Edward Micklethwaite Curr, The Australian Race (1886)
“ The limbs of the corpse are securely tied together with bands of rushes or bark, so as, if possible, to hinder it from getting out of the grave and wandering about in the shape of a ghost, of which the Australian Black, in all parts, is perpetually apprehensive. ”
Edward Micklethwaite Curr, The Australian Race (1886)
“ Deaths, happen how they may, are always set down as the work of some conjuror of a hostile tribe, who has managed to introduce, whilst yet alive, a Bolya, or evil spirit, into the body of the deceased, and as a consequence it often happens that the deaths of men are avenged with the spear. In their corroborees these tribes present no noteworthy characteristics. Fire, when not otherwise obtainable, is made as usual by the friction of wood. In keeping maimed limbs and deformities out of sight much ingenuity is displayed. ”
Edward Micklethwaite Curr, The Australian Race (1886)
“ The original number of the Blacks who inhabited the neighbourhood of Perth is not known, but, as the result of drunkenness, debauchery, and diseases introduced by the Whites, the Aboriginal population has much decreased, and is fast dying out. They have now but few children amongst them, and those chiefly half-castes. Originally they were clad in rugs each made of a kangaroo skin, a form of dresswhich is almost confined to the tribes of the west coast and its vicinity. Like the rest of the race, they never lose an opportunity of smearing themselves with grease, or oil of any description. ”
