. Across Australia . Vli;. 117. I \\ n|. iiiF F\ir Ix-ail-iliLxs ri| llic neck licail of an #^^ 1 ^^^ .=jfe - ^ ■■■■ ■ X CEREMONIES OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE 269 in an extraordinary way, or perhaps eating something—asoften as not the totemic animal or plant after which he Isnamed and out of which he is supposed to have beenevolved. The importance and interest of these cere-monies lie in the fact that they constitute, amongstsavages who are far below the grade of having acquiredeyeri the simplest form of written language, a record, a supposed one, of t

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. Across Australia . Vli;. 117. I \\ n|. iiiF F\ir Ix-ail-iliLxs ri| llic neck licail of an #^^ 1 ^^^ .=jfe - ^ ■■■■ ■ X CEREMONIES OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE 269 in an extraordinary way, or perhaps eating something—asoften as not the totemic animal or plant after which he Isnamed and out of which he is supposed to have beenevolved. The importance and interest of these cere-monies lie in the fact that they constitute, amongstsavages who are far below the grade of having acquiredeyeri the simplest form of written language, a record, a supposed one, of the past history of the race asrepresented in the doings of its ancestors. The preparations for each ceremony occupied anythingfrom two to five or even six hours. After the old leaderhad determined the particular ceremony to be enacted,the performers retired to a secluded and also shady spotin the bed of the small creek, for the weather, as it waswell on into summer, was very hot. They were alwaysaccompanied by a few other men, all of them, as a generalrule, belonging to the same half of the tribe and frequentlya

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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1912