Upon Arriving At The Boy, The Leading Native Fell Down On His Knees Close To Him, And Took Hold Of The Diseased Leg, The Other Two Still Dancing And Singing Around The Patient.

In a little time, one of the two fell down also on his knees on another side of the

Boy, leaving the third still dancing and singing around them. At last he fell down also on his knees in a triangular position with the others, the boy being in the centre. All three now commenced blowing, spitting, making curious gurgling kinds of noises, waving their green bunches of reeds, and pressing forcibly upon the diseased leg to make the patient give audible indications of the evil spirit leaving him. After some time, two of the three doctors got up again, danced and sung around the boy, and then once more assuming their kneeling positions, recommenced spitting and blowing, waving their bunches of reeds, and making the same curious noises, but louder than ever. Their exorcism at last was effectual, the evil spirit, in the shape of a sharp stone, was extracted from the limb, and driven into the ground; but it was too dark they said to see it. As soon as this agreeable news was announced, the friends of the boy came up and hastily removed him back to the camp, whilst the three doctors assuming the triangular position, sung and danced round the place where the boy had been laid, and then advancing in the same form towards the river, keeping the right foot always in advance, they at last fairly drove the spirit into the water and relieved the neighbourhood from so troublesome a visitor.

[Note 89: "Dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles, and singing songs of incantation, in the hopes to cure him by a charm." - Catlin's North American Indians, vol. i.p. 39.]

It was a long time before I lost a vivid impression of this ceremony; the still hour of the night, the naked savages, with their fancifully painted forms, their wild but solemn dirge, their uncouth gestures, and unnatural noises, all tended to keep up an illusion of an unearthly character, and contributed to produce a thrilling and imposing effect upon the mind.

At the Murray River, singular looking places are found sometimes, made by the natives by piling small stones close together, upon their ends in the ground, in a shape resembling the accompanying diagram, and projecting four or five inches above the ground. The whole length of the place thus inclosed, by one which I examined, was eleven yards; at the broad end it was two yards wide, at the narrow end one. The position of this singular looking place, was a clear space on the slope of a hill, the narrow end being the lowest, on in the direction of the river. Inside the line of stones, the ground was smoothed, and somewhat hollowed. The natives called it Mooyumbuck, and said it was a place for disenchanting an individual afflicted with boils.

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