home. He then got up and went up the wind. When it ceased, he rested himself. When it again commenced to blow, he travelled, until after a time he opened his eyes and could see that his body was wonderfully marked.
The way which Ngura-wordu-punnuna went to his home is marked by the course of the Cooper, and its bends and curves were made by the Mura-mura's serpentine movements as he travelled.
Directly the scales had fallen from his eyes, his sight became stronger and clearer, and the markings on his body were brighter and more distinct. Thus it was that at Kalyumaru[1] he became covered with a new skin from head to tail, beautifully marked and shining, and he saw himself as he had never seen himself before. But even now he was dependent upon the wind. When it blew from the west he wandered on, when it blew from some other direction he rested, and at those places Kadimarkara were produced from his excrement.
According to some versions, there were at that time two Kadimarkara living at Yidni-minka, who hid themselves in their burrows out of fear of him. At Ngapa-ngayimala[2] the Mura-mura Ngura-wordu-punnuna found the way blocked by two Kadimarkara, which had laid themselves down with their heads towards him. As they would not let him pass, he threw them aside with the Kunya, with which his head was armed, and passed on. Two great trees, growing there, one on each side of the channel, are the Kadimarkara.[3] He passed between them, and beyond that place came to another Kalyumaru, where there were many Kalyu bushes. Many Mura-muras were assembled there, but he, being now a Kadimarkara, could not remain with them. At Kunyani[4] he saw the great Pirha of the Mura-mura Pampo-ulu, who had filled it with Tuna-worin-yalka,[5] to produce rain by placing it in a water-hole, secured by sticks. Then at Nganti-wokarana he saw the Mura-mura of that name, with his long Tippa,[6] and going farther, he came to Ngura-wordu, which he named after the Kadimarkara which were produced from his excrement. Thence he went to Nari-wolpu,[7] the place where an assemblage of Mura-mura was broken up by reason of the bones of
- ↑ Kalyumaru is a large sheet of water in Cooper's Creek, near the Queensland boundary, where I established my depôt on my second expedition in 1863. Kalyu is an acacia; Maru is a wide expanse of country.
- ↑ Ngapa is "water," and Ngayimala is "throat," "swallow." Part of the Cooper, where it is confined between narrow banks, is thus named the Throat of the Water.
- ↑ From what I remember of this place, these trees are probably Eucalyptus rostrata.
- ↑ Kunya is in Dieri a longish-pointed bone or piece of wood, such as the point of a spear, which is used in evil magic.
- ↑ Tuna is "gypsum."
- ↑ Tippa is a tassel worn by the men, made of the tails of the rabbit-bandicoot.
- ↑ This name means "Dead bones."
