572.)
Of the Central Australians Stirling says: "No sense of shame of
exposure was exhibited by the men on removal of the diminutive
articles worn as conventional coverings; they were taken off
_coram populo_, and bartered without hesitation. On the other
hand, some little persuasion was necessary to allow inspection of
the effect of [urethral] sub-incision, assent being given only
after dismissal to a distance of the women and young children. As
to the women, it was nearly always observed that when in camp
without clothing they, especially the younger ones, exhibited by
their attitude a keen sense of modesty, if, indeed, a
consciousness of their nakedness can be thus considered. When we
desired to take a photograph of a group of young women, they were
very coy at the proposal to remove their scanty garments, and
retired behind a wall to do so; but once in a state of nudity
they made no objection to exposure to the camera." (_Report of
the Horn Scientific Expedition_, 1896, vol. iv, p. 37.)
In Northern Queensland "phallocrypts," or "penis-concealers,"
only used by the males at _corrobborees_ and other public
rejoicings, are either formed of pearl-shell or opossum-string.
The _koom-pa-ra_, or opossum-string form of phallocrypt, forms a
kind of tassel, and is colored red; it is hung from the
waist-belt in the middle line.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43