The speaker was a Wiradjuri doctor of the Kangaroo totem.  He said:  “My father is a Lizard-man.  When I was a small boy, he took me into the bush to train me to be a doctor.  He placed two large quartz-crystals against my breast, and they vanished into me.  I do not know how they went, but I felt them going through me like warmth.  This was to make me clever, and able to bring things up.” (This refers to the medicine-man’s custom of bringing up into the mouth, as if from the stomach, the quartz-crystal in which his “virtue” has its chief material embodiment or symbol; being likewise useful, as we see later on, for hypnotizing purposes.) “He also gave me some things like quartz-crystals in water.  They looked like ice, and the water tasted sweet.  After that, I used to see things that my mother could not see.  When out with her I would say, ‘What is out there like men walking?’ She used to say, ‘Child, there is nothing.’  These were the ghosts which I began to see.”

The account goes on to state that at puberty our friend went through the regular initiation for boys; when he saw the doctors bringing up their crystals, and, crystals in mouth, shooting the “virtue” into him to make him “good.”  Thereupon, being in a holy state like any other novice, he had retired to the bush in the customary manner to fast and meditate.

“Whilst I was in the bush, my old father came out to me.  He said, ’Come here to me,’ and then he showed me a piece of quartz-crystal in his hand.  When I looked at it, he went down into the ground; and I saw him come up all covered with red dust.  It made me very frightened.  Then my father said, ‘Try and bring up a crystal.’  I did try, and brought one up.  He then said, ‘Come with me to this place.’  I saw him standing by a hole in the ground, leading to a grave.  I went inside and saw a dead man, who rubbed me all over to make me clever, and gave me some crystals.  When we came out, my father pointed to a tiger-snake, saying, ‘That is your familiar.  It is mine also.’  There was a string extending from the tail of the snake to us—­one of those strings which the medicine-men bring up out of themselves.  My father took hold of the string, and said, ‘Let us follow the snake.’  The snake went through several tree-trunks, and let us through them.  At last we reached a tree with a great swelling round its roots.  It is in such places that Daramulun lives.  The snake went down into the ground, and came up inside the tree, which was hollow.  We followed him.  There I saw a lot of little Daramuluns, the sons of Baiame.  Afterwards, the snake took us into a great hole, in which were a number of snakes.  These rubbed themselves against me, and did not hurt me, being my familiars.  They did this to make me a clever man and a doctor.