176 
HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
Sacped Ceremonies. 
((?) Food-Producing Ceremonies. Intitchiuma. 
All ceremonies of this kind are called IntitchhiDia. Of these one of the most 
solemn and important is the Udnirringiia festival, which is believed to have the 
effect of enormously increasing the natural supply of the large tree grub, of which 
the natives are very fond. It is in fact a delicacy which many white men 
appreciate. 
The ceremony takes place eveiy summer, and is carried out by the men of the 
Pultarra and Panunga classes under the leadership and direction of the Alarttinja. 
Women are not permitted to witness the ceremony, nor are men of the Kumarra 
and Purula classes* allowed to attend. When it is about to begin, the men of the 
Pultarra and Panunga classes .start from the camp at sundown {iilk7iuri'ika\ 
proceeding in single file and taking the places allotted to them by the Alarttinja, 
who .sometimes walks at the head and sometimes at the side of the column. The 
men are all unarmed and undecorated, even the ordinary hair girdle ((iileara-ilippn) 
is discarded, and abstinence from food and water is strictly enjoined until the return 
to camp. They continue travelling until they reach the spot where the festival of 
Intichiunia is invariably celebrated, which is generally some miles from the camping 
grounds. Here they camp for the night. At daylight a round hole, about five 
feet deep by two feet six inches in diameter, is dug by men told off, for the purpose, 
by the chief. When this is completed to his satisfaction, the accumulated earth is 
scattered in all directions. Each man in turn then gets into the hole, and, leaning 
against the wall, submits to being struck twice heavily in the abdomen with a 
large stone wielded by the Alartunja, who, while striking, says: “ Unga murna 
oknirra tilquinna” (“You have eaten plenty food.”) 
When all have submitted to the painful stone ordeal, they retire to a shady 
spot where they decorate themselves most elaborately with red and yellow 
ochre. A band of fur-string (itularra) dyed white is placed across the top of the 
forehead {urta), and underneath this they stick a number of green leaves, which 
entirely cover the forehead. The crown of the head (Jidpinirra) is decorated with a 
bunch of white cockatoo {ungtve nlkiima) feathers, and pieces of green bush are 
fastened in the armlets [ku/c/iia). When the process of decoration is finished, they 
return to camp led by the Alartilnja, again walking in single file and in silence. 
Each man’s place has been allotted to him, and all walk with measured step. The 
lubras, the very old men of all classes, and all the Purula and Kumarra are in 
* Vide footnote on p. 1G3. 
