B 505: Lecture on the Aborigines of Australia and papers on Wirradhurrei dialect, 1837-1840

ascertained that a higher & purer notion exists among these Blacks, though it may not be so generally believed as the notion of evil spirits They believe in a superior being whom they call Baiamai. [section crossed out: I find that the Revd. Mr [indecipherable] who has travelled for some time as a Missionary amongst the tribe towards the North found the same notion existing there amongst the Aborigines and indeed the very name of Baiamai.] This Baiamai they believe to be altogether a good spirit possessed of superior powers. I will give you a description of such as the Blacks gave me of this Baiamai [word crossed out] in their own simple way of expressing their ideas. Baiamai is altogether good & always will be [words crossed out] or more litterally: He always did & always will sit down, that is exist. Whatever he wishes to be done, must be done; he only needs comman it & it will come to pass. If he wants bread, for instance, bread is laid before him; if he wants fish, fish will come to him out of the water. Hence you will observe we have in him the attributes of eternity of goodness & of omnipotence. He is also [word crossed out] supposed [word crossed out] to hve a Son. Sometimes himself

& sometims his Son send mesages, accompanie usually with a song which they sing in honor of him [word crossedout] [words crossed out] When this is [inset: generally several tribes] done the aborigines collect at some appointed place & perform certain ceremonies. I remember one of these gatherings in the district of Wellington when many distant tribes were assembling. It took some months from the first announcement till all were collected. There were tribes that spoke different dialects present. [word crossed out] They made a great mystery of what they saw & did; but one of the young men [word crossed out] whose confidence I had fully gained communicated a few particulars to me with strict injunctions that I should not divulge the secret, more especially that I should not betray him to the Blacks. they asembled all with a few exception in one place and then proceeded in procession to the particular spot which had been previously fixed upon and arranged for the celebration of a myserious ceremony & where several of the Blacks keps watch till the others came. They found there in a sort of enclosure made of boughs and branches some piees of bark stuck up with various figures engraved & painted with

some resembled human figures, others formed a sort of a cross fastened to a stick. These were solemnly & reverentially aprached and a kind of obeisance or prostration made before them. Some of the Blacks it would appear [word crossed out] made an oration and went through various ceremonies, as if once the name of Baiamai was several times repeated, paying homage to some superior being. A song was then announced & sung. [indecipherable] of about 8 or 9 verses or stanzas, and certin portions wer repeated. The ceremony ended in a sort of ance, but performed with some solemnity as if something different from the usual Corrobory dance. It had often struck me before that their corroberries were a slight remnant of the same sort [insert: wild as the scene appears, it] of worship; for often there was something in it which seemed to indicate a religious ceremony; I observed repeatedly pieces of bark stuck up on such occasions with various curious figures painted on the scene. The song I have mentioned of which was sometims accompanied with some strange & mysterious practises

I have a copy, at least a partial copy, was unfortunately in a different dialect, so that neither the young man nor I could make any meaning of it, there being but a few words resembling the Wirradurri spoken at Wellington, The young man communicated to me, on the same occasion, the following respecting Baiamai and their future state:, When we die we go to Murriangwhich is situated towards the rising of the sun where Baiamai resides. There we we sit down (alive with) his son Urragallagalli. In this state we cannot see Baiamai, But after a certain length of time we shall all be struck dead again by the word of Baiamai's son. When mouldering away on the ground, some huge animals [word crossed out] in shape something like a dog will come to lick our bones and so raise us to life again and we shall have much superior & larger [word crossed out] bodies. In this new body we shall be permitted also to see Baiamai, but let me add that these Aborigines entertain little or no hope

that the women from [indecipherable] shall rise again and expect for themselves a kind of Muhomedan paradise; for a new race of women far auperior & much more beautiful shall be provided for them who are said to be descended from the race of the Barrabin superior beings residing with the deity Baiamai. It was particularly enjoined [word crossed out]me not to divulge this [word crossed out]secret respecting the women. I cannot say that this their belief had any great moral inflence upon them, but they have some idea that those who have led a good life would fare better than others. I would only add in conclusion that these[word crossed out] are entirely their own origina notions not any thing derived from their intercourse with Europeans and though they are very doubtful as [words crossedout] the father of all things [words crossed out], they fancy that most likely Baiamai made originally all. Now whatever errors and absurdities [words crossed out] may adhere to this their belief, we cannot