The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-02-20

of anv kind. When he dies bis name l.
gone forever, and is never, by law, re-
peated in the tribe. If another has a
similar name he drops it and assumes
some other. Oblivion forever holds that
person."
"Do they all belong to the same
tribe?"
"Oh, no; there are many tribes and as
many languages. About the only thing
thew have that seems at all like civili-
zation is commerce, and suppose that
is as old as the world. Each tribe has a
postman. He generally understands
the language of all the tribes within a
radius of $50 miles. These men are
sacred, and their persons are never
violated by any tribe, though the
tribes be hostile. Ngalla Wattow nego-
tiates all matters of barter or trade, or
tribal treaties. And a most singular
thing, too, is that these tribe linguists
are almost invariably imbecile or silly.
The articles of commerce generally con-
sist of reeds for spears, red ochre and
chalk for painting their ornaments,
tonahawk stones, cord and net fibre
from the trees, skins and general wood
implement material hardened and
ready for use."
"How are the tribes governed"'
Though the Ngalla Wattow is the
most sacred, most important and most
central figure in the tribal life, yet he
is not chief or king. They have no law
of succession. The oldest man in the
tribe is king. Their theory for this is
that being the oldest, he knows more
adventures and can recount more thrill
ing experiences, being always the hero
of his romance, than any one in the
tribe. He directs the movements Of the
tribe.
'It is a case of the man who can tell
the biggest lies. You will thus see that
the Australian aborigines are merely
people of the day." said friend to me,
"to whom events of the past, however
interesting, are as though they had
never BEEN" I may add, figuratively
speaking, a people to whom grand
fathers have not been vouchsafed.
"Are those people brave like our own
Indians are said, by tradition to have
been?"
"On the contrary, the Australian
black is physical coward, but he can
endure privation, frequently doing
without food for week rather than
stir out of his tent to get food. He
never looks beyond the day ne is out"
"What is the status of the women
among them?"
GA woman is simply beast of bur-
den. They have no courtship, and, I
may say, no marriage relation of a
definite character. Though those
tribes have different languages, yet
they differ very little in their general
customs and habits. In none Of the
dialects does any word answering to
our word Glove" occur. The young
couple never think of anything like
courting or company keeping. 1t is a
case of swap. Any man having wife,
daughter or ward can swap her or
them to any one else fora similar num-
Der Of females within his gift If a
young man has no sister or ward that he
can trade for a wife, he is an enforced
bachelor. When a trade is to be made,
an understanding is arrived at between
the male traders. The girl is then told
to take up her things and go to his hut.
If she hesitates she is generally knocked
down with bludgeon and taken over.
There is no ceremony. This binds the
woman. The man can send her home
when he likes, or take in another if he
has daughter or wasn't to trade for
her. In case Of child from the union,
she goes with the mother, and it
makes no difference to the next hus-
band, because no one rears the off
spring. They grow up the best way
they can. If the husband dies, the
widow goes back, with all encum-
branees, to her former owner to be
traded again. A husband can chastise
his wife to death and no one notice it.
It is treated as his individual, and not
a tribal loss. The least blood relation
ship is bar against marriage, but not
against incest. They have no idea of
virtue, morality, or shame From what
I have said, it is plain that the native
are not an attractive peo-
pie"
"You say that you are going for an
other globe-girdling eXpeditionw
"Yes, Pm soon off again. But I in-
tend to settle down some day, and
when / do, it will be in Atlanta"
rba Iyorld,s Most powerfDI TrIbunal