NORTH QUEENSLAND ETHNOGRAPHY — ROTH. 169 



of food available. Thus the husband, according to his particular 

 exogamous group, lives on articles of diet different from those of 

 his wife or wives, who of course belong to another group; both 

 of which again are different from those permissible to their 

 resulting offspring who belong to a third group. Hence, to put 

 it shortly, whereas in a European community with a common 

 dietary, the more children there are to feed the less will become 

 the share for the parents, in the North Queensland system the 

 appearance of children will make no appreciable difference in 

 minimising the quantity of food available for those who <,'ive tliem 

 birth. Any scarcity in the total quantity of all the food is met 

 by a change of camping ground, any scarcity of particular diet, 

 or any diet difficult to obtain and capture, being rendered tabu 

 at the expense of the women, younger people, and children. It 

 is noteworthy also that while the four exogamous groups are 

 practically identical throughout North Queensland, the different 

 animals, etc., associated with each group vary in the different 

 districts with local requirements. 



Holding these views, I therefore speak of these initiation dances 

 as possibly bearing relationship to Central Australian totemic 

 performances, but what the particular relationship is, there is 

 not at present sufficient evidence to say. Should, however, a 

 connection be ultimately found, the very pertinent question will 

 then arise as to whether the North Queensland initiation dances 

 represent a primitive condition which has become developed into 

 the advanced and intricate ceremonials recorded from the centre 

 of Australia, or whether it is an example of degeneration. The 

 true solution must be sought for in arduous field-work, and not 

 in academic study. 



3. It was towards the end of June, 1899, that I witnessed an 

 initiation ceremony amongst the Koko-yimidir speaking Blacks 

 at a spot on the southern bank of the Mclvor River about four 

 miles from its mouth. The presence of a European interpreter 

 with a twenty years' knowledge of the language enabled me to 

 understand the meaning and explanation of everything I saw 

 and wanted to know. This particular ceremony took between 

 four and five weeks to get through ; both Cape Bedford, Endea- 

 vour, Mclvor, and Starcke River Blacks were taking part in it. 

 The food-supply for so large a number of natives, some one 

 hundred and fifty, not being procurable in the immediate locality, 

 a few days' spell was necessitated every now and again to allow 

 of the participants hunting further afield. 



The ceremony itself is known as ngan-tcha ; this word has the 

 same meaning as ta-bul ( = " tabu "), the words being interchange- 



