Threlkeld wrote: ‘the same as the wind, “we cannot see him” was the definition given by the Blacks’. Fraser elaborated: ‘spirit; soul of a living being not a ghost; which is mamuya’
Threlkeld recorded ‘the name of two upright rocks, about 9 feet high, springing upon the side of a bluff head on the margin of the lake. The Blacks affirm from tradition, that they are two women who were transformed into rocks, in consequence of being beaten to death by a Blackman.’ Threlkeld went on to write ‘ Beneath the mountain on which the two pillars stand, a seam of common coal is seen many feet thick from which Reid obtained a large cargo of coals, when he mistook the entrance of this lake for Newcastle; a wharf, the remains of his building, still exist at this place from whom the name Reid’s Mistake is derived.’
Threlkeld writes: ‘The name of another imaginary Being. Whose trill in the bush frequently alarms the blacks at night. When he overtakes a native, he commands him to exchange cudgels, giving his own which is extremely large, and desiring the black to take the first blow at his head, which he holds down for that purpose, after which he smites and kills the person with one blow, skewers him with the cudgel, carries him off, roasts and then eats him!”
Ghost names – Threlkeld reports “Names of imaginary male being. Who was always as he is now; in appearance like a Black; he resides in thick brushes or jungles; he appears occasionally by day, but mostly at night. In general he precedes the coming of the natives from distant parts, when they assemble to celebrate certain mysteries, as knocking out the tooth in a mystic ring, or when performing some dance. He appears painted with pipe clay, and carries a fire-stick in his hand; but generally, it is the doctors a kind of magicians, who alone perceive him, and to whom he says “fear not, come and talk”. At other times he comes when the Blacks are asleep, and takes them up, as an eagle his prey, and carries them away. The shout of the surrounding party often occasion him to drop his burden; otherwise he conveys them to his fire place in the bush, where close to the fire he deposits his load. The person carried tries to cry out, but cannot, feeling almost choked: at daylight Kuwiyn disappears, and the Black finds himself conveyed safely to his own fireside!”
Kariwilpan she is the wife of Kuyuruwayn. She is described as has to have long a horn growing upwards from each shoulder with which she pierces and impales men. She then carries them off to roast and eat them. She does not kill the women, leaving them for her husband to take for himself. Threlkeld also records that “Yaho” has by some means been given to the Blacks as a name for this being.” – unsure if that refers to wife or husband there . . .
