CHAPTER XXX.
PHYSICAL PHENOMENA.
SYNOPSIS:— Aboriginal Theories of the "Heavenly Bodies." —Theories of the Black Man" Creation. —"Nooralie" Mythology. —Comets. —Eclipses. —Atmospherical Observations. —Earthquakes.
THE Aborigines of Victoria had not only some knowledge of astronomy, but a curious notion of the existence of what are known as "The Heavenly Bodies" prevailed amongst them. Fluttering in their traditions is one pointing to an early belief that a race of wise birds, of which the eagle-hawk and the crow were the first and second in command, ruled the country before the appearance on earth of the black people, and that all such ancestry was translated to the skies, and there became the sun, moon and stars. There are several theories as to how the first "black man was created, one being that he appeared at a place called Koorra-boort, near Ballarat, and was formed from the gum of the wattle-tree. Other folk-lore declares that the world was fabricated by mythical beings known as the "Nooralie," so potent that they could order the sun and the moon to do just as they liked. At first the sun shone continuously, and the blackfellows tiring of the monotonous brilliancy prayed for a change; so as to oblige them the "Nooralie" decreed that the sun should divide his work with the moon, and thus were formed the alternations of light and darkness. The moon in those remote times was not the cold chaste goddess we are taught by modern poets to believe her, but a very roystering sort of young man, who raked away amongst the stars, and did no little mischief there. The "Nooralie," however, soon put him on his good behaviour, by commanding him to die, and resume life at certain periods, and hence originated the punctuality with which the luminary goes away and returns. There is an amazing mixing up of the moon's sex amongst the Aborigines of the Australian Continent, for whilst she was reputed to have been something of the high-blooded larrikin in the Victorian quarter, in portions of South Australia she was originally classed as a young woman-a capricious courtezan, whose presence tended much towards the demoralization of the male proportion of the community, on which she practised with her insidious and wicked spells.
Comets
Were but little known of, and whenever one was seen it was terribly alarming to the sable race. The first recorded visit of a comet in Melbourne was on the 3rd March, 1843, when great consternation was caused by the appearance in the Heavens of an object resembling a gigantic moonbeam. When first observed it was shaped like a dart; then its extremity curved, and gradually turned into a sword-blade. On the third night it was ascertained to be a comet of first-class magnitude, the denser part of the tail being thirty degrees in extent. It was travelling eastward, and had traversed about thirty degrees since its first appearance. It remained until 10.30, and it is declared that "never were the eyes of man in this hemisphere greeted with a more magnificent appearance in the heavens."
The effect the advent of such a "illustrious stranger" had upon the Aborigines is evidenced by the following extract from an interesting paper contributed by Mr. A. C. Le Souef, Usher of the Legislative Council, to Brough Smyth's invaluable work on "The Aborigines of Victoria":—
"They are very superstitious. Comets are their peculiar aversion. The first night the great comet of 1842 (1843) appeared, there was dreadful commotion and consternation among the Australian tribes. A large number were encamped close to the station where I resided, and I remember the intense alarm it created-different spokesmen gesticulated and speechified far into the night; but as the comet still
