The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-06
THE WAYS or CANNIBALs.
Customs of the AbOrigines of Aus
traIia,

Customs of the AbOrigines of Aus
traIia,
NJ. de Rougemont, whose recent narra-
tive of adventures among the aborigines
of the interior of Australia, among whom
he lived for years, after having been cast
away in the sea of Tfmor, created a sensa-
ton in England, has given the English an
other thrill. At the recent meeting of the
British Association he read paper on the
customs of the cannibals. Here are ex-
cerpts from it:
THE natives believe in no diety as we
understand the term. They do believe in a
Supreme Spirit, who, however, is not
worshipped but propitiated. They know
not a God of love, but a God of fear.
They believe that after death the spirits
remain about the body for some time and
move about After a period the spirit is
supposed to haunt the habitation after
death, hence the burning of the house so
as to destroy the possible hiding place of
that soul which unless this is done, may
frighten the people when they next come
in that vicinity.
when a woman's husband dies she does
not become a widow, but is Immediately
passed on to the next of kin of the de
ceased man, who may be brother, uncle,
or other relative. Practically, widows are
unknown, save for period of three days
the day OF the husbands death, the day
of burial, and one day of great lamentation
and howhng. In the event of the next of
kin not taking the woman, he is obliged
20 find ner another husband, so that she
may not remaiu~.as a charge upon the
community The bereaved women cover
themselves, head and all, with pipeclay,
for period of}one month. The widows are
thus very prominent among the people,
being white from head to foot. They do
not carry any memento of the deceased,
nor do they ever mention his name. The
bones of children that have been eaten are
carried about for months by the mother.
Among these savages every man and
every girl is provided with a wife or hus
band respectively. Even when 1 first went
among them 1 was promptly provided with
a wife.
THE natives are fond of music, and
readily pick up a tune which is sung TO
them. From me they quickly learned the
air of a French song called 'Frere
Jacques which, however, 1 was obliged
to sing to them in low key. Their notes
are harsh, rough and steady. The pre-
vailing male voice is baritone and the fe
male soprano. They barter oral music,
poem and songs The natives sing with
out instrumental accompaniment, unless
you consider as such clapping or the beat
ing together of TWO sticks. Without this
accompaniment they never chant. There
are some songs for men only and some for
women only. There are also some for
both sexes together.
"As may be supposed these cannibal
blacks have a very primitive idea of as
tronomy. The leading belief is that the
sky is supported by poles placed at the
edges to hold it IN position. The medicine
men even send quantities of food and
drink TO the spirits who are holding up
these poles Before the spirits go to the
highest heaven, which is the Milky Way,
they take turns at propping up the heav-
en-supporting poles. The great spirit,
they say, lives in the slars-in the Milky
Way, to be precise-and never dies. Every
moon is supposed to be a fresh one, and
entirely different from the last They
know nothing whatever about the world
being round, or that il revolves. They
think II is fiat, except for the mountains,
which must nearly touch the sky.
Marriage is not regarded as a religious
ceremony. The handing of a fire stick to
each party, or the exchange of white
feathers between the bride and bridegroom
are the only marriage ceremonies in some
tribes. If a girl saws to a man, "Will you
get me some food?" it is a proposal of
marriage. There are, of course, different
modes of marriage in different tribes For
example, in one tribe two upper front
teeth are knocked out. Wives are general
ly obtained by the exchange of sisters or
daughters between members of different
communities or tribes which are allowed
to intermarry. In almost every tribe
wives are stolen more or less with or with
out the tacit consent of the parents or
even husband. These are more or less
sporting expeditions, and frequently re-
suit in a fight
"Supposing a man casts his eye upon
another man 8 wife and determines to kid
nap her Wei, he will perhaps creep ear
w in the morning alone into the presence
of the unconscious woman armed with
two spears. One of these is entwined in
her hair and simultaneously the other is
pressed hard against her stomach or other
vital part. That is an invitation admit
ting of no refusal.
SHOULD the woman refuse, she is spear
ed instantly. This event, however, is ex-
tremely rare. AS a rule she Immediately
rises to her feet and accompanies her
abductor without giving any alarm. 1t is
of course, open to her husband or friends
to go and fight for her, and usually they
do So young man avoids his mother
in-law like the plague He believes that
If he even speaks to her his hair will turn
gray. In certain rare tribes communal
or group marriage prevails. Each man
is the husband of all the women, and each
woman is the wife of all the men. All
the wives are of equal rank. AS is but
natural, quarrels occur among the wo-
men, usually on account of favortism
shown by the husband, or the introduction
of a young and relatively beautiful wo-
man."