TATTOOING. 
335 
other. During several rounds of this noise, they 
advance at each, a little nearer to the boys, who, 
when they are very near, have their eyes uncovered 
that they may see the men approaching. The first 
man who held the katto, fastens it in the ground, 
and all the others coming up, take hold of it, and 
fall down into a heap. The boys are then thrown 
upon the heap of men, and the operation is per- 
formed by men who are supposed to be inspired, or 
sorcerers. Immediately after the operation, the 
boys are taken away from the presence of all females, 
and kept upon a vegetable diet until recovered from 
its effects. The head is covered wfith grease, and 
red ochre, with a bandage passed round it, and is 
ornamented with tufts of feathers. The Yudna, or 
pubic covering, is worn by the circumcised for some 
months after the operation. 
The fourth stage (Wilyaru) is entered about the 
age of twenty, when the back, shoulders, arms and 
chest, are tattooed. He is called ngulte, at the time 
of the operation ; yellambambettu, when the incisions 
have begun to discharge pus ; tarkange, when the 
sores are just healed ; mangkauitya, at the time the 
cuts begin to rise ; and bartamu, when the scars are 
at their highest elevation. Each tribe has a distinc- 
tive mode of making their incisions. Some have 
scars running completely across the chest, from one 
axillar to the other, whilst others have merely 
dotted lines ; some have circles and semicircles formed 
on the apex of the shoulder, others small dots only. 
