Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/176

 code which interferes most materially with their liberty of action; and as they lay claim to a higher than mere human origin, so they reject all appeal to reason, and however childish or absurd they may appear, or however cruel or revolting may be the practices which they sanction, they triumph over all the objections which may be raised by common sense. It is in fact the history of priestcraft all over the world. Some idea of the absurdity of these customs may be formed from the mode of procedure upon the death of a native, whether occurring from disease or accident. The following account is from the evidence of a Mr. Thomas, an assistant protector, on a trial at Melbourne, and is taken verbatim from the newspaper report:—

It appears from Captain Grey's narrative that a similar idea (as to there being no such thing as natural death) prevails among the natives of Western Australia,