enjoined in Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 1: Ye are the children of
the Lord your God, ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness
between your eyes for the dead. Now the native females invariably cut
themselves and scratch their faces in mourning for the dead; they also
literally make a baldness between their eyes, this being always one of
the places where they tear the skin with the finger nails.

The custom of remaining amongst the graves is found among the natives of
nearly all known portions of Australia. A similar practice is reprehended
in Isaiah chapter 45 verses 4 and 5: A people that provoke me to anger
continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense
upon altars of brick, which remain among the graves, and lodge in the
monuments. See also on this subject, Lewis's Origines Hebraeae, volume 3
page 381.

In Australia the object supposed to be obtained by this custom is a
revelation as to what individual caused the death of the deceased; this
revelation is made either by the means of actual visions or by dreams.

MYSTERIOUS BONES.

Although the natives of the different portions of Australia have various
modes of effecting the discovery of the sorcerers who caused the death of
the deceased, as well as different modes of avenging his death, I feel
sure that they have all one common object in view. In another part of
this work I have given an account of an old woman watching by a grave
with this intention; I have frequently however seen their sorcerers
fulfil this duty; and the following extract from Mr. Threlkeld's
Vocabulary will show the prevalence of this custom on the eastern side of
the continent:*

Mur-ro-kun, the name of a mysterious bone which is obtained by the
Ka-ra-kul, a doctor or conjuror, three of which sleep on the grave of a
recently interred corpse; when in the night, during their sleep, the dead
person inserts a mysterious bone into each thigh of the three doctors,
who feel the puncture not more severe than that of the sting of an ant.
The bones remain in the flesh of the doctors without any inconvenience to
them, until they wish to kill any person, when by unknown means, it is
said and believed, they destroy in a supernatural manner their ill-fated
victim by the mysterious bone, causing it to enter into their bodies, and
so occasion their death.

(*Footnote. Threlkeld's Vocabulary page 88.)

...

THE BOYL-YAS OR NATIVE SORCERERS.

I have already had occas