1898.] MATHEWS — INITIATION IX AUSTRALIAN TRIBES. 69 



referred to the totemic divisions of the Barkunji and kindred tribes 

 \\\ Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, Aust., Queensland, Vol. x, p. 32. Their 

 initiation ceremonies are described by me elsewhere. 



No. 9. In this triangular portion of New South Wales we 

 encounter the advance guard of those tribes who practice circum- 

 cision and subincision, extending thence northerly into Queensland 

 and westerly into South Australia. The customs of these people 

 will be dealt v/ith bv me in another article. 



APPENDIX. 

 The Nguttan Initiation Ceremony. 



In this article it is intended to give a short account of the Nguttan, 

 an abbreviated ceremony of initiation practiced by the native tribes 

 of the Williams and Gloucester rivers and surrounding country. 

 Although it is not necessary to muster the whole community for the 

 purpose of installing the youths into the privileges of tribesmen by 

 means of the Nguttan, yet it is always thought safest to consult with 

 the headmen of some of the nearest neighboring tribes, who may 

 also have one or more youths old enough to pass through the ordeal. 

 The preliminaries are arranged by means of messengers, and when 

 the appointed time comes round the tribes proceed to the appointed 

 meeting place. Here the combined concourse indulge in corrobo- 

 ries and songs at night by the camp fires. The men of each tribe 

 dance in their turn and their women beat time for them. 



When the festivities have lasted for a few days the headmen 

 decide upon the time for taking away the novices. Early on the 

 appointed morning all the men assemble under pretense of going on 

 a hunting expedition, or perhaps they represent that they are making 

 an incursion into the country of a hostile tribe for the purpose of 

 avenging some supposed injury. The novices are mustered out of 

 their mothers' camps and are taken charge of by the men. The 

 women are not told anything about these proceedings, but all the 

 elder ones and those who have been present at similar gatherings 

 before form their own conclusions in regard to the purpose of the 

 meeting. 



A number of the men, with the novices amongst them, start first, 

 and are immediately followed by the rest of the men, singing and 

 shouting as they march along in the rear. The novices are told that 



