452 



PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 



Another marvellous account of the above fishing weir is given 

 by Mrs. K. L. Parker in her book on " The Euahlayi Tribe." At 

 pages 102 and 109 she says : — 



" The greatest of local landmarks is at Brewarrina. It is said to hav^e 

 been made by Byamee, the god and culture hero of this tribe, and his giant 

 sons — the stone fisheries made in the bed of the Barwon [Darling]." 



In 1884 the late Dr. A. W. Howitt reported that in the Kaia- 

 bara tribe, Queensland, descent was in the male line.^ In 1889 he 

 repeated that statement.- For the third time he repeated it, in 

 1904.3 He arrived at this erroneous conclusion owing to a corre- 

 spondent having written him that the phratry Kubatine comprised 

 the sub-classes Balkoin and Bunda, and that the phratry Dilebi 

 was made up of the sub-classes Barang and Derwain. As I have 

 made several personal journeys among the remnants of the Kaia- 

 bara and neighbouring tribes during the past 15 years I am able 

 to report their law of descent with certainty. A table will be 

 useful for illustration : — 



This table shows that the phratry Kubatine (my Kappaian) is 

 composed of Balkoin and Barang, instead of Balkoin and Bunda. 

 It also shows that Dilebi (my Diawai) consists of Bunda and 

 Derwain, instead of Barang and Derwain, as stated by Mr. Howitt. 



If we take Balkoin, the first name in the " husband " column 

 of the table, his normal wife is Derwain, or it is quite lawful for 

 him to espouse a Bunda woman. If he marries Derwain his child 

 is Bunda ; but if he weds Bunda his child is Derwain. The 

 phratry, and the sub-class (or section), and the totem, of the man 

 Balkoin's children would depend altogether upon their mother, 

 quite irrespective of their father. 



Dr. Hewitt's statement that descent is counted through the 

 father in the tribe referred to has been accepted and repeated by 

 such able anthropologists as N. W. Thomas,^ J. G. Fraser,^ and 

 Andrew Lang.'^ On the other hand, Rev. J. Mathew''' and myself, 

 who have both been among the blacks in question, have reported 

 that descent is reckoned through the mother in all cases. 



1 Journ. Anihrop. Inst., 13, p. 336. 



2 Op. cit., 18, p. 



3 " Native Tribes of S.E. Australia," pp. 116 and 229. 



4 " Kiaship and Marriage," p. 43. 



5 " Totemism," vol. I, p. 447. 



6 Man, 1910, No. 80. 



7 " Eaglehawk and Crow," p. 100. 



