Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/589

IX

In one of the talks which I had with the old men at their Wirri-wirri-than, I asked them what would be done if a woman saw a Mudthi. The consensus of opinion was that if a woman found a Mudthi and showed it to a man, he would kill her. If a man showed a Mudthi to a woman or a child, he would be killed, and not unlikely those belonging to him also. If a woman were seen in the little Bunan ground, she would be killed.

I have mentioned that some of the Bemeringal attended the Yuin ceremonies, but the "true Bemeringal," according to the Yuin, are the Ngarigo of the Manero tableland. Their ceremonies are almost precisely the same as the Kuringal, but the following details may be added.

During the time that the novice (Kuringun) is away in the mountains after the ceremonies, he is in the charge of some old man, or more than one. He may be absent more than six months, and during this time he is not allowed to touch cooked food with his hands. The food is put into his mouth by the man who has charge of him. Tharamulun is believed to be watching him, and his dread is very great. During the time when the novices are at the Kuringal before they are shown to their mothers, their food is brought by women who have not any boys to be made men. When the tooth is taken out, it is fastened to a piece of Kaiung, the woman's apron, and is sent round to Tumut in a bag with some kangaroo teeth and red ochre. The bag is made of the skin of small wallaby called Kulbut.

The initiation ceremonies of the Wolgal were described to me by Yibai-malian and the old Wolgal singer, with diagrams drawn in the sand to explain matters. They said that the ceremony is also called Kuringal, and the boys who are made men at it are called by that name. There is the earthen mound with a path leading to a small enclosure