220 
MEETINGS OF TRIBES. 
with them as their credentials, long narrow nets, 
made of string manufactured from the rush. These 
nets are left with the tribe they are sent to, and 
brought back again when the invitation is re- 
sponded to. 
Notice having been given on the previous evening 
to the Moorunde natives of the approach of the Nar- 
wij-jerook tribe, they assembled at an early hour 
after sunrise, in as clear and open a place as they 
could find. Here they sat down in a long row to 
await the coming of their friends. The men were 
painted, and carried their weapons, as if for war. 
The women and children were in detached groups, 
a little behind them, or on one side, whilst the young 
men, on whom the ceremonies were to be performed, 
sat shivering with cold and apprehension in a row to 
the rear of the men, perfectly naked, smeared over 
from head to foot with grease and red -ochre, and 
without weapons. The Nar-wij-jerook tribe was 
now seen approaching. The men were in a body, 
armed and painted,, and the women and children ac- 
companying them a little on one side. They occa- 
sionally halted, and entered into consultation, and 
then, slackening their pace, gradually advanced until 
within a hundred yards of the Moorunde tribe. 
Here the men came to a full stop, whilst several of 
the women singled out from the rest, and marched 
into the space between the two parties, having their 
heads coated over with lime, and raising a loud and 
melancholy wail, until they came to a spot about 
