Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/263

 KAINJANAR. 189 grease; and the nest year they pluck out each other's beards, and apply the grease and ochre to the face as well as to the other parts of the body. When the beard has again grown to a considerable length it is a second time plucked out, after which they have a right to ask for wives; but this rule is not without exception, for it seems that when any tribe is much diminished by deaths, the young men are permitted to marry earlier by a year or thereabout. The plucking out of the beard and anointing with grease and ochre the men may continue if they please till about forty years of age, for they consider it ornamental, and fancy that it makes them look younger, and gives them an importance in the eyes of the women, and above all, that it makes them fat, for they admire a fat man however ugly. It must be observed that before the boys are made Kainjanar —for so they are called after being painted as described above— they are very much offended at having the beard touched or even spoken of, and frequently one of their fights commences in the following manner: —Two tribes having put together some of the painted ones on one side, will shake the left hand in a threatening manner, and call out to the boys of the other tribe, Towűnde mak  ngawir—You are naked upon the cheek, boys; to which taunt they reply by throwing their spears, thus commencing the fight. A rude kind of tattooing is practised amongst them, consisting merely in making scars without applying any colour, and for this there seems to be no particular time allotted, as sometimes boys of ten or twelve years of age may be seen with several large cuts upon the breast and shoulders, and others, several years older, without. They consider it not only as ornamental, but also as a means of alleviating pain, and giving freedom of motion to the arms, and enabling them to use the spear and shield with dexterity. The education of the females is simple. As soon as weaned they receive the fringe, for covering the pubes, which is the only article of dress considered absolutely necessary; for the skins or mats which they sometimes wear, are worn only at pleasure, and both men and women generally go uncovered, or wear some