NEW SOUTH WALES. 13 



j^tion must be, it is not to be altered during 

 the night, and till all the ceremony concludes, 

 no refreihment is to be given them. — As the 

 natives are well aware, that the knocking out 

 the tooth is attended with considerable pain, 

 the performers of the mystic', rites . have 

 cunning enough to impress on the minds of 

 those about to suffer, that on their being deli- 

 vered of a bone, for which farce they conceal 

 one in a girdle, that the operation will be ef- 

 fected with a proportionate degree pf ease, as 

 they surfer the greater degree of pain. Thus 

 one falls on the ground, and draws himself 

 into every form that ideal pain can invent, and 

 while in this state, some dance, some sing, 

 and some beat him, till he produces the won- 

 derful bone that is to perform the operation with 

 little or no pain. This closes the first act of the 

 farce, and with it generally closes the day. 



Towards sunrise the next morning, the party 

 advance into the Yoo-lahng, shouting, and 

 running three times round it. 



The operators now parade round the Yoo- 

 lahng, on their hands and feet like dogs, with a 

 wooden sword in the girdle, which from the 

 position it takes behind, serves to represent the 

 tail ; this is meant to endow them with the 

 good qualities of that animal. The next cere- 

 mony is, one brings into the circle a kangaroo 

 made of grass, and a second a load of brush- 

 wood, and it is not unusual for him to have 

 some in his nose. These are laid at the feet of 

 the young men, and the bearers retire.. By this 



