They were always carefully
wrapped up in bark secured by hair-string. They are said to be used by
the blacks in their several initiation ceremonies, but what their use or
significance is, is not known. No tame boy (i.e., native who can speak
English) will divulge their mysterious meaning. I have repeatedly asked
about them, but have never succeeded in getting any answer beyond "I
dunno, gin (or lubra) no more see 'em; gin see 'em, she tumble down quick
fella." There must be some very queer superstition connected with them,
since the ladies die on seeing them. Indeed, the black fellow has a
somewhat arbitrary method of dealing with his gins, and should they be
ill-advised enough to attempt to argue with him, does not wait to produce
a flat stick, but silences them with a club.
8. RAIN-MAKING BOARDS.
M. Three of similar pattern found at Alexander Spring.
N. Found at Empress Spring hidden away with two similar to M.
With reference to these queer and rudely carved boards I received a
letter from Mr. W. H. Cusack, of Roebourne, North-West Australia, in
which he says: ". . .The implement you allude to is used by the
"Mopongullera," or Rain-doctor, at their ceremony which they hold annually
when they are making the rain. They are very rare, as there is only one
every two hundred miles or so in the country. They are generally left at
the rain ground, where you found yours, or placed in a cave, where the
only one I have seen IN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS was found. They are the most
sacred implements they possess. . ."
It would seem from the foregoing that we were specially lucky in seeing
so many of these boards - viz., six within a distance of fifty
miles - though it is possible that of the three found at Alexander Spring
(on the occasion of our second visit) two might be identical with two of
the three found at Empress Spring. Between our two visits to Alexander
Spring there had evidently been a considerable gathering of blacks, and,
considering the droughty appearance of the country, it seems feasible
that on this occasion every available rain-making board was brought into
use.
We were unfortunately unable to carry the Empress Spring boards, owing to
their bulk and unwieldy shape.
From the other spot, however, seeing that we were nearing our journey's
end, I brought one board - the only one unbroken - into civilisation. This
I gave to Sir John Forrest, who in his journey across the Colony in 1874
found a similar board at the same place. In his journal he writes:
". . .I named it Alexander Spring, after my brother. . . . We also found
about a dozen pieces of wood, some 6 feet long and 3 to 7 inches wide,
and carved and trimmed up. All around were stones put up in forked trees.
I believe it is the place where the right of circumcision is
performed." Mr. Cusack's statement as to their extreme rarity in the
Nor'-West, taken in conjunction with Sir John's experience and ours,
would point to the strong reliance the natives must place on their
Rain-doctor's abilities, for where the rainfall is comparatively great
these boards are rare, while in the almost waterless interior, at a spot
almost exactly in the centre of the Colony, nearly a dozen have been
found.
