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:—
"The natives cannot account for death, unless they see the stroke. When any relation dies they are very sulky, and mourn till they get the fat of the kidneys of some other black. When an aboriginal dies, they place the body on the ground,- and dig a trench round it, and when they find within the trench the largest hole of an insect,[1] they consider the first man they find in that direction as the cause of the deceased's death. They also take the depth of the hole, and at a corresponding distance place the party accused, for punishment—that is, for the family of the dead person to throw spears at him. They have a service on the body if a male, but not in the case of a female; it is to inform, as they suppose, the deceased of their intention to revenge his death."
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,
- ↑ The ground is very frequently perforated with holes, in which are deposited the larvæ of insects.
