1898.] MATHEWS — IXITIATIOX IX AUSTRALIAN TRIBES. 71 



About midday they return, and on coming within hearing of the 

 camp they commence making a weird noise, like the howling of the 

 native dog, and advance in single file, each man carrying a leafy 

 bough which hides his face and chest. When these men, who are 

 called ghirrang, reach the camp where the novices are they spread 

 out in a line and spring up into the air, waving their arms and 

 uttering grunt-like exclamations. The novices are led to believe 

 that the ghirrang belong to a hostile tribe and will perhaps attack 

 them and their guardians. 



The ghirrang and other men then produce several small sheets of 

 bark stripped from trees, on which some dharroong devices have 

 been carved, similar to the marks on the trees standing around a Kee- 

 parra ground.^ These pieces of bark are placed at intervals of a few 

 yards along the cleared space which was used for dancing and per- 

 forming upon the previous night. The novices are now brought 

 out in front of these pieces of bark and are invited to take particu- 

 lar notice of them. They are at first shown the dharroong on one 

 sheet of bark, and are then taken to each of the others in succes- 

 sion, but are not allowed to speak a word. 



When this part of the ceremony has been disposed of, the men 

 form into two divisions — one mob standing on one side of the 

 cleared space and another mob on the other side — the graduates 

 being placed in a row facing them. The humming sound of the 

 bull-roarer, miidthinga, is now heard a little way in the rear, and 

 almost immediately two men step out into the opening, each man 

 swinging one of these instruments at the end of a string. The usual 

 obligations of secrecy are then imposed upon the neophytes, after 

 which the sacred umdthinga is rubbed upon their penises, chests, 

 arms and other parts of their bodies. While doing this the string 

 of the bull-roarer is placed round each lad's neck in rotation. 



The guardians, novices, and all the rest of the men now start 

 away from that place, and proceed toward the women's camp — 

 which, it should be mentioned, was removed to another locality 

 the same day the men and boys went away. A man is sent 

 ahead to announce that the contingent from the bush will return 

 presently, and upon receipt of this message the women muster on 

 a level, open parcel of land contiguous to their camp. Here the 

 mothers of the neophytes spread nets upon the ground, on which 



1 See my " Keeparra Ceremony of Initiation," Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Vol. 

 xxvi, pp. 320-338, PL xxxii, Figs. 6 to 13. 



