164 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



front man and the last have each a piece of string one end of 

 which is held in each hand, and the middle of the string is held 

 between the teeth. This string is drawn from side to side, 

 the men making a low noise with their mouth, which noise is 

 repeated by all the other men who have no string. As soon as 

 all the actors have passed by into the darkness on the other side, 

 they return repeating the performance. This is done several 

 times and when the old men think it has been continued long 

 enough, they bring it to an end by hitting the ground and 

 naming it Warringun.* The usual course of turning away the 

 boys' heads for the preparation of Boballai, concludes this act, 

 and the boys are taken back to their yard till bed-time, and are 

 then again brought to the men's camp for the night. 



Next morning the usual routine is gone through, and a start 

 made into the bush in search of food. During the forenoon the 

 boys are brought to a stand at one end of a heap of earth or sand, 

 into which a number of pieces of stout grass or reeds about four 

 or five inches in length have been inserted closely together like 

 the quills on a porcupine. The old men make the usual interro- 

 gations as to what it is, when one of them says : "It must be a 

 porcupine " (Wiroyla) and inserts the end of his nulla nulla under 

 one side of the heap as if to turn it over. A man who was con- 

 cealed under this covering now rolls over on his back with his 

 legs and arms gathered up in the same way as a porcupine does 

 when it is turned over. The men and boys then resume their 

 hunting. On reaching the camp a short time before nightfall 

 the pantomime of Wonga Wonga Pigeon (Googan Googan) is 

 performed. The kooringal paint white patches on their bodies 

 in the position on which they appear on the bird, and then walk 

 past imitating the note of this kind of pigeon. The usual form- 

 alities ensue, and the performance ends by the men going into 

 Boballai. That night after supper the boys are brought to the 

 clear space at the camp, and a fire lighted. One man beats two 

 boomerangs together. The others then dance around with sticks 

 in their mouths ; these sticks are merely dry pieces of wood, and 

 are from eighteen inches to two feet six inches long, about the 



* Journ. Anthrop. Inst., xxv., 334. 



