88 THK burrtjXc; or the wirauthuri tribes. 



years it has fallen into disuse. The custom of one or more of 

 the tribes present contributing a victim to furnish a cannibalistic 

 feast in connection with the secret ceremonies {"■') has also ceased 

 for a number of years, in consequence of the stringency of the 

 white man's laws respecting murder. 



The Wiradthuri tribes are spread over a wide zone of 

 country, commencing a little way south of the Barwon River, 

 and stretching southerly almost to the Murray. Throughout 

 this immense territory the language spoken is substantially the 

 same ; in the northern half of the nation the name is pro- 

 nounced Wiradthuri, and in the southern Wiradjuri. The 

 people are divided into four sections, called respectively, Murri, 

 Kubbi, Ippai, and Oombi, with laws of intermarriage and 

 descent as particularized in the following table : — 



Husband. Wife. Offspring. 



Murri Ippai Oombi 



Kubbi Oombi Ippai 



Ippai Murri Kubbi 



Oombi Kubbi Murri 



" The Initiation Ceremonies of Australian Tribes," Prqc. Amer. Philos. 

 Sec, Phila., xxivii., 66. 



