quite loose, and said, "Why have you cheated me in this way by almost removing the skin?" "Do not be angry with me," said the other, "I only wished to have a joke with you, and surprise you with an almost skinned pelt."
Having completed the skinning, they fastened the edges of the skin to the ground, and raised up the middle, thus forming the sky. Having done this, they said with satisfaction, "Now from this time people can walk upright, and need not hide themselves for fear of the sky falling."[1]
Pleased with their work, they turned homewards, and coming to a good pool of water, one jumped in, saying, "Let us bathe ourselves here," but in striking the water it made a cut, which caused subincision. When he showed this to his companion, the latter at once jumped into the water, and he also became subincised. Looking at himself, he said, "Now I indeed am a complete man, but it hurts me."
Having conferred on mankind the use of the Tula, they now introduced the Dirpa,[2] so that by it a young man becomes a completed man.
The Malku-malku-ulu are the benefactors of mankind, and it is said that they still live, and are even sometimes seen. They wander about invisibly, to relieve the distress of others. They carry lost children to their camp, and care for them till they are found by their friends. Such is the legend as told at the ceremonies.
The southern Dieri say that the Malku-malku-ulu wander far to the north of their country, and that their camps can be recognised by the luxuriant growth of the Moku,[3] a plant the fruit of which no one may eat, because it is the especial food of the Malku-malku-ulu.
One of these camps is said to be at Narrani,[4] not far from Cattle Lagoon on the Birdsville road. This place is celebrated, among the tribes, because it was where the Malku-malku-ulu left their shields when they commenced their
- ↑ The belief is that the sky was fastened down to the earth, and that mankind could not walk about freely.
- ↑ Dirpa is subincision, in Dieri called kulpi.
- ↑ Probably the Cucumis trigonus, Linn.
- ↑ Narra is an abbreviation of the Yaurorka word Narrangama, which is a shield, in the Dieri called Pirha mara.
