Beatty—The St. Georg &, f or Mummers', Plays. 295 
the base of the rock, built deeply in the sand, there is supposed 
to be a very large Maegwa 1 stone. 
It was at this spot that Intwailiuka used to stand while he 
threw up the face of the rock numbers of Churunja unchinia, 
which rolled down again to his feet; accordingly, the Alatunja 
does the same with some of the Churunja which have been 
brought from the storehouse close by. While he is doing this 
the other members of the party run up and down the face of 
the rocky ledge, singing all the time. 
Once more the line is formed and they got to a pit a mile 
and a half away. The Alatunja goes into the hole, which is 
four or five feet deep. Soon lie lays bare two stones which 
have been carefully covered up, in the base of the hole; the 
larger one represents the chrysalis stage from; which emerges 
the adult animal; the smaller one is the egg. While the stones 
are exposed to view, songs referring to the stones are sung, 
and the stones are solemnly handled and cleansed with the 
palm of the hand. One by one the men go into the hole, and 
the Alatunja, lifting up the large stone, strikes the stomach 
of each man with it, saying again: “You have eaten much 
food. 7 ’ Finally, dropping the stone, he butts at each man in 
the abdomen with his forehead. 
There are altogether some ten of these pits, and all are vis¬ 
ited. When the round of the pits ( Ilthura ) is made, and the 
same ceremony enacted each time, then a start is made for the 
home camp. When within a mile or so of the latter, they 
decorate themselves. A string is tied around their heads, and 
forehead bands are put on, beneath which twigs of a bush on 
which the grub feeds ( Udnirringa .) are fixed so that they hang 
downwards. Hose bones are thrust through the nasal septum, 
and rats 7 tails and top-knots of cockatoo' feathers are worn in 
the hair. The Alatunja has only the forehead band and the 
nose bone. He carries the Apmara (trough) under his arm 
and a twig of the Udnirringa' bush in his hand. The totemic 
Ilhinia, or sacred design, is painted on the body of each man 
with red ochre and pipe clay, and the latter is used to paint the 
i The adult insect of the witchetty grub. 
