11
Blura, s.—A species of bee. A species of the leaf-cutter bee is indigenous; but the honey-storing bee has not yet been found, and, I think, does not exist. Several attempts have been made to introduce the bee from England; but, whether from the length of the voyage, or from want of proper management on their arrival, they have been hitherto unsuccessful. This is much to be regretted, as, from the numerous honey-bearing flowers in the colony, there is no doubt of their succeeding well. Governor Hutt has offered a premium to the first successful introducer of them.
Bobo, s.—Grass; vegetation.
Bobban, v.—Pres. part., Bobbanwin; past tense, Bobban-agga. To blow with the mouth.
Bobto, s.—The back of the neck.
Bogal, s.—The back; a hillock marking a grave—hence it is sometimes used for the grave itself as Yongar Bogal, a man's hillock or grave. Within twenty-four hours after the death of a native, preparations are made for burying him. An immediate shrieking and howling are set up by his wives and female connexions, who scratch their faces until the blood flows down, and the skin is partially peeled from them. Some of his very near male relatives proceed to dig the grave, and by the time that is nearly finished the body is conveyed to the spot, wraped in the kangaroo-skin cloak of the deceased. There the shrieking and wailing are continued. The beard is usually cut off and burned, and the ashes rubbed on the foreheads of the near relatives. The nail is stripped from the thumb, and sometimes from the little finger also, by the application of fire; and the thumb and one of the fingers of the right hand are firmly bound together, and the body is now ready for burial. The grave is dug about four-and-a-half feet long, and four feet deep. When it is completely prepared, a quantity of freshly-gathered boughs of the Eucalypti or gum-trees are burned within it; after which a bed of fresh boughs is laid at the bottom, and the body is lowered down, still wrapped in the cloak. The grave extends either east and west, or north and south, according to the manner of the tribe to which the deceased belonged. The mountain tribes bury the body north and south; the head to the south, the body on the right side, with the face looking to the rising sun, and the earth from the grave formed into one crescentic mound, on the west side of the grave. This mode of burial is called Gotyt. The lowland tribes lay the body east and west on its back, the face turned to one side towards the mid-day sun; the clay thrown out in two heaps, one at the head and one at the foot. This mode of burial is called D-yuar. More fresh boughs are then heaped upon the body; then stout stakes are laid lengthways; then cross pieces pressed firmly into the sides; and then boughs again, and so on, until the surface reaches to a level with the upper ground; and finally sand or earth is strewed over the top. Whilst all that is above described is going on, the magician, or Bolyagadak, of the tribe sits wrapped in his cloak at the head of the grave, bending his ear from time to time to the ground, attentively listening for the flight of the spirit, and the communication it may have to make as to the evil originator or cause of his death; and having feigned to obtain this intelligence, he raises his miro in
