CONDITION OF THE WOMEN. 9 



Wales Islands a knife or g'lass 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'oni puberty in girls takes place 

 fi*om the tenth to the twelfth year^ but few become 

 mothers at a very early ag-e. When parturition is 

 about to take place the woman retires to a little 

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

 rienced matron. Delivery is usually very easy^ and 

 the mother is almost always able on the follo^^ ing* 

 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- 

 rareg'a 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 astir. If she 

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

 bably severely beaten, — indeed the most savag'e acts 

 of cruelty are often inflicted upon the women for the 

 most trivial offence. Considering- the deg-raded posi- 

 tion assigned by the Australian savag*es to their 

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

 Islanders should, by imitating* their neig'hbours in 

 this respect, afford a strong- contrast to the inhabi- 

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

 port of Torres Strait, who alwa^^s appeared to me 

 to treat their females with much consideration 



