North (iUEKXsLANr) i:tiixoora)'IIV —roth. 360 



the women, advancing from a distance in pairs, keep singing and 

 stamping as tliey approach : tlie stamping consists of a simultan- 

 eous jerking movement of both feet, the dust being thrown up 

 with eacli jerk. Tliere is a belief that by thus stamping there is 

 a chance of bringing the life, vital principle, etc., (the Ngai or 

 Cho-i'^) back into the dead body : it is cur-ious to note that the 

 women make the same steps when an indivithial lias a fainting 

 fit"'. If the young man met his deatli in the water a corresjiond- 

 ing dance takes place in that element, the throwing up of the dii.st 

 witii the feet being now replaced by the splashing of the water 

 with the hands. During the intervals between the morning and 

 •evening ceremonies, the women sit underneath the pole on 

 which the corpse is tied. The body is finally burnt, with the 

 exception of the head, the fibula bones (NGG, pau-uto or pau-to), 

 the soles of the feet (^N(xG, Ko-e-ana), and the Heshy portions of 

 the fronts of the thighs. Where the corpse is l)urnt, the nearest 

 tree is marked with a sloping vertical cut, and the camp shifted : 

 it is believed that when once the body is crematetl, there is no 

 moi-e chance of the Cho-i coming back in the fiesh, but that it 

 hovers somewhere about the bush. The decapitated liead is 

 carried about in a piece of bark, or a dilly-bag, etc., by the mother. 

 I'he iibula-bones are wrapped in matcli-hox bean or tea-tree bark, 

 tied round and round with fibre-twine (raddled or not) and 

 further decorated with Emu, Blue Mountain Paro([uet, Cockatoo, 

 or Native-Companion feathers (PI. Ixi.x) : sucli a pau-to is slung 

 either from around the forehead so as to liang over the nape of 

 the neck, or el.se over the fore-arm. The individual who thus 

 carries these personal mementoes is a son of the deceased's sister : 

 the onus of preserving these relics may thus fall upon two, three, 

 or more men sometimes. Furthermore, the portions of deceased's 

 flesh (thighs, and feet) wlien originally cut from the corpse 

 are baked in the ashes, and cut up into little bits to be eaten one 

 or two at a time morning and evening by the same individual or 

 individuals who are responsible for tlie pau-to. The eating pro- 

 cess takes from two to three months, sometimes longer, to complete, 

 and throughout all tliis period the jjerson remains dumb, and is 

 known as te-itima : he is supposed to actually lose the powei- of 

 speech, and though going al)Out his l)usiTU?ss as usual, ex[)res.ses 

 liimself only liy signs, claps his hands if lie wants to attract otiier 

 people's attention, maintains the signs of mourning, and lets his 



1-' Bull 5 Sect (is. 



!'■ Bull 5^^^l•(•t. 70, last iwriigvapli 



