that the snake had drawn no
blood from the deceased, her husband and other friends had a fight with
the accused party and his friends; a reconciliation, however, took place
afterwards, and it was admitted on the part of the aggressors that they
had been in error with regard to the guilty individual; but nowise more
satisfied as to the bite of the snake being the true cause of the
woman's death, another party was now suddenly discovered to be the real
offender, and accordingly war was made upon him and his partisans, till
at last the matter was dropped and forgotten. From this case, as well as
from frequent occurrences of a similar nature, it appears evident that
thirst for revenge has quite as great a share in these foul accusations
as superstition."[23]

[Sidenote: Other testimonies as to the belief of the natives of South
Australia and Victoria.]

However, other experienced observers of the Australian aborigines admit
no such limitations and exceptions to the native theory that death is an
effect of sorcery. Thus in regard to the Narrinyeri tribe of South
Australia the Rev. George Taplin, who knew them intimately for years,
says that "no native regards death as natural, but always as the result
of sorcery."[24] Again, to quote Mr. R. Brough Smyth, who has collected
much information on the tribes of Victoria: "Mr. Daniel Bunce, an
intelligent observer, and a gentleman well acquainted with the habits of
the blacks, says that no tribe that he has ever met with believes in the
possibility of a man dying a natural death. If a man is taken ill, it is
at once assumed that some member of a hostile tribe has stolen some of
his hair. This is quite enough to cause serious illness. If the man
continues sick and gets worse, it is assumed that the hair has been
burnt by his enemy. Such an act, they say, is sufficient to imperil his
life. If the man dies, it is assumed that the thief has choked his
victim and taken away his kidney-fat. When the grave is being dug, one
or more of the older men--generally doctors or conjurors
(_Buk-na-look_)--stand by and attentively watch the laborers; and if an
insect is thrown out of the ground, these old men observe the direction
which it takes, and having determined the line, two of the young men,
relations of the deceased, are despatched in the path indicated, with
instructions to kill the first native they meet, who they are assured
and believe is the person directly chargeable with the crime