FL661588

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Permit me here to read to you some
extracts from a Missionary Periodical
of an account of a funeral written by
me nearly twenty years ago. The suject
was an elderly Aboriginal Native [indecipherable]
who was highly respected and had en-
joyed an influence of a chief among his
tribe. He died late in the evening &
was carried early in the morning to his
appointed resting place [words crossed out]
about two miles off, a considerable number
of Aboriginees following him in groups.
Anxious to [word crossed out] witness the burial, I hastened
on after them with some of our Black
boys, to the place which was close to the
river Macquarie. When I approached
the spot, I observed four Aboriginees, each
marking a tree near the intended grave.
They usually mark some trees as signs of
a grave being near. They first cut out the
bark about a foot wide & two feet long &
then engrave various figures. I next noticed
a large circle, about 20 feet in diameter
cleared of grass, weeds & even roots, making