Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2Grey, George
History
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2
Grey, George
Natural history -- Australia -- Western Australia; Western Australia -- Discovery and exploration
The next part of their proceedings was to take the body of Mulligo from
the females: they raised it in a cloak; his old mother made no effort to
prevent its being removed, but passionately and fervently kissed the cold
rigid lips, which she could never press to hers again. The body was then
lowered into the grave and seated upon a bed of leaves which had been
laid there directly the fire was extinguished, the face being, according
to custom, turned towards the east. The women still remained grouped
together, sobbing forth their mournful songs, whilst the men placed small
green boughs upon the body until they had more than half filled up the
grave with them; cross-pieces of wood of considerable size were then
fixed in the opposite sides of the grave, green boughs placed on these,
and the earth from the two side heaps thrown in, until the grave was
completed; which then, owing to the heaps at the head and foot, presented
the appearance of three graves, nearly similar in size and form, lying in
a due east and west direction.
The men having now completed their task the women came with bundles of
blackboy tops which they had gathered, and laid these down on the central
heap so as to give it a green and pleasing appearance; they placed
neither meerro nor spear on the grave, but whilst they were filling in
the earth old Weeban and another native sat on their hams at the head of
it, facing the one to the north, and the other to the south, their
foreheads leaning on their clasped hands, which rested on one end of a
meerro whilst the other end was placed on the ground. The ceremonies
having been thus concluded I returned to Perth.
WATCHING THE GRAVE.
Sunday June 16.
This evening I walked out to Mulligo's grave and found his old mother
seated there, crying bitterly. She had indeed good reason to weep, for
those infamous boyl-yas, not content with eating the flesh of her son
during his lifetime, and thereby causing his death, had been detected by
her in the very act of sitting round his grave for the purpose of preying
on his miserable remains. There could, it appears, be no doubt of the
truth of this strange fact, for the poor old lady triumphantly pointed
out their tracks, at the spot from whence they sprang into the air, in
the direction of Guildford; but my eyes unfortunately were not good
enough to detect the slightest vestige of any traces, either human or
spiritual. However much this might have made me suspect the old lady's
veracity it had no such effect upon the natives, and being now firmly
convinced that the Guildford boyl-yas were the guilty parties, they
announced their intention of starting in a few days for the purpose of
putting Weenat to death.
CONTEST FOR MULLIGO'S WIDOWS.
June 17.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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