# The Aborigines of Victoria/Volume 1/Chapter 5

Marriage.
There is no such thing as marriage, in the proper sense of the word, amongst the Australians. The acts which precede matrimony are certainly not entitled to be regarded as rites. Men obtain wives by a convenient system of exchange, by conquest sometimes, and sometimes a woman is stolen. By what mode soever a man procures a bride, it is very seldom an occasion of rejoicing for the female.
The males engross the privilege of disposing of their female relations, and it often happens that an old man of sixty or seventy will add to his domestic circle a young girl of ten or twelve years of age. If the father be alive, he alone can dispose of his daughters; if he be dead, the eldest son can dispose of his sisters; and if there be no brothers, then the uncle or cousin steps in, and exchanges the women for others who become his wives. In rare cases the old men meet together and determine to whom a young woman shall be given.
A man having a daughter of thirteen or fourteen years of age arranges with some elderly person for the disposal of her, and, when all are agreed, she is brought out of the miam-miam, and told that her husband wants her. Perhaps she has never seen him, or has seen him but to loathe him. The father carries a spear and waddy, or a tomahawk, and, anticipating resistance, is thus prepared for it. The poor girl, sobbing and sighing, and muttering words of complaint, claims pity from those who will show none. If she resists the mandates of her father, he strikes her with his spear; if she rebels and screams, the blows are repeated; and if she attempts to run away, a stroke on the head from the waddy or tomahawk quiets her. The mother screams and scolds and beats the ground with her kan-nan (fighting-stick); the men, women, and children in the neighbouring huts come forth to see the sight; the dogs bark and whine; but nothing interrupts the father, who in the performance of his duty is strict, and mindful of the necessity of not only enforcing his authority but of showing to all that he means to enforce it. Seizing the bride by her long hair, the stern father drags her to the home prepared for her by her new owner. Further resistance, when she is really placed in the hands of her husband, often subjects her to brutal treatment. If she attempts to abscond, the bridegroom does not hesitate to strike her savagely on the head with his waddy; and the bridal screams and yells make the night hideous. If the girl is energetic, and absolutely refuses the man to whom she is assigned, she causes a disturbance that can be quelled only by the authority of the old men. The young fellows seize their weapons, and one or two who may have had ​friendly feelings towards the bride begin to throw their wonguims (boomerangs). These striking his frail dwelling, rouse the husband, and he rushes forth, fully armed, to do battle with his rivals. A general fight follows, and the old husband often is wounded and so deeply marked as to be able, after the lapse of many years, to number his wives, living and dead, by his blemishes. During the fight, and when her husband is fully occupied, the bride rushes to her mother, and with streaming eyes and heaving breast begs vainly for protection and help, which her mother dare not give her. As soon as the old men have quelled the disturbance, the father again seizes her hair and drags her to the miam of her husband, gives her a few blows with his waddy, and there leaves her. If she is still determined to escape, and makes the attempt, the father will at last spear her iu the leg or foot, to prevent her from running. Beaten, frightened, and at last completely conquered, she resigns herself to her hard fate, thinks no more of the young men who have in past times shown her kindness, and becomes a willing and obedient drudge to her new master.
​Female children are sometimes betrothed when they are mere infants—indeed it has been known that a child has been conditionally promised to a man before birth. If it should be a female, and the man should die before the girl attains a marriageable age, then she would become the property of his heir. As a rule, all such obligations are respected. If a girl is betrothed, the father or her male protector may refuse for a long time to give his consent to the marriage, but the lover waits very patiently, in the full confidence that ultimately he will obtain her. Serious fights and troubles ensue sometimes in settling a marriage, and yet it does not often occur that a marriage arranged in strict accordance with the habits of the tribe is not consummated.
A man is supposed to have settled his domestic affairs very comfortably when he has obtained three or four wives; two are far from uncommon; but some are obliged to be content with one.
As girls are usually given in marriage at a very early age, many have the cares of maternity added to their other heavy duties at the age of thirteen, or even when younger.
In their natural state the women appear to be prolific in all localities where food is plentiful. One man of the Coast tribe, near Melbourne, had five wives and eight children; and it is recorded that the principal man of the Yarra tribe, with three wives, had ten children. Wonga, his son, a well-behaved, intelligent black, is now living.
"Jenny," an Aboriginal female living at Lake Hindmarsh, had ten children—once twins; and "Kitty," who is now living, has had thirteen children, of whom the first four were black, the two following half-castes, the seventh a black, the three succeeding half-castes, and the last three blacks.
"Mary," an Aboriginal woman at Lake Wellington, has had twelve children, of whom seven are now living. The parents are strong and healthy.
Australian women not infrequently have twins. The Rev. Mr. Hartmann mentions two cases—and the children were full-blooded blacks.
Mr. John Green says that a boy and a girl—twins—are now living with their parents at the Aboriginal Station at Coranderrk; and that a woman of the Mount Rouse tribe had three children at a birth. They were all full-blooded blacks.
The Rev. Mr. Hagenauer, of the Lake Wellington Station, informs me that he knows only of one case of an Aboriginal woman having twins. One of the twins died when about five years of age; the other, named Caroline, is alive, and is a strong girl of about fourteen years of age.
These facts are not trivial, but few will note the importance and significance of them.
​A very fat woman presents such an attractive appearance to the eyes of the blacks that she is always liable to be stolen. However old or ugly she may be, she will be courted and petted and sought for by the warriors, who seldom hesitate to risk their lives if there is a chance of obtaining so great a prize.
A man who has no female relations that can be exchanged for a young woman of another tribe leads an unhappy life. Not only must he attend to his own wants, and share the discomforts of the bachelors' quarters, but he is an object of suspicion to the older men, who have perhaps two or three young wives to watch. There is the fear also that he may violently seize a girl of a neighbouring tribe, and thus provoke a war. There is the discontent and unrest of such a life, which makes him a dull companion, a quarrelsome friend, and a bitter enemy. Sometimes a wife is given to him by some old man who is tired of keeping her; but most often a warrior will steal a woman from another tribe, if he cannot inspire an affection and lead her to elope with him. Any such act brings about a conflict. As soon as the girl is missed, a search is instituted, and the guilty pair are invariably tracked to their hiding-place. When the discovery is made, the tribe to which the man belongs is informed of it, and there is a gathering of the old men of both tribes, and much talk and wrangling follows; but the main questions to be decided are these: Can a girl of the man's tribe be given in exchange for the woman that has been stolen? Is the man's tribe willing that the thief shall stand a form of trial somewhat resembling the ordeal of the ancient rude nations of Europe? If the first question is not settled satisfactorily by some generous creature offering a female relative in exchange, the second question is debated, but always on the understanding that the solemn obligation cannot be avoided.
In the trial—it is not a mock trial—it must be understood that there will be always two parties utterly at variance: the lover who has stolen the girl, and the man who claims her. That man may be her father, if she be not betrothed; her husband, if she be married; or her lover, if she be betrothed.
The old men of each tribe sit facing each other, at some little distance apart; the girl and her claimants stand between them, and the trial begins. The thief is provided with a shield (either the Mulga, or Gee-am, as may be determined by the old men, having regard to the weapons of offence), and his assailant, standing at a proper distance, hurls spears or other weapons at him. If the culprit manages to ward off the weapons, he can claim the woman as his wife, and there is an end of the business. If he is seriously hurt, so as to be disabled, her natural protector claims the woman; and if there is a suspicion in his mind that she has favored the man who eloped with her, he will not hesitate to kill or maim her. In some cases there is a determination to kill or maim the thief. The old men agree that all the friends of the girl—perhaps to the number of four or five—shall throw a certain number of weapons at the offender; and if they be really in earnest, it is then hard indeed for him to escape without injury. Again, it sometimes occurs on such occasions that in the preliminary meeting of the old men some almost-forgotten subject of dispute is brought up; angry words are used; evil passions arise; the women clamor and shriek, and add to the discord; and after the trial there is a fight.
​The arrangements made for the trial by combat vary very much. Sometimes the men are armed with their most formidable weapons, and there is a battle à l'outrance. There is fair-play, invariably. Armed warriors watch the contest, and if either should seek to take an unfair advantage, he would be punished.
While it is true that, as a rule, the females are guarded very jealously, it sometimes happens that there is no more than simulated anger when two young persons elope from their tribes. A young man who has engaged the affections of a girl of a neighbouring tribe agrees with her to run away at the first opportunity that offers. In the stillness of the night, or just before sunrise, when the ​coldness of the morning makes heavy the eyes of the sleepers, the young man steals from his miam and runs swiftly to the spot appointed for the meeting. When they meet, the girl, anxious and full of fears, runs even more swiftly than her lover to some sequestered dell, where she hopes they may remain undiscovered until the first surprise and natural indignation are no longer predominant in the minds of their relatives. The members of the tribe to whom the female belongs institute a search, as custom and law require; but it is not prosecuted energetically, nor does the absence of the girl evoke evil passions, if by report they have learnt that a young man is missing from the camp of the neighbouring tribe. After the lapse of a few days, the young man returns with
​his wife to his own people; and, except that he must bear many taunts from the young women his sisters and cousins, and much scolding from the old women, and grave threatenings and mutterings of wrath from the old men—his new state provokes little comment. His young wife is treated well, and is soon familiar with all the women of the tribe to which she has become attached.
The Rev. Mr. Bulmer, of Lake Tyers, in Gippsland, gives the following account of a young man's condition in savage society, and how he obtains a wife:—An Aboriginal is not considered of much importance until he has arrived at the age of manhood. While he is a boy he lives under strict control; his food is regulated by the men, not as to quantity but as to quality. There are
​various kinds of meat which he must not eat; he cannot enter into any argument in camp; his opinion on any question is never asked, and he never thinks of giving it; he is not expected to engage in fights; and he is not supposed to fall in love with any of the young women. He is, in fact, a nonentity; but when he has gone through the initiatory process of being made a young man, he takes his proper place amongst the members of the tribe. He carries his war implements about with him, and has his share in Aboriginal politics. He may now look upon a woman with eyes of love, and, if he be brave enough, seek a wife for himself. But this is a very delicate and difficult matter. He may have a lover, and she may have declared that she will have him only. She may have given him a lock of her hair as a token of her affection, and in the case of an Aboriginal this is a mark of the greatest confidence. The blacks are very superstitious about such matters; they will always take care to destroy any hair they cut off. It would frighten a black very much if he or she knew that another black had some of his or her hair; but the young woman will forget these fears under such circumstances; she feels she is safe in the hands of the man she first falls in love with. But in spite of all the encouragement given by such tokens, the young man will find that he has a difficult work before him, as perhaps he may have to fight her father, or her mother, or her brothers, or her sisters—even the cousins may claim the right to do battle with him. Hence, if a young woman has numerous friends or relations, a young man will think twice before he commits himself to the task of winning her; but it must be done. Has not his lady-love said that she will have him, and him only? She must be won at all risks; so, to provoke the attack, he proposes an elopement; the frail one readily consents, and in the black night they take to the bush. Then follows a scene which baffles description. When the girl is found to be absent, there is hurrying to and fro, the women tearing their hair and scraping the skin off their cheeks with their finger-nails. Some, who are nearer relations of the missing girl, are chopping their heads with their tomahawks, while above all the noises made may be heard, now and then, the lamentations of the mother, whose grief is somewhat more real than the demonstrations of those not so nearly connected with the fugitive. "Lathi!" (my child) is uttered in such piteous tones that it would make any sensitive person sympathize with her. The women succeed in stirring up the men by their clamor; their language has not been select; the runaways have not been spared whatever peculiarities each may have presented to them in camp, and a lot of epithets are strung together and loudly uttered. They are called "long-legged," "thin-legged," "squint-eyed," or "big-headed." When the men are really roused, they get together a few war implements, as, for instance, a club, a boomerang, and a shield, and they go off in pursuit of the missing couple. They know in what direction to go, as the young man has confided (as a great secret) the proposed route. All is soon discovered, the pair caught, as they cannot travel without revealing a track, and the girl is brought back to the camp to receive the punishment which is supposed to be due to her crime. When she arrives, every female in the camp must lay a hand upon her; it matters not that they did the same thing when they were young—they must express their outraged feelings; that is the custom, and it ​must be obeyed. The poor young creature is often cruelly beaten—indeed sometimes receives injuries from which she never entirely recovers. The young man also must stand out (he has not forsaken his lady-love), and must fight all comers. He is generally worsted. In fact he stands quietly while men and women hit him until he falls to the ground stunned. He promises, at length, that he will not commit the like offence again, but secretly determines that when he gets over his wounds, and his lover is again aide to walk (for it is possible that the blacks may have speared her through the feet), he will run away with her again. He runs away with her accordingly when an opportunity presents itself, and they are again brought back, and the same scene is enacted. At length the girl is really afraid to elope, as the beatings when brought back are fearful; but she does not give up hope of her intended. She alters her tactics. She is suddenly seized with a very severe sickness; her head is affected, and altogether she is in a bad way. Her parents get very much afraid she will die. Then she remembers that her lover has got a lock of her hair. He is brought to account, and confesses that he has the token. Another fight takes place, and when the young man has been nearly half-killed, the tribe take pity on him, and give him to wife the girl for whose sake he has borne so many honorable scars.
A young woman's life is similar, full of trouble until she is married. Even then the troubles cease not if she does not get a good husband. At about the age of thirteen or fonrteen she is marriageable; a yam-stick is given to her for protection, and this precaution is nearly always needed, fur it would not be sufficient for her to say "no" to an important question. She drives away any young man who is smitten with her charms with her yam-stick. Matches are generally made up among the young men; the women never initiate matches, though they have a good deal to say when it becomes known that a young woman is sought after by some young man. The match is mostly arranged between two young men who have sisters or some female relative over whose fate they may happen to have control. They follow a system of barter in their matrimonial arrangements. The young woman's opinion is not asked. When the young men have settled the business, they propose a time when one of them is to take a girl for his wife. The young man marches up to her equipped as for war, with his club (Kallak) and club-shield (Turn-man) in his hands, and indeed these are needed, if he does not wish to receive a blow on his head from the yam-stick which would perhaps prevent the further progress of his love making. After a little fencing between the pair, the woman, if she has no serious objections to the ​man, quietly submits, and allows herself to be taken away to the camp of her future husband. She there begins to perform at once the duties which usually fall to the share of the wife—namely, building a new camp—getting firewood, &c., and on journeys acting as a carrier for all the worldly goods of her husband. These are packed on her back, all excepting his war implements, which he himself deigns to carry.
Though the marriages of Aboriginals are not solemnized by any rites which amongst civilized peoples serve to make the contract, if not binding, at least a solemn and serious one, it must not be supposed that, as a rule, there is anything like promiscuous intercourse. When a man obtains a good wife, he keeps her as a precious possession, as long as she is fit to help him, and minister to his wants, and increase his happiness. No other man must look with affection towards her. If she shows favor towards another and be discovered, she may suffer heavy punishment—be put to death even. Promiscuous intercourse is ​abhorrent to many of them; and it is hard to believe that even in a lower state the male would not have had the same feeling of affection for his mate and an equal jealousy of love as we see amongst the Aborigines now.
Exogamy exists throughout the greater part of Australia probably, but there is little or nothing to show whether or not it existed, or, if it was a law, how it operated amongst the Aborigines in Victoria. We must seek for information amongst those whose habits have not been much affected by the intrusion of whites.
Something, however, is known.
Mr. Bulmer says—"The blacks of the Murray are divided into two classes, the Mak-quarra or eagle, and the Kil-parra or crow. If the man be Mak-quarra, the woman must be Kil-parra. A Mak-quarra could not marry a Mak-quarra nor a Kil-parra a Kil-parra. The children take their caste from the mother, and not from the father. The Murray blacks never deviate from this rule. A man would as soon marry his sister as a woman of the caste to which he belongs. He calls a woman of the same caste Wurtoa (sister)." Thirty years ago this custom was investigated by Grey in South Australia. "The natives," he says, "are divided into certain great families, all the members of which bear the same names, as a family or second name. The principal branches of these families, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are the Ballaroke, Tdondarup, Ngotak, Nagarnook, Nogonyuk, Mongalung, Narrangur." The ​several members of these families again have each a local name, which is understood in the district which they inhabit; but the family names extend from King George's Sound to Carpentaria. "The family names are perpetuated and spread through the country by the operation of two remarkable laws:—
1st. "That children of either sex always take the family name of their mother." (And reference is made to Genesis xx., 12:—"And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.")
2nd. "That a man cannot marry a woman of his own family name."
In this respect—as Grey observes—their custom coincides with that of the North American Indians.
Mr. C. Wilhelmi says that "all the Aborigines in the Port Lincoln district are divided into two separate classes, namely, the Matteri and the Karraru. This division seems to have been introduced since time immemorial, and with a view to regulate their marriages, as no one is allowed to intermarry in his own caste, but only into the other one—that is, if a man is a Matteri, he can choose as his wife a Karraru only, and vice versa. This distinction is kept up by the arrangement that the children belong to the caste of the mother. There are no instances of two Karrarus or two Matteris having been married together, and yet connections of a less virtuous character which take place between members of the same caste do not appear to be considered incestuous. In addition to this general rule, there are certain degrees of relationship within which intermarrying is prohibited; yet, from the indefinite degree of their relationship by blood, arising from the plurality of wives, and their being cast off at pleasure, &c., it becomes very difficult to trace them exactly. Besides this, friendship among the natives leads to the adoption of forms and names strictly in use among relatives only; thus it becomes totally impossible to make out what are real relations or apparently so."
How the knowledge of consanguinity was preserved, under such conditions as those described by Mr. Wilhelmi, is difficult to conjecture. Marriages between members of certain classes were prohibited, but intercourse between males and females belonging to the same class appears to have been regarded without disfavor. If the issue of such connections were preserved, to what class did they belong? They would not—from want of knowledge of their origin—be in all cases destroyed. Unless it is assumed that in later times their laws were relaxed, and that the natives are now living in a state altogether different from that which formerly existed, there is nothing in their ancient rigid rules regarding marriage which would serve to protect them against the evils these rules were enacted to prevent.
Mr. Francis F. Armstrong, the Government Interpreter to the native tribes of West Australia, informs me "that the females are betrothed or promised in marriage when very young in a certain line of families or to a particular person in that line, and generally are not supposed to marry or be taken out of that line: certainly not to have their own choice. The brother of a deceased native has a right to the widow, and may, if he is willing, take her."
​The following diagram, forwarded to me by Mr. Armstrong, shows in what lines, and with what limitations, Aboriginal marriages may be contracted in New Norcia:—
Mr. Samuel Bennett, in his History of Australian Discovery and Colonization, says, in reference to the Aborigines of the north-eastern parts of Australia, that "their laws of pedigree and marriage prescribe a complete classification ​of the people of the nature of caste. By means of family names, they are divided into four classes. Ippai, Murri, Kubbi, and Kumbo, are the names of the men; and their sisters are respectively Ippata, Mata, Kapota, and Buta. In one family all the males are called Ippai, the females Ijipata; in another all the males are Murri, the females Mata; in a third all the males are Kubbi, the females Kapota; and in a fourth all the males are Kumbo, all the females Buta. Every family in all the Kamilaroi tribes, over a large extent of country, including Liverpool Plains, the Namoi, the Barwan, and the Bundarra, is distinguished by one of these four sets of names. The names are hereditary; but the rule of descent differs from any other ever heard of. The sons of Ippai (if his wife be Kapota) are all Murri, and his daughters Mata; the sons of Murri are Ippai, and tHe daughters Ippata; the sons of Kubbi are Kumbo, the daughters Buta; the sons of Kumbo are Kubbi, the daughters Kapota. The law of marriage is founded on this system of descent. They have no law against polygamy; but while their law is not careful about the number of a man's wives, it denounces capital punishment against any one who marries one of the wrong sort. The rule is this:—Ippai may marry Kapota, and any Ippata but his own sister; Murri may marry Buta only; Kubbi may marry Ippata only; Kumbo may marry Mata only. Iu some respects, for instance in the larger marriage choice, Ippai is a favored class; but many who exercise a kind of authority are Kumbo, and in the course of a few generations every man's descendants come into the class of Ippa as well as into that of Kumbo."
The natives of Port Essington are divided into three distinct classes, which do not intermarry. The first is known as Maudrojilly, the second as Mamburgy, the third as Maudrouilly.
Of late years this subject has been more carefully investigated. The Rev. Lorimer Fison has collected a great deal of useful and important information, and has had the assistance of the Rev. W. Ridley and other gentlemen in New South Wales. Mr. Fison, jointly with Mr. Howitt, undertook to prepare a paper for this work on Australian Kinship. Printed circulars were forwarded to settlers in nearly all parts of Australia; and though only a few replies have been received, it is possible that before my labors are completed Mr. Fison and Mr. Howitt will be able to submit new views on this highly interesting subject. Mr. Howitt has already arranged the system of kinship as it exists in eastern Gippsland, and his paper is appended.
In the proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (vol. III.) there is a paper on Australian Kinship, written by Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, from original memoranda of the Rev. Lorimer Fison, and many difficult questions arising out of the divisions into tribes and classes are lucidly treated. Mr. Morgan refers more especially to the Kamilaroi people. They are divided into six tribes, and there is a further division into eight classes. After reviewing the facts and conclusions, as given in Mr. Fison's memoranda, Mr. Morgan says:—
"Out of the preceding statements we have the full constitution of the tribes, with the several classes belonging to each. The classes are in pairs of ​brothers and sisters, and the tribes themselves are constituted in pairs, as follows:—
| Tribes. | | Male. | | Female. | | Male. | | Female. |
| 1. Iguana (Duli) | All are | Murri | and | Mata, | or | Kubbi | and | Kapota. |
| 2. Emu (Dinoun) | „ | Kumbo | „ | Buta | „ | Ippai | „ | Ippata. |
| 3. Kangaroo (Murriira) | „ | Murri | „ | Mata | „ | Kubbi | „ | Kapota. |
| 4. Bandicoot (Bilba) | „ | Kumbo | „ | Buta | „ | Ippai | „ | Ippata. |
| 5. Opossum (Mute) | „ | Murri | „ | Mata | „ | Kubbi | „ | Kapota. |
| 6. Blacksnake (Nurai) | „ | Kumbo | „ | Buta | „ | Ippai | „ | Ippata. |
"The necessary connection of the children with a particular tribe is proven by the law of marriage and descent. Thus Iguana-Mata must marry Kumbo; her children are Kubbi and Kapota, and necessarily Iguana in tribe. Iguana-Kapota must marry Ippai; her children are Murri and Mata, and also Iguana in tribe. In like manner, Emu-Buta must marry Murri; her children are Ippai and Ippata, and Emu in tribe. Emu-Ippata must marry Kubbi; her children are Kumbo and Buta, and also of the Emu tribe. The same is true with respect to marriages in the two remaining pairs of tribes. It will also be seen that each tribe is made up, theoretically, of the descendants, in the female line, of two supposed female ancestors. Why Mata and Kapota are found in the Iguana, Kangaroo, and Opossum, and not in the other tribes, and why Buta and Ippata are found in the Emu, Bandicoot, and Blacksnake, and not in the first three tribes, is not explained, except that it is a part of the constitution of the tribal system as it now exists among the Kamilaroi. Moreover, as we find that the Iguana, Kangaroo, and Opossum tribes are counterparts of each other in the classes they contain, it follows that they are subdivisions of one original tribe. Precisely the same is true of Emu, Bandicoot, and Blacksnake, in both particulars; thus reducing the six to two original tribes, with marriage in the tribe interdicted. It is further shown by the fact that the first three tribes could not intermarry, nor the last three, with each other. The prohibition which prevented intermarriage when either three tribes was one would follow the subdivisions, who were of the same descent, though under different tribal names. Exactly the same thing is found among the Seneca-Iroquois."
Further very ingenious speculations, founded on the data he has obtained, are contained in Mr. Morgan's paper. He shows distinctly the effects of this division into classes, and how the tribal organization, permitting of marriage into every tribe but that of the individual, was defeated by it.
Before arriving at sure conclusions respecting the laws of marriage and the systems of consanguinity, as they exist in Australia, it will be necessary to institute careful enquiries in all parts of the continent, and to receive no statement from a black as correct until it has been verified. The natives are only too willing, when they are questioned, to seek to please; and if they catch a hint of what is desired—and they are quick in apprehension—they will frame their answers accordingly.
Mr. George Bridgman, the Superintendent of Aboriginal Stations near Mackay, in Queensland, says, in a letter to me, that he has carefully considered the ​paper just referred to, and cannot reconcile the system as put forth by Mr. Morgan with the facts as they exist within his knowledge. There is an intelligent native, from a district near Brisbane, now in employment in Mackay, who has been living with the Kamilaroi people and many others; and he informs Mr. Bridgman that both in his own tribe, and every other in the districts he is acquainted with, the system is the same, even where the class names are different. Yet the tribes in all places know which class is referred to when its name is mentioned, though the languages be not the same. Mr. Bridgman adds:—
"As an instance, the man I refer to has a wife from these (the Mackay) blacks. He tells me he got one belonging to the class that corresponds with that from which he would have got a wife in his own country—though here the class is called Woongoan (in the female) and in his tribe by another name. The Kamilaroi system, this black says, is the same as that here; and he gave me the words Murree and Kubbee as two of their terms (as in Mr. Morgan's paper), except that there is a final 'ee' instead of 'i.' The system, as it comes under my notice here, is quite simple, and is as follows:—All blacks are divided into two classes, irrespective of tribe or locality. These are Youngaroo and Wootaroo (end of each word sounded 'rue'). The Youngaroo are subdivided into Gurgela and Bembia, and the Wootaroo into Coobaroo and Woongo. The first divisions have no feminine; the subdivisions have, namely, Coobaroon and Woongoon. Every man, woman, and child necessarily belongs to one first division and one second. Gurgela marries Coobaroon, and Bembia, Woongoon. Children belong to the mothers' primary division, but to the other subdivision. Thus Youngaroo-Gurgela marries Wootaroo-Coobaroon, and their children are Wootaroo-Woongo.
"Although on paper this looks rather complicated, it is, when understood, very simple. … The blacks seem to have an idea that these classes are a universal law of nature, so they divide everything into them. They tell you that alligators are Youngaroo, and kangaroos are Wootaroo—the sun is Youngaroo and the moon is Wootaroo; and so on with the constellations, with the trees, and with the plants. But even when one knows the language, it is hard to get information from this people, because they lack the power of concentrating and collecting their ideas which is natural to educated people. … On the system just described hinges all their ideas of relationship. Their terms for father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, &c., &c., are by no means synonymous with ours, but convey different ideas. From my long connection with the blacks, they have given me a name and a grade amongst themselves, and there are many here who I do not suppose know my proper name. I have several names, but the one I am usually called is Goonurra, which has no meaning —is only a name. I am Youngaroo and Bembia, carrying out the former idea; and if I had children they would be Wootaroo and Coobaroo. When a strange girl comes here, I do not ask her name—that would be improper, according to the blacks' ideas—nor can I ask what class she belongs to, but I say to another, 'What am I to call her?' The answer maybe (if she is Coobaroon) Woolbrigan uno nulla—'Daughter yours she.' Mollee dunilla indu—'Mollee, say you?' Mollee being the term which all fathers call their daughters—daughter meaning ​any young woman belonging to the class which my daughter would belong to if I had one. I give this example as the easiest way of conveying an idea of their system. Blacks in their native state—that is before they pick up our manners and customs—never call each other by name. They always use a term of relationship, but use names, in speaking of another, in the third person."
Mr. D. Stewart, of Mount Gambier, South Australia, describes, in a letter to the Rev. L. Fison, the system observed by him amongst the tribes in his district; and it seems to assimilate very closely to that of the natives of Mackay, in Queensland. Mankind and things in general are included in the larger divisions, just in the manner mentioned by Mr. Bridgman. There is undoubtedly a great deal yet to be ascertained respecting the nature of the classifications just described and the laws which govern the Australians in their relationships and marriages.
The prohibitions, as they existed amongst the tribes, had the effect of preventing, or, at any rate, greatly reducing the number of in-and-in marriages; but, as pointed out by Mr. Morgan, the institution of classes had an opposite effect—actually compelling in-and-in marriages, beyond the degrees of brothers and sisters. The restrictions, even as now stated in the systems I have referred to, leave such small scope for sexual selection as to give rise, no doubt, not seldom to practices like those described by Mr. Wilhelmi. Why some tribes are exogamous and others endogamous; how such classifications as those existing in Australia originated; why, when the prohibitions were openly disregarded, the offenders were punished, and yet secret violations of the rules were passed over without notice—are questions which cannot be answered. Further researches in countries peopled by savages will enlighten us. At present too little is known to admit of any theories being satisfactorily established. The field open to investigators is large. Such laws, or laws somewhat similar to those in force in Australia, are established amongst various races throughout the world.
They are thus referred to by Latham:—
"Imperfect as is our information for the early history and social condition of the Magar, we know that a trace of a tribual division (why not say an actual division into tribes?) is to be found. There are twelve Thums. All individuals belonging to the same Thum are supposed to be descended from the same male ancestor; descent from the same great mother being by no means necessary. So husband and wife must belong to different Thums. Within one and the same there is no marriage. Do you wish for a wife? If so, look to the Thum of your neighbour; at any rate look beyond your own. This is the first time I have found occasion to mention the practice. It will not be the last; on the contrary, the principle it suggests is so common as to be almost universal. We shall find it in Australia; we shall find it in North and South America; we shall find it in Africa; we shall find it in Europe; we shall suspect and infer it in many places where the actual evidence of its existence is incomplete."
Of the many misstatements which have been made from time to time, and perhaps not seldom thoughtlessly, not the least important is that given in the work of Count P. E. de Strezelecki, entitled a "Physical Description of New ​South Wales and Van Diemen's Land." At page 346, in stating some facts believed by him to explain the curtailment of power of continuing or procreating the species, he says that "of these, the most remarkable, and that which most directly bears upon the question, is the result of a union between an Aboriginal female and an European male—an intercourse freqnently brought about in these countries, either by local customs and notions of hospitality, or by the natural propensity of the sexes. Whenever this takes place, the native female is found to lose the power of conception on a renewal of intercourse with the male of her own race, retaining that of procreating only with the white men. Hundreds of instances of this extraordinary fact are in record in the writer's memoranda, all tending to prove that the sterility of the female being relative only to one and not to another male—and recurring invariably, under the same circumstances, amongst the Hurons, Seminoles, Red Indians, Yakies (Sinaloa), Mendoza Indians, Araucos, South Sea Islanders, and natives of New Zealand, New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land—is not accidental, but follows laws as cogent, though as mysterious, as the rest of those connected with generation."
M. de Strezelecki's statement need not have been referred to here perhaps had it not been accepted and believed by so many, and made the text of some lay sermons intended to elevate the white man at the expense of his darker brother. A simple denial of the truth of it would be unsatisfactory, if not useless. The error has taken such deep root that it is necessary to confront a theory (though unsupported by evidence) by numerous incontrovertible facts collected by correspondents who have no theories to maintain, and who relate only what they know to be true.
The Rev. Mr. Hartmann, of the Lake Hindmarsh Station, says that a full-blooded black woman named Kitty had two half-caste children (Esther and Maggie) by a white man (Robertson), and subsequently had a pure Aboriginal child (Bobby) by a black man; and that on the River Murray a black woman named Charlotte had "Edward," a half-caste, and subsequently "Julia" by a full-blooded Australian named "Dick."
Mr. Green says that there is a woman now on the station named Borat (of the Yarra tribe) who has a half-caste son sixteen years of age, named Wandon, who is now living at Coranderrk; and that ten years ago she had a black son to "Andrew," of a Gippsland tribe; six years ago she had a black daughter to the same father; and that one year ago she had a black son to "Adam," of the Mordialloc tribe. The child is now living at Coranderrk. Mr. Green adds that "Eliza," of the Goulburn tribe, had a half-caste child twelve years ago (which she killed), and since she has had four full-blooded black children, namely, two sons and two daughters—and that the four are now living on the station at Coranderrk.
The Rev. Mr. Hagenauer, of the Lake Wellington Station, states that "Lucy," previous to her marriage with "Charles Rivers," her present husband, had two half-caste children, both living; and that after her marriage with the full-blooded black she has had six full-blooded Aboriginal children, two of whom are dead, and four are living, namely, "Charley," nine years old; ​"Harriet," seven years old; "Johnnie," five years old; and a baby a year and a half old. She is again enceinte.
That "Mary," the wife of the Aboriginal "Barney," has had children as follows:—"Toby" (dead), and "Harry," sixteen years old (living), full-blooded Aboriginals; "Bridget," a half-caste girl fourteen years of age, now living on the station; and a full-blooded Aboriginal boy who died at the age of three years.
"Charlotte" had three full-blooded Aboriginal children; and subsequently a half-caste girl, "Louise," now seventeen years of age; and again three full-blooded Aboriginal children. Subsequently she had a half-caste child (now dead), and the last child was a full-blooded black.
One properly-authenticated case of a female having borne children to a full-blooded black after having had children to a white man would have been sufficient to destroy Count Strezelecki's theory, and I have given several cases. I might give more. But I pause to ask how Count Strezelecki could have procured "hundreds of instances" of the extraordinary "fact" on which he lays so much stress? It is easy to obtain positive evidence, as I have shown; but how Count Strezelecki got negative evidence of such a kind as to satisfy the mind of even the most credulous observer I cannot guess. Even if a hundred well-authenticated cases were cited in which black women had lost "the power of conception on the renewal of intercourse with the male of her own race," one might reasonably hesitate to accept the theory; but as he gives no instances, but contents himself with a general statement, it is not harsh but simply just to inform those who believe the story that there is no truth in it.
There is no ground for the belief—not even the shadow of ground for the belief—that the Aborigines of Victoria—regarding them simply as animals—are in any way different from any other animals which belong to the human species. Mr. John Green says:—
"There are many female half-castes who have had children to white men as well as to blacks. There are three half-caste women at Coranderrk who are married to black men, and all three have had two children each to their husbands.
​The case is stated simply and plainly, and in plain language, in the hope that those whose habit has been heretofore to dogmatise on questions of so much importance may enquire and investigate before they promulgate opinions which are likely to retard the advance of science, embitter the relations between races whose interests are conflicting, and offer inducements to the strong to be cruel to the weak.
It is the firm belief of the Aborigines that if a man to whom a female is betrothed sees or is seen by the mother of the girl, some disaster will happen to him, or that evil spirits will afflict him: and the mother-in-law carefully avoids her son-in-law; but whether in order to avert evil from him or to protect herself has never been ascertained. The origin of this mysterious custom is not known; and those who allow it or conform to it can give no intelligible explanation of it. In a state of society in which the sexes are, by reason of wars and the wandering habits of the tribes, brought together sometimes in a way that husbands and wives would not approve of—this rule is perhaps necessary as a complemental enlargement of their rather complex law of marriage. Girls, as has been said, are married at an early age, and when old enough to have marriageable daughters might still be attractive; and if, under temptation, any Aboriginal violated tribal rites by seeking to associate with the mother of any one of his wives, he might by such an act—and all the horror and rage which it would evoke—render necessary this as a salutary regulation. The mother naturally clings to her daughter, and would seek her companionship, and thus be brought necessarily into close communication with her son-in-law, if not prevented by this rule. No similar binding affection leads the sister to seek her brother.
If, by accident, a mother-in-law is approached by her son-in-law, she hides herself behind a bush, or in the grass, and the man holds up his shield and protects himself and passes her as best he can. If the mother-in-law is near other members of her tribe at such a time, they endeavour to conceal her, but they are not at liberty to say that her son-in-law is approaching, nor may they mention his name. Even at the Aboriginal Stations, where the Aboriginals are, one may say, civilized, and to some extent weaned from their prejudices, and where nearly all their ancient customs are in disuse or forgotten, this one lingers; and a woman will for some reason always avoid the sight of a certain man of the tribe. This has been mentioned to me as having given trouble and annoyance to the Superintendent of the Station at Coranderrk, where the Aboriginals are living in a state rather above than below that of the lowest class of whites.
Mr. Stanbridge says that "the mother-in-law, or Gnalwinkurrk, does not, under any circumstances, allow her Gnalwin, or son-in-law, to see her. If he be near, she hides herself; and if she require to go beyond where he is, she makes a circuit to avoid him, at the same time thoroughly screening herself with her cloak." Mr. Stanbridge adds that this remarkable custom is observed ​by the aborigines of La Plata; but it is known in all parts of the globe where the races are in an uncivilized state. It is practised in many parts of Polynesia, if not in all parts; and it is a recognised custom amongst some tribes in Africa. A Kaffir must not look at his mother-in-law. If they meet, they avoid each other. The man will leave the common path and take to the bush, holding up all he has in his hands to hide his face. The woman cowers low, and puts her hands over her eyes. Aud with them, as with our Aboriginals, the name of the son-in-law must never be mentioned to the mother-in-law.
It is certain that this avoidance of each other has not originated in, or been continued by, any whim or caprice. That peoples differing much from each other and widely separated should have the same custom, suggests a common origin. We have to seek for the reason rather in the conditions under which they live; and with polygamy and strict rules as regards the classes into which men and women may marry, it seems, when we carefully consider the matter, that it is a rule which would necessarily have to be made for common protection, and for the proper maintenance of more important laws. It is easy to conceive that not the violation of this rule, but the consequences which would result from the habitual violation of it, might make the oral traditions and the doctrines and discipline of the sages of the tribe less than waste breath.
​Wars, accidents, and disease—in the natural condition of this people as children of the forest—make gaps in the domestic circles. Old men die of old age, young men are killed in encounters with men of hostile tribes, and women and children fall victims to neglect or cruelty or disease, or are purposely murdered; but when it happens that the head of a family dies, it becomes necessary to dispose of the widows. We know what would happen to a widow in poor circumstances in civilized communities; and some will say that they know what the widows ought to do in a savage state; but Nature is stronger than man's precepts, and it ordains that amongst savages the bereaved females shall not be allowed to die of starvation. A widow with her children is taken to the miam of the father or brother, and is supported until she can be exchanged for a young woman of another tribe. No sentiment is allowed to interfere with arrangements designed for her material comfort. She is obliged to mate with the man chosen for her by her protector; and though this mode of disposing of her may appear cruel and harsh, it is surely more humane than that neglect which a poor widow in a civilized country is sure to suffer. In a civilized country, a poor widow and her children it is true do not always die of starvation; but if our rules were imposed on the Aborigines, the widows and children would certainly die. Let us then judge this people with knowledge, and not condemn them and their customs in ignorance.
It is rare that European women intermarry with Aboriginals. One case is known in Victoria. The daughter of a squatter or farmer, whose principal occupation—riding through the forest after cattle—brought her into daily intercourse with a black man—formed an affection for him, and finally abandoned her home and lived with him in a miam in the bush. Subsequently, they were married—with what results, as regards their domestic happiness, I know not.
Mr. Geo. E. Boxall, who appears to be well acquainted with the habits of the Aborigines in New South Wales, says that the daughter of a farmer at Burrowa became enceinte by a young blackfellow who had been brought up by the girl's family. The child born was a girl, who, if alive, will be now (1876) twenty-one or twenty-two years of age. She was named Mary, and resided with her mother in 1864 on Pudman's Creek, about fourteen miles from the township of Burrowa.
It is probable that many such unions are known to the settlers in New South Wales and Queensland. The younger members of a family living in the bush—far away from towns—if their parents are unable to afford the expense of educating them, soon acquire habits which bring them on a level with the Aborigines; and it should excite no surprise that the sisters should emulate the brothers.
* ↑ They are given in marriage at a very early age (ten or twelve years). The ceremony is very simple, and with great propriety may be considered an exchange; for no man can obtain a wife unless he can promise to give his sister or other relative in exchange. The marriages are always between persons of different tribes, and never in the same tribe. Should the father be living, he may give his daughter away, but generally she is the gift of the brother. The person who wishes to obtain a wife never applies directly, but to some friend of the one who has the disposal of her; and should the latter also wish for a wife, the bargain is soon made. Thus the girls have no choice in the matter, and frequently the parties have never seen each other before. At the time appointed for the marriage the relations on both sides come and encamp about a quarter of a mile from each other. In the night the men of one tribe arise, and each takes a fire-stick in hand. The bride is taken by the hand and conducted in the midst, and appears generally to go very unwillingly; the brother or relation who gives her away walks silently and with downcast looks by himself. As soon as they approach the camp of the other tribe, the women and children of the latter must quit the hut, which upon this occasion is built larger than their huts usually are. When they arrive at the hut, one of the men invites them to take their places; but before they sit down the bride and bridegroom are placed next each other, and also the brother and his intended wife, if it is a double marriage. The friends and relations then take their places on each side of the principal parties. They sit in this manner, silent, for a considerable time, until most of them fall asleep. At daybreak the brides leave the hut and go to their nearest relations, and remain with them until the evening, when they are conducted to their husbands by their female friends, and the tribes then separate and go to their own districts. When married very young, the girl is frequently away from her husband, upon a visit to her relations, for several months at a time; but should she remain, the man is under obligation to provide her with animal food (providing vegetable food is always the duty of the females); and if she pleases him, he shows his affection by frequently rubbing her with grease, to improve her personal appearance, and with the idea that it will make her grow rapidly and become fat."—Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the Encounter Bay Tribe, South Australia, by H. E. A. Meyer. "Their laws as affecting matrimony are very strict. The woman has no choice in the matter. Marriages are effected by one man exchanging his sister or near relation for the sister of another. Sometimes a man who has no sister will, in desperation, steal a wife; but this is invariably a cause of bloodshed. Should a woman object to go with her husband, violence would be used. I have seen a man drag away a woman by the hair of her head. Often the club is used until the poor creature is frightened into submission. One would think such marriages would turn out unhappily. Yet they often get much attached to each other. The honeymoon succeeds the quarrelling. The marriage tie is not reckoned sacred for life. Should a man's wife die, he will sometimes take back his sister whom he had exchanged for the deceased wife. Blacks will sometimes, for a limited period, exchange wives. This they call Be-ama. I have known men exchange for a month."—Mr. John Bulmer, Lake Tyers, Gippsland, MS.
* ↑ One who has written well and thoughtfully on the dialects, habits, customs, and mythology of the Lower Murray Aborigines says, "An instance of twins being born is unknown." This shows how careful one should be in dealing with negative evidence. Though the writer lived for many years in a district well-peopled with natives, he appears to have failed to ascertain the fact that two and three children at a birth are not more rare amongst the Aborigines than amongst Europeans. Grey says that amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia he recorded four instances of native women having twins; but he never heard of a greater number of children at one birth.
* ↑ Mr. W. E. Stanbridge gives the following account of the ordeal:—"If the wife desert her husband for a more favored lover, it is incumbent on her family to chastise the guilty pair; the woman is usually speared by her father or brother, and if the punishment is not attended with fatal effects, she is returned to her lawful spouse. The man has either to submit to a certain number of spears being thrown at him, in which case he is allowed a small shield to protect himself, or to fight a single combat with one of her relatives, or with a selected member of the tribe. The following will perhaps serve as an illustration of this custom:—The persons, for the object named, had retired early in the morning to a little dell in a vast undulating grassy plain, surrounded in the distance by conical hills, some wooded and some bare. Not many paces from the lowest part of the dell bursts forth a limpid spring, in a deep little basin encircled with high rushes, which give it the appearance of a huge nest, the reeds and rushes marking its course as it trickles away down a valley at right-angles with the dell. On one side of this dell, and nearest to the spring at the foot of it, lies a young woman, about seventeen years of age, sobbing, and partly supported by her mother, in the midst of wailing, weeping women; she has been twice speared in the right breast with a jagged hand-spear by her brother, and is supposed to be dying. A few paces higher up the valley is a group of men; the aged men arc seated and the others surrounding the brother, who is armed with Leeowil and Mulka, and who is about twenty-eight years old, and of a powerful frame. In the middle of the dell, opposite the group of men, stands the other guilty one, a young man about twenty-three years of age, a model of agility. He is armed with the same weapons as his adversary, and awaits his impetuous onset. A little in his rear, on the other side of the dell, some young men—his friends—stand armed and ready to assist, if injustice be attempted. Unless the fight be with hand-spears, it is very seldom that either of the combatants is killed. The leeowil is a wooden battle-axe, the usual implement used in hand-to-hand encounters; the mulka is a strong piece of wood, used as a shield." The ordeal was not restricted to the crime of abdnction. "Any other crime maybe compounded for by the criminal appearing and submitting himself to the ordeal of having spears thrown at him by all such persons as conceive themselves to have been aggrieved, or by permitting spears to be thrust through certain parts of his body—such as through the thigh, or the calf of the leg, or under the arm. The part which is to be pierced by a spear is fixed for all common crimes, and a native who has incurred this penalty sometimes quietly holds out his leg for the injured party to thrust his spear through. When a native, after having absconded for fear of the consequences of some crime which he has committed, comes in to undergo the ordeal of having spears thrown at him, a large assemblage of his fellows takes place; their bodies are daubed with paint, which is put on in the most fantastic forms; their weapons are polished, sharpened, and rendered thoroughly efficient. At the appointed time, young and old repair to the place of ordeal; and the wild beauty of the scenery, the painted forms of the natives, the savage cries and shouts of exultation which are raised, as the culprit dexterously parries, or—by rapid leaps and contortions of his body—avoids the clouds of spears which are hurled at him, all combine to form a singular scene, to which there is no parallel in civilized life. If the criminal is wounded in a degree judged sufficient for the crime he has committed, his guilt is wiped away; or, if none of the spears thrown at him—for there is a regulated number which each may throw—take effect, he is equally pardoned. But no sooner is this main part of the ceremony over than two or three duels take place between some individuals who have quarrels of their own to settle. After these combatauts have thrown a few spears, some of their friends rush in and hold them in their arms, when the etiquette on such occasions is to struggle violently for a few minutes, as if anxious to renew the contest, and then to submit quietly to superior force and cease the combat."—North-West and Western Australia. Grey, vol. II., pp. 243-4. Collins gives much information of a very interesting character respecting the ordeal laws of the natives of New South Wales. One native, named Carradah, who had stabbed another in the night, but not mortally, was obliged to stand for two evenings exposed to the spears not only of the man whom he had wounded, but of several other natives. He was suffered to cover himself with a bark shield, and he behaved with great courage and resolution. It appears that throughout he was able to protect himself, but finally he allowed one of his adversaries to pin his arm to his side. After that there was a general fight—men, women, and children taking part in it. In another case, where a young man had taken the wife of a native during his absence, spears were thrown, and the lover was wounded by the husband. Again, a stranger—Gome-boak—a visitor to the natives of Sydney, had to stand, covered with his shield, to receive the spears of his hosts, in order to the settlement of some affair of honor. Further, he informs us that, in March 1795, "a young man of the name of Bing-yi-wan-ne, being detected in an amour with Maw-ber-ry, the companion of another native—Ye-ra-ni-be Go-ru-ey—the latter fell upon him with a club; and, being a powerful man, and of superior strength, absolutely beat him to death. Bing-yi-wan-ne had some friends, who, on the following day, called Ye-ra-ni-be to an account for the murder; when, the affair being conducted with more regard to honor than justice, he came off with only a spear-wound in his thigh."—An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, by Lieut.-Col. Collins, 1804, pp. 237-259, 285, and 287. Mr. Wilhelmi also mentions the ordeal. A murderer at Port Lincoln was tried by his tribe, and it was ordered that the brother of the murdered man should hurl two spears at the criminal; and that if he should fail to hit the man, the crime should be expiated. From the violent and wild gestures of the warriors, the running about, the jumping, the biting of the beards and the weapons, the noise and the grimaces, it was expected that a sanguinary combat would ensue; but nothing of a serious character occurred. The antagonists—if antagonists they can be called—trod from their own sides into the foreground, and the avenger threw a spear most skilfully, which was parried as ably as it was thrown. Whereupon the combat was brought to a close. One very remarkable case is thus described:— "If one [a native] accidentally kills another of his people, he is punished according to the nature of the case—generally, to submit to the ordeal of the spear, as in the affair of Woolorong (alias Lonsdale), in the year 1844." "This custom was prevalent with the ancient Greeks.—Homer's Iliad, b. 21, lines 62 to 150." "Police Report.—Melbourne, 7th April 1844.—Woolorong was suspected of murder, and condemned to be speared at by seven of the best men of the Western Port tribe; as he ran by them at a certain distance, he escaped the spears thrown at him; but a general fight took place, and the police had some difficulty in suppressing the affray, after many were seriously wounded. Police Report.—Melbourne, 14th April 1844.—Yang-yang (alias Robert Cunningham), brought up for obstructing the chief constable in his attempt to take Woolorong (alias Lonsdale), a Goulburn black, for the murder of an Aboriginal boy in the service of Mr. Manton, at Western Port. Yang-yang pleaded to the bench that Woolorong was about to submit to the ordeal of spearing, viz.:—seven of the principal men of the Western Port tribe were each to throw a spear at him. If he warded them off, he was no longer amenable. If he was killed, satisfaction was complete. He further pleaded, that, had they not been interrupted, he would afterwards have induced Woolorong (alias Lonsdale) to surrender himself to the chief constable, or aided to take him. Upon this occasion the black native police refused to act. At the intercession of Mr. Protector Thomas, Yang-yang got off with an admonition and forty-eight hours' confinement."—Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales, by a Colonial Magistrate, p. 24. The late Mr. Thomas, in his notes prepared at my request, gives another account of this affair. Various neighbouring tribes, actuated by friendly feelings, assembled to witness the judicial proceedings taken against two of the finest natives to be seen at that time—namely, Pole-orrong (alias Billy Lonsdale), who stood six feet high, and was named by Sir Richard Bourke after the first Police Magistrate in charge of the settlement—Capt. Lonsdale—and Warrador (alias Jack Weatherly), a great warrior, who were charged with killing a Warralim black, aged about eighteen years, at Torridon, on the Western Port plains, the station of Mr. Charles Manton. The young man had been enticed or persuaded to assist in bringing down to Melbourne a mob of cattle from beyond the Goulburn River, and thereafter to enter Mr. Mauton's service. The poor black had not been on Manton's station three weeks before he was found killed, not three chains from Manton's house. He had been carrying a bucket of milk from the milking-yard to the house when he was struck down. There were two sandhills between the house and the milking-yard, and his body was found in the hollow between the sandhills. This native was closely connected with one of the principal tribes of the Goulburn River, and the death of the Warralim black was soon made known through the press and by oral report. The men who did the murder were at once suspected by the tribes friendly to the Warralim, and they demanded satisfaction of the tribes of the Yarra and Western Port. After messengers had been despatched to and fro, it was finally decided that the eight tribes should assemble, and that the two offenders should undergo the usual punishment of having spears thrown at them by the members of each tribe to which the Warralim belonged. The tribes assembled were those of the Yarra, the Coast, the Barrabool, the Bun-ung-on, the Leigh River, the Campaspe, the Loddon, and the Goulburn. The two offenders came boldly forward, in deep mourning [painted with white-ochre], and stood in presence of their people without any signs of fear. They expressed their readiness to receive the spears, one by one; and nearly one hundred were hurled at Pole-orrong in the first instance, and then the same number were thrown at Warrador. The accused were not allowed to carry any offensive weapons, but they were permitted to protect themselves with the broad shield. They shifted, twisted, and so used their shields as to astonish the Europeans who witnessed the ordeal. Each was slightly wounded, but not hit in any part where a wound would have proved fatal. It is interesting to record the particulars relating to a law of this kind as it exists in Australia. The reader may be glad to be reminded that the judicial combat, according to ancient law, was taken advantage of by a criminal less than sixty years ago in England:— "By the old law of England, a man charged with murder might fight with the appellant, thereby to make proof of his guilt or innocence. In 1817, a young maid, Mary Ashford, was believed to have been violated and murdered by Abraham Thornton, who, in an appeal, claimed his right by his wager of battle, which the court allowed; but the appellant (the brother of the maid) refused the challenge, and the accused escaped; 16th April 1818. This law was immediately afterwards struck off the statute-book by 59 Geo. III. (1819)."—Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, pp. 39-40. See also A Collection of Celebrated Trials, by W. O. Woodall, vol. I.
* ↑ A correspondent of the Rev. Lorimer Fison's gives a very different account of the marriage ceremony as it exists amongst the natives of Fraser Island (Great Sandy Island), Queensland. It appears that "the uncle of the bride goes and 'plenty' talks to all blackfellows about the marriage. Then the bride makes a fire, and the other natives come and place white feathers on her head; then the bride places feathers on the head of the bridegroom; the bridegroom makes a fire, and every one of the blacks present on the occasion brings a fire-stick, and throws it down at the bridegroom's fire. The bride is then placed in a bark hut or mia-mia, about six yards from the bridegroom, and they are then considered married, but do not come together until nearly two months after this." The white favors and the kind attentions paid to the bride and bridegroom contrast strangely with the waddy and the heavy blows that are necessary to a marriage contract amongst the blacks of the south.
* ↑ Jardine, in his narrative, refers to this custom. At Camp No. 67, on the Dalhunty Creek, he saw the gins carrying spears and shields on the march, the men carrying only a nulla or two. When looking for game, the men, of course, carry spears and other implements.
* ↑ "Considering the industry and skill of their gins and wives [of the Darling] in making nets, sewing cloaks, mussel-fishing, rooting, &c., and their patient submission to labor, always carrying bags containing the whole property of the family while they follow their masters, the great value of a gin to one of these lazy fellows may be easily imagined. Accordingly, the possession of them appears to be associated with all their ideas of fighting; while, on the other hand, the gins have it in their power on such occasions to evince that universal characteristic of the fair, a partiality for the brave. Thus it is that after a battle they do not always follow the fugitives from the field, but not unfrequently go over, as a matter of course, to the victors, even with young children on their backs."—Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, &c., by T. L. Mitchell, F.G.S., &c. "If a man have several girls at his disposal, he speedily obtains several wives, who, however, very seldom agree well with each other, but are continually quarrelling, each endeavouring to be the favorite. The man, regarding them more as slaves than in any other light, employs them in every possible way to his own advantage. They are obliged to get him shell-fish, roots, and eatable plants."—Encounter Bay Tribe. Meyer. "It is the females' province to clear away the grass within the lodge, lest it should take fire; to collect firewood and make the fire, which is always very small, so that it may not attract the attention of an enemy. When travelling, they always carry fire, that is, a piece of lighted bark. She fetches water, if it be near, in a bowl-shapen excrescence of some tree [Tar-nuk]; but if far away, it is carried in a small skin taken off the animal through the opening of the neck; either the feet and tail are left on, or the openings are secured by a sinew. She also gathers any edible roots or succulent vegetables that grow in the neighbourhood. The fleshy roots in general use are called Cooloor, Palilla, and Munya; the two first species of gerauium are of an acrid flavor until roasted; the last is sweet, and frequently eaten uncooked; the roots of the bulrush and an aquatic plant are also occasionally used for food. The succulent vegetables in general use are the youug tops of the Munya, the Sow-thistle, and several kinds of Fig-marigold. At Mount Gambler the females collect large quantities of the roots of the fern, which are eaten when baked, as well as the pretty green and gold frogs, and a very fleshy mushroom which is red on the upper and green on the under side; these are brought home strung on rushes. Our mushroom is very rarely used. In spring they gather cakes of wattle (mimosa) gum, and use it dissolved in water. The implement with which the roots are gathered, and which is constantly carried by the women for offensive and defensive purposes, is a small pole, seven or eight feet long, straightened and hardened by fire, flattened and pointed at the end."—W. E. Stanbridge.
* ↑ In a review of a work entitled Brides and Bridals, in the Athenæum of the 16th November 1872, there occurs the following very interesting statement:—"An old Welsh law authorized the infliction of three blows with a broom-stick on any part of the person except the head," but does not appear to have "limited the frequency or severity of the doses; and by an ancient continental rule the wife was considered to have just cause for complaint only when knocked down with a bar of iron. Blackstone ascribes the continuance of the practice of wife-beating among the lower classes, long after it had gone out of fashion with the upper, to the affection of the common people for the old common law." Cruelty to wives—and the infliction of punishment according to law or custom must have involved cruelty—is not therefore a practice restricted to savage nations. According to Mr. Jeaffreson—the author of the work here referred to—a slipper was held to be a proper instrument of correction. Has this any connection with the throwing of the shoe when the bride and bridegroom depart for the honeymoon? Nearly all our customs are derived from remote ancestors.
* ↑ This I believe is strictly true as regards the Aborigines generally; but since it was written I have received information from a settler well acquainted with the Aborigines of the northern and central parts of Australia, which suggests that amongst some tribes there are women wholly given up to common lewdness. He tells me that a woman has been known to travel alone from Cooper's Creek eastwards for a distance of 500 miles solely for the purpose of profiting by prostitution. On reaching a camp of blacks, she would make a small fire, so as to raise a column of smoke. This signal would bring to her men and boys, and in return for favors conferred she would receive pieces of tobacco, a blanket, a rug, or the like. These would again be bartered away for goods that could be easily carried; and after the district was exhausted, she would return to her tribe with her gains. He says, further, that a man is considered inhospitable—a bad host—who will not lend his lubra to a guest. I cannot help thinking that these practices are modern—that they have been acquired since the Aborigines have been brought in contact with the lower class of whites. They are altogether irreconcilable with the penal laws in force in former times amongst the natives of Victoria. Yet the practices are undoubtedly common in many parts of Australia; and it is right to use the utmost caution in dealing with facts of this kind. Isolated cases of criminal intercourse—under strong temptation—are altogether different from prostitution as said to be practised at this day by the natives of Cooper's Creek and the Paroo; but these natives have other customs which are not known to the Aborigines of the southern parts of Australia. For instance, Mr. Gason says that amongst the Dieyerie each married woman is permitted a paramour. See also Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, by Edward John Eyre, 1845, vol. II., pp. 319-20.
* ↑ Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery. Grey, vol. II., pp. 225-6.
* ↑ Stokes, vol. I., p. 393.
* ↑ Descriptive Ethnology, vol. i., p. 80.
* ↑ John Briggs, a half-caste Tasmanian, who intermarried with a half-caste Australian, has had ten children, of whom eight are now living—three boys and five girls. John Briggs was born in one of the Islands in Bass's Straits. His wife is the daughter of an Australian woman, who, with her sister, was taken to Tasmania at the time that Buckley was removed from Port Phillip to that colony. His eldest son is between seventeen and eighteen years of age, and the youngest child is two months old. He says he was married in 1844. He is an intelligent man; tall and well-formed, but weather-beaten in appearance. His hair is grey; his complexion yellow—dull yellow; his teeth large, and not close together; his hair woolly, somewhat like that of a negro; his eyes dark-brown; his nose arched and almost Roman; his forehead well-shaped—not harsh and bony, but curved, and the lines are good: the frontal sinuses are not prominent. He is the only half-caste Bass's Straits man I have ever had the opportunity of closely examining. He is very different from the half-caste Australian, and is also unlike the half-caste negro.
* ↑ On the authority of Dr. McKenna, formerly Consul at Melbourne for the Argentine Confederation. It is, however, well known that this is a custom of the Araucanians. "I have noticed, en passant, several of the peculiar customs of the Aborigines; and there are others I might advert to, had I time. But one custom springing from their family relations is so singular, and apparently unique, that I must notice it. A traveller who has described the Aborigines of Australia, speaks in approving terms of the extremely modest demeanour of the sexes towards each other. He describes the women as taking a circuit to avoid passing where some men were sitting, and carefully screening their faces that they might not be seen. Had he been familiar with their customs, he would have found that this had another source than modest feeling. It was the Knalloin—a custom I have never heard or read of as existing among other people. It is this:—As soon as a female child is promised in marriage to any man, from that hour he must never look upon his expected wife's mother, or hear her name, and the same prohibition was extended to the mother. She was never to look upon or hear the voice of the man to whom her daughter was to be given. I have never been able to trace the origin of this custom; but the ridiculous reason assigned for this strange institution was, that if they saw or heard each other, they would become prematurely old and die."—Edward Stone Parker. "I may as well here also mention a curious custom they have relative to their domestic affairs—if such a term can be applied to such a people. In many instances, a girl, almost as soon as she is born, is given to a man. After this promise, the mother of the child never again voluntarily speaks to the intended husband before he takes her to himself, nor to any of his brothers, if he have any; on the contrary, she shuns them in the most careful manner. If the future son-in-law, or either of his brothers, should visit the tribe, she is always previously informed of his coming, so that she may have time to get out of the way; and if by chance she meets them, she covers her head over with her skin cloak. If any present is sent to her, such as opossum or kangaroo, and such-like food, the receivers rub their faces and hands over with charcoal before it is taken and tasted. When, again, a present of a skin cloak is made by the intended son-in-law, the mother gives it to her husband to wear for some time before it is favored with her acceptance. This practice is adhered to on both sides, for the son-in-law may see his proposed father, but will not on any account see the mother; their notions on these matters being, that when their children are married, the parents become much older; and if the girl's mother happens to see the proposed husband, it will cause her hair to turn grey immediately."—Life and Adventures of William Buckley, p. 89.
* ↑ This horror of the mother-in-law amongst savages cannot fail to suggest to the reader some ludicrous notions connected with the habits of highly civilized peoples; but any reference to them more specific than this would be out of place in a work of this kind.
* ↑ "After a man dies, if his widows have no children, when the days of mourning are over, the custom appears to be to offer them as wives, first to his brothers, and then to his first cousins; but if they have children, it is optional on their part whether they marry again."—W. E. Stanbridge. Amongst the Bakalai, a tribe in Africa inhabiting a tract of country between the Equator and 2° S. and longitude 10° to 13° E., a man will not marry a woman of his own tribe or clan; but widows are permitted to marry the son of their deceased husband; and if there be no son, they are allowed to live with the deceased husband's brother.