CONDITION OF THE WOMEN. 9 



Wales Islands a knife or glass bottle are considered 

 as a sufficient price for the hand of a " lady fair/' 

 and are the articles mostly used for that purpose. 



According- to Gi'om puberty in girls takes place 

 fi'om the tenth to the twelfth year, but few become 

 mothers at a very early age. When parturition is 

 about to take place the woman retires to a Httle 

 distance in the bush, and is attended by an expe- 

 rienced matron. Delivery is usually very eas}^, and 

 the mother is almost always able on the following- 

 day to attend to her usual occupations. The infant 

 is laid upon a small soft mat which the mother has 

 taken care to prepare beforehand, and which is used 

 for no other purpose. 



The life of a married women among the Kow- 

 rarega and Gudang blacks is a hard one. She has 

 to procure nearly all the food for herself and hus- 

 band, except during the turtling season, and on 

 other occasions when the men are astii*. If she 

 fails to return with a sufficiency of food, she is pro- 

 bably severely beaten,— indeed the most savage acts 

 of cruelty are often inflicted upon the women for the 

 most trivial oftence. Considering the degraded posi- 

 tion assigned by the Australian savages to their 

 women, it is not surprising* that the Prince of Wales 

 Islanders should, by imitating their neighbours in 

 this respect, afford a strong contrast to the inhabi- 

 tants of Darnley and other islands of the N.E. 

 part of Torres Strait, ^\ho always appeared to me 

 to treat their females with much consideration 



