82 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



make much use of stone weapons, and the preparation of these 

 takes up considerable time. A suitable piece of stone, such as 

 diorite, is obtained, and chipped away by a piece of quartzite, 

 then finally it is ground smooth on an ordinary grinding stone, 

 fine sand and water being sprinkled on the stone during the 

 process. 



The natives are very fond of paying visits to friends, though 

 very often the visits end up in fights, but these are generally more 

 rowdy than dangerous. 



The greater part of the native's life is devoted to holding cere- 

 monies. Great preparations are made for the corrobborees, which 

 sometimes occupy the evenings of a fortnight or longer. Helmets 

 are made out of twigs, tied on to the head with human-hair 

 string. Grass-seed down is then fixed on with human blood, 

 drawn from the body by cutting a vein with a sharp stone or 

 piece of glass. 



Knocking out one or two of the upper incisor teeth is a 

 common practice, and is done by means of a pointed stick and 

 stone, one blow being often sufficient for the operation. In the 

 Warramunga tribe they go into the water before the operation, the 

 object being to numb the gums so that the pain may not be so 

 great. 



Finally, there are the sacred ceremonies, which are not allowed 

 to be seen by the woman and children ; should they see them, 

 they are likely to be blinded or killed. During these sacred 

 ceremonies the persons taking part are not allowed to be seen by 

 the uninitiated. The decorations used during some of the cere- 

 monies are very elaborate. Thus, men are decorated to repre- 

 sent an emu or a wild cat, or a design will be constructed on the 

 ground, such as a wavy line, indicating an old ancestor who was 

 a snake-man. 



The illness of a blackfellow is attributed to some external 

 cause ; thus, in one case the medicine-men decided that a man 

 was suffering from the bone of a dead blackfellow, which had 

 gone inside him, as well as the gnarled knot of an old gum-tree. 

 They said they got the bone out and the knot as far down as the 

 stomach, when they tied a string tightly round to keep it from 

 gettmg back, but without avail. The man died, and his body 

 was at once carried off and placed on a platform in a gum-tree, 

 where it would remain for a year, the widow and other relatives 

 cutting tliemselves and wailing. 



At the end of a year three men go to the tree and rake 

 the bones out into a bark dish. They then smash the skull, and 

 bury all, except one arm-bone, in an ant-hill. The arm-bone is 

 brought into the camp and handed to an old woman. Finally, 

 after the conclusion of a special ceremony, the women are sum- 

 moned to the ceremonial ground, and bring the bone with them 



