ted by the next of kin.[203] The Wurunjerri also interred the
personal property of the dead with him; if the deceased was a man, his
spear-thrower was stuck in the ground at the head of the grave; if the
deceased was a woman, the same thing was done with her digging-stick.
That these implements were intended for the use of the ghost and not
merely as headstones to mark the situation of the tomb and the sex of
the departed, is clear from a significant exception to the custom. When
the departed brother was a man of violent temper, who had been
quarrelsome and a brawler in his life, no weapons were buried with him,
obviously lest in a fit of ill-temper he should sally from the grave and
assault people with them.[204] Similarly the Turrbal tribe, who
deposited their dead in the forks of trees, used to leave a spear and
club near the corpse "that the spirit of the dead might have weapons
wherewith to kill game for his sustenance in the future state. A
yam-stick was placed in the ground at a woman's grave, so that she might
go away at night and seek for roots."[205] The Wolgal tribe were very
particular about burying everything that belonged to a dead man with
him; spears and nets, though valuable articles of property, were thus
sacrificed; even a canoe has been known to be cut up in order that the
pieces of it might be deposited in the grave. In fact "everything
belonging to a dead man was put out of sight."[206] Similarly in the
Geawe-gal tribe all the implements and inanimate property of a warrior
were interred with him.[207] In the Gringai country not only was all a
man's property buried with him, but every native present at the burial
contributed something, and these contributions were piled together at
the head of the corpse before the grave was filled in.[208] Among the
tribes of Southern Victoria, when the grave has been dug and lined with
fresh leaves and twigs so as to make a soft bed, the dead man's property
is brought in two bags, and the sorcerer shakes out the contents. They
consist of such small articles as pieces of hard stone suitable for
cutting or paring skins, bones for boring holes, twine made of opossum
wool, and so forth. These are placed in the grave, and the bags and rugs
of the deceased are torn up and thrown in likewise. Then the sorcerer
asks whether the dead man had any other property, and if he had, it is
brought forward and laid beside the torn fragments of the bags and rugs.
Everything that a man