^2 MATHEWS — INITIATIOX IX AUSTRALIAN TRIBES. [March 18, 



During the day the men go out hunting, to provide food for all 

 the party, but the novices remain in the camp in charge of a few of 

 their guardians. Several days may be spent in one camp, or per- 

 haps a fresh camping place is reached every night, especially if 

 game is scarce. In the latter case it would be necessary for the 

 novices and guardians to accompany the rest of the men. The 

 novices march along with the rugs on their heads, and when stop- 

 pages are made in the bush they are placed sitting on the ground 

 with their hands clutching their genitals. On arriving at the place 

 which has been agreed upon as the camping ground for the night, 

 a yard is made for the boys in the usual manner. During the 

 evenings at these camping places human ordure is occasionally 

 given to the novices in addition to their daily food. If they want 

 anything they are not allowed to ask for it, but must make a sign to 

 the guardian who has charge of them. Some or all of the men who 

 are not attached to the kooringal may go away for a day or two to 

 another camping place some miles distant in quest of food, and 

 contribute a fair share of game to the maintenance of the novices 

 and guardians. 



The period spent in the bush with the kooringal is about ten 

 days or a fortnight, being regulated by the weather and other con- 

 siderations. Different burlesques and songs take place every day, 

 but the general character of the procedure is the same. If the 

 wombat totem is represented, the kooringal crawl under a log as if 

 going into a wombat's hole ; if they select the scrub-turkey, all 

 the men scratch the ground with their feet, kicking the rubbish 

 backwards into a large heap resembling the nest of those birds ; and 

 so on for any other totems which may be represented. ♦ 



When the course of instruction in the bush is nearly completed, 

 some strange men, called irghindaly or wyeftdee, come from the 

 ahrowanga, or women's camp. They belong to a distant part of 

 the tribal territory, and this is their first participation in the cere- 

 mony. On approaching the karpan, they utter a weird noise, like 

 the howling of the wild dog, and advance in single file, each man 

 holding a leafy bough in front of him, which hides the upper part 

 of his body. The novices are led to believe that a strange mob of 

 blacks are coming to attack the camp. They are then raised to 

 their feet, and placed standing in a row, with their guardians, some 

 of the kooringal, standing on the right and some on the left of the 

 row of boys, having the latter in the middle, holding their hands 



