ely are neighbouring tribes acquainted with the
peculiar relations subsisting between the members of each, that there is
rarely any difficulty in comprehending who the individual is that is
alluded to. Among the Adelaide tribes, there is no circumstance but death
that makes them unwilling to mention the name of any of their
acquaintances, and this cause of unwillingness I believe extends equally
all over the continent.

The ceremony of tattooing is practised among the tribes of the Murray and
its neighbourhood with great circumstantial variety. Some are tattooed
all over the back or breast in rows, some only one half of each or of
one, some are only dotted, others have rings or semicircles round the
upper part of the arms and some are tattooed on the belly, etc.

Many tribes I have met with in different parts of Australia, have no
tattooing at all, others are marked on the breast by singular looking
scars, occupying a space of six or eight inches each way upon the chest,
these are called "renditch" in the Murray dialect, and are made by fire;
but I have never been able to obtain any satisfactory information
respecting them. These scars are confined to particular tribes whom I
have only met with occasionally, and for a period which did not allow me
the opportunity of making much inquiry into their origin.

At Encounter Bay, instead of plucking out the hair of the pubes, the
incipient beard is pulled out by the roots, and the youth, as at the
Murray, is smeared from head to foot with red ochre and grease.

Among the females the only ceremony of importance that I am aware of is
that of tattooing the back, a long and very painful operation. [Note 79 at
end of para.] The method of performing the operation is as follows:
the person whose back is to be tattooed is taken out early in the
morning and squatted on the ground with her back towards the operator
(always a male), and her head bent down between the knees of a strong
old woman who is sitting on the ground for that purpose; the back is
thus presented in the best position to the operator, and the girl,
as long as her head is kept firmly in its position, cannot possibly
arise until all is over. The man who performs the ceremony then
commences by taking hold of a fold of the flesh on the girl's right side,
just above the breech, with his left hand, whilst with his right he
holds a piece of flint or shell, and cuts perpendicular gashes an inch
long, three-sixteenths of an