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I am still near, Watching the smiles I prized on earth, Your converse mild, your blameless mirth.[64

Date of account
Late nineteenth-century compilation
Source
The Ghost World
Reference
The Ghost World · selected passage 99
Rights
public_domain
Language
English
Record updated
2026-08-24

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Record summary

It was from the ghosts that he obtained replies to questions concerning events passing at a distance, or yet to happen, which might be of interest or moment to his tribe

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

It was from the ghosts that he obtained replies to questions concerning events passing at a distance, or yet to happen, which might be of interest or moment to his tribe. An account of a spiritual séance in the bush is given in 'Kamilaroi and Kurnai' (p. 254): 'The fires were let down; the Birraark uttered the cry "Coo-ee" at intervals. At length a distant reply was heard, and shortly afterwards the sound as of persons jumping on the ground in succession. A voice was then heard in the gloom asking in a strange intonation, "What is wanted?" At the termination of the séance, the spirit voice said, "We are going." Finally, the Birraark was found in the top of an almost inaccessible tree, apparently asleep.'

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.

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