inch deep, and about half an inch apart,
in horizontal lines from right to left quite across the back, the rows
being half an inch or three-quarters distant from each other.

[Note 79: Hoc plerumque menstruis jam primum venientibus factum est:
saepe autem puellis propter timorem statum suam celantibus, aut aliqua
alia ex causa, opus quod tempore menstruali fieri prorsus necessarium est,
in proxima differtur.]

This is carried up the whole way from where he commences to the
shoulders, and when freshly done, presents one of the most dreadful
spectacles imaginable, the blood gushes out in torrents, and though
frequently wiped away with grass by some of the women present, is
scarcely removed before the crimson stream flows as profusely as ever.
During the time of the ceremony the mother and other female relations
lament and mourn, whilst they lacerate their bodies with shells. When the
incisions are all made, grass or boughs are warmed at the fire, to wipe
off the blood. The whole scene is most revolting and disgusting; the
ground near where the poor creature sits is saturated with blood, and the
whole back is one mass of coagulated gore. In one case, where I saw this
operation performed upon a girl belonging to the Paritke tribe, she
seemed to suffer much pain. At first, until nearly a row of scars had
been made across the lower part of the back, she bore the operation well,
but as it proceeded, her cries were piteous and unceasing, and before it
was concluded, they became the most heart-rending screams of agony. From
the position in which she was held, however, by the old woman on the
ground (and who, by the way, was her mother,) it was impossible for her
to stir or escape; indeed, had she attempted it, she would probably have
been most cruelly beaten in addition.

The ceremony occupied three-quarters of an hour, but it was two hours
before the wounds had ceased to bleed, and even then, the dried blood was
not washed off. Two kangaroo teeth, and a tuft of emu feathers were tied
to the girl's hair, and she was smeared over with grease and red ochre,
but was still forbidden to touch food until the morning.

Many weeks elapse before the wounds heal, and the inconveniences
attending them are removed.

In another case that I saw, the girl bore the operation most stoically,
until about two-thirds over, when she could stand it no longer, but
screaming out in agony, applied her teeth and nails with such good effect
to the t