ABORIGINAL T1UBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 265 



scarring, because their own lives would be demanded by the 

 relatives of the deceased. See " Pirrimbir," supra. 



While the scarring is in progress the men standing around 

 make a great noise by beating their shields with other 

 weapons. The novitiate is then taken away by some initi- 

 ated men who act as his guardians and provide him with 

 food. These men are generally the brothers of his future 

 wife and his own elder brothers. Piresticks are occasionally 

 held close to the wounds to make them open and protrude 

 as much as possible during the process of healing, in order to 

 leave raised scars. Every afternoon, just before sundown, 

 he is freshly painted, and a mixture of grease and ashes 

 or ground charcoal applied to the cuts on his shoulder. 



In the course of a few months, when the wounds are 

 healed, the graduate is painted again and his body anointed 

 with the fat of the doe opossum, which up till this time has 

 been wanal to him. Some cooked flesh of the animal is 

 then given him and while he eats it the old men chant a 

 different song to that used on the first occasion, the dance 

 being also varied. As soon as convenient after this cere- 

 mony, the subject is kept awake throughout a cold night, 

 as before, and in the morning he is again placed sitting on 

 boughs spread upon the ground, while a man cuts vertical 

 lines on the right shoulder, similar to those appearing on 

 the left, and the wounds are treated in the same manner. 



There is now a band of vertical marks reaching across 

 the back from shoulder, which shows that the bearer has 

 creditably kept the law relating to opossums and that the 

 headmen have thought fit to release him from that particular 

 wanal. If a youth were sly and deceitful, and surreptiti- 

 ously eat something which was wanal to him, and the 

 elders became aware of it, they would punish him by refus- 

 ing to release him from his forbidden food, for a much longer 

 time than would otherwise be considered necessary. 



