HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
177 
waitin" for the return of the celebrants. Food has been collected and cooked 
during the day. It is now nearly sundown (alknurrikd) and the grub-makers have 
been without food or water since the same hour yesterday. When the procession 
is seen approaching the camp, the oldest Panunga veteran steps out alone and 
chants :— 
Ilkna pting kwai 
Yaalan ni nai 
Yu mulk laa 
Naan tai yaa lai. 
The men march into camp looking very grave and sit down at the corrobboree 
ground [i/tharm). Water is then brought to them in a wooden vessel by the agetl 
Panunga warrior, who invites them to drink. This they do with great readiness, 
and food is then brought by the same warrior. As soon as it is (juite dark the 
(juaapara (corrobboree) fires are lighted and the performance kept up until day¬ 
light, the Pultarra and Panunga only dancing and singing. A plentiful supply of 
the succulent grub is now assured. 
{h) Rain-making Ceremony. 
The privilege of making rain is confined to the men of the Kumarra and 
Purula castes, who also perform a ceremony which is supposed to increase the 
supply of erriah^ra* These two ceremonies can only bo performed at certain 
places, far apart, at which from time immemorial they have taken place. A spirit 
of the Alchurringa (long ago) named Irtchwoanga imparted the secret of rain¬ 
making to the Kumarra and Purula, and fixed upon the spots where the ceremony 
was to take place. Women are not permitted to attend, and men of the Pultarra 
and Panunga classes, though they are permitted to be present, are debarred from 
taking the part of the principal performers. The Kumarra and Purula affect 
reticence in speaking of the rain-making ceremony in presence of the two other 
classes. 
At sundown {alhmrrikd) all those who are going to play a part march into 
camp fully painted, and with the crown and each side of the head decorated with 
bunches of feathers. At a signal from the Alartunja (chief) all sit down in a 
line, the arms folded across the breast, and sing for some time—Ulgaranti alkwarai 
lathrik alkwaranti iilgaraa-a (repeated). 
Suddenly all jump up and leave the camp in silence. Marching in single file, 
they halt some miles away and, at daylight, scatter out in search of game, which 
* The tunicatod tubers of Cyperus^ rotund us. 
24 
