rules
her to any extent, not even letting her have a say about her own
children, and no duenna could be stricter. Should the young wife in the
absence of her husband speak to a young man, she will probably get a
scolding from the old wife and a 'real hiding' from the old man, to
whom the old wife will report her conduct. Quite young men often marry
quite old women; a reason sometimes given is that these young men were
on earth before and loved these same women, but died before their
initiation, so could not marry until now in their reincarnation.

Certainly, amongst the blacks, age is no disqualification for a woman;
she never seems to be too old to marry, and certainly with age gains
power.

At whatever age a girl may be betrothed to a man he never claims her
while she is yet Mullerhgun, or child girl; not until she is
Wirreebeeun, or woman girl.

A girl's initiation into womanhood is as follows. Her granny probably,
or some old woman relation, takes her from the big camp into the scrub
where they make a bough shade. As soon as this is made, the old woman
sets fire to a thick heap of Budtha leaves and makes the girl swallow
the smoke. She then bids her lie down in a scooped-out hollow she has
made in the earth, saying to her, 'You are to be made a young woman
now. No more must you run about as you please. Here must you stay with
me, doing as I say. Then in two moons' time you shall go and claim your
husband, to do for ever what he bids you. You must not sleep as you lie
there in the day time, nor must you go to sleep at night until those in
the camp are at rest. I will put food ready for you. Honey you must not
eat again for four moons. At first streak of day you must get up, and
eat the food I have placed for you. Then when you hear a bird note you
must shake yourself all over, and make a noise like this.'

And the old woman makes a ringing noise with her lips.

'That you must do every time you hear a fresh bird note; so too when
you hear the people in the camp begin to talk, or even if you hear them
laugh or sneeze. If you do not, then grey will your hair be while you
are yet a young woman, dull will your eyes be, and limp your body.'

Girls have told me that they got very tired of being away with only the
old woman for so long, and were glad enough when she told them they
were to move to a new camp, nearer to the big one, which the women had
prepared for them.

When they reached this the old woman rubbed off