THE BURBUNG OR INITIATION CEREMONY. . 137 
and arms, and have the teeth, claws and small bones of various 
animals fastened in their hair and round their necks. They light 
a fire outside the open end of the thurrawonga, and wait there. 
When the kooringal and boys are heard coming, the men cover 
the rest of the women over with rugs and bushes, as on the previous 
occasion at the Burbung. The reader will understand this para- 
graph, when he comes to the section on “The Return of the Boys.” 
Ceremonies in the Bush.—I must now return to where the 
novices were left lying on the ground, with their guardians and 
the kooringal around them. When the shouting and other noises 
have ceased, the guardians catch hold of the novices by the hands 
and help them to their feet, their faces being still bent towards 
the ground. They are not at any time permitted to put their 
hands on the ground for the purpose of assisting themselves to 
rise, but must wait until helped up by their guardians. A rugis 
now adjusted over each novice’s head in such a manner that there 
is only a narrow opening left at the face, through which he can 
see anything to which his attention may be directed by his 
guardian,! 
In the meantime a number of the kooringal have arranged 
themselves j in a row, standing a few feet apart, with their faces 
towards the novices. Between each pair of these men a man is 
lying horizontally, his head resting on the shoulder of one of the 
men, and his feet on the shoulder of another. This will be made 
clearer by an example : Suppose A, B and C are three of the men 
standing in a line ; another man, D, is laid horizonthlly between 
A and B ; his head rests on A’s shoulder, and he maintains that — 
Position y putting his arms round A’s chest. His legs are on 
B's shoulder, one leg being round each side of B’s neck. Another 
man, E, has his head on B’s shoulder, and his feet on the shoulder 
of C, and keeps his hold of both men in the same way that D 
does. Perhaps a dozen men may be laid horizontally i in this way, 
Pee oe 
1“ The etna of the New England Tribes.”—Proc. Roy. Soc. Vie- 
toria, IX. 
