Page:Aboriginesofvictoria01.djvu/518

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434
THE ABORIGINES OF VICTORIA:

"Kourt-chin (Magellan Clouds); the larger cloud a male, and the lesser cloud a female Native Companion (Grus Australasianus).

"War-ring (Galaxy); the smoke of the fires of the Nurrumbung-uttias. Another account is, that only a part of the Galaxy is the smoke of the fires of the Nurrumbung-uttias, and that the other part is two Mindii—enormous snakes—which made the Murray (Millee). The existing Mindii are about eighteen feet long.

"Kulkun-bulla (the stars in the belt and scabbard of Orion); a number of young men dancing. (A corrobboree.)

"Larnan-kurrk (Pleiades); a group of young women playing to Kulkun-bulla.

"Ghellar-lec (Aldebaran); Rose Cockatoo (Cacatue Leadbeateri); an old man chanting, and beating time to Kulkun-bulla and Larnan-kurrk.

"Warc-pil (Sirius); male Eagle; a chief of the Nurrumbung-uttias, and brother of War.

"Collow-gullouric Ware-pil (Rigel); female Eagle; wife of Ware-pil.

"Won (Corona); a boomerang thrown by Totyarguil.

"Weet-kurrk (Star in Boötes, west of Arcturus); daughter of Marpean-kurrk.

"War (Canopus); male Crow; the brother of Ware-pil, and the first to bring fire from space (tyrille), and give it to the Aborigines, before which they were without it.

"Collow-gullouric; War (a large red star in Rober Caroli, marked 966); female Crow, wife of War. All the small stars around her are her children.

"Yerrer-det-kurrk (Achernar); Nalwin-kurrk, or mother of Totyarguil's wives.

"Otchocut (Delphinus); Great Fish.

"Collen-bitchick (double star in the head of Capricornus); a large Ant, uncle to Totyarguil, and rescuer of his remains from the Bun-yip. The double star is his fingers feeling for the bank of the river.

"Yurree (Castor), Wanjel (Pollux); two young men that pursue Purra and kill him at the commencement of the great heat; and Coonar-toorung (Mirage) is the smoke of the fire by which they roast him. When their smoke is gone, weeit (autumn) begins.

"Purra (Capella); Kangaroo; who is pursued and killed by Yurree and Wanjel.

"Unurgunite (a small star, marked fifth magnitude 22, between two larger ones, in the body of Canis Major). He fights Mityan, and makes him run away, for having tried to induce one of Unurgunite's wives to elope with him. The star on either side of Unurgunite is his wife; that farthest from him is the object of Mityan's affections.

"The tribes inhabiting the country extending from Swan Hill to Mount Franklin have similar names and mythological representations for the stars to those here described."