HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
73 
It may be as well to state here, as the remarks are applicable to almost all 
corrohborees, that the natives are quite unable to assign any meaning to the 
words of these and other chants, of which there are a great numljor. They 
appear to be merely a collection of sounds uttered with varying emphasis, but 
each corrohboree has its own special set. As they are uttered they form a 
series of recurrent rhythmical dull monotones, nearly always occurring in couplets, 
each couplet being repeated over and over again during the performance of the act 
or figure of the dance to which it is appropriate. The sounds represented by each 
line of the couplets, as here attempted to be expressed in writing, increase some¬ 
what in strength towards the end of the line, but finally die completely away in the 
prolongation of the terminal syllable which, in type, is indicated by a repetition 
of the vowel followed by a dash. Indeed whatever charm these monotonous 
chants possesses, and they are by no means devoid of euphony, is due to the gentle 
and even way in which the voices, naturally melodious, fade away to absolute 
stillness. The prevailing monotone of the chant is however quite compatible with 
much vigour of utterance, in fact, as will be seen in Mr. Gillen’s notes, certain 
choruses are accompanied by gestures of intense excitement. 
The body decorations, which vary considerably in character and style 
according to the corrobboree, consist of patterns on front and back either done 
in red, yellow, black or white pigments mixed with fat, or made with white or 
coloured Portulaca down, or with the down feathers of certain birds, the latter 
materials being made to adhere with blood as described above. Some of those used 
in the Atnimokita corrobboree are shown in Plate XV., Figs. 19 and 20, but the 
decorations are often very much more profuse. The construction of elaborate head¬ 
dresses or helmets form an important part of the preparations. The basis of those 
we saw in use consisted of a tall or short conically pointed or rounded framework 
of the terminal twigs of Hakea sp. or of Cassia eremophila, the thicker proximal 
ends being brought together to form the point, the whole cone being amply 
bound round externally with native fur-string, and the lower ends trimmed and 
arranged so as to form a cavity for the head. Into the bundle formed by the 
top ends of the twigs, in the conical forms, a plume, made by enveloping the stems 
of a bundle of emu feathers in a sheath of grass stems, was inserted and secured—or 
in some cases the helmets were without plumes. The upper part or, in some cases, 
the whole, of the face is covered with down as described before, circular openings 
being left for the eyes, and the application of the down is continued uninter 
ruptedly from the face on to and over the greater part of the helmet so that 
its lower edge is completely concealed. The result is an extremely grotesque 
and mask-like aspect. By variations in the shape of the helmet, by the 
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