INITIATION CEREMONIES OF THE ABORIGINES OF PORT STEPHENS. 121 



On the morning before they depart to the women's camp the 

 boys are made to stand in a row, their heads remaining covered, 

 and then the men form in line in front of them, and two of them 

 swing the goonanduckyer. After it has been sounded sufficiently 

 the coverings are removed from the boys heads, and they are per- 

 mitted to see for the first time the instrument whose sound has so 

 impressed them. Some old men who are strangers to the boys then 

 step forward and threaten them, that, if ever they reveal anything 

 that has been shown them or taught them, they will be killed, 

 and this is quite sufficient to deter them from revealing the secrets 

 of the keeparra. This concludes the ceremony in the bush, and a 

 start is made for the camp where the women have been left, but 

 on the way the whole party go into a waterhole or at some point 

 along a stream of water previously agreed upon and wash them- 

 selves. At the conclusion of their ablutions they singe the hair 

 off the bodies of the novices, and then cover the whole of the party 

 from head to foot with pipeclay before resuming their journey to 

 the women's camp. On their way they are met by a number of 

 men from the women's camp, who announce their arrival by howl- 

 ing like dingos, and this howling is answered by one of the men 

 with the guardians swinging a goonanduckyer. Each member of 

 the party from the women's camp carries a green bough in his 

 hand which is thrown down, when they form into line in front of 

 the novices and a short dance is gone through. The men with the 

 novices then pick up the bushes and strip them of their leaves 

 which are scattered about on the ground. The new arrivals then 

 return to the women's camp and prepare for the return of the 

 novices by making all the women lie down and covering them with 

 bushes. After sufficient time has elapsed for these preparations 

 to be completed, the novices and men, divested of all incumbrances, 

 make a start for the camp, their approach to which is heralded by 

 the sound of the barroway 1 by a man who has previously gone out 

 of the camp. On the arrival of the novices with their guardians 

 at the camp they form a complete circle around it, and then the 



1 A large bullroarer. 



