462 SOME NEW BOOKS [junk 



and made use of, unrivalled opportunities for acquainting himself with their 

 manners and customs, and the inner workings of the savage mind. 



These two observers have collected an enormous mass of facts, a large 

 proportion of which have come under their personal observation, and the result 

 of their searching inquiry is that they have been able to carry us far behind 

 the scenes of savage life, and to supply much long-needed information concerning 

 the arcana of Australian savagedom. 



The social organisation of the tribes is described in detail, starting with the 

 fundamental division of the tribe into two exogamous intermarrying groups, 

 which may be further divided, but whose former existence is always manifest. 

 The elaborate systems of relationships between members of the tribe become 

 more and more complicated as the divisions become more complex, and the 

 native terms of relationship become very numerous. It is necessary to use the 

 native terms in dealing with relationships, for many of them have no equivalent 

 in English. The laws regulating marriage are very strict, and a very limited 

 power of selection is allowed to the native in search of a mate. Totemism 

 enters largely into the social system, and is one of the dominant factors in social 

 regulations. The totemic system is one of great interest in this region, and the 

 information collected thereon by the authors of this work is of very great 

 importance in relation to the general subject of totemism. The laws regulating 

 food restrictions in relation to the eating of the totem animal or plant are very 

 significant, and point to a gradual development from a period of greater freedom 

 in the matter. The statement that, in the Arunta tribe, the child belongs to 

 the totem of the spot at which the mother believes that it was conceived, is one 

 of great interest. It is clear that the totem is not inherited from either father 

 or mother, and that the whole matter is bound up in the doctrine of reincarna- 

 tion of ancestors, whose spirits have remained at certain spots in the sacred 

 churinga. From the churinga the spirits of the Alcheringa ancestors and their 

 descendants pass into women visiting the sacred spots, and hence the child 

 belongs to the totem of the place itself, w T hich is the totem of the bygone 

 tribesmen whose spirits have continued to inhabit the churinga deposited there. 

 These churinga, equivalent to the so-called "bull-roarers," are described in 

 a manner which shows how vastly important a part they play in all the 

 mysterious ceremonial of the natives. They may never be seen by women. No 

 such complete description of their use exists elsewhere, although Messrs. Howitt 

 and Fison and others have shown their great importance, and the mystery 

 surrounding their use. 



The history of a tribe is referred back to the Alcheringa days, a time long 

 past, in which the ancestors of the tribe are supposed to have existed as a 

 mythical, semi-human race. The wanderings of the Alcheringa ancestors are 

 carefully treasured up in the native memory. These traditions are of use as- 

 pointing to the probable migration routes of the various tribes and sections of 

 tribes, and to the development of their culture and ceremonial observances. 



The complicated, severe, and prolonged initiation ceremonies are recorded 

 in the book with great care and precision, all the phases being described with 

 a minuteness of detail which reflects great credit upon the observers. 



It would be impossible, in this notice of the book, even to touch briefly upon 

 the numerous points of interest raised in this work, and no attempt can be 

 made to do so. The whole forms a very concise account, and is, moreover, 

 liberally furnished with illustrations prepared from photographs. They are for 

 the most part very good. 



If a work of this kind still leaves us with the feeling that there is yet a vast 

 amount to be learnt from the natives, as regards their customs and beliefs, and 

 the esoteric side of their culture, this is no fault of the authors. We will hope 

 that the example set by them may be followed by others, while there is yet 

 time to study primitive native life in its natural environment. 



Henry Balfour. 



