Oct. 29, 1874] 



NATURE 



521 



man has been led to "declare that knowledge of landmarks 

 obtained by sight, and sight only, is the sense which directs these 

 • birds," viz., carrier-pigeons. (See Nature, vol. x. p. 416,) As 

 no one has asked this question, I am obliged to do so myself ; 

 bat at the same time I should like to say that it is only because 

 the subject is one of great importance that I think we should not 

 here be satisfied with an authoritative statement of opinion, 

 without some indication of the kind and degree of evidence en 

 w hich such opinion is based. Moreover, it seems to me particu- 

 larly desirable, that if a man of Mr. Tegetmeier's immense expe- 

 lience in this m.atter has any conclusive reasons for his decision, 

 the public should have the benefit of their recital ; so that the 

 vexed question as to the "homing" of pigeons may once for all 

 be settled. 



The importance of settling this question I deem almost impos- 

 sible to overrate ; for, with all deference to Prof. Newton, I do 

 not see why "sight alone cannot be regarded as of much aid to 

 birds which at one stretch transport themselves across the breadth 

 of Europe," if it is once satisfactorily proved that "sight, and 

 sight alone, is the sense which directs " carrier-pigeons, say, from 

 Paris to London. For it must be remembered that carrier- 

 p'geons are descended from a non-migratory species of bird, and 

 may therefore well be supposed not to have the faculty of remem- 

 bering landmarks so fully developed as is the case in migratory 

 species, where this faculty has doubtless been deeply impressed 

 by means of natural selection. Further, we must not forget that 

 in the case of all migratory birds, the younger generations lly in 

 company with the older ones ; so that the former must make 

 several journeys before it devolves upon tliem to lead the way. 



When the instinct question was last discussed in Nature, I 

 published a summary of the evidence which had been adduced 

 by the correspondence. As at that time I thought with Prof. 

 Newton that the supposition of sight being the faculty to which 

 the return of carriers is due was a very impiobable one, I argued 

 that to account for the facts of migration by a similar supposition 

 would be unwarranted. But when so great an authority has 

 found cause to alter his opinion regarding the supposition on 

 which my previous argument was founded, I think the fact bids 

 fnir, not only to destroy that argument, but, as just shown, to 

 reverse it. Now f call attention to this in oider to show how 

 much depends upon a final determination of the instinct question 

 io far as cariier-pigeons are concerned. In no other case of 

 "homing" (and migration is nothing more) are we able to 

 subject the birds to experiment ; so that if this has been done in 

 the case of pigeons with unequivocally positive results, we are 

 at any rate in possession of a valid analogy from which to esta- 

 blish a probability as to the nature of the migratory instinct in 

 general. And the value of this probability would be more 

 definite if Mr. Tegetmeier would tell us what he thinks, or 

 knows, to be the utmost limit of a pigeon's memory for land- 

 marks. George J. Romanes 



The Aboriginal "Murri"_Race of Australia 

 {Communicated hy Sir y. Lubbock, F.R.S.) 



Having lately had an opfortunity of reading your work 

 on "The Origin of Civilisation," it has occurred tome that 

 some information which has come to my knowledge curing 

 missionary tours among the aborigines known as the race of 

 Murri, and during a journey afterwards undertaken at the in- 

 stance of the Government of this Colony to the Namoi and 

 Bj.rwun Rivers, maybe acceptable to you. Thtough Prof. Max- 

 Mviller my journal and my giammar cf " Kamilaroi, Dippil, and 

 Turrubul " were transmitted to the Anthropological Society ; 

 and I suppose all I have written is accessible for the purposes of 

 philosophical investigation among the records of that society. I 

 now confine my statements to points touched upon i?i those 

 l)ails of " The Origin of Civilisation " which treat of the Aus- 

 tralian aborigines. 



Page II. In the north-western pait of this colony, about the 

 tiibutaries of tlie Darling, a man will not lojk at his molher-in- 

 law. If they meet accidentally they turn back to back, and take 

 no further notice one of another. 



P. 34. My exi.erience differs entirely from that of Mr. Old- 

 field. Having shown many drawings and paintings of animals 

 and men — including their own likenesses — to the aborigines, I 

 always found them quick at perceiving the design. They them- 

 selves trace on the trees, with their tomahawks, fair represen- 

 tations of snakes and other animals. 



P. 109. It is true no man may marry a woman of the same 

 names as his sisters. lUit it is by no means true, as Dr. Long 



staled, on imperfect information, that no one can marry a woman 

 "of the same clan," taking the word "clan" in the common sense 

 of the term as equivalent to " gens." The rule that restricts mar- 

 riage is founded on an exact law of pedigree and class names. 

 It is as follows among tire aborigines of the Namoi ; and other 

 tribes have rules similar in the main, though the names ditTer 

 widely. 



The men are all divided into four classes— MunT, Kumbj, 

 Ippai, and Kubbi. The MurrI (whose name differs from that 

 designating the race, " MurrT," only in the quantity of the last 

 syllable) are regarded as the most important ; the Kubbi are the 

 lowest in esteem. The sisters of these four are respectively Mata 

 (or Matha), butha, Ippata, and Kubbotha (the vowels are pro- 

 nounced as in French). So that in one family every son bears 

 the name MunT, every daughter the name Mata ; in another 

 family every son is Kumbo, every daugliter Butha. There is 

 also another classification marked by "totems," in which a 

 second name is given to everyone according to birtli. Thus there 

 are the bundar (kangaroo), «mV/ (opossum), </;7/r (iguana), nurai 

 (black snake), dtmiiii (emu), and others. On these clafsifica- 

 tions are based laws of marriage and descent. A Murri may 

 marry Butha of the sime totem, and of any other totem he may 

 take a Mata, though she bears the name of his own sisters, who 

 are all Mata. So Ippai dlnouii may marry Ippata nurai, but 

 not Ippata dmoiin. But Ippai dinoun may marry Kubbotha 

 dmoun. 



Children always bear the second name (or totem) cf their 

 mother ; and the first name of the child depends on the mother's. 

 Thus the sons and daughters of Mata are always Kubbi and 

 Kubbotha ; those of Butha are Ippai and Ippatha ; those of 

 Ippatha are Kumbo and Butha j those of Kubbotha are 

 Murri and Mata. As Ippai generally marries Butha, Ippai's 

 son is generally Muni, but not always. When Ippai's wife 

 is other than Kubbotha, his son is other than Murri. At 

 first it seemed to me that the father's name determined that 

 of the son ; but afterwards I found that it is by the mother's 

 name that those of the children are fixed. It is remarkable that 

 while the second name of a child is the same as the mother's, the 

 first, though dependent on the uiother's, is alwa)s different. 

 Mata's daughter cannot be a Mata, but is always Kubbotha. The 

 Rev. Lorimer Fison, who had been in communication with Prof. 

 Goldwin Smith and others on the "Tamil" system, and had 

 found that system in Fiji, oa seeing the rules of marriage and 

 descent which I had no:ed down as prevailing among the" Kami- 

 laroi of Australia, said the principles of the "Tamil" weie 

 observed here alio. 



They have no words meaning simply brother and sister, but 

 use terms signifying elder brotlier and younger brother. Thus 

 "da'adi" is elder brother, " gullami " younger brother; and in 

 a family of six brotheis the eldest has no daiadi, but five 

 guilami ; the youngest has no gullami, |j„t five daiadi ; the third 

 has two daiadi ar.d three gullami. "Biadi" is elder sister, 

 " burandi " younger sister. " Gunt" (71)1/1)) is the child's word 

 for " mother dear." 



P. 205. The Kamilaroi and Wiradhuri tribes, who formerly 

 occupied a large territory on the Darling and its tributaries, 

 have a traditional faith in " Baiame " or " Baiama'," literally 

 "the Maker," from baia, to make or build. They say 

 that Baiame made everything. Some say that he once lived 

 as a man upon earth ; and near the Narran River is a hole 

 in a rock, somewhat in the shape of a man, where they say 

 Baiame used to rest. He makes the grass to grow, and pro- 

 vides all creatures with food. Baiame gave them a iacied wand, 

 which they exhibited at their "bora," the initiatory rite of ad- 

 mission to manhood, and the sight of this wand is essential to 

 make a man. Baiame once showed the black fellows how to 

 get rid of " Mullion," a demon in the form of an eagle, who 

 lived in a tree and devoured many people. Baiame is also the 

 Supreme Judge who awards to men their future lot. When 

 people die, the good ascend to Baiame, and he appoints them a 

 place on the gieat rtw;ra/«/«'/ (watercourse, with groves, fruit-, 

 and animals, lor the enjoyment of the blessed), in the sky — the 

 Milky Way ; the bad perish at death. 



The Rev. James Gunther, of Mudgee, who was many years 

 engaged in the instruction of the Wiradhuri tribes, has recorded 

 the fact that these people ascribe to Baiame " three of the attri- 

 butes of the God of the Bible" — supreme power, immortality, 

 and goodness. There are among them men who make light of 

 these traditions ; but even when first spoken with by Christian 

 instructors, some were evidently devout in their thoughts of 

 Baiame and their hopes of a future life ; and as to a future 



