336 
CEREMONY OF WHAREPIN. 
The fifth stage is bourka or full man, and is only- 
attained when the individual is getting grey-headed. 
Among the Murray natives and contiguous tribes, 
instead of the rite of circumcision, a ceremony called 
wharepin, is performed upon youths from fourteen 
to sixteen. Early in the morning some of the male 
friends of the boy about to be operated upon, go 
behind him to seize him, upon which he sets off 
running as hard as he can, as if to escape ; but being 
followed by his pursuers is soon captured and thrown 
down ; he is then raised up and surrounded by 
several natives, who hold him and smear him from 
head to foot, with red ochre and grease ; during this 
part of the ceremony, a band of elderly women, 
generally the mother and other near relatives, sur- 
round the group, crying or lamenting, and lacerating 
their thighs and backs with shells or flints, 
until the blood streams down. When well ochred 
all over, the novice is led away by another native, 
apart from the rest of the tribe, or if there are more 
than one, they stand together linked hand in hand, 
and when tired sit down upon bunches of green 
boughs brought for that purpose, for they are neither 
allowed to sit on the ground, nor to have any cloth- 
ing on ; and when they move about they always 
carry a bunch of green boughs in each hand. 
They are now ready for the ceremony, which is 
usually performed by influential natives of distant 
tribes, and which generally takes place at the meet- 
ings of these tribes, as in the case of the meeting of 
