of it; some earth is then thrown in, and if the deceased was highly esteemed a second bleeding takes place. Some sticks are placed over the corpse, and above them one long one has its ends driven into the solid ground at the head and foot of the grave by a man jumping on it: that is done to prevent the wild dogs getting to the corpse.

During the ceremony of burial there is much crying and wailing, especially by the women, each one crying in a loud tone the word signifying their relation to the deceased, commencing with a high note and gradually lowering their tone in a shaky voice, repeating the word while they have breath to spare, dwelling long on the last syllable of the word. The words most frequently heard are ammucci (mother), gumbidgi (father), whimberri (child), matoog (friend). This wailing continues over the grave for some time after it is filled in, and at the camp for days afterwards; when one of the women begins to wail, others join, and the mournful chorus can be heard throughout the neighbourhood. The women generally cry at the camp or the grave each day for a week or more after the burial as the sun is setting.

The piece of flesh cut from the dead body is taken to the camp, and after being sun-dried is cut up into small pieces and distributed among relatives and friends of the deceased: some use the piece in making the charm called Yountoo; others suck it to get strength and courage, or throw it into the river to bring a flood and fish, when both are wanted.

After a death in camp, all leave it and pitch their camp on another spot, which is sometimes not far distant. The rugs, weapons, nets, &c., the property of deceased, are hung in a tree near to the camp for about two months, and are then washed and used by some of the relatives.

Most of the women wear mourning, and the nearest relative generally covers her head with white plaster made of calcined selenite or gypsum, and smears the same over her face and body. The head-covering, which is a thick cake, wears a long time; it is fixed to the head by the hair and a small net, which is generally laid over the head before the cake is plastered on. It requires patching only occasionally; but the thinner coat on face and body soon crumbles away, and has to be renewed every day. After wearing this for some months it is allowed to crumble away, and is not renewed. In the case of a widow, she is told by her late husband's brother, or her mother, when she may cease wearing her mourning, and the brother-in-law is sometimes allowed to take her as wife, though he may already have one. Some men are allowed two wives, but the rule is to have one only. I have seen an old woman wearing a patch of white

plaster over the crown of her head, as mourning, after the death of a favourite dog.1

An ordinary grave is covered by a low mound of earth, a few stout pieces of dead timber are laid upon it, with a heap of green boughs over them. Some have a low brush fence round them, which has an opening on one side to let the wind in, as they say, and some large egg-shaped pieces of white plaster laid round the grave between the low mound and the brush fence. The most elaborate one that I have seen was covered with a small bough shed, about 8 feet square and 4 feet high, which had a large opening on one side; the ground outside was cleanly swept, and the green boughs on the mound inside were covered with whitewash; some women, at a camp near, attended to this grave, bringing green boughs to replace those withered, whitewashing and sweeping.

Some months after a death the brother or near relative of the deceased starts off to find the man accused of causing the death, and to fight him; other men, young and old, accompany him. When he meets his enemy he fights him with spears and boomerangs; should he wound his enemy his craving for revenge is satisfied, and he calls out ow-oo-ta (enough), and the fight ceases. A grand dance, or corroborree, follows in which all join and make merry together. Should he happen to kill his enemy he and his companions bury the body. It is said that they sometimes cut off the head and hold it up towards the camp to enrage the deceased's friends, and a general fight is the consequence. This, I think, seldom happens; for, as a rule, a very little fighting satisfies these people: a few blows and a little blood are enough to do that, and make them friends.

DISCUSSION.

The PRESIDENT observed that few departments of anthropology were so pressing just now as the collection of materials relating to the customs and characters of races, which were becoming either extinct or, as Mr. Bonney expressed it," spoilt " by civilisation; and such materials could only be obtained in a satisfactory manner by those who had the opportunity of living among them for a considerable period, as such lengthened observation often corrected erroneous impressions, derived from superficial inspection. Mr. Bonney's communication was therefore welcome as an important contribution to this branch of knowledge. Low as the Australians were generally assumed to be in the scale of society, they evidently had a very complex and severely enforced code of unwritten

1 There are generally a large number of dogs about a camp, which are used in hunting the kangaroo and emu, and are very kindly treated. The dog and its master are often to be seen sharing the same rug or blanket on a cold night.

etiquette, which served to keep up among themselves the mutual respect and order necessary to carry on the duties of social life. As this code and many of their customs evidently differ in different parts of the country, and among different tribes, it was desirable that all authentic details should be collected and recorded without delay.

Mr. PARK HARRISON also made some remarks on the subject of

the paper.

The AUTHOR, replying to a question asked by the President, said that there was a decided curl in the hair of the aborigines of the river Darling, and called attention to a specimen which bound a native tomahawk exhibited on the table. In answer to the question, what decided the fate of the new-born children, and whether any preference was shown for the male sex, he replied that the fate of the children depended much upon the condition the country was in at the time, and the prospects of the mother rearing it satisfactorily, no preference being shown for the male sex. Being asked to give some information about the religion of the people, the author suggested that the subject had better not then he entered upon, as it would occupy too much time; but he hoped to have an opportunity, on a future occasion, of giving some information about it, with some other interesting information about the same people.

The following paper was then read by the author :

On the DISCOVERY of some WORKED FLINTS, CORES, and FLAKES from BLACKHEATH, near CHILWORTH and BRAMLEY, SURREY.

By Lieut.-Colonel H. H. GODWIN-AUSTEN, F.R.S., &c.

[WITH PLATE IV.]

1

I HAVE the pleasure to exhibit to the meeting some worked flints and rough flint implements, all obtained within a small area, where I do not think they have been found before. The subject is, I think, sufficiently interesting to place on record with a few notes regarding them.

In the summer of 1881, when walking over the heath near Derry's Wood, not far from the village of Blackheath, with Mr. W. Weston, I noticed a piece of flint lying on the surface, which I picked up, remarking at the time it was curious to find it where no signs of former cultivation existed, on a denuded surface of

I am told by Prof. Rupert Jones, that Major Cooper King has found flint implements at Postford, which is also in the same neighbourhood; but I have been unable to see his paper in the "Journal of the Berkshire Archæological Society." Major-General Pitt Rivers also found them in this locality.

VOL. XIII.

L

the Lower Greensand so far from the chalk. This led to our looking for more, and we soon found several pieces, some of which struck us as bearing marks of artificial fracture. The ground had been very lately worked over for the ironstone so much used in the district for road repairs. The result of our further search that day was some thirty pieces, large and small, similar to those I now exhibit. I have paid two more visits to the place with Mr. Weston, and he has been able, living at Bramley, to visit the place on other occasions, so that the greater number of specimens have been found by him, and he has lately been able to get from one of the workmen employed the best flint implement of the collection, and others have turned up from the same source. I have on the map (Plate IV) marked off the sites where A, A', B, and C represent the spots where the flints are most abundant. Many pieces, especially from near B, appear as if they had been subjected to the action of fire. The position is a commanding one, extending for about 5,000 yards from A on the north to B along the ridge, which is the highest part of the heath here-a very dry, elevated ridge, the ground falling on all sides, save the south, and it would have formed an advantageous position for a settlement in early times, when the lower grounds were probably densely wooded and more marshy than now. No cultivation could have been carried on here, on so dry and sterile a soil; for the idea of the flints having been brought in with manure had at first struck us, but the limited and local distribution of the numerous pieces evidently formed with design by man, and not accidentally broken by natural causes,' disposes of this objection; besides the fact of their not being found anywhere save along the ridges, and there at isolated spots, and one on the west side of its slope. Several of the pieces we took out of the sides of the recently opened trenches, and were from to 1 foot below the surface of the present heath and heather; the rest lay scattered on the bare, sandy, lately excavated surface, and were most conspicuous among the pieces of the ironstone out of the beds in situ. I have thought it best to keep and bring here every piece of flint, large and small, that we have found, because it shows the proportion of evidently worked pieces to the rougher examples; it proves, I think, that the rough scrapers, &c., were manufactured on the spot, the race who used them bringing their masses of flint from the downs to the north, distant from Blackheath about two miles in direct line.

A rough analysis of these flints gives the following result. Specimens A, B, and C were collected and sent me by Mr. Weston; D were found by us together. Roughly sorting those pieces which bear the best signs of workmanship, we have1 Notwithstanding that among those found are many with natural fracture.