CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINES. 177 



to undergo this operation, receiving at the same 

 time the " cumeel," or opossum-skin belt, after 

 which he is admitted into the society of men, 

 permitted to attend the corroberas, or consulta- 

 tions when any marauding or war expedition is 

 in contemplation, or when the tribe is about to 

 remove from one part of the country to another : 

 previous to this, they are considered only fit 

 society for women, and associate principally with 

 them. A son of a chief at Yas Plains, who had 

 not yet undergone this ceremony, necessary for 

 his admission, attended one of their meetings : 

 on being discovered, he was obliged to leave the 

 assembly. 



The females among the native tribes have little 

 confidence reposed in them by the opposite sex, 

 from fear that their secret plans and expeditions 

 might be divulged by them : when, therefore, 

 they form a plot to steal or kill cattle, they are 

 careful to conceal their schemes from the weaker 

 sex, and boys associate with them ; for in in- 

 stances not a few, when plans for marauding 

 excursions have been overheard by the females, 

 the latter have betrayed them to the stock -keep- 

 ers, and thus frustrated their intentions. But 

 may not this proceed from the want of mutual 

 confidence between the parties ? Among the 

 tribes a chieftain does not preserve an hereditary 



VOL. I. N 



