fish and shellfish, to
which as subsidiary articles may be added lizards, snakes, possums,
various birds, and an occasional kangaroo, turtle, dugong, or porpoise.
Several roots (one of which is a true yam) together with various fruits
in their seasons--especially a cashew-nut or Anacardium, also the base of
the undeveloped central leaves of the cabbage-palm, are much prized. The
digging up of roots and collecting of shellfish are duties which devolve
upon the females.

Before the arrival of Europeans, in cases of remarkable disease or
accident, certain old men known by the name of bilbo (by which cognomen
the medical officers of the settlement have also been distinguished) were
applied to for advice. I know of no popular remedies, however, with the
exception of tight ligatures near a wound, bruise or sore, the object of
which is to prevent the malady from passing into the body. In like manner
for a headache, a fillet is bound tightly across the forehead. These
people, like most other savages, recover in a most surprising manner from
wounds and other injuries which would probably prove fatal to a European.
The chief complaint to which they are subject is a mild form of
ophthalmia, with which I once saw three-fourths of the natives about the
settlement affected in one or both eyes; they themselves attributed this
affection to the lurgala, or cashew-nut, then in season, the acrid oil in
the husk of which had reached their eyes.

BURIAL CEREMONIES.

On the death of any one of the natives, the relatives give utterance to
their grief in loud cries, sobs, and shrieks, continued to exhaustion.
Some cut their bodies and tear their hair, and the women paint their
faces with broad white bands. The body is watched by night, and the
appearance of the first falling-star is hailed with loud shouts and
waving of fire-brands, to drive off the yumburbar, an evil spirit which
is the cause of all deaths and other calamities, and feeds on the
entrails of the newly dead. When decomposition has gone on sufficiently
far, the bones are carefully removed, painted red, wrapped up in bark,
and carried about with the tribe for some time; after which they are
finally deposited, either in a hollow tree or a shallow grave, over which
a low mound of earth and stones is raised, occasionally ornamented with
posts at the corners. I was unable to find out what circumstances
determine the mode of burial in each case; neither differences of sex,
age, or