ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 327 



away, it is replaced. The novice usually carries a weapon, 

 as a shield, a club, a spear, a tomahawk ; it is the guardian's 

 duty to supply him with these. 



Young women who are eligible to the graduate in mar- 

 riage, encourage him by replenishing his bag, and potential 

 brothers-in-law afford him every opportunity of displaying 

 his buffoonery. At intervals during all the peculiar cere- 

 monial practises of the graduate, above described, he calls 

 out "Hon! Hey! Waho!" whilst perambulating the camp. 

 Sometimes he jumps and quivers his legs ; at other times 

 he goes at a jog, swinging his body from side to side ; or 

 any comical attitude in which he has been carefully drilled 

 by his guardian. Where there is a chance of introducing 

 the obscene or phallic element, it is taken advantage of. 



It is part of the ordinary routine of the ceremony that a 

 number of demands shall be made upon the novice during 

 his peregrinations. Every man or woman who wishes to 

 assist him in consummating the prescribed ritual calls out 

 " Tyibbauga ! " and is answered by the shout "Waho!" 

 The order is then given and it is the duty of the novice to 

 comply with the requests of the people, or at any rate 

 make a pretence of doing so. 



The guardian or sponsor of the graduate is somewhere 

 whithin view all the time, and when the evening approaches 

 he takes his ward back to their own camping place, where 

 he attends to all his wants and " coaches " him for the 

 duties of the next day. These itinerary performances, with 

 variations, continue from day to day until the hair, which 

 was singed off, begins to grow again. None of the perform- 

 ances above described are ever enacted by the youth during 

 the night time, but are confined exclusively to the clay. 



When the council of old men considers that all the 

 necessary procedure has been gone through, the perambu- 

 lation of the camp is discontinued, and the youth is taken 



