Bora.

The ceremony known as "Bora" is universal. It is in operation all over the country. This ceremony is for the purpose of initiating young men into all the mysteries of art, war, and their so-called religion. Before arriving at puberty the life of a young man is not a happy one. Until initiated by undergoing this ordeal, he cannot associate freely with those who have; that is to say, he is snubbed by the older men, whilst he is old enough to look with contempt upon the women, who are only considered as slaves, and are treated accordingly. When the novice is considered old enough, he has to prove his competency by throwing a boomerang or spear, climb a tree, or in fact do anything he is required to do by the board of examiners, which consists of the old men of the tribe. The eldest young man of a family always follows the trade or occupation of his father, for it must be known that, although every blackfellow page 44 has a general knowledge of all the requirements for a life in the bush, each man has a specialty of his own. Thus, a man who spears fish from the bank of a river may be very awkward in a canoe. Again, a fisherman seldom climbs any but very small trees, whilst a tree-climber is an indifferent fisherman, consequently stress is laid upon the particular line of life the young man is about to follow. The novice has to abstain from food for some time; in fact, I believe that until initiated he cannot touch certain animal food, that is the male animal.

The place for holding this ceremony is selected so as to include a level piece of ground, on which at least two concentric circles are cut in the turf; but this is not always adhered to—various designs are made use of. On the Upper Murrumbidgee a narrow pathway was cut in the turf, which wound about in the most complicated manner, and terminated at a small round space. I was directed to this spot by a young man who, whilst looking for stray cattle, came suddenly upon this remarkable meeting of the blacks. He was in great terror at first, being under the apprehension that some murder was about to be committed. In the centre of these sinuosities, there stood the old man, ready to perform his part of the ceremony. The young man was led by two others, his eyes cast to the ground, along this pathway, up to the old man, who delivered an oration of considerable length. This appeared to be directed to some imaginary person, during which he exhibited much excitement by stamping on the ground, hissing, shouting, as though in a great rage with some one, brandishing his tomahawk and going through a lot of antics and gesticulations; then suddenly turning to the boy, he knocked out one of his front teeth with his tomahawk. The young man was then led away and allowed to sit with the other men, and could eat what he chose, or rather what he could get. On another occasion a young man who followed the occupation of a fisherman, told me that he was compelled to lie for two nights on the grave of one of his ancestors, who had also been a fisherman of some note; by this means he was supposed to inherit all the good qualities of his predecessor. Meanwhile others of the tribe were making preparations by cutting these magic circles and performing other mysterious acts, the camp being during this time protected from the intrusion of the "devil-devil" by numerous small fires around it.

No translation of the oration given on these occasions has, so far as I can learn, ever been obtained, nor can I say as to whether the same words are used by each separate tribe.

The youth has still another ordeal to pass through before he can be pronounced eligible or capable of taking a wife. Much mystery is attached to this part of the ceremony, which no black will disclose.