Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/171

 the contrast, the painted figures of the natives, now brought into strong relief, now lost in the gloom of the forest, their uncouth gestures, and the wild and melancholy but not unpleasing cadence of their simple chant, combined to produce an effect which more ambitious displays often fail to realize. I was brought down from the train of reflections naturally suggested by a scene at once so novel and so wild, by the observation of one of our men, who exclaimed in the spirit of Trinculo, "Why then, a man would make a power of money, if he had them fellows at home for a show."

In the end of 1843, or beginning of 1844, a new corrobaree was introduced amongst the natives, about which they were perfectly wild, spending not only the nights, but a great part of the day, in practising it; in fact, the enthusiasm which it caused, could only be equalled by that excited by the Polka in England about the same time.

These corrobarees are held (generally by moonlight) upon different occasions, such as, when going to war, or at the initiation of the young men of the tribe. They are also, I am informed, held for the solace of the spirits of the dead, in the same way that in more civilized countries masses are said for their souls; on these occasions, a large piece of bark is said to be made use of, on which are placed lines corresponding with the number of the dead; when so many steps have been gone through, one soul is checked off, and so on until all of them are disposed of. In the war corrobarees the women are said to join, and are described as rushing about and screaming like so many furies. The corro-