Indeed, to those who have been from infancy accustomed to the quiet consecrated burying places of our own land,--spots which, in rural districts, are usually retired, yet not quite removed from the reach of "the busy hum of men;" to those who have always looked upon a Christian temple, "Whose taper spire points, finger-like, to heaven," as the almost necessary accompaniment of a burial-place, the appearance of the native tombs in the desolate wilds of a savage and uncultivated country, must be dreary in the extreme. Scenes of this character must appear to the eye of a Christian almost emblematical of the spiritual blank--the absence of any sure and certain hope--in the midst of which the natives, whose remains are there reposing, must have lived and died. How striking is Captain Grey's description of another tomb, which was found in a totally different part of New Holland, near the western coast, and at no great distance from the Swan River settlement! The scenery, not, indeed, in the immediate vicinity, but very near to the newly-made grave, is thus described. Even at mid-day, the forest wore a sombre aspect, and a stillness and solitude reigned throughout it that were very striking. Occasionally, a timid kangaroo might be seen stealing off in the distance, or a kangaroo-rat might dart out from a tuft beneath your feet, but these were rare circumstances. The most usual disturbers of these wooded solitudes were the black cockatoos; "but I have never, in any part of the world," adds the enterprising traveller, "seen so great a want of animal life as in these mountains." It was not far from this lonely district, in a country nearly resembling it, only less wooded and more broken into deep valleys, that a recent grave was found, carefully constructed, with a hut built over it, to protect the now senseless slumberer beneath from the rains of winter. All that friendship could do to render his future state happy had been done. His throwing-stick was stuck in the ground at his head; his broken spears rested against the entrance of the hut; the grave was thickly strewed with _wilgey_, or red earth; and three trees in front of the hut, chopped with a variety of notches and uncouth figures, bore testimony that his death had been bloodily avenged. The native Kaiber, who acted as guide to the travellers, gazed upon this scene with concern and uneasiness. Being asked why the spears were broken, the trees notched, and the red earth strewed upon the grave, his reply was, "Neither you nor I know: our people have always done so, and we do so now,"--quite as good a reason as many who think themselves far more enlightened are able to give for their actions. When a proposal was made to stop for the night at this solitary spot, poor Kaiber resisted it; "I cannot rest here," said he, "for there are many spirits in this place."[63] [63] See, however, a more pleasing picture of a native burying-place, in Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 321.