44 



Armlets. — Reeds are split longitudinally into long, thin 

 strips, which are scraped into pieces of uniform breadth with 

 stone knives. In the latter process, one end of the strip is 

 tied round the great toe of the right foot, from which it is 

 passed between that toe and the next of the left foot, and 

 the other end held in the left hand. The right hand is thus 

 free to do the scraping. See fig. 52. The prepared strips 



Fig. 52. 



are neatly plaited into armlets that are worn by male and 

 female round the upper arm above the elbow. See pi. ii. 

 With age-, these armlets become very tight-fitting, often press- 

 ing deeply into the flesh, and at times have to be cut on this 

 account. The armlet has the following tribal names : — Mir- 

 rakma (Larrekiya), tchellorra (Wogait and Berringin), and 

 pinhin fSkerait). 



A broader armlet is used during certain ceremonies. It 

 is one and three-quarter inches broad, and consists of about 

 twelve narrow series of five plaited strips of cane, subse- 

 quently knitted into one by a close meshwork of opossum-fur 

 strings, passing transversely from one series to the other, 

 alternating over one and under the next. 



Waist-girdh'S. — Waist-girdles are worn by men, and are 

 made of twisted human- hair string. About thirty string 

 circles are tied together at opposite ends of a diameter, thus 

 forming, when pulled out, a bundle of sixty parallel strings. 

 These are loosely twisted together to form a coil about two 

 feet in length, which is tied round the waist by a similar 



