118 R. H. MATHEWS. 



youths with a kilt of wallaby skin suspended in front by means 

 of a girdle tied round the waist ; these badges must be kept by 

 the recruits till they have passed through another Bora.* Such 

 of the adult males as were not engaged in the ceremonies also 

 entered the ring if they chose, and stood with the people of their 

 respective tribes. 



As soon as the novices, who are called wommarois, were thus 

 ornamented, their guardians took them by the arm above the elbow, 

 and led them towards the smaller circle, with their eyes fixed on 

 the ground, care being taken that they did not look at any of the 

 figures as they passed along the track. Each guardian and his 

 novice walked abreast — one pair following the other — thus form- 

 ing a file of two and two. Each guardian gave his boy instructions 

 as to his duty while on the Bora ground. When the procession 

 of novices started the men who were present as spectators raised 

 a shout. This shouting is kept up to cover the noise made by the 

 departing guardians and their novices ; the women not being 

 supposed to know what has become of them.f 



When the men and novices got out of sight of the larger circle, 

 the women and children were permitted to rise from the prostrate 

 position in which they had been placed, and were escorted back 

 to the main camp by the old men left in charge of them. This 

 was the last appearance of the women on the Bora ground. 



On reaching the smaller circle, the wommarois were made to lie 

 face downwards on the ground with their heads resting on the 

 raised earth forming the boundary, and their feet from it. They 

 were allowed to vary this posture by resting on their knees and 

 elbows, with their heads bent to the ground — when they got tired 

 of one position they could adopt the other — and during all this 

 time they were forbidden to look up. 



* These kilts and girdles were similar in every respect to those worn 

 by the messengers when summoning the tribes, as stated in an earlier 

 part of this paper. Sometimes these kilts are made of kangaroo-rat skin. 

 — Anthr. Journ., xviii., p. 321. 



f Anthr. Jour, xin., p. 442, note 3. 



