CHAP. VII 
KIPPERHOOD 
83 
into their diet, and the grub of a very large moth, which 
is roasted, and they say tastes like marrow, is considered 
a great delicacy. 
Then, when animal food becomes scarce, they kill 
and eat a fat gin or piccaninny. They also make 
raids on the settlers’ sheep and cattle, which the 
latter naturally object to. Their greatest ceremony, 
about which they are most reticent, is one called “ Bora,” 
when boys passing into manhood are made “ Kippers.” 
It is supposed to have something of a masonic nature 
about it, and the explorer Leichardt may have 
referred to this ceremony when he spoke of having 
met men who exchanged masonic signs with him. 
“ Kippers ” have to conform to certain rules, and live on 
an exclusive diet, and for some time before the ceremony 
they have to go through a period of great abstinence 
and self-denial. No women are allowed, under penalty 
of death, to witness it. All young men, before they 
become warriors, are supposed to go through it. If a 
youth has grown into manhood before going through 
their ceremony, and wishes to become a “ Kipper,” he has 
to go through severe ordeals to test his strength. If he 
shrinks, or is in any way cowardly, he is unfit for his 
“ Kipperhood,” but if in battle he has the good fortune 
to kill an enemy, his claims are recognised, and he is 
admitted to the ranks of a warrior, and is at once at 
liberty to marry. 
I was shown a musical instrument that was used 
on these occasions, of which no woman was allowed 
even to hear the sound. It was nothing but a shaped 
stick with a stone attached to it by plaited reeds, which 
was spun in the air and made a soft whirring sound as 
it went round. 
The Bora ground is a small enclosure hidden 
away in some quiet spot. I once looked into one 
