in particular of the Port Lincoln Distnct. 185 



accept the office of Indaiiyo.na, an honor wliich he pretends 

 to accept of most rekictantly. (All festivities of the blacks 

 take place dnring the snniraer season, when a great number 

 of them are always collected together; and since no one 

 among them possesses any authority of command, it requires 

 no little mutual persuasion and exhortation to move on a 

 large idle body of them ; the natural conseqvience is, the 

 greater part of the day passes on in going through ceremo- 

 nies for wliich an hour would be amply sufficient.) 



They commence by closing the eyes of the " Wilyalkinyes/^ 

 and b}^ fetching out of their camps, apparently much against 

 their will, the women, who raise up a general lamentation, 

 far, hoAvever, from sincere ; in the meantime, the lads have 

 been removed by their sponsors, and are kept at a short dis- 

 tance from the place of encampment. These, then, having 

 placed themselves in a circle, holding for about an hour the 

 eyes of the lads closed with both hands, utter from time 

 to time a long, protracted, melancholy, monotonous tone, 

 sounding somewhat like "Je — e — ch.^^ Then leading the 

 lads a further distance off, they lay them flat on the 

 ground, and cover them up with rugs; after an interval 

 of another hour, two men fetch several green boughs of 

 trees, and the lads having been raised up again, the whole 

 body of those present join together and form a large semi- 

 circle round them. The tAvo bearers of the gi-een boughs 

 now step forward, place themselves in the centre of the open- 

 ing of the circle, vehemently stamp their right feet, and 

 under various gestures of anger and wrath throw the boughs 

 over the heads of the young men, Avhile at the same 

 time the other company make a clatter by striking their various 

 Avar instruments together, and utter a volley of short, strong, 

 loud sounds, the last of Avhich they prolong each time that any 

 of the boughs fall to the ground — similar, Ave might say, to 

 " Je-je-je-jeh,^' AA'hilc the young initiated are then laid on the 

 carefully-spread boughs, and again covered Avith rugs. The 

 others quite leisurely set to AAork preparing the small pieces 

 of quartz for the tattooing operation, and engage in finding 

 out some new names to bestoAV on them for life hereafter. 

 The latter becomes a rather difficult task, since the name has 

 not only to correspond with their taste and notions of euphony, 

 but also must be quite ncAv, and not have been borne by any 

 other individual alive or dead even. These names generally 

 are derived from the roots of verbs, to Avhich they attach as 

 end-syllables— ''alta/' ''ilti,'' or " ulta"— according tothclast 



