Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/678

652 they sat down together, and the stranger told him that he had come to consult with him as to the circumcision of his sons. The two having decided that the boys should be circum- cised, they commenced their preparations. Stone axes were sharpened, Kandri melted, Ngulyi collected, and the axes fastened afresh to their hafts with them. The boys were sent out early next morning to hunt, and to be out of the way while the old men were at work, so as not to see what they were doing. The old men went to a place where there was a Pirha, that is, a great tree, which they cut down, separated a piece of the stem, and having taken off the bark, hollowed out the inside to make a great Pirha. Then they placed it in moist earth to soften, and kept its sides apart till it became cool.

The following morning they ornamented its sides with longitudinal markings, and, laying it on its back, the stranger struck it with his open hand. Listening, but hearing no reply, he struck it again harder, and there was an echo, which they thought was a reply by the women at a distance.

Early on the following morning, while the boys still slept, the stranger started homewards to Minka-kadi, to call together the people for the ceremony at which the boys were to be circumcised. After a time he returned with them, bringing with him his two daughters, who, as he and his Kami-mara had agreed, should be the wives of the two boys.

Then while the two boys were out hunting, there was held a meeting of the old men, at which they consulted as to the manner of the ceremony. Towards evening, when the boys returned, a number of men were lying in wait for