424 K. H. MATHEWS. 



I have gained considerable information by personal inspec- 

 tion. I was told by station owners and other old white 

 men, who have resided in that district for many years, 

 that the Bora ground referred to had been used on several 

 different occasions by the Kamilaroi tribes throughout an 

 extensive area of surrounding country during a long period. 

 This is the ground referred to by Dr. John Fraser in his 

 prize essay, "The Aborigines of New South Wales," pub- 

 lished in this Journal in 1882, Vol. xvi, p. 216. He says, 

 " The great ancestral Bora ground of the Kamilaroi tribe 

 is at Terry-hie-hie." Dr. Fraser repeats this statement in 

 another article under the same title, published by the 

 Government Printer in 1892, p. 19. 



In 1901 I made a special journey from Moree to Terry- 

 hie-hie Station for the purpose of inspecting and reporting 

 upon the old Bora ground above referred to. At the station 

 I secured the services of two old Kamilaroi blackfellows, 

 who had been present at the last bora held at this place, and 

 who were able and willing to tell me everything I wanted 

 to know in regard to it. As near as I could gather by 

 enquiries, this ground had not been used for about fifteen 

 or twenty years previously. 



The main camp of the aborigines assembled on that 

 occasion was on Terry-hie-hie Creek about three-quarters 

 of a mile down the creek from the Terry-hie-hie Homestead. 

 The boora or large ring was situated about eight chains 

 back from the left bank of the creek mentioned, and was 

 hidden from the view of the women and uninitiated by the 

 intervening timber. This ring was still in a good state of 

 preservation, and the mean of several measurements gave 

 a diameter of 103 feet, being practically a circle. The 

 boundary of the ring was defined by a raised bank of earth, 

 the average height of which was 12 or 15 inches, but had 

 probably been several inches higher when it was built and 



