HOUN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
173 
When the guardian of the arrakurta reports tliat his ward has sutlieieiitly 
recovered from the circumcision, the men assemble and sing a certain corrobhoree 
known as the “ Arrilia.” 
Unkiri’a merlu merlu 
Unkirra merlu merlu 
Kuparie aani 
Arrilta kupari aani. 
The arrakurta is brought into a spot, some distance from the main camp, where 
the operation is to take place. A large spear is swathed in the twigs and leaves 
of green bushes, then the human hair-string of the girdles of the warriors is 
wound round its full length, with the exception of a few inches at the end, which 
are stuck into the ground ; a bunch of feathers of the eagle-hawk (A^ui/a aiidax) 
iiritcha') is fastened to the top, and the whole surface is decorated with alternate 
rings of red and white downy material obtained from certain plants,* and a number 
of irula are tied to the pole. When this pole, which is called nartknja (Plates 
XVII. and XVIII., Figs. 25 and 2G), is erected, the men congregate around it 
and sing the arrilta corrobhoree periodically all night. No woman of the tribe 
is allowed within sight of the camp, nor may she under penalty of death look 
upon the “ na7'timja.'' The operation is nearly always performed at daylight, 
when the arrakurta is suddenly seized and placed on the back of a man, who 
lies down for the purpose. Another man takes up a position astride of the 
subject, grasps the glans penis, and puts the urethra on the stretch. The 
operator, who is often, but not always, chief of a group, then approaches, and 
with his stone knife quickly but carefully lays open the urethra from below 
for the whole length of the penis (Plate XVIII., Fig. 26). The operation is a 
very painful one and sometimes the patient struggles violently, in which case the 
warriors say : “ Amba kwerka etrirra warri inthilla ” (“ You are not a child now, 
don’t be frightened, don’t cry out”). The father of the boy {pkniea) and, sometimes, 
two relatives, are specially decorated with paint for the occasion, or, in the father’s 
absence, another male relative, or sometimes two relatives, takes his place. The 
part of the father or of his substitutes is merely passive; he is in the proud and 
enviable position of one who adds a warrior to his tribe, and, throughout the 
proceedings, he maintains a dignified silence, while the other warriors treat him 
with the greatest respect. His upper arms are adorned with alternate rings of 
down and chai'coal, corresponding rings of the same substances are painted on the 
chest and back, the forehead is smeared with a mixture of charcoal and grease, the 
* The iiivolucral hairs of Porlulaca fiUj'olia. —(E.C.S.). 
