312 



NATURE 



[November 19, 1914 



THE FAR-NORTH AUSTRALIAN.^ 



THE three volumes of studies of the natives of 

 Central Australia which were published by 

 Prof. Baldwin Spencer and the late Mr. F. J. 

 Gillen, required for their completion some account 

 of the natives of that portion of the continent 



Tig. 



-Two Kakadu Men. t rom " Native Triles of the Northern Territory of Australia. 



which stretches northward to the shores of the 

 Arafura Sea. This natural sequel, an account 

 of the people of the Northern Territory, is to be 

 found in the new and valuable record, dedicated 

 to the memory of- his dead colleag'ue, 

 which has just been written by Prof. 

 Spencer. With the experience gained 

 in his previous investigations, the 

 author has produced an excellent 

 volume, which is in every way equal 

 to its forerunners in anthropological 

 interest, in scientific value, and in 

 clear description of another group 

 of the totally uncivilised tribes of 

 Australia. 



The introductory chapter, aided by 

 nearly thirty pictures, gives a particu- 

 larly vivid description of the country 

 occupied by the tribes, their appearance 

 and dwellings, general way of living, 

 character and mental ability. A map 

 shows the location of the tribes, those 

 dealt with in most detail being resident 

 on Melville and Bathurst Islands, on the 

 mainland about Port Essington, the 

 Alligator Rivers and Port Darwin, and 

 southward to the region between Vic- 

 toria River on the west and Roper River 

 on the east. The total population is 

 estimated at about 50,000. 



The social organisation most prevalent in this 

 region was found to differ from that usual in 

 other parts of Australia. Instead of the class 



1 " Natwe Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia." By Frof 

 Baldwin Spencer. Pp. xx4-5i6. (London : Macmill«n and Co., LtH., 1914) 



organisation, in which the tribe is divided \nUj 

 two main divisions, each with its subdivisions 

 regulating marriage, and with descent either in 

 the male or female line, many of the northern 

 tribes follow a local organisation. The people 

 are divided into a series of local groups, each 

 owning and occupying a special dis- 

 trict, and on marriage a man of one 

 group takes his wife from another, and 

 brings her and his children into his 

 own group. The details of the various 

 systems are fully given by Prof. 

 Spencer, with tables of relationship 

 terms in a series of typical tribes, and 

 also the status terms applied to in- 

 dividuals at different periods of life. 



With respect to the initiation cere- 

 monies, the author divides the northern 

 people into three groups. The first, 

 occupying the islands, Coburg penin- 

 sula, and adjacent mainland, practise 

 neither circumcision nor subincision. 

 Adjacent tribes on the south practise 

 circumcision only, whilst others inland 

 from the coastal ranges and towards 

 the centre of the continent practise 

 both circumcision and subincision. 



There is much variation in the 

 totemic systems of the tribes. Where 

 there is class organisation the totem 

 groups are variously divided. Exogamy, 

 though usual, is not always strict. Where the 

 local organisation prevails, though there may be 

 some marriage restrictions, there is sometimes no 

 question of descent involved, and a child's totem 



Price 31S. net. 



NO. 2351, VOL. 



94] 



Fig. 2. — Placing the Bull-roarer on the hands of the Initiates, Larakia Tribe. 

 From " Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia." 



is revealed to the father in a dream. The totems 

 in all the tribes are usually edible articles, animal 

 or vegetable, but in some cases implements and 

 natural objects are totems. In many of the tribes 

 a man may not eat his totem, but in others. 



