Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/696

670 thing being ready, several men open veins in their lower arms, while the young men are raised to swallow the first drops of the blood. They are then told to kneel on their hands and knees, so as to give a horizontal position to their backs, which are covered with blood. As soon as this is sufficiently coagulated, one of the men marks, with his thumb, the places where the incisions are to be made, namely, one in the middle of the neck, and two rows from the shoulders down to the hips at intervals of about a third of an inch at each cut. These are named Manka, and are ever after held in such veneration that it would be deemed to be great profanation to allude to them in the presence of women. During the cutting, which is done rapidly, as many of the men as can find room crowd round the youths, repeating in a subdued tone, but very rapidly, the following formula: "Kauwaka kanya marra marra, karndokanya marra marra pilbirri kanya marra marra." This incantation, which is derived from their ancestors, is apparently devoid of any meaning to them, but the object in saying it is to alleviate the pain of the young man, and to obviate any dangerous consequences from the lacerations. After the incisions are completed, all the youths are allowed to stand up and open their eyes. The first thing they behold is two men coming towards them, stamping, biting their beards, and swinging the Witarna with such fury as if he intended to dash it against their heads; but when approaching, they place the string of the instrument round the necks of the youths in succession. Several fires are made to windward, so that the smoke will be blown over the young men. The Wilyalkinyi are given a new girdle for the waist, spun of human hair, a bandage tightly tied round the upper arm, a string of opossum hair round the neck, the end of which falls down the back, where it is tied to the girdle, a bunch of green leaves over the pubes, and, lastly, their faces, arms, and breasts are painted black. Then the men crowd round them and give advice for their future conduct. This is to abstain from quarrelling and fighting, to avoid women, and to refrain from talking loudly. The last two injunctions are observed scrupulously