278 R. H. MATHEWS AND M. M. EVERITT. 



who are responsible for the due administration of the several por- 

 tions of the ceremonies, also avail themselves of this stoppage to 

 paint their bodies with powdered charcoal, or burnt grass, mixed 

 with emu fat. 



On the completion of the painting of the boys and men, alt 

 hands proceed to a camp, called bunnumbeal, in a secluded part 

 of their hunting grounds. On the way thither the novices are 

 told to hold their hands on their stomachs, which after a time 

 becomes very tiring to the muscles of the arms. When the party 

 come to a deep rut or dry watercourse, the novices must walk 

 down into the bottom and up the other side, even although it be 

 so narrow that they could easily jump over it. If, however, there 

 is any water in the bottom of the channel, the guardian carries 

 his boy over it on his shoulders, the novices not being allowed to 

 go into the water until after they have been initiated. If a log, 

 or fallen tree, obstructs their path, the boys cannot step over it,, 

 but must make a detour round either end. If a novice's belt 

 works loose and drops on the ground, his guardian takes off his 

 Own belt, and gives it to the boy — it being considered inauspicious 

 to hand him the belt which has fallen off, this being appropriated 

 by the guardian in lieu of his own. 



The bunnumbeal is a level, cleared piece of ground, say fifteen 

 to twenty yards in diameter, around which the men make their 

 camps, the novices being placed lying upon green leaves strewn on 

 the ground, in the custody of their sponsors. During the evenings 

 by the light of the camp fires, the kooringal imitate different 

 animals, some of which are the totems of those present, whilst 

 others are connected with the myths and superstitions current 

 among the people. The songs, dances, pantomimic displays, and 

 the whole of the procedure, is interspersed with a good deal of 

 obscenity which need not be described here. In former times,, 

 before the white man's authority became supreme, it was the 

 custom to kill a man, and some of his flesh and blood was con- 

 sumed by the men and novices. The posterior portion of his body 



