142 R. H. MATHEWS. 
novices. A clear patch of ground is selected somewhere near the 
camp, from the surface of which all loose rubbish and grass is 
removed. Along the centre of this cleared space a row of holes, 
about afoot long and four inches wide are dug into the ground to 
the depth of six or nine inches, according to the nature of the soil. 
The number of these holes is regulated by the number of boys to 
be operated upon, there being two holes for each individual. In 
some cases, however, where the ground is very hard, one pair of 
holes may be used for several boys. These holes are about a foot 
and a half apart, so that the boys when standing in them have 
their legs extended. In the bottom of each hole a layer of green 
leaves is strewn to keep the boys’ feet off the ground. 
About an hour or two before sunset the novices are brought 
out and placed standing with their feet in the holes, all their faces 
being in one direction. Each guardian now kneels down behind 
his novice, and puts his head between the boy’s legs, which have 
been kept wide apart for this purpose, so that the boy rests on his 
guardian’s neck and shoulders. The principal headman now walks 
along in front, and takes the rugs off the novices, at the same time 
shoving their heads up straight. Another man then comes behind 
each boy and catches him by the top of the head with one hand, 
and with the other holds the boy’s chin to keep the mouth open. 
Sometimes the man holds one hand on each side of the boy’s head, 
the fingers of one hand being on the chin. A piece of tough stick 
is placed across the boy’s mouth to prevent his shutting it. A 
number of men accustomed to the work of extracting teeth are 
standing in front of the boys, and the headmen are walking about 
giving such directions as may be thought necessary. 
The modus operandi in extracting the tooth is as follows.’ The | 
man who is to operate upon the boy steps up to him, and with his 
1 Compare with descriptions of this peice given by me in ‘“ The 
Bunan Ceremony of N.S. Wales.”—American Anthropologist, 1x., 338; 
«The Burbung of the Darkinung Tribes. Pros. Roy. Soe. Victoria, X:, 
N.S., 7-8; ‘The Burbung of the Wiradthuri Tribes.”—Journ. Anthrop. 
Inst., xxvI., 278 — 279. 
