Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/569

IX tribe, having first of all pushed the gum back from the tooth with his finger-nail, Yibai-malian gave the tooth the regulation hoist, and the Gommera, dancing in, knocked the tooth out with a few blows.

The three boys, having somewhat recovered from the severe ordeal through which they had gone, were led by their Kabos to the tree on which the figure of Daramulun was cut, and were told of him and his powers, and that he lived beyond the sky and watched what the Murring did. When a man died he met him and took care of him. It was he who first made the Kuringal, and taught it to their fathers, and he taught them also to make weapons, and all that they know. The Gommeras receive their powers from him, and he gives them the Krugullung. He is the great Biamban who can do anything and go anywhere, and he gave the tribal laws to their fathers, who have handed them down from father to son until now.

As the boys were then being led away to their camp, Gunjerung stopped them, and spoke to them in a most impressive manner. Alluding to the figure of Daramulun, he said, "If you make anything like that when you go back to the camp, I will kill you."

When the boys were taken away, the men stripped off their bark-fibre disguises and piled them over the foot-holes. Then they all formed a ring round the cleared space, standing with their faces outwards. At a signal from Brupin they all bent forwards, and with their hands scratched leaves, sticks, rubbish, anything they could reach, towards themselves, throwing it backwards on to the heap. Then they simultaneously jumped backwards, uttering the sounds "prr! prr! prr! wah! wah! wah!" three times. A large quantity of rubbish being thus gathered over the sacred ground, they all turned round, and each one motioning with his outstretched hands towards the heap with the palms downwards repeated the words "Yah! wah!" as a final conclusion.

We all now went up to the camp, and standing by the Talmaru fire, the boys were invested with the man's belt. A long cord of opossum-fur string, folded a number of times, was wound round the waist, and fastened by the end