stolen, and, it was
supposed, given to one of the sorcerers, who gained thereby some
mysterious power over either of the two brothers, which he had exercised
on Mulligo, when he caused him to fall and injure his back. Another
sorcerer was called in, who applied fire to the injured part, but
without any success; and since the poor fellow was daily wasting away,
it was imagined that the unfriendly sorcerers came every night to feast
upon the invalid during his hours of sleep. But Moon-dee chose to fancy
that if his wife had been more watchful, the _Boyl-yas_ might have been
detected, and therefore he intended to spear her in the leg, in order to
punish her supposed neglect. This outrage was, however, prevented; and
the two trembling partners of the deceased, neither of whom was above
fifteen years old, fled into Perth, to find among Europeans a refuge
from the violence of their own countrymen. After vowing vengeance
against a great many of the sorcerers, though they had no proof whatever
against any of these in particular, the men followed the widows to
Perth, to see that no one stole them away; and a few only were left with
the women to superintend the funeral.

In about an hour's time, the body was removed to a distance of nearly
half a mile from the spot where the death had taken place, and the women
were still leaning over it, uttering the words, _yang, yang, yang_, and
occasionally chanting a few sentences. The grave was then dug, as usual,
due east and west, with no better instruments than sticks and hands; but
afterwards, when many Europeans had assembled at the spot, to the great
annoyance of the natives, these last occasionally employed a spade,
although, from the extreme narrowness of the grave, it was no easy
matter to make use of this implement. During the digging an insect had
been thrown up, whose motions were watched with the deepest interest,
and since the animal crawled off in the direction of Guildford, this was
thought an additional proof of the guilt of the sorcerers of that place,
who had before been suspected, because the cloak had been stolen by a
man living near this settlement.

When the grave was completed, they set fire to some dried leaves and
twigs which they threw in, and old Weeban, the friendly sorcerer, knelt
at the foot of the grave, with his back to the east, and his head bowed
down to the earth in a posture of the deepest attention; his office
being a very important one, namely, to dis