over the head, closing the feet, and bringing the knees into
contact. The legs are then thrown outwards from the knee, whilst the feet
and hands are kept in their original position, and being drawn quickly in
again a sharp sound is produced by the collision. This is either
practised alone by young girls, or by several together for their own
amusement. It is adopted also when a single woman is placed in front of a
row of male dancers to excite their passions; for many of the native
dances are of a grossly licentious character. In another figure they keep
the feet close together, without lifting them from the ground, and by a
peculiar motion of the limbs advance onwards, describing a short
semicircle. This amusement is almost exclusively confined to young
females among themselves.

It has already been remarked, that the natives, on particular occasions,
have dances which they perform in the day-time, which are different from
others, and seem to have some connection with their ceremonial
observances or superstitions. I have only witnessed one of these. It took
place at Moorunde, in March 1844, on the occasion of a large number of
distant natives coming to visit the place; and the visitors were the
performers. The Moorunde natives were seated upon the brow of a
sand-bank; the strangers, consisting of two tribes, down in a hollow a
little way off, among a few bushes. When ready, they advanced in a line
towards the others, dancing and singing, being painted and decorated as
usual, some having tufts of feathers placed upon their heads like
cockades and others carrying them in their hands tied to short sticks.
Nearly all the males carried bunches of green boughs, which they waved
and shook to the time of the song. The women were also painted, and
danced in a line with the men, those of each tribe stationing themselves
at opposite ends of the line. Dancing for a while, they retired again
towards the hollow, and after a short interval advanced as before, but
with a person in the centre carrying a curious, rude-looking figure,
raised up in the air. This singular object consisted of a large bundle of
grass and reeds bound together, enveloped in a kangaroo skin, with the
flesh side outwards, and painted all over in small white circles. From
the top of this projected a thin stick, with a large tuft of feathers at
the end to represent the head, and sticks were stuck out laterally from
the sides for the arms, terminating in tufts of fea