140 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



drought then prevailing throughout the district. A few natives 

 from Meroe also arrived at Tall wood on the same day as the 

 Gundabloui contingent. 



As the water in Redbank Creek, on which the main camp was 

 situated, was rapidly drying up, no time was lost in proceeding 

 with the ceremonies after the detachments referred to had arrived. 

 Accordingly, on the 3rd of September the novices were taken 

 away from the large ring in the manner subsequently described. 

 The men and novices then proceeded to Gurardera Lagoon, about 

 nine or ten miles in a west-south-westerly direction from the 

 Bora ground. This lagoon is on Gurardera Creek, about two 

 miles above its junction with Warrandine Creek, and was the 

 only place for several miles around where there was water. Here 

 a camp was formed, and a bougl.yard erected for the boys about 

 eighty yards from the men's camp. A description of the shape 

 and structure of this yard, and the general arrangement of the 

 men's quarters, will be found in subsequent pages. 



The boys were kept at this camp for nine or ten days, during 

 which the various performances, described under the head of 

 Ceremonies in t/ie Bush, were enacted at the camp tire, and while 

 out hunting during the day. At the end of the time mentioned, 

 the Kooringal met the Beegay in the bush, and after the boys had 

 been shown the bullroarer, they all proceeded to a water-hole in 

 Warril Creek, where the kooringal and guardians washed them- 

 selves and camped for the night. The following morning the 

 boys were taken to the thurrawanga. Details of all the matters 

 briefly referred to in this paragraph will be given farther on. 

 My correspondent, under directions from me, also gave me very 

 full measurements and sketches of the thurrawanga camp, from 

 which I have been enabled to prepare the description of that 

 camp given elsewhere in this paper. 



The tribes who attended the Tall wood Bora were for the most 

 part the same people who had assembled at Gundabloui* a little 

 more than a year before, and all belonged to the Kamilaroi 

 community and had the same class system. The tribes from 

 Goondiwindi and Welltown spoke Pickumbil, the St. George 



* Journ. Anthrop. Inst., xxiv., 411-427 ; Ibid., xxv., 318-339; and Journ. Roy. Soo. 



N. S. Wales, xxviii., 98-129. 



