e new birth is simulated, or imagined, as a death and a
resurrection, either of the boys themselves or of some one else in their
presence. Thus at initiation among some tribes of South-east
Australia,[31] when the boys are assembled an old man dressed in stringy
bark fibre lies down in a grave. He is covered up lightly with sticks
and earth, and the grave is smoothed over. The buried man holds in his
hand a small bush which seems to be growing from the ground, and other
bushes are stuck in the ground round about. The novices are then brought
to the edge of the grave and a song is sung. Gradually, as the song goes
on, the bush held by the buried man begins to quiver. It moves more and
more and bit by bit the man himself starts up from the grave.

The Fijians have a drastic and repulsive way of simulating death. The
boys are shown a row of seemingly dead men, their bodies covered with
blood and entrails, which are really those of a dead pig. The first
gives a sudden yell. Up start the men, and then run to the river to
cleanse themselves.

Here the death is vicarious. Another goes through the simulated death
that the initiated boy may have new life. But often the mimicry is
practised on the boys themselves. Thus in West Ceram[32] boys at puberty
are admitted to the Kakian association. The boys are taken blindfold,
followed by their relations, to an oblong wooden shed under the darkest
trees in the depths of the forest. When all are assembled the high
priest calls aloud on the devils, and immediately a hideous uproar is
heard from the shed. It is really made by men in the shed with bamboo
trumpets, but the women and children think it is the devils. Then the
priest enters the shed with the boys, one at a time. A dull thud of
chopping is heard, a fearful cry rings out, and a sword dripping with
blood is thrust out through the roof. This is the token that the boy's
head has been cut off, and that the devil has taken him away to the
other world, whence he will return born again. In a day or two the men
who act as sponsors to the boys return daubed with mud, and in a
half-fainting state like messengers from another world. They bring the
good news that the devil has restored the boys to life. The boys
themselves appear, but when they return they totter as they walk; they
go into the house backwards. If food is given them they upset the plate.
They sit dumb and only make signs. The sponsors have to teach them the
simplest daily a