Beatty — The St. George, or Mummers’, Plays. 301 
4. The pantomimic representations. —These are of various 
kinds; some are amusing pieces of buffoonery, others represent 
the different totems, and others again are what may he truly 
called moral lessons. One represents the doctoring of a sick 
child; another a wallaby drive, 1 those hunters in ambush al¬ 
ways missing the prey and being punished in a ludicrous man¬ 
ner. A totemic representation is the approach of a pack of 
dingoes and a dance around the fire. Besides these there are 
magic dances. 
5. The return. —There are also* certain ceremonies of which 
the following may serve as an example. “The procession being 
formed, and on the march from the magic camp*, the roaring 
of the bull-roarer is heard and a halt is made. The old men, 
having carefully cleared a piece of ground, proceed to mould 
in earth, in high relief the life-sized figure of a naked man in 
the attitude of the dance. He is represented as having his 
mouth filled with magic substances, and in the full ceremonies 
is surrounded by an assortment of native weapons. This is 
Daramulun. The novices are brought and placed in front of 
this figure and the dances take place—one to the word Dara¬ 
mulun, the other to the word Ngatalbal. It is now that the 
novices are finally instructed as to this being and his. attributes. 
I have heard them told by the principal old man, ‘This is the 
Master (B'iamban) who can go anywhere and do* anything.’ 
They are also cautioned never to reveal this, or to make such a 
representation unless at the ceremonies, under pain of death. 
“The figure is now carefully covered up*, and the procession 
proceeds a further stage on its march, when another halt is 
made and the novices are seated at a distance with their 
guardians. The old men, meanwhile, disguise several of the 
others with stringy bark fibre. During this time a grave is 
dug, and one of the old men, lying in it on his back, after the 
manner of a corpse, is lightly covered up with sticks and rub¬ 
bish and earth, and so far as possible the natural appearance 
of the ground is restored, the excavated earth being carried 
i These are to be noted in connection with certain animal features 
of the St. George plays. 
