with a piece of sharp bone, then one knocked it out with a piece of wood, used as a punch. He had now to cover his nakedness with pieces of opossum skins; he then returned to the general camp, and was known as a Wang-goom. 2nd. When about eighteen, he was again taken to some distance from the camp by the old men; this time he was painted as a warrior; about sunrise one of the old men struck him, and told him to take off the covering of skin, that he was now a Geebowak. He had now no longer to hide his nakedness, and might take a wife at any time. He had now to go and find something to take to the general camp for them to eat, and on his approach to the camp all who were there ran and hid themselves, because they were ashamed to look upon him naked; he then found them all, and gave them something to eat, and then they were no more ashamed."
The initiation of girls into womanhood was as follows:—"When a girl came to puberty, she was taken away some distance from the general mi-mi by some of the old women. They then tied cords round several parts of her body, very tight. These cords were left there for several days, which made the whole of the body to swell very much, and caused great pain. She was not to remove them until she was clean. When clean, she got the cords off, and got a covering to her nakedness of emu feathers, and then returned to the general mi-mi, and was now a Ngarrindarakook—that is, marriageable, and might be married at any time when her friends thought fit."
Mr. Green mentions also that at certain periods a woman has to leave the general camp, and must not walk anywhere that a man walks, nor cross any water, nor touch any timber, or anything that a man has to touch, and before returning to the camp must wash her whole body in water.
The Rev. Mr. Bulmer, of Lake Tyers, in Gippsland, says that a young man is not received amongst the men of the tribe or admitted to the privileges of manhood until certain forms are observed. The forms are different in different tribes. Some of the Murray tribes have a custom of knocking out the front tooth—others again pluck the hair or down from the young man's chin. Pain is inflicted in order that the valour and constancy of the youth may be manifested. Other things are done which cannot be written down. The Gippsland blacks usually preserve silence on this subject, evidently thinking that the less said to a white man as regards this custom the better.
Amongst the Narrinyeri, the ceremonies, according to the observations of the Rev. Mr. Taplin, are as follows:—
"When the beard of a youth has grown a sufficient length, he is made Narumbe, Kaingani, or young man. In order that this ceremony may be properly performed, and the youth admitted as an equal among the men of the Narrinyeri, it is necessary that members of several different tribes should be present on the occasion. A single tribe cannot make its own youths Narumbe without the assistance of other tribes. This prevents any tribe from increasing its number of men by admitting those who have not yet arrived at the proper age, and thus prevents them from making a claim for a greater number of women than their proper share—an important consideration where every tribe has to obtain wives from those which are adjacent—as they never intermarry in
