old men were very urgent to know what "wicked man"[1] had betrayed to me the secrets of the Jeraeil, and especially of the Tundun; but they were silenced, if not satisfied, when I said that the man who first told me was dead.
FIG. 37.—THE TWO BULL-ROARERS OF THE KURNAI TRIBE—(3) IS THE CROSS-SECTION OF (1). ×½"Showing the Grandfather"[2]—This is the cryptic phrase used to describe the central mystery, which in reality means the exhibition to the novices of the Tundun, and the revelation to them of the ancestral beliefs. It is used, for instance, by the Bullawangs to their charges, as in telling them "This afternoon we will take you, and show your grandfather to you."
The Kurnai have two bull-roarers, a larger one called "Tundun" or "the man," and a smaller one called "Rukut-Tundun" the woman, or wife of Tundun. The larger one is also called "Grandfather," Wehntwin, or Muk-brogan.[3] In this the Kurnai differ from the Murring, who have only one bull-roarer, but they agree with several other Australian tribes. I think, but I cannot be sure, that where two bull-roarers are used, it indicates ceremonies in which the women take a certain part, whereas in tribes where there is only one, as the Murring, the women are totally excluded.
While the novices were thus under tutelage during the
