142 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



the north- west ; the people from Kunopia and Meroe on the south ; 

 whilst the Moogan, Mungindi and Gundabloui tribe encamped 

 on the south-west. Water for camp use was obtained from a 

 waterhole in Redbank Creek, and game of various kinds was 

 sufficiently abundant in the extensive scrubs to the north and 

 west of the camp, to provide sufficient food for the people while 

 the ceremonies lasted. From the camp to the nearest part of the 

 Weir River was about two miles. 



The total number of people of all ages and sexes assembled at 

 the Bora camp was about 150, the greater part of whom belonged 

 to Queensland ; but the New South Wales boundary, the Barwan 

 River, being so near, a number of the natives of the latter colony 

 were also present. 



An unusual event happened at this camp which adds to its 

 interest. The local tribe first selected the site of the camp on 

 the southern side of Redbank Creek, and the Kunopia contingent 

 afterwards came and pitched to the southward of them. Before 

 any of the other tribes arrived one of the young men of the local 

 tribe died from some pulmonary complaint, and according to 

 custom this necessitated a removal of the camp. As the Bora 

 ground had then been formed, the choice of a new site for the 

 camp was restricted to the other side of Redbank Creek in order 

 to be near the water-hole. 



The Bora Ground. — -The site selected fur the performance of 

 the ancestral rites, or " Baimai's Ground," was situated in a 

 forest of box, sandal- wood and undergrowth, about fifteen chains 

 in a south-westerly direction from the general camp, on the other 

 side of Redbank Creek. The soil consisted of reddish sandy 

 loam, known among bushmen as " umah country." This kind of 

 ground is very suitable for the purpose of forming either carved 

 or raised figures on its surface. 



In a small, naturally open space on the edge of the scrub, a 

 large ring, 77 feet 6 inches across one diameter and 72 feet across 

 another at right angles to it — which would give an average of 

 very nearly 75 feet — was formed by scraping away the surface 

 soil, which was used to form an annular mound or embankment, 

 about eight or nine inches high, and a foot wide at the base, 

 around the space thus cleared. An opening about two feet wide 

 was left on one side of this bank, from which ran a narrow track 



