EXTRAORDINARY RITE. 
213 
Among the party of natives at the camp I examined 
many, and all had been operated upon. The cere- 
mony with them seemed to have taken place between 
the ages of twelve and fourteen years, for several of 
the boys of that age had recently undergone the ope- 
ration, the wounds being still fresh and inflamed. 
This extraordinary and inexplicable custom must 
have a great tendency to prevent the rapid increase 
of the population; and its adoption may perhaps 
be a wise ordination of Providence, for that pur- 
pose, in a country of so desert and arid a charac- 
ter as that which these people occupy. 
November 10. — Getting the party away about 
five o’clock this morning, I persuaded one of the 
natives, named “Wilguldy,” an intelligent cheerful 
old man, to accompany us as a guide, and as an in- 
ducement, had him mounted on a horse, to the great 
admiration and envy of his fellows, all of whom fol- 
lowed us on foot, keeping up in a line with the dray 
through the scrub, and procuring their food as they 
went along, which consisted of snakes, lizards, 
guanas, bandicoots, rats, wallabies, &c. &c. and 
it was surprising to see the apparent ease with 
which, in merely walking across the country, they 
each procured an abundant supply for the day. 
In one place in the scrub we came to a large cir- 
cular mound of sand, about two feet high, and se- 
veral yards in circumference ; this they immediately 
began to explore, carefully throwing away the sand 
