Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/238

164 Circumcision is practised by the natives, but at no particular period, and never before adult age. It is doubtful if the custom be general or not. Observation induces me to conclude that it is a rite, from some unknown cause, frequently neglected. There are other minor ceremonies or customs, such as the perforation of the septum of the nose for the reception of a bone or reed, said to be a token of mourning, for the death of a mother or near relative; and the habit of wearing a broad fillet around the brow, or a cord made of the hair of a dead relative.

The funeral ceremony varies very much in the different tribes. That of the Adelaide tribe is of a complicated nature, the actual interment being preceded by several extraordinary rites. When a man dies his legs are bent up, so that the knees are brought nearly close to the chin, and the arms are folded together in a similar manner. This done, the body is enveloped in old clothing, tied with cords, or a piece of netting. A rude bier is prepared by fastening together ten or twelve branches, so as to form the radii of a circle; and, when the body is lifted upon this bier, the ground upon which the man died is dug up by his wives or women related to him, with their long sticks, occasionally assisted by the men. A little heap of earth is thus formed, supposed to contain the "wingko," or breath that has left the body, and which this digging is intended to set free. While this is being done, the bier is raised upon the shoulders of several men, each one taking a branch, and some facing one way others another. They move slowly off from the spot, stopping at intervals, and performing a quick rotatory motion in one direction, and, when they can do so no longer, in the opposite one. All this while a man stands under the centre of the bier, assisting to support it with his head; and, after each act of rotation, he addresses the deceased, asking him how and why he died, who killed him, &c. The group of men surrounding the bier and its supporters are all armed with their spears and other weapons, and the women carry their long sticks and bags. Sometimes the bearers move forward as if by a consentaneous impulse, and, at others, one of the bystanders beckons to a spot to which the