BY R. H. MATHEWS, L.S. 37 



the highest part of the body, waa about a foot and a-half above 

 the level of the surrounding ground. He was lying with his 

 head towards the goombo, and near him was a boomerang and 

 other weapons cut in the soil. 



Between Baiamai and the goombo, a kangaroo was outlined 

 by a groove in the soil, with a real spear inserted in its body. 

 This spear was supposed to have been thrown by Baiamai before 

 he slipped and fell where he is now lying.''' 



Besides the foregoing there were represented on the ground 

 an iguana, a tish, an emu, a bullock, some birds' nests, a death- 

 adder, a pig, and other things. An eagle hawk's eyrie was 

 represented in one of the trees, and not far from the image of 

 Baiamai was the usual fire on top of some raised earth. At 

 another place an oval hole, between two and three feet in length 

 and about a foot deep, was dug in the ground, to represent the 

 vulva of a woman. Along the margin of this depression grass 

 and small bushes were stuck in the loose soil, in imitation of 

 hair. Around this device the men danced, muttering incan- 

 tations and indulging in libidinous gestures. 



On both sides of the path, between the archway and the 

 goombo, the treet? were marked with different objects, including 

 iguanas, turtles, snakes, birds, the moon, and human figures. 

 One of the trees had a wavy line cut into the bark along its 

 bole for about seventeen feet from the ground, to represent the 

 mark made by lightning, such as we sometimes see on trees in a 

 forest after heavy thunder. 



About two hundred people of all ages and both sexes, 

 including several half-castes, were gathered at the main camp. 

 They came from (hilargambone, Coonamble, Trangie, Dandaloo, 

 Dubbo, Brovvarrina, and Conkapeak. From the time the local 

 mob selected the site and commenced preparing the ground, 

 until the last contingent arrived, was more than three months, 

 owing to various delays. At this gathering nine youths were 

 admitted to the status of membership in their respective tribes. 

 For particulars of the course of secret instruction in the bush — 

 the inculcation of a mystic language and other occult teachings, 

 the reader is referred to my previous articles on this subject.! 



The punching out of a front upper incisor tooth of the 

 graduates was formerly practised by these tribes, but of late 



* .Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Lond., Vol. xxv., 300. 



t "The Burbung of the Wiradthuri Tribes," Journ. Anthrop. Inst. 



(London), xsv., 295-318, Plates 2.5-27. Ibid., xxvi., 272-285. 



