On our way home from an expedition we discovered a grave in a “white ants'” hill. The entrance was about a yard high.

It was built on the side of the anthill, extending about half way up, and had a sloping front. In front of the opening large pieces of the bark of the teatree were placed, on which heavy stones were rolled in order to keep wild dogs from getting to the corpse. In a tree near the grayehung acapadous basket. This led me to think that the Australian natives probably believe in a future life, and I examined this basket to see whether provisions had been left in it, but I found it empty. I asked the natives whether there had been food in the basket, so that the deceased might have something to eat, but this was an idea which they could not comprehend. They informed me that a child was buried here. The parents were so much grieved at the loss of their child that they did not care to keep the basket in which they had carried it, and had accordingly left it beside the grave.

The Australian natives usually bury their dead, but they invariably strive to avoid letting the corpse come into direct contact with the earth, and the dead body is therefore wrapped in bark or other materials. The graves are not very deep, and sometimes have a direction from east to west, and the foot of the grave is toward the rising sun.