8 Proceedin<js of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



the camp, and the guardians raise the novices on their shoulders 

 and carry them thither. In this clear space, which is called 

 the bunmivibeal, some men are seated, beating the ground in front 

 of them with pieces of bark, shaped something like a cricket bat, 

 and making a noise. The father or uncle licked or sucked the 

 top of the novice's skull, for the purpose of making the tooth 

 come out more easily. One man then bent down, and placed the 

 boy sitting on his knee, another man standing beside him to keep 

 the boy steady. The tqoth extractor then stepped forward, and 

 inserted his own lower teeth under one of the boy's upper incisors, 

 and gave a strong steady pull, which perhaps brought out the 

 tooth. If this failed, a small piece of wood, hardened in the tire, 

 was used as a chisel, being placed against the tooth, and then a 

 smart tap with a mallet on the other end completed the dental 

 operation. The tooth was then taken out of the boy's mouth 

 with the man's tingers, and held up to public view, which was the 

 signal for a shout from all the men present. During these pro- 

 ceedings a bullroarer was sounded in the adjacent bush, just out 

 of sight, and at the conclusion the boys were led back to their 

 camp, and put sitting down with their hands over their mouths. 

 They must swallow the blood which flows from the wounded 

 gum. During their stay in the bush each boy has the hair of his 

 head cut otf, which is twisted into a coil, " like a fig of tobacco," 

 as my native informants said. A male relative of the boy keeps 

 this coil of hair for a long time. 



In the course of a day or two after the extraction of the tooth, 

 some men come from the zvatyoor, or women's camp, and approach 

 the Kooringal's quarters, uttering a weird noise, something 

 between a shout and a whistle. Each man carries a long, slender, 

 bushy bough, holding one end of it in each hand, with the 

 middle part bent over his head like a wreath. These men come 

 right up to the camp and jump about in front of the boys, who 

 are allowed to raise their eyes and look at thein. The strangers 

 then throw down their boughs "and go a little way from the camp, 

 where they enter into conversation with the head men of the 

 Kooringal. They inquire how the initiation ceremonies are 

 progressing, and arrange the date of the return of the novices to 

 the watyoor, after which they take their departure and go back 

 to the camp of the women, and inform them when the boys may 

 be expected. 



