When I speak of my "mountain home," it must not be supposed that Iremained in one place.As a matter of fact, in accordance with my usual practice, I took long excursions in different directions extending over weeks and even months at a time.On these occasions I always took with me a kind of nut, which, when eaten, endowed one with remarkable powers of vitality and endurance.Since my return to civilisation I have heard of the Kola nut, but cannot say whether the substance used by the Australian aboriginal is the same or not.I remember we generally roasted ours, and ate it as we tramped along.In the course of my numerous journeys abroad Iblazed or marked a great number of trees; my usual mark being an oval, in or underneath which I generally carved the letter "L." Iseldom met with hostile natives in this region, but when I did my mysterious bow and arrows generally sufficed to impress them.By the way, I never introduced the bow as a weapon among the blacks, and they, on their part, never tried to imitate me.They are a conservative race, and are perfectly satisfied with their own time-honoured weapons.
Wild geese and ducks were plentiful in those regions, and there was an infinite variety of game.From this you will gather that our daily fare was both ample and luxurious.
And we had pets; I remember I once caught a live cockatoo, and trained him to help me in my hunting expeditions.I taught him a few English phrases, such as "Good-morning," and "How are you?";and he would perch himself on a tree and attract great numbers of his kind around him by his incessant chattering.I would then knock over as many as I wanted by means of my bow and arrows.At this time, indeed, I had quite a menagerie of animals, including a tame kangaroo.Naturally enough, I had ample leisure to study the ethnology of my people.I soon made the discovery that my blacks were intensely spiritualistic; and once a year they held a festival which, when described, will, I am afraid, tax the credulity of my readers.The festival I refer to was held "when the sun was born again,"--I.E., soon after the shortest day of the year, which would be sometime in June.On these occasions the adult warriors from far and near assembled at a certain spot, and after a course of festivities, sat down to an extraordinary SEANCE conducted by women--very old, wizened witches--who apparently possessed occult powers, and were held in great veneration.These witches are usually maintained at the expense of the tribe.The office, however, does not necessarily descend from mother to daughter, it being only women credited with supernatural powers who can claim the position.
After the great corroboree the people would squat on the ground, the old men and warriors in front, the women behind, and the children behind them.The whole congregation was arranged in the form of a crescent, in the centre of which a large fire would be set burning.Some of the warriors would then start chanting, and their monotonous sing-song would presently be taken up by the rest of the gathering, to the accompaniment of much swaying of heads and beating of hands and thighs.The young warriors then went out into the open and commenced to dance.
I may as well describe in detail the first of these extraordinary festivals which I witnessed.The men chanted and danced themselves into a perfect frenzy, which was still further increased by the appearance of three or four witches who suddenly rose up before the fire.They were very old and haggard-looking creatures, with skins like shrivelled parchment; they had scanty, dishevelled hair, and piercing, beady eyes.They were not ornamented in any way, and seemed more like skeletons from a tomb than human beings.After they had gyrated wildly round the fire for a short time, the chant suddenly ceased, and the witches fell prostrate upon the ground, calling out as they did so the names of some departed chiefs.Adeathly silence then fell on the assembled gathering, and all eyes were turned towards the wreaths of smoke that were ascending into the evening sky.The witches presently renewed their plaintive cries and exhortations, and at length I was amazed to see strange shadowy forms shaping themselves in the smoke.At first they were not very distinct, but gradually they assumed the form of human beings, and then the blacks readily recognised them as one or other of their long-departed chiefs--estimable men always and great fighters.The baser sort never put in an appearance.
Now the first two or three times I saw this weird and fantastic ceremony, I thought the apparitions were the result of mere trickery.
But when I saw them year after year, I came to the conclusion that they must be placed in the category of those things which are beyond the ken of our philosophy.I might say that no one was allowed to approach sufficiently close to touch the "ghosts,"--if such they can be termed; and probably even if permission had been granted, the blacks would have been in too great a state of terror to have availed themselves of it.
Each of these seances lasted twenty minutes or half-an-hour, and were mainly conducted in silence.While the apparitions were visible, the witches remained prostrate, and the people looked on quite spellbound.Gradually the phantoms would melt away again in the smoke, and vanish from sight, after which the assembly would disperse in silence.By next morning all the invited blacks would have gone off to their respective homes.The witches, as Iafterwards learnt, lived alone in caves; and that they possessed wonderful powers of prophecy was evidenced in my own case, because they told me when I came among them that I would still be many years with their people, but I would eventually return to my own kind.The warriors, too, invariably consulted these oracles before departing on hunting or fighting expeditions, and religiously followed their advice.
