43 



Chest-bands.— About forty thin vegetable-fibre strings 

 are wound into a skein, like that used in the head band pre- 

 viously described. The 

 circumference of each 

 circle thus produced 

 measures from three and 

 a half to four feet, a cer- 

 tain proportion of which 

 (nine to twelve inchesj is 

 bound round, circumfer- 

 entially, so that it be- 

 comes a solid cord. The 

 strings are divided into 

 two lots, each of which 

 is tied round near the 

 main rope at either end 

 for a length of about one 

 inch, to keep the two 

 halves separate. (See 

 fig. 49.) The ornament 

 is worn principally by 

 women in the manner 

 shown in figs. 50 and 51. 

 The bound portion rests 

 vertically along the back, 

 and each of the two 

 halves passes over one 

 shoulder. diagonally 



across the chest and under the opposite arm. to meet the 

 lower end of the vertical cord.''^ 



Smaller forms of this ornament are worn round tne 

 neck, most often by men. (See pi. ii.) 



* Cf. R. Etheridge: Macleay Mem. Vol.. Linn. See, N.S.W., 

 1893, p. 247; and Spencer and Gillen : The Northern Tribes of 

 Central Australia, 1904. p. 694. 



