6 



are kept up for several nights, all night through, and on these 

 occasions a great deal of red, white, and yellow paint is used 

 by both sexes. After two moons the bones are looked at, and 

 if the flesh is off them they are collected in a basket by old 

 men and put in a tree close to the camp. If the flesh is not 

 off the bones when the grave is opened it is filled up again, 

 and the remains are left undisturbed. The day after the bones 

 are gathered together and put in a tree they are taken into 

 camp, and a corroborie follows. The following night the cor- 

 roborie is kept up till next morning, and the bones are buried 

 in a small hole about two feet deep. The Port Essington natives 

 have a custom after all the bones have been collected together 

 to carry them about with them in a basket for a long time, 

 sometimes for over twelve months ; but this is chiefly done by 

 the women. Sometimes old people, relations of the deceased, 

 at certain times give way to fits of sorrow and grief, which is 

 demonstrated by wailing and lamentation ; at the same time 

 they cut themselves with any kind of sharp instrument over 

 the head, arms, and body until large clots of blood cover the 

 wounds. 



EITES AXD CUSTOMS. 



The youths, before being admitted into manhood, have to 

 undergo certain rites and customs, in many respects similar to 

 those practised in the southern colonies. AYith the exception 

 of the few coast tribes from Port Darwin eastwards to the 

 Liverpool Eiver circumcision is practised by all the tribes with 

 whom Europeans have come in contact ; it is performed at 

 about the age of from sixteen to eighteen years, after which 

 they are entitled to all the rights and privileges of the tribe. 



The youths of those tribes that do not circumcise have to 

 pass through several stages between the ages of twelve and 

 twenty-four years before they are admitted into manhood. A 

 few tribes have a custom of knocking out one of the upper 

 front teeth. This is done at about the age of fourteen years 

 but does not seem to be compulsory, and the custom appears to 

 be dying out. 



In some tribes the young females are subject to some revolt- 

 ing customs before they are allowed to be married or rather 

 allowed to cohabit with their aflianced husbands ; but these 

 customs are of such a disgusting nature that they are not fit to 

 be mentioned here. Between the ages of twelve and twenty 

 jcava, both males and females mutilate their bodies by making 

 cuts in the flesh on the upper parts of the arms, just below the 

 shoulder joints, across the chest, body, rumj^, and thighs, and 

 raiSe large scars or wheals by way of ornamentation. This is 

 done with a sharp kind of white flint stone, the same as is used 

 for spear heads ; they then chew leaves of a native plum-tree, 



