reason they give for this practice is that if their numbers increased too rapidly there would not be enough food for everybody. Yet they are very fond of their offspring, and very indulgent to those they keep, rarely striking them, and a mother would give all the food she had to her children, going hungry herself.

Infants are kept well greased, and much fat is used by