Strange stories came through the house blacks to me of old Bootha. She
was very ill for a long time, then suddenly she recovered; not only
recovered but seemed rejuvenated. We heard of wonderful cures she made;
how she always consulted the spirits about any illness; how there were
said to be spirits in some of her dogs; how she was now a rainmaker
and, in fact, a fully fledged witch.

I was curious to see some of these wonders, so used to get the old
woman to come up when any one was ill, consult her, and generally make
much of her. There is no doubt she could diagnose a case well enough.
Matah suffered a good deal with a constant pain in one knee, he was
quite lame from it. He showed it to Bootha one day. She sang a song to
her spirits, then said:

'Too muchee water there; you steam him, put him on hot rag; you drink
plenty cold water, all lite dat go.'

As it happened a medical man was passing a few days afterwards with an
insurance agent. Matah consulted him.

'Hum! Yes, yes. Hot fomentations to the place affected, poultices, a
cooling draught. There's a stoppage of fluid at the knee-joint which
must be dispersed.'

I thought Bootha ought to have been called in consultation.

A girl I had staying with me was taken suddenly and, to us,
unaccountably ill. She was just able to get out of her room into the
drawing-room, where she would lie back on the cushions of a lounge