HORN EXPEDITION-ANTHROPOLOGY. 
25 
Tlie general plan for the men consisted of a series of long, transverse, parallel 
bars, to the number of from ten to twenty, extending hoi'izontally, or nearly so, 
across the front of the body from above the nipples to below the navel. They 
were disposed at regular or irregular intervals or might be reduced in number to 
thi’ee or four ridges aggregated in the inter-mammary or epigastric region. The 
scars were frequently very prominent in the region just below the ensiform 
cartilage becoming there, in fact, markedly projecting folds of integument. With 
the above were, usually but not invariably, associated short vertical, or nearly 
circular, scars over the deltoid muscle and lower down the upper arm, being often 
in this latter region not raised above the surrounding skin. Frequently also short 
obliquely dispersed linear scars extended from the collar-bone downwards and 
outwards towards the front fold of the axilla. 
These markings, mainly on the front of the body, were nearly always found 
upon the men of both the tribes mentioned. On the back the scars were usually 
inconspicuous or absent altogether, but at Tempe Downs, where the Luritcha 
preponderate, there were several who had their backs, in the scapular region, 
marked with narrow but prominent and often paired crescentic soars, the horns 
of the crescents being usually, but not always, turned outwards. It did not 
appear, however, as if these dorsal markings were peculiar to that tribe. 
Among the women, who, as stated, are not so fully marked, the scars for the 
most part consisted of transverse bars across the front of the body, but these were 
decidedly shorter than in the case of the men. Their most usual situation was 
between the breasts, where they constituted short but very prominent folds uniting 
the two breasts. Occasionally they occurred upon the belly also. Other marks, 
not unfrequently noticed, were short oblique scars often close together or in pairs 
over the region of the great pectoral muscle, the lower ends inclining outwards, 
or short transverse, oblique or vertical scars on the usually pendulous breasts 
themselves. Over the deltoid or biceps were frequently other scattered, short 
linear, or nearly circular, marks barely if at all raised above the surrounding 
surface. 
The operation is performed with a small sharp flake of hard stone oi’, 
since the advent of the whites, with a similar piece of glass. It appears that the 
usual practice is to rub ashes into the wound to delay healing, but one of our local 
guides stated that the down feathers of the Eaglehawk (Aquila audnx) are also 
used for a similar purpose. The young man, our informant, proved himself to be 
an accomplished liar, but as I have heard of this application elsewhere it is not 
improbably true. 
5 
