The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes. 159 



arms as before described. The novices are then taken back to 

 their own yard, and a few of the guardians left with them. 

 About sundown preparations are made for the evening meal. 

 During the day some game has been caught, which is roasted by 

 the guardians at their own camp, and a fair share of the best 

 parts of the meat, from which all the bones and sinews have been 

 removed, is taken to the boys at the yard. Some of the old men 

 go round at "feeding time" to see that the food given to the 

 novices is prepared in accordance with tribal custom. The object 

 of keeping and feeding the boys in a yard away from the men 

 appears to be to prevent the former hearing any of the discus- 

 sions which take place among the kooringal and guardians as to 

 the programme of performance for each day, or any other matters 

 which it is thought proper to keep secret from the boys. At bed- 

 time every night the murrawan is sounded, and the boys are 

 brought out of this yard and sleep with the guardians at the 

 camp of the latter. The boys are not allowed to speak, and can- 

 not go anywhere without making signs to their guardians, who 

 must go with them. 



After supper the guardians bring the boys to the men's camp, 

 and place them lying down with rugs thrown over them. The 

 men then raise a peculiar shout at intervals, which is continued 

 for an hour or two. This shouting, which is called Bungaroo* is 

 kept up for the purpose of inviting and guiding to this camp in 

 the bush, any strange men who may have arrived at the main 

 camp that day. Supposing that a contingent having a few 

 novices to be initiated were a day too late, and, on their arrival, 

 had found that the camp had broken up that morning, and that 

 the old men had taken the novices away into the bush. The 

 women and children of this contingent would go to the new camp 

 and join the other tribes, but some of the men would take the 

 novices and start out after the others. They would not come up 

 to the camp, but would stop for the night somewhere out of sight, 

 perhaps a mile away, at some place where there was water, and 

 on hearing the bungaroo shout they would reply to it. Early 

 next morning a few of them would approach the camp, carrying 

 in one hand a smoky stick, and in the other a boomerang, and 



* Journ. Anthrop. Inst., x.w., 332-3. 



