Notes by Howitt on Kulin from Barak

Transcription - Page 33

22
Būnjil said “all right you can go back
for them and when you are at the
camp you will see some bags I left there
– you can [smash - crossed out] burst them if you like”.
The little boy went back and as he did not
know any better he burst the bags; then
water ran out of them all over the country.
The little boy could not find any dry place
to camp and ran about everywhere. After
a time Būnjil felt sorry for the little boy.
“Poor fellow, the water [was - crossed out] will hurt his legs – he is
thin, he cannot get anything to eat”. Būnjil
got a big round [stone - crossed out] rock and stopped the
water where it stood as far as where
Brighton is. He put the stone down and
said to the water “now you stay where
you are”. This is the big rock by the seaside
near Brighton. The old people used to
say that [the - crossed out] it was one of Būnjil's own boys.
There were plenty of Kangaroos and Emus
there before the water came. —————

Būnjil's law of the class names
The old people always said the old law was
“Waa on this side and Būnjil on that side”
Some Wirarap – one Waa Wirarap and one
Būnjil Wirarap - went up to Būnjil through
the hole in the sky and he told them –
“you Waa – Wirarap take a Būnjil
woman and you - Būnjil Wirarap
take a Waa woman”. This was how
the old law came to us. ————

Infanticide
King William could not remember any cases
of deserting infants or of killing them.
But he remembered one case of a man
near [Dandenong - crossed out] Berwick who eat a child. This
man was a Būnjil. ————