state; and in view of the severe punishments inflicted when a girl of marriageable age was abducted, we may conclude that any attempt to violate a child would have been regarded as a crime worthy of death.
The rite of circumcision is practised only by a part of the inhabitants of Australia, probably only in the central, western, and northern areas; but that the custom may have been known and observed even as far south as the River Murray, where it forms the boundary of Victoria, is possible. This custom and others of a like character are common amongst the tribes living within the drainage area of the great river whose sources are as far north as 24° S. latitude.
Tib-but.
When a boy in Victoria attained the age of fourteen or fifteen years he had to submit himself to his elders, and to take part in a ceremony preparatory to his being admitted to the privileges of manhood. His coming of age was not a pleasant event in his life. During the celebration of the rites the youth suffered severely, and he had sympathy from none. Tib-but is the name applied in Victoria to the extraordinary practices of the natives when a youth was to be made a man.
A married man of influence and power in the tribe performs the rites. When the youth has been led to a suitable place, safe from intrusion, his hair—all but a narrow strip about a quarter of an inch in breadth, extending from the nape of the neck to the forehead—is cut off with sharp chips of quartzite, and the head made quite smooth by such kind of shaving as can be done by sharp chips. The head is then daubed with clay, and the narrow ridge of hair rising rebelliously in the middle gives the novice an appearance that is far from pleasing. Indeed, when this part of the ceremony is finished, his aspect is hideous. To complete the picture, he is immediately invested with a garment formed of strips of opossum skins, strings of opossum fur, and the like, which serves to cover his middle only, and his body is daubed with clay, mud, charcoal-powder, and filth of every kind. Though this ceremony is generally performed in the winter season, when the weather is very cold, the youth is not permitted to cover himself with a rug. He carries a basket under his arm, containing moist clay, charcoal-powder, and filth. In this state he wanders through the encampment day and night, calling out in a loud voice, "Tib-bo-bo-bo-but!" He gathers filth as he goes, and places it in the basket. No one speaks to him—no one molests him; all seem to fear him. When he sees any one come out of a miam he casts filth at him; but he may not intrude himself into any miam, nor dare he cast filth at a woman who goes to fetch water. He, however, gives annoyance, and throws filth when he can, and all the women and children—and even the men—are afraid of him when he crosses their path. The women and children scream when they see him, and rush to their miams for shelter. The warning voice must, however, be constantly heard, or the rite would be incomplete and the proprieties would be violated.
After the lapse of some days—the length of the period of probation depending on circumstances understood only by the elders—and when his hair has begun to show through the covering of clay, or at least to have grown a little,
