574 MATHEWS—THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. [Oct. 5 
Restrictions respecting food,! similar in character to those in 
operation in Australia, have also been observed in Tasmania, some 
people being allowed to eat only the male, others only the female, 
of particular animals ; whilst certain kinds of fish were forbidden 
to some tribes. 
J. Bonwick ’ tells us of the use of the bullroarer in Tasmania: 
‘‘The wise men, or doctors, . . . . twirled round the magic 
mooyumkarr, an oval piece of wood with a string, . . . . which 
must on no account be seen by females.’’ He also states, at page 
192 of the same work, that ‘‘ circles have been recognized in the 
interior of Van Diemen’s Land.”’ 
R. H. Davies* reports that when ‘‘ the males arrive at the age of 
puberty they are deeply scarified on the shoulders, thighs and 
muscles of the breast.’’ 
The few references herein made to the customs of the Tasma- 
nians have been taken from the works of early writers which were 
published between thirty and a hundred years ago. It is likely 
that the great secrecy which surrounds the celebration of inaugural 
rites generally had the effect of precluding the white population 
from witnessing or reporting what was done on such occasions. 
An attempt has been made in this paper to deduce the inception 
of many parts of the initiation ceremonies of Australian tribes from 
their conflicts of the past by showing their strong resemblance to 
what actually takes place in internecene wars among the natives of 
the present day. During the long isolation of tribes, or confedera- 
racies, special characteristics have developed, and modifications 
have resulted in accordance with varying circumstances, among the 
people of different districts, until the elaborate forms of the ceremo- 
nies as we now find them have been evolved. 
EXPLANATION OF THE Map. 
As already stated, a tribe is divided into sections, which are 
known by distinguishing titles. If we travel through any consid- 
erable extent of territory we discover that the names of these divi- 
sions vary in different districts. In a certain tract of country the 
17. B. Walker, Votes on the Aborigines of Australia (Government Printer, 
Tasmania, 1898), p. 9. 
2 Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians (London, 1870), pp. 175, 176. 
3 Op. Cit., p. 412. 
