NATURE 



529 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, iS 



AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES 

 Australian Aborigines : the Languages and Customs of 

 several Tribes of Aborigines in the Western District 

 of Victoria, Australia. By James Dawson. (Mel- 

 bourne : Robertson ; London : Macmillan and Co., 

 1881.) 



MR. DAWSON, a settler of old standing in the dis- 

 trict west of Melbourne, and his daughter, Mrs. 

 Taylor, who has been familiar from childhood with 

 several native dialects, have in years of careful inquiry 

 collected the present volume of information as to the lan- 

 guages and life of the group of tribes living inland from 

 the coast between Portland Bay and Cape Otway. These 

 tribes form part of the native population described in the 

 "Aborigines of Victoria," compiled by Mr. Brough Smyth 

 for the \'ictorian Government ; but able and extensive 

 as that work is, the anthropologist sees on comparing it 

 with the present volume how far he must still be from 

 thoroughly understanding the native institutions, when a 

 minute study of one district can bring out so many new 

 and difficult points as are to be found here. Take the 

 native marriage laws as set down by Mr. Dawson. The 

 tribes are split up into totem-classes named after animals, 

 both sons and daughters belonging to the mother's class, 

 and not being allowed to marry within it ; thus a Pelican 

 youth may not marry a Pelican girl, or a Boa youth a Boa 

 girl, but Pelican may marry Boa. So far, this is like the 

 exogamous rules found in various other parts of the 

 country; but here it is further stated that though the 

 class follows the mother's side, the tribe itself follows 

 the father's side, and the natives are not allowed 

 to marry into their own tribe either, nor may a man 

 marry into his mother's or\ grandmother's tribe, nor into 

 an adjoining tribe, nor into one that speaks his own 

 dialect. This remarkable set of restrictions, which does 

 not seem to correspond exactly with those of any other 

 district in the world, is considered by the tribes who live 

 under it as intended to prevent marriage between those of 

 "one flesh," and indeed it bars kin-marriage in both the 

 male and female line in a more thorough way than the 

 known laws of any other Australian tribes. No marriage or 

 betrothal is permitted without the approval of the chiefs of 

 each party, who first ascertain that no " illegal " relation, 

 ship exists. Any symptoms of courtship between those of 

 " one flesh " are put down by rough handling of the cul. 

 prits, and parents are apt to save their children from 

 breaking the law by betrothing them in proper quarters 

 as soon as they can walk. What can have been the mo- 

 tive which led the ancestors of these savages to carry their 

 prohibited degrees to an extent which our physicians would 

 consider practically absurd .' Mr. Dawson speaks of these 

 laws as admirable, and plainly thinks them founded on prac- 

 tical reasons against marrying-in, for he says that where the 

 prohibitions have been disregarded under European influ- 

 ence, the aborigines attribute to this disregard the greater 

 weakness and unhealthiness of their chil Iren, and the in- 

 crease of insanity. This, however, may have got into the 

 native mind from hints by the white doctors, and the whole 

 Vol. xxiv.- — No. 623 



subject of these marriage-prohibitions is as yet an unsolved 

 problem. This is better seen when one does not look at 

 one particular point, but at the system as a whole, with 

 its network of ceremonial regulations. Among these, the 

 custom of avoiding the mother-in-law is of course de- 

 scribed by Mr. Dawson, He gives the usual details how, 

 when a girl is betrothed, her mother and aunts may not 

 look at or speak to the man for the rest of his life, but if 

 they meet him they squat down by the wayside and cover 

 up their heads, and when he and they are obliged to 

 speak in one another's presence, they use a peculiar lingo 

 which they call "turn-tongue." This queer dialect is ijot 

 used for concealment, for everybody understands it, and 

 some examples of it are here given which show that it 

 has much in common with the ordinary language. Should 

 the present notice meet the eye of Mr. Dawson, it may be 

 suggested that it would be worth while to find out whether 

 the "turn-tongue'' is an old-fashioned dialect kept up 

 for this ceremonial purpose. For the rest of the marriage- 

 customs we must refer to the book itself ; but to give an 

 idea of the state of formality into which life has come 

 among these supposed free-and-easy savages, mention 

 may be made of the duties of the bridesmaid and grooms- 

 man. When the married pair have been taken to the new 

 hut built for them, for the next two moons the grooms- 

 man and the husband sleep on one side of the fire, the 

 bridesmaid and the wife on the other, the new-married 

 couple not being allowed to speak to or look at one 

 another. The bride is called a "not-look-round," and the 

 pair in this embarrassing position arc a standing joke to 

 the young people living near, who amuse themselves by 

 peeping in and laughing at them. 



Among the interesting questions as to Australian arts 

 and ideas which Mr. Dawson touches on, is whether they 

 had any notion of boiling food. He confirms the general 

 opinion that they had not, and states that there is no 

 word meaning to boil in their native dialects. But it does 

 not always follow that wdiat is true as to one gioup of 

 tribes is true everywhere. Mr. Brough Smyth gives an 

 account of the fish-hooks of the aborigines in Victoria, 

 but Mr. Dawson declares that in his district they were 

 unknown, though the native fishermen have come so near 

 angling as to use a rod and line with a bunch of worms 

 for bait, with which they pull out the fish before he has 

 time to disgorge. Looking over the grammatical part of 

 the book, we find the list of numerals in the native 

 dialects one of the most perfect examples of the way in 

 which numerals have been developed from counting on 

 the fingers. They say "one hand" for 5, "two hands " 

 for 10, and so on with hands and twenties up to 100. 

 But the unusual and noticeable point is, that though 

 getting so far, they have not worked out words for the 

 intermediate numbers above ro, but fall back on the 

 primitive gestures ; thus they have not words for 11 or 

 12, but they say 10, and hold out one finger or two to 

 make up the number. Mr. Dawson seldom quotes or 

 criticises books, but when he gives the fact that there is a 

 native word for 100 he adds a note that this is wholly at 

 variance with the statement made by Mr. E. B. Tylor 

 (" Primitive Culture," vol. i. p. 220) as to some Australian 

 tribes having no numeral words even so high as 5. To pre- 

 vent misunderstanding he should have pointed out that the 

 ne.xt pageof the work in question makes reference to other 



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