Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/403

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VII
MEDICINE-MEN AND MAGIC
377

as Tankowillin expressed it, they "were not strong enough." Under the influence of their magic spells, Bundawal was expected to rise from his camp and walk to them in a trance, "like it sleep." When the victim entered the magic circle the Bunjil-barn would throw small pieces of He-oak wood, shaped like the Guliwils before mentioned, at him. When he fell to the ground they would cut out his tongue, or rather, as the Bunjil-barn explained to me, would have pulled out a great length of it, cutting it free at each side as it was protruded, and so sent him home to die. The Brabra clan of the tribe called this practice Jellun-daiun, or tongue-choke. The great Headman Bruthen-munji is said to have been the last known victim of this form of evil magic. His tribal son Tulaba has repeated to me his counter charm against Barn, which runs as follows: "Numba jellung barnda," literally, "Never sharp barn," or anglicised, "Never shall sharp barn catch me." This was repeated in a monotonous chant.

The secrecy with which personal names are often kept arises in great measure from the belief that an enemy, who knows your name, has in it something which he can use magically to your detriment.

I have been told of a certain way of catching a person with Barn, namely, to find the place where he has sat down on the ground and left an impression on it. But the incantation must be commenced immediately after his departure.

One of the spells sung by the Bunjil-barn is as follows:—

Mtinang ngiai (then the person's name),
Coming he is
biar lounganda barnda.
along swinging him barn is.

A practice analogous to that of Barn obtained in the Yuin tribe, where medicine-men, when it was deemed advisable to kill some one, or attack people in secret, went into the bush and made a Talmaru or magic fire. Round this they danced, rubbed with charcoal, and shouting the name of the person, and showing Joïa, that is, exhibiting magical objects after their manner at the initiation cere-