*9°5-] 



MATHEWS— ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA. 



33 



marry certain four sections of women. In other words, the men 

 of one phratry marry the daughters of the men of the other, in a 

 certain fixed rotation. The constitution of the phratries, the 

 nomenclature of the sections, with the order of intermarriage and 

 the designation of the children, will be readily understood by an 

 examination of the following tabular synopsis ; 



Table I. 



Phratry. 



The above table gives the phratry, father, mother, son and 

 daughter on the same line across the page. For example, Chan- 

 gura takes a Nungulla as his wife, which is the ordinary or normal 

 rule of marriage and may be called " No. i." He could instead 

 marry a Nulima, which I shall designate as "No. 2." Or he could 

 mate with a Nabana woman as "No. 3." And lastly, he may 

 espouse a Nangilli, who can be distinguished as " No. 4." Mar- 

 riages of the "No. 1 " type, which are those given in the table, 

 are the most usual ; " No. 2 " is the next most in favor; whilst 

 "No. 3" and "No. 4" are more or less uncommon, although 

 quite lawful. 



In the tribes we are now discussing the section to which the 

 children belong, and consequently the phratry also, is invariably 

 determined through the women. Taking an example from phratry 

 A in Table I : If Changura wed a Nungulla, as in the table, his 

 children will be Chabuldyi and Nabicherri ; if he take a Nulima 

 spouse, they will be Chungarin and Nabungarti ; if he choose a 

 Nabana, the offspring will be Chakara and Nakara ; and if his wife 

 be a Nangilli, then his family will be Chambin and Nambin. 



We will now show the wives eligible to Chanima, the next name 

 in Table I. He marries Nulima as his tabular wife or "No. 1 "; 

 he takes Nungulla as his alternative spouse, or " No. 2 "; he mates 

 with Nangilli as "No. 3," and he can marry a Nabana woman as 



