JOHN FKASER, B.A., LL.D. 



mind, for he knows that his opening manhood has brought 

 him to the threshold of ceremonies of mysterious import, 

 through which he is to be formally received into the tribe 

 and thereby to acquire the dignity of a man. The rites of 

 initiation are important, numerous, and prolonged ; and, as 

 his admission does not concern himself or his family merely, 

 but the whole tribe, these observances call together large 

 assemblages, and are the occasion of general rejoicing. 



This assembly, the most solemn and unique in the tribal 

 life, is called the Bora. The whole proceedings are essen- 

 tially the same everywhere in their general features and 

 teachings, but the details vary among the different tribes. 

 Therefore, instead of a separate narrative for each tribe, I will 

 endeavour to present to you a full view of the Bora, taking 

 one tribal mode as the basis of my description, but intro- 

 ducing from the other tribes such features as appear to nie 

 needed to complete the significance of the ceremonies. 



The chiefs of the tribes know that some boys are ready for 

 initiation ; they accordingly summon their <f marbull," or 

 public messenger, and bid him inform the sections of the 

 tribe that a Bora will be held at a certain time and place, the 

 time being near full moon, and the place being usually a well- 

 known Bora ground ; they also send him away to invite the 

 neighbouring tribes to attend; this invitation is readily 

 accepted, for, although the tribes may be at variance with 

 each other, universal brotherhood prevails among the blacks 

 at such a time as this. The day appointed for the gathering 

 is, perhaps, a week or two distant, and the intervening time is 

 filled with busy preparations by the leading men of the 

 novice's tribe. They select a suitable piece of ground, near 

 water, if possible, and level for convenience in sitting or lying 

 on ; they then form and clear of all timber, and in most cases 

 even of every blade of grass, two circular enclosures, a larger 

 and a smaller, about a quarter of a mile from each other, with a 

 straight track connecting them * the trees that grow around 

 the smaller circle they carve at about the height of a man, 

 often much higher, with curious emblematical devices and 

 figures ; the circuit of each ring is defined by a slight mound 

 of earth laid around, and in the centre of the larger one 

 they fix a short pole with a bunch of emu feathers on the top 

 of it. Everything is now ready for the rites of initiation, and 

 there is a large concourse ; the men stand by with their bodies 

 painted in stripes of colour, chiefly red and white; the women, 



* In the Bora grounds which I have examined this path leads due east 

 and west by the compass. 



