became angry. Pund-jel became very sulky (Nar-eit),[1] when he saw that men and women were many and very bad. He caused storms to arise, and fierce winds to blow often. In the flat lands there arose suddenly whirlwinds[2] of great force, and on the mountains the big trees were shaken with strong winds. Pund-jel came down to see the men and women. He spoke to no one. He carried with him his big knife. With his knife he went into the encampments, and he cut with his knife. He cut this way and that way; and men, women, and children he cut into very small pieces. But the pieces into which he had cut the men, women, and children did not die. Each piece moved as the worm (Tur-ror) moves. Bullito, bullito, koor-reen, pit-ker-reen (great, great storms and whirlwinds) came and carried away the pieces that moved like worms, and the pieces became like flakes of snow (Kabbing).[3] They were carried into the clouds. The clouds carried the pieces hither and thither over all the earth; and Pund-jel caused the pieces to drop in such places as he pleased. Thus were men and women scattered over the earth. Of the good men and good women Pund-jel made stars. The stars are still in the heavens, and the sorcerers can tell which amongst the stars were once good men and good women.
The Aborigines of the Murray believe not in death—in annihilation. They believe that when the body becomes motionless—in our sense of the word, dead—it may rise again and appear perhaps in the form of a white. But they have a strange account of the occasion on which death—as the word is used in the ordinary sense—was first brought into the world.
The first created man and woman were told not to go near a certain tree in which a Bat (Bon-nel-ya) lived. The Bat was not to be disturbed. One day, however, the woman (Nonga) was gathering firewood, and she went near the tree in which the Bat lived. The Bat flew away, and after that came death. Many amongst the Aborigines died after that.[4]
- ↑ Boo-ki-il (very sulky) is the word used by the men of the Yarra, according to Mr. John Green. The negative form is N'uther jum-buk, i.e., not in a mood to converse or confer with any one.
- ↑ The men of the Yarra tribe say that Ngâr-ang, an evil spirit, causes the whirlwind (Wee-oong-koork) to arise.
- ↑ "Flakes of snow." One unacquainted with the climate of Victoria might suppose that the Aborigiues could have little or no knowledge of snow, and that the simile is far-fetched. But snow falls on the mountains every year, and in winter the plains of the higher parts of the Great Dividing Rauge and the main spur are sometimes more than knee-deep in snow. The Aboriginals are well acquainted with snow-storms, are close observers, and have good memories; and it is probable that something more than is told in the story is meant to be conveyed by the words of the simile.
- ↑ This story appears to bear too close a resemblance to the Biblical account of the Fall. Is it genuine or not? Mr. Bulmer admits that it may have been invented by the Aborigines after they had heard something of scripture history; but he says—"The blackfellow who told me the story was by no means sharp. I should not give him credit for inventing such a story. I believe it to be a genuine tradition of their own." Notwithstanding the similarity, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Bulmer. Some cause must have suggested itself to their minds; and why not this? Mr. Armstrong, interpreter to the natives of West Australia, has communicated the following curious tradition:—The natives state that they have been told, from age to age, that when man
