264 R. H. MATHEWS. 



dance around, shouting out the names of waterholes, shady 

 trees, etc., in the novice's country. 



On the first cold night after these proceedings, the novice 

 is kept in the camp without food and is not allowed to sleep. 

 He is not permitted to speak above a whisper and remains 

 in the same place. Early next morning, while it is still 

 very cold, he is taken charge of by the men and is seated 

 on bushes laid upon the ground. His future brother-in-law, 

 or his maternal uncle, or a tribal representative of one of 

 these men, comes behind him, and witli a piece of sharp 

 flint makes several vertical cuts about two and a half inches 

 long on the back of his left shoulder — on the central portion 

 between the point of the shoulder and the spine. The blood 

 flowing from the incisions is rubbed into them by the 

 operator, after which ground charcoal, mixed with grease, 

 is applied. Being sleepy, cold and weary, his body appears 

 to be numb and almost insensible to pain. 



Before commencing the cutting, the boy's maternal uncle 

 or his father licks or sucks the top of his skull. It is said 

 that some years back, the lad's skull was bitten by the old 

 man. 1 One of the sorcerers present rubs a bullroarer across 

 the youth's shoulder or perhaps a large quartz crystal is used 

 instead ; these manoeuvres being supposed to increase the 

 graduate's fortitude and alleviate the pain or bleeding. 



If there be more boys than one to be dealt with, the same 

 ritual is gone through, but a fresh scarifier is appointed for 

 each one. These men profess to undertake their duty with 

 hesitancy, and therefore some mock persuasion has to be 

 enacted before they start work. They are usually chosen 

 from among men who have come from some of the neigh- 

 bouring tribes. Probably the unwillingness of these oper- 

 ators is due to their fear of any fatal results following the 



1 " Burbung of the Darkiuung Tribes," Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, Vol. 

 x., N.S. (1897) p. 8. 



