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.

Miago ought, according to custom, to have allowed three full days to elapse before his brother’s widows entered his hut, but as Bennyyowlee appeared resolved not to renounce his intention of claiming the hand of one of the ladies Miago’s friends thought it more prudent to bring matters to a speedy issue, lest, in the interim, his rival might carry of Mugawit, the young lady he was desirous of possessing.  On Monday evening therefore when I went to the native encampment I found that the first forms of the marriage ceremony had taken place, which were as follows: