Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/731

XI edge are the boys to be initiated, and the five pairs of notches above represent couples of men to look after the boys during the ceremony.

It is not lawful for women to see this stick, which would be sent rolled up with a corrobboree stick in some covering.

Two of the three old men referred to on No. 9 are two principal men who have already been instructed by the sender of the message, and whose duty it is to see that everything in their department is done correctly. These two old men are next in authority to the Headman and sit with him in consultation. It seems from my information that these two old men are analogous to the man in the Wurunjerri tribe who stood by Billi-billeri and "gave his words to other people," as before mentioned.

The five boys may be of any division of the tribe. One of the men in each couple is the father's brother of the boy, and the other man's duty is to hold his hands over the boy's eyes during a certain part of the initiation ceremonies.

The plan on which these sticks are marked seems to be this. Assuming that the Headman of one part of the tribe wishes to send a message to the Headman of the other part, he cuts a notch on one end of the upper side for himself, with one or more notches close to it, according to the number of old men with him. At the other end he cuts a notch for the recipient of the message, and a number of notches for the people he wishes to be sent to him. If there is not enough room he cuts their notches on the under side. It seems from this that the marks themselves, for instance, on the corrobboree and initiation sticks, might from constant use by the same person, or a succession of persons using the same method, and for substantially the same objects, come to have a certain meaning. This might then become a first step to a rude style of communicating thought by marks, unaccompanied by verbal explanation. I was told of a case in which a message-stick was carried by my correspondent, Mr. Sutton, for one of the Narrang-ga, which was merely a flat piece of wood with one notch at one end and two notches close together at the other. He