16 



ed, to make certain that no boys could possibly have access 

 to them. 



COIIEOBBOREES AND FrIENDLY MEETINGS. 



At ordinary corrobborees, other than those connected 

 with the initiation ceremonies, a tall, conical headgear is made 

 with grass, bound round with fur-string, the outside being 

 smeared with pipeclay, to which vegetable-down is made to 

 adhere with viscid sap. This conical structure fits over the 

 hair, which is drawn up into a point and smeared with pipe- 

 clay ; over it the grass-binding fits like a helmet. A small, 

 pointed stick, or bone, carrying a plume of emu feathers, is 

 inserted into the top, and the whole of the wearer's face, with 

 the exception of the eyelids and lips, is covered with vege- 

 table-down. The helmet is known under the following names 



The plume at the apex as (/iirriiinh erring, rtiurnn, mokiil- 

 InKj, and ngodeji, respectively. 



At various friendly gatherings of groups and tribes, 

 chants imitative of other events, sounds, and objects form 

 a prominent feature. Of these a few typical cases will be 

 mentioned. A corrobboree of the wailing of women is one 

 of the most popular amongst the Larrekiija and Wogaits. It 

 runs : — 

 A nidii kadji mara uda hayan yan : arada kadji mara uda 



kayan molle idpidtdu molle, ^angaji karra kanjin mada 



da nga la ulmin ja jandadbi karra kun kun mukale la 



enhidukdi hana molle mara kanjinmada da biduk di 



holle arada kadji halla. 

 hi) — e l6 Id — e Id — 6 l6 — 6 la Kanjin 7nada dan'6 wudningi 



juan madji karra kunkid miikana molle erihulnk di hana 



molle kanjin mada. 



In the above, the line commencing with lo — e is sung in 

 a plaintive manner, and is strongly suggestive of the wailing 

 of women at a mourning ceremony, which, indeed, it is in- 

 tended to represent. As a marked contrast to these seem- 

 ingly solemn proceedings, the termination is one of merri- 

 ment and laughter, in which there are many interjections and 

 criticisms as to the imitative skill of one another in the pro- 

 duction of effeminate sounds. 



An accompaniment is performed by one member on the 

 wooden trumpet,"^ into which he makes droning sounds that 



* See description p. 48 and fig. G3. 



