64- THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



survivors had been burned and restored to life. Baiame, on hearing this, became very 

 wroth and killed this great being Dhuramoolan. But Dhuramoolan put his voice into all the 

 trees of the forest, telling it to remain in them for ever. He also made a "bull-roarer" 

 (a whip used to frighten away women at the ceremonies) by splitting one of the trees, and 

 the tree still retained the voice. Baiame told his chief men that in future they must 

 themselves initiate the youths of the tribes, using the " bull- roarers " to represent the voice 

 of Dhuramoolan. The women were not told of the death of Dhuramoolan or the deceit 

 which he had practised, and they therefore continued to believe that he took the boys, burned 

 them, and brought them back to life. 



It is quite clear that the object of the initiatory rites is to teach the privileges, duties, 

 and obligations of manhood, to harden them and make them able to bear pain. Youths are 

 thus enrolled among the men, and removed from the care of the women. They are no longer 



.> 



Photo by Kerry 



[Sydney. 



RIVER LANDSCAPE, WITH HUT. 



"tied to their mother's apron-strings," as we should say. The ceremonies create a gulf 

 between the past . life of the boy and the future of the man that can never be recrossed. 

 They also strengthen the authority of the old men. Finally, the opportunity is taken of 

 impressing upon the mind of the youth, in an indelible manner, the rules of conduct which 

 he is expected to obey. In addition to all this there is a semi-religious element which tends 

 to strengthen very greatly the emotional effect of the rite. It is difficult to imagine 

 anything better calculated to impress, to awe, and even to terrify a young Australian savage 

 than the initiation ceremonies of his race. 



According to some writers, Australians have no religion beyond the dread of ghosts and 

 evil spirits. They certainly have no worship, even of idols. But Ilatzel and others maintain 

 that a good many ideas have been imported from Polynesia, Melanesia, Borneo, and other 

 regions. With the Kamilaroi tribe in the north-west of New South Wales, Baiame is 

 regarded as the maker of all things; his name signifies "maker" or "cutter out," and he 

 is the rewarder of men according to their conduct. He it is who sees and knows all, being 

 kept well informed by a lower deity who presides at the initiation ceremonies. Another deity, 

 whose name is Dhuramoolan, acts as mediator. The latter has a wife called the Egg, or Life. 

 She has charge over the instruction of women. The spirit that which speaks and thinks 



