640 



NATURE 



[October 30, 1890 



" You no take thing belong another man without leave ; 

 if you see a fish-spear and take it, s'pose you break it and 

 you no got spear, how you pay man ? " 



" S'pose you see a dugong-harpoon in a canoe and take 

 it, and man he no savvy, then you lose it or break it, how 

 you pay him ? You no got dugong-harpoon." 



" You no play with boy and girl now ; you a man now, 

 and no boy." 



" You no play with small play-canoe, or with toy- spear ; 

 that all finish now." 



" You no like girl first ; if you do, girl laugh at you 

 and call you a woman." [That is, the young man must 

 not propose marriage to a girl, but must wait for her to 

 ask first.] 



" You no marry the sister of your mate, or by and by 

 you will be ashamed ; mates all same as brothers." [But 

 " mates " may marry two sisters.] 



" You no marry your cousin ; she all same as sister." 

 " If anyone asks for food, or water, or anything, you 

 give something ; if you have a little, you give a little ; if 

 you have plenty, give half." 



" Look after your mother and father ; never mind if 

 you and your wife go without." 



" Don't speak bad word to mother." 

 " Give half of all your fish to your parents ; don't be 

 mean." 



" Father and mother all along same as food in belly ; 

 when they die you feel hungry and empty." 

 " Mind your uncles, too, and cousins." 

 " If woman walk along, you no follow fby and by man 

 look, he call you bad name." 



" If a canoe is going to another place, you go in canoe ; 

 no stop behind to steal woman." 



" If your brother is going out to fight, you help him ; 

 don't let him go first, but go together." 



Who will say, after this, that the Torres Straits 

 Islanders were degraded savages? 



At length the month of isolation expired, and for the 

 last time the uncle washed the lad ; he then rubbed him 

 with scented leaves, and polished him up with oil. Then 

 he was decorated with armlets and leglets, breast- 

 ornaments, and possibly a belt, his ears ornamented, and 

 a shell-skewer passed through his nose ; bright-coloured 

 leaves would be inserted in his armlets, and his hair 

 rolled into the approved string-like ringlets. So they 

 " make him flash— flash like hell — that boy." 



The afternoon of the eventful day was occupied in this 

 congenial task, and at nightfall all the lads* who were 

 being initiated were marshalled by their uncles behind a 

 large mat, which was held vertically. In this wise they 

 marched to the village until they arrived at an open 

 space where a mat was spread on the ground before a 

 circle of friends and relatives. When the approaching 

 party reached this mat the lads seated themselves upon 

 it, and then the screening mat was lowered. Suddenly, 

 for the first time for a month, the fathers and female 

 relatives saw the boys, and great were the crying and 

 shouting and exclamations of delight at the brave show. 

 With tears the mothers cried out, " My boy ! my boy ! " 

 and they and other elderly female relatives rushed up to 

 them and fondled and caressed them, and the mothers 

 surreptitiously put dainty morsels by their boys. 



Sitting with legs crossed under them and down-turned 

 faces, the boys neither moved nor exhibited the least 

 emotion, for now they were men. 



Less precise is my information respecting the corre- 

 sponding rites of the Eastern Tribe. So far as I could 

 gather, there were in Mer, the largest of the Murray 

 Islands, two important ceremonies, which we may term 

 the initiation and recognition ceremonies. For the first 

 the lads were assembled near a sacred round house, or 

 pelak, in which the awe-inspiring masks were kept. The 

 ceremony was conducted by three zogole, or sacred men, 

 and their tdniileb, or attendants. The latter arranged 



• NO. 1096, VOL. 42] 



themselves in a double row, from the pelak to the place 

 where the boys were assembled, and, holding long sticks, 

 performed certain movements. Slowly the dread appari- 

 tion advanced ; the chief zogole came first, wearing a 

 huge mask with human features and a beard of jaw- 

 bones ; the second 5-^^<?/^ steadied this mask with a rope ; 

 the third zogole wore a long mask, shaped like a shark. 

 Then for the first time the names of these masks were 

 revealed to the lads— BOMAI and Malu. These were 

 the sacred names which it was not lawful to communi- 

 cate to the outsider, death to both being the penalty. 

 Their collective name of Agud was, however, known 

 to all. 



I can only allude to the customary food-offering pre- 

 sented to the zogole, and the course of instruction instilled 

 into the youths, one item of which was the narration of 

 the legend of Malu, and must pass on to the recognition 

 ceremony. This function took place in the afternoon on 

 the sand beach outside the village of Las. A great con- 

 course of people was assembled— men, women, and 

 children — the newly initiated lads occupying the front 

 row. 



First four men of the dog-clan played about in pairs. 

 (I may here parenthetically remark that it took me a 

 fortnight's work to glean what little information I have 

 respecting these two ceremonies. On one occasion I 

 induced a number of men to rehearse some of the dances 

 for me on the actual spot where they were originally per- 

 formed, in order that I might gain a clear comprehension 

 of them. One of my photographic "studies" I now 

 throw on the screen.) The dog-men were followed by 

 pigeon-men, who danced and beat their chests ; later, 

 whirling along the strand, came a body of dancers, 

 circling from left to right as they advanced, an outer ring 

 with sticks, an inner ring brandishing stone clubs, and 

 possibly some drum players in the centre. Lastly, the 

 three zogole appeared, completely covered with white 

 feathers, and each carrying five wands. Although seen 

 by the women, their identity was supposed to be 

 unknown. 



This was the final function, and was followed by the 

 ever-recurring feast. Thenceforth the lads took standing 

 as men. 



Strangely enough, at neither Tud nor Mer could I dis- 

 cover that the bull-roarer was employed at these cere- 

 monies. The widespread use and sacred character of 

 this simple instrument has been emphasized by Mr. Lang 

 in one of his charming .essays. Knowing its universal 

 distribution in Australia, I was not surprised to find that 

 in Muralug, or Prince of Wales Island, which hes close 

 to Cape York, its use was associated with the initiation of 

 the lads. It was only by speaking in a low voice to the 

 chief of the island and his son Georgie, whose photograph 

 you have already seen, and by assuming more knowledge 

 than I actually possessed, that I could induce them to 

 admit of its being employed. Cautiously looking round 

 to see that no one was near, its name, wanes, was 

 whispered to me. After much persuasion, a model of 

 one was made for me, on the express understanding that 

 I should not show it to any woman on the island ; and I 

 did not. It is now in the British Museum. All that I 

 could gather was that it was whirled in the bush and then 

 shown to the lads. Death was the penalty to both if a 

 man exhibited it to a woman, or to anyone who had not 

 been initiated. 



Great was my surprise when, shortly afterwards, I saw, 

 the Saibai boys who were staying at the mission station 

 on Mer, playmg with bull-roarers identical with the one 

 with which I had been so secretly intrusted. The most 

 sacred emblem in one island was a toy in another. In 

 case some of you may not be acquainted with this most 

 interesting implement, I have brought one of these bull- 

 roarers. 

 From these important initiation ceremonies we may 



