8 



The corpses of well-nourished children up to the age of 

 two or tliree years were primarily disposed of by eating them,"^ 

 but this custom is not at the present day strictly adhered to 

 by the semi-civilized peoples. 



Every native believes in his re-incarnation after death 

 in the form of some living being which is always held in 

 respect f by him. This belief, however, did not appear to be 

 general amongst the Lfurfhij/as. that were questioned. 



Personal Mutilations. 



Female infants are subjected to mutilation by removal 

 of two joints of the right forefinger. I In the western tribes, 

 Ginmu, the finger is cut off wdth a stone knife. Elsewhere it 

 is amputated at a later age by binding tightly round the 

 joint a ligature made of cobwebs of a spider that lives in the 

 mangroves, the limb withering away gradually. It appears, 

 also, that in certain instances the joints are removed by 

 biting, and in the Wngaif the amputated segment is 

 buried in an anthill. The operation takes place without cere- 

 mony, and does not seem to be strictly adhered to by the lat- 

 ter tribe A singular case came under notice in the Ginmu 

 tribe, where a young girl had had the two joints of her finger 

 imperfectly removed, and upon the mutilated stump a horny 

 growth, which resembled a diminutive finger-nail, had grown. 



When a child of either sex has reached the age of about 

 six years its nasal septum is perforated. The operation is 

 performed by an old man, who seizes the septum with thumb 

 and forefinger, draws it forward, and pinches a hole through 

 it with the nails. Through the perforation a small, sharpened 

 bone of a kangaroo is inserted, and the hole made larger by 

 gradually expanding it with a peg. During the operation 

 another man holds his hands firmly over the ears of the child, 

 which is thus not supposed to perceive the pain. When the 

 hole is large enough, a single small smooth segment of bamboo 

 is inserted by passing it over the kangaroo bone. The child 

 must sleep upon its back until the wound has healed. The 

 bamboo is replaced from time to time by a larger one, and 

 if, by chance, the rod should become fixed by clotting of blood 

 or otherwise, a strong blade of grass is inserted between the 



* Of. Foelsche: Trans. Roy. Soc, S.A., vol. v., 1882. p. 5. 



t Cf. Parkhouse : Austr. Assoc. Adv. Science, vol. vi., 189o, 

 p. 640, second paragraph. 



Xa. Foelsche: Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A., vol. v., 188l>, d. 7; 

 Maekillop: Trans. Roy. Soc, S.A., vol. xvii., 1893, p. 2o7. Dr. 

 W. E. Roth informs me that the practice of mutilating the little 

 finder is still in voj^^ne in Queensland, and in early days was preva- 

 lent down the coastline, c^'i-tainly as far south as Sydnev. 



