Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/39

 INTRODUCTION. xxix the shoulders of some five or six persons to the places where the deceased had been living. Another native is hidden under the bier, who seems to be in communication with the corpse. He inquires who it was that killed him. If the answer is "no one," the inquiry ceases; but if the reply is that some person has, the bier moves round, the corpse being supposed to produce the motion, aided by "Kuingo," a fabulous personification of death. If the alleged murderer be present, the bier is carried round by the supposed agency of "Kiungo," so that one of the branches touches him. Upon this a battle takes place either immediately, or in a day or two.* The body, when removed from the bier, is laid in a grave, from four to six feet deep, with the head to the west. The same author states that children under four years are not buried for some months after death. They are carefully wrapped up and carried about by the mothers in the daytime, and made to serve the purpose of pillows at night until they become perfectly dried up, when they are buriedwhether with any special ceremonies or not is unknown. The descriptions of Mr. Taplin and Mr. Meyer will show other modes of disposing of the dead. As already stated on the occasion of a death in the Dieyeri† tribe, the relatives of the deceased devour the flesh of the dead, and then smear themselves over with charcoal and fat, making a black ring round the mouth. The women paint, in addition, two white stripes on their arms. The other members of the tribe daub themselves over with white clay as a sign of mourning. Some of the tribes light fires at the graves. At a native burial-ground, on the banks of the Torrens, the writer has frequently seen them. The firesticks were arranged in the following form, the lighted ends pointing towards each other: arranged in this way they burn for a long time. After a death takes place in a tribe the name of the deceased is never mentioned. All over the continent this singular custom prevails, and the feeling is so strong in South Australia that the tribes change the names of any places or objects after which the deceased has been called. Almost all deaths are supposed to be caused by witchcraft or sorcery, and in
 * Eyre. † Gason.