HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
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travertine rock, the whole thus forming a D-shaped enclosure of about ten to 
twelve feet in either diameter. The place certainly gave me the idea of an 
artificial formation, but Professor Tate, while admitting that it might have been 
artificially improved, thought that it could be accounted for by a natural deposit 
of ti’avertine from the water of an old cascade. 
A horrible operation performed upon young girls is referred to in Mr. Gillen’s 
paper. Some of my informants admitted, while others denied, its existence amongst 
these tribes. There is no doubt however that a similar operation does take place 
in many Australian tribes, and, I think, there can be little doubt that it prevails 
here also. Mr, E, C. Kempe, who has had a long experience of the natives, 
informs me that this revolting practice obtains amongst those of the Peake country 
(Arrabunna tribe), but it is difficult to accept his statement that it is done with 
the distinct view of preventing conception, though, of course, this result might 
follow after excessive injury. According to Mr. Kempe’s account the operation 
consists of a laceration of the vagina by means of a sharp stick. It is performed 
by the old women who ai'e sometimes directed by the old men, but it does not 
often now take place. A similar custom is alluded to by Messrs. Foelsche and 
Stretton in their papers previously referred to. 
In offering a few remarks on these various ordeals to which the native youths 
are subjected either voluntarily or under compulsion, it is convenient to deal with 
them collectively, however they may differ in significance, as they all involve some 
mutilation of the body. 
There can scarcely be any doubt that the body scars no less than the tattoo 
marks properly so-called, have their origin in that desire for personal adornment 
which is not confined to savage peoples. Among civilised races the attire affords 
the scope for such decorative tendencies, but where there are no clothes it is the 
body itself which becomes the chief, and in fact the only, means for such display. 
The perforation of the lobe of the ear for earrings, and the desire among many 
highly civilised people to have patterns tattooed upon parts of their body remain 
as survivals of savage methods of ornamentation. In the scar patterns there were 
no indications of such an arrangement as could be construed into a representation 
of a totem, nor could I discover that they were associated with any phase of 
totemism or constituted tribal badges. Indeed it appears to me that the scarring 
of the body, the piercing of the nasal septum (Plate 8, Fig. 4) and the knocking 
out of the teeth alike spring from the personal vanity which, in savage tribes, 
finds expression in so many grotesque or, in our opinion, repulsive practices, all 
of which, in their minds, have a distinctly decorative object. This view which 
