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‡’Insert at 15a - Stanza IV?
Of their Religion I have little to say. Wherever
they are found a belief in sorcery and a
dread of numerous demons - spirits of the
wood, of the river, of the pol. I have met
a party of some 30 men + women marching
as a company of strolling players from
camp to camp up the river Barwan,
+ performing a pantomime to drive away
ghosts. All night long they kept up a song
of two lines
"Liru thari, nge, liru thari nge;
"Dulla ranga, Dulla ranga, liru thari nge".
Their bodies were covered with various
kinds of ochre, & with branches of trees they
performed a mimic fight against
unseen foes in the air. Their common name
for ghosts and demons is "Wunda".
The Chief of the Wunda is said to
appear at their {boras?} in the form
of a serpent, and they have {cut?}
figures of the serpent in his honour