aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

AUSTRALIA. 79
among other marvels, "writes this: " A spirit appeared to a
lubra, — black woman, — announcing her speedy death. She
related the occurrence the next day, with serious forebodings.
Two days after seeing the apparition she died. Believing
in demoniacal possession, the mediumistic ' medicine-men'
of the tribe exorcise the '
evil sjjirits,' something as did Jesus
and the apostles in New-Testament times. This class of
men also alleviate pain, remove disease, and heal the sick, by
charms and magnetic manipulations. They dance within
the inclosures of mystic rings^ fall in the trance, and describe
the marvelous visions beheld." The Rev. Mr. Ridley
gives the following account of a " corroboree :
" " At
Burndtha, on the Barwon, I met a company of forty blacks
engaging in a ceremony of some mystical purpose. A chorus
of twenty, old and young, were singing, and beating time
with boomerangs. A dozen or more were looking on. Suddenly,
from under a sheet of bark, darted a man, with his
body whitened by pipe-clay, his face painted yellow, and a
tuft of feathers fastened upon the top of his head. He stood
twenty minutes gazing upwards. One of the aborigines,
who stood by, said he was looking for the spirits of dead
men. At length they came, proving to be evil spirits, and a
brisk conflict followed. Others of the party joined in this
warfare wjlth the 'powers in the air,' driving the ghosts
away." They have a singular ceremony, called Ye pene amie
gai, or dance of separate spirits. Holding branches in their
hands, they dance in measured tread, and sing, till they fall
prostrate in a sort of ecstatic trance. While in this condition,
they hold converse with spirits, and utter prophecies.
DECLINE AND DESTINY.
Nominally the aged men are their chiefs, exercising the
principal influence in the tribes. " Civilization" is a very indefinite
term. Australian aborigines, believing it to consist
in being and doing like white men, engage in smoking,
swearing, tricking, drinking, and gambling. The Rev. J.