he request of Bennillong, a blanket was laid over
the corpse, and Cole-be his friend sat by the body all night, nor could
he be prevailed on to quit it.

They remained rather silent till about one in the morning, when the women
began to cry, and continued for some time. At daylight Bennillong brought
his canoe to the place, and cutting it to a proper length, the body was
placed in it, with a spear, a fiz-gig, a throwing-stick, and a line which
Ba-loo-derry had worn round his waist. Some time was taken up in
adjusting all this business, during which the men were silent, but the
women, boys, and children uttered the most dismal lamentations. The
father stood alone and unemployed, a silent observer of all that was
doing about his deceased son, and a perfect picture of deep and
unaffected sorrow. Every thing being ready, the men and boys all assisted
in lifting the canoe with the body from the ground, and placing it on the
heads of two natives, Collins and Yow-war-re. Some of the assistants had
tufts of grass in their hands, which they waved backwards and forwards
under the canoe, while it was lifting from the ground, as if they were
exorcising some evil spirit. As soon as it was fixed on the heads of the
bearers, they set off, preceded by Bennillong and another man,
Wat-te-wal, both walking with a quick step towards the point of the cove
where Bennillong's hut stood. Mau-go-ran, the father, attended them armed
with his spear and throwing-stick, while Bennillong and Wat-te-wal had
nothing in their hands but tufts of grass, which as they went they waved
about, sometimes turning and facing the corpse, at others waving their
tufts of grass among the bushes. When they fronted the corpse, the head
of which was carried foremost, the bearers made a motion with their heads
from side to side, as if endeavouring to avoid the people who fronted
them. After proceeding thus to some little distance, Wat-te-wal turned
aside from the path, and went up to a bush, into which he seemed to look
very narrowly, as if searching for something that he could not find, and
waving about the tufts of grass which he had in either hand. After this
fruitless search, they all turned back, and went on in a somewhat quicker
pace than before. On their drawing near the spot where the women and
children were sitting with the other men, the father threw two spears
towards, but (evidently intentionally) short of them. Here Bennillong
took his infant child, Dil-boo