Part 2

Page 7. “Behold them on the open plain,” &c.--Illustrative of children’s games, to which may be added the ball, and what is known to Europeans as the scratch-cradle.

Page 15. “Cowering nearer,” &c.--The current belief of the tribe.

Page 17. “In all good things,” &c.--Describes what, in native estimation, a man or a tribe’s welfare consists.

Page 20. “Then with great skill,” &c.--Descriptive of a warrior’s dress.

Page 21. “Repeat their charms,” &c.--No native retires to rest without some such precaution; their belief is, that evil spirits are busy, in the darkness, to kill them. Fire is a sure guardian. The writer once met a native, many miles from his camp, benighted; he carried a large fire-stick for protection.

“Paune.”--The name given to the ninth child. Sorcerers can change themselves into any shape or substance, instantaneously. Each tribe regards the other as peculiar adepts in sorcery. This belief in witchcraft exercises a most baneful influence on the native mind. It is the source of nearly all their quarrels and violent deaths.

“Patta tree.”--A kind of gum tree.

“Manurapindoo.”--A mystic curse, used in hunting.

“North.”--The North is regarded by the natives as the great seat of diabolical agency, witchcraft, &c.

“Ngamma.”--A man’s name.

“Nillaro.”--A mountain in the Port Lincoln district.

“O why did you die,” &c.--A literal translation of a lament for the dead.

“Spearing fish.”--On the Onkaparinga, the Murray, the Lake, &c., fish are speared. All the spears are jagged, and vary in length according to the fish to be taken, from six feet to twelve or fourteen feet; the latter are for the Murray cod.

“Strike him,” &c.--Literal translations of the curses used on such occasions.

“Strike their shields.”--Mode of salutation in war, as well as in peace, and before a battle very striking and picturesque.

“Spirits bad.”--The aborigines have no _good_ spirits.

“Sacred leg.”--Women and children are not allowed to eat the hind leg of a kangaroo--it is sacred.

“Tau.”--A woman’s name.

“Tunte nung.”--Mid-day.

“Tears run down.”--The expression of sorrow, by the native man, is intense; tears will stream down the face, whilst the most sorrowful lamentations pierce the air, at the same time the women cut themselves, and the men spear each other in the arm; this occurs particularly at funeral solemnities.

“Wurleys.”--Native huts, made from the boughs of trees, and in winter strongly constructed, of a dome shape, and capable of holding from six to a dozen persons. Near whaling stations, the ribs of whales are employed as the frame-work, and the divisions filled up with boughs and sea-weed.

“Warpoo.”--A kind of dagger; it is always _dedicated_, by being drenched in human blood.

“Warra warra.”--Sorcerers.

“Wodlalla.”--A reed.

“Wife, and mother.”--Natives highly esteem the opinion of their mother; this regard is a pleasing trait in their character.

“Winda, or uwinda.”--The largest spear, and generally jagged, from ten to fourteen feet long.

“Yerke.”--A kangaroo rat.

“Yerku.”--A woman’s name.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Legend of Kupirri, by W. A. Cawthorne