had been able to piece together a good deal, which I now know related to the part of the ceremonies in which women take part, and which might lawfully be told to any one. I once happened to meet Turlburn, whom I have before mentioned, on the plains between Sale and Rosedale, and stopped to have a talk. After a little I brought up the subject of the ceremonies, and he finally said, "There is one thing you do not know." We were sitting by a little bridge which crossed a shallow gully, with open country around us and a straight road for a considerable distance. Looking all round, he then said, "Come down here," going under the bridge and speaking in a low tone of voice. I went there and sat down, and he then, with much mystery and a watchful air, lest any one might come, told me of the Tundun, that is the Bull-roarer, and of the part it plays in their ceremonies. If I had not known this, I should never have gained the influence I afterwards had, which enabled me to cause the Jeraeil to be revived, at which I took part, and which is described in this chapter.
There are two Bull-roarers used by the Kurnai tribe. The larger is called Wehntwin, or grandfather, also Mukbrogan, or, as I may put it, the Arch-companion, for Muk is a superlative, and Brogan is one who has been initiated with others, who are all Brogan. The smaller is the Rukut, or woman, that is, the wife of Tundun.
Since that time, and especially since the year 1890, much has been done in describing the Bora ceremonies of New South Wales, and the similar ceremonies of Queensland. But in no instance has the work been so thorough or so comprehensive and detailed as the account of the ceremonies of the Arunta tribe by Professor Spencer and Mr. Gillen.[1]
The absence of authentic information, prior to my publication in 1884, did not arise from no white man having been present at the Bora or other similar ceremonies; for it is known that even from the early times of settlement white men have been initiated in these mysteries, having been either escaped convicts who had lived with the tribes
- ↑ Op. cit.
