Wandarral of Richmond and Clarence Tribes. 35 



men then pass along in front of them, imitating some animal, 

 such as pelicans, kangaroos, or the like, and the novices are 

 permitted to raise their heads and look at them. During the 

 remainder of the day the men engage in hunting, for the purpose 

 of providing food for themselves, as well for the boys and their 

 guardians. On arriving at the camping place a yard is made for 

 the boys, in which they are placed lying down upon leaves which 

 are strewn thickly upon the gi'ound and rugs are thi'own over 

 them. This yard is semi-circular in shape, and is built of forks 

 and saplings with bushes laid up against them, the convex end 

 of the partial enclosure being towards the men's camp, which is 

 perhaps fifty yards distant. Aci'oss the open end of the yard a 

 few fires are lit to afford warmth to the novices and their 

 guardians when they are occupying it.^ 



When the game which has been caught during the day is 

 cooked by the men at their own quarters, a fair share is taken 

 by the guardians and given to the novices, who are then per- 

 mitted to sit up, with their backs towards the men's camp, and 

 must eat their food with the blankets or rugs over their heads, so 

 that they cannot see anything around them. Xone of the men 

 eat any of the game at their own camp until the novices have 

 been supplied with their allowance. 



Close to the men's camp, between it and the yai'd in which 

 the boys are kept, a space is cleared of all grass and loose rubbish, 

 with a fire lit on one side of it. About dusk the novices are 

 brought out and placed sitting in a row on the ground near this 

 cleared patch, facing the fire on the other side of which the men 

 are to perform. Presently the men dance along past the fire 

 imitating the gait and actions of one or more of the following 

 animals : — bandicoots, grasshoppers, wallabies, turkeys, iguanas, 

 native-bears, or any other creature which may have been 

 selected as the subject of the play for the evening. After this 

 the men sing for a while as they sit around the camp fire, and 

 then all hands go to sleep for the night. 



The following morning the men start out m search of game, 

 esculent roots, and native bees' nests. The guardians remain at 

 the camp with the boys, and when the men return from their 



1 Journ. Anthrop. Inst., xxiv., 422. 



