10

(10. [centred] 17 [written in pencil]

and even revenge which with savages is the most
powerful of all emotions is subordinate with them
to motives of self interest. They can only be controlled
through their fears - Poor Capt. [Captain] Gascoigne had traded
with them for a long time and bore the reputation
of being a kind hearted and just man in his
dealings with natives, yet they murdered him
after all.

Like the natives of the main land, the island-
ers of the Strait and N.E. channel believe firmly in the
power of certain individuals to bewitch them. In each
tribe here is generally one or more old men supposed
to possess this power, and who by working upon the
superstitious fears of the younger men often manage
to obtain an influence to which, perhaps, their prowess
as warriors had not previously entitled them; but
they are usually regarded with feelings of mingled
awe and aversion. One of their modes of proceeding is
to procure a number of small bones of the human
arm and leg; these are sharpened to a point and
the operator having selected a suitable spot in some
dense scrub, retires to it at dusk and spends the
night in darting these little spears into the imaginary
body of his enemy, accompanying each dart with
a cry of exultation as if it had actually taken effect.
Should the person thus bewitched fall sick or die
within the next few months it is universally attribu-
ted to "Takandinya" which is the name applied both
to the ceremony and to the person practising it.
Several Koraregas [Korraregas] whom I questioned concerning
large ulcers on their legs gravely assured me they
were victims of "Takandinya". If a strong breeze
springs up while they are away in their canoes it is