15 



be certain to become the victim of any spear tiirown by 

 them. 



A subsequent secret corrobboree of initiation, about which 

 very little is known, takes place several years later, and cor- 

 responds to the MoU'inya ceremony of the men, which is 

 described below. 



In conformity with the absence of sub-incision among 

 these western tribes, the corresponding mutilation of the 

 female is not in vogue. 



Second Initiation Ceremony of the Lakrekiya Youth — 

 The Mollinya. 



Some years after the Bollier ceremony comes the Mol- 

 linya, after w4iich the subject becomes entitled to join in the 

 discussions of the old men. On this occasion the youth is 

 under the care of an old man, and is decorated in a somewhat 

 similar way as in the first ceremony. The broad, white fore- 

 head band, ov galamhaua, marked transversely with four 

 stripes of red ochre, and the similar appendages from head, 

 elbow, and waist are worn. He carries, in addition, a plume 

 of cockatoo feathers, known as hiamorre, in his hair. See pi. ii. 

 The performance — at which only the old men (all initiated 

 Mollinyas) are present, while no mention of the ceremony is 

 made to the women — commences soon after sundown, and 

 ends before midnight. The youth, in the presence of hi^ 

 guardian, must remain silent, and wdth downcast eyes. A 

 wailing chant is sung in low, broken accents : "Makolcir wcuiga, 

 tfwkolar, a ar, mal'lar, immanf/a." No beating of sticks or 

 hands accompanies the tune, and no definite ceremonial dance 

 follows. 



After the Mollinya ceremony, cicatrices may be added on 

 either side of the abdomen, each cut extending to under half- 

 M'ay across the front. 



During the time between the Bollier and Mollinya rites, 

 bustard, flying-fox, and yam are forbidden as articles of diet, 

 but at the latter corrobboree he is invited by the old men 

 to eat. The man believes that even if he ate one of these 

 foods secretly during the forbidden period, the medicine-man 

 would, on his returning to camp, at once detect it in his 

 stomach. And having thus disobeyed, the medicine-man 

 would have perfect right to run a spear through him, or com- 

 pel him to eat certain things, from the effects of which he 

 would die. But, although he must not eat the forbidden 

 foods, the youth is not forbidden to hunt them, so long as 

 he delivers up the spoil to the old men. These rules are 

 strictly observed, and, whenever privileged members have 

 eaten flying-fox, the bones are carefully collected and burn- 



