624 MATHEWS—SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. [Oct. 5, 
formity with the tribal laws, and would not be extended to the 
novices. 
On the afternoon of the following day the youths to be operated 
upon are conducted to the prepared place before referred to and 
are kept there all night. When the men are taking the boys away, 
the mothers and other female relatives of the latter dance around 
and gently strike the men of their own phratry on the shoulder with 
the open hand. For example, the Koolpirro women would strike 
the Koolpirro men, and the Thinnawa women the Thinnawa men. 
After this the women retire, and are not permitted to witness any of 
the secret portions of the rites. The men who have the custody of 
the novices are accompanied by young fellows who were circum- 
cised and subincised at previous gatherings of recent date. 
A cold night is usually selected for taking charge of the boys, and 
they are kept at their camp without sleep or clothing. The men 
shove and pull them about to keep them awake, under pretence of 
watching for the approach of an enemy. At the first appearance 
of daylight a short passage is formed by some men standing in a 
row on one side and some on the other. During this time bull- 
roarers are sounded in the bush close at hand. A novice is carried | 
along the passage referred to and laid face upward on the backs of 
several men who are clustered together, and his limbs are held fast. 
An old man, selected from one of the visiting tribes, then pulls the 
foreskin forward and cuts it off with a sharp flake of stone. The 
foreskin is then held up in view of those standing around and its 
appearance is hailed by acclamation. A new name is now con- 
ferred upon the graduate by which he will in future be distinguished. 
Those who have charge of him put dust or ashes on the wound to 
stop the bleeding. Being sleepy, cold and weary from the effects 
of the previous night’s proceedings, his body appears to be numb 
and almost insensible to pain. 
The same ritual is gone through in regard to every novice oper- 
ated upon and a fresh circumcisor is appointed for each. These 
men profess to undertake their duty with reluctance, and are rubbed 
over with dust by their comrades before commencing the ceremony. 
Different ways of disposing of the foreskin are practiced in different 
parts of the territory treated of in this paper. In some districts it 
is eaten by the man who cuts it off and his friends, the men stand- 
ing around being responsible that this is done. In other cases it is 
eaten by the elder brothers or brothers-in-law of the novice; in 
