which they
offer to any one they meet. It is like drinking dirt, and makes the
drinker dream dreams and see visions, in which he is taken down to the
underground spirit-world of the Marahgoo, where anything he wishes for
appears at once. The entrance to this world is said to be near a
never-drying waterhole, in a huge scrub, near Pilliga. If a man drinks
the draught, unless he is made Marahgoo, he dies.

Each totem is warned by its bird sub-totems of the coming of Marahgoo,
and after such a warning tribes take care, if wise, to stay in camp; or
should a man go out, he will smear his face with black, and put rings
of black round his wrists and ankles, and probably have a little charm
song sung over him.

Birrahmulgerhyerh are blacks with devils in them, who, armed with bags
full of poison-sticks, or bones--called gooweera--are invisible to all
but wirreenuns or wizards. Others are warned of their coming by hearing
the rattle of the gooweeras knocking together. When the Birrahmulgerhyerh
are about, all are warned not to carry firesticks, which at other times
after dark they are never without in order to scare off spirits, but now
such a light would show the Birrahmulgerhyerh where to point their
gooweeras. They are said only to point these poison-sticks at
law-breakers, and even then only against persons in a strange country.
Their own land is down Brewarrina way, but there they make no punitive
expeditions, travelling up the Narran and elsewhere for that purpose.

The Euloowayi, or long-nailed devils, are spirits which live where the
sun sets. Just as the afterglow dies in the sky, they come out
victim-hunting. These Euloowayi demand a tribute of young black men
from the camp, to recoup their own ranks.

When this tribute has to be paid, the old men get some ten or so young
ones, and march them off to a Minggah at about ten or fifteen miles
from the camp. There they make them climb into the Ming-ah, to sit
there all day. They must not move, not even so much as wink an eyelid.
At night time they are allowed to come down, and are given some meat,
which they must eat raw.

The old men from the camp go back leaving their victims with the
Euloowayi, who keep the boys up the tree for some days, bringing them
raw meat at night. At last they say:

'Come and try if your nails are long and strong enough. See who can
best tear this bark off with them.'

They all try, and if all are equally good, the old Euloowayi say:

'Y