626 MATHEWS—SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. [Oct. 5, 
SUBINCISION. 
Splitting the lower side of the male sexual organ is denoted by a 
different word in each of the several communities among whom it 
is practiced. It will therefore prevent any confusion as to what is 
meant if we disregard the native nomenclature and substitute the 
English term Swdznciston, a name which has already been used by 
some writers and clearly indicates the character of the rite. 
Some time after the wound caused by the circumcision has healed, 
the tribes are again brought together and the ceremony of subin- 
cision performed. The length of time between the two operations. 
varies among different tribes, and is also subject to the convenience 
of mustering the people and other circumstances. The interval 
may be only a few months, or it may be a year or two, or perhaps 
several years. The age at which it is performed is entirely in the 
discretion of the old chiefs, and fluctuates from about fourteen to. 
eighteen years. 
All the preparatory arrangements are substantially the same as 
already stated in dealing with ‘‘ circumcision ;’’ and the proponents 
for initiation must be young fellows who have already submitted to. 
that rite at previous gatherings. On the evening preceding the day 
fixed for the ceremony, the novices are taken to the appointed 
place near the camp, where they remain all night without clothing 
or rest of any kind. No youth who has not been subincised, nor 
any female, is allowed to see any part of this ceremony. 
Early in the morning a novice is caught and thrown face upward 
on the backs of a heap of men, similar to that described in the cir- 
cumcision ceremony, and held in position, a bullroarer being 
sounded by one of the men within hearing, but out of sight. In 
some cases a man sits astride his chest, so as to render movement of 
the body impossible. One of the assistants then takes hold of the 
youth’s penis in his fingers and stretches it full length upward 
along the abdomen. He uses both hands in catching the glans— 
a hand on each side—and holds it in such a position as to expose 
the meatus and the urethral canal as fully as possible. The oper- 
ator, who is chosen from among the strange tribes present, then 
with a sharp flint cuts the urethra open, extending the incision from 
the meatus toward the scrotum about two inches, and in some 
cases almost back to the scrotal pouch. In other districts the urethra 
is split from near the scrotum to within about an inch of the glans, 
