124 MATHEWS—TRIBES OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. {[March 16, 
In the present preliminary paper it is intended to give a brief 
outline of the social organization, rites and customs of the native 
tribes sparsely distributed over the whole of that portion of west- 
ern Australia lying to the north of the twenty-eighth parallel of 
south latitude. Compared to the size of the territory occupied the 
number of the aboriginal inhabitants is insignificant. 
On the Murchison, Greenough, Sanford, Roderick, Wooramel, 
Gascoyne and Lyons rivers the several native tribes are each divided 
into four sections, called Buljerry, Kiemarra, Boorong and Boogar- 
loo. The intermarriage of these divisions, and the sections to 
which the resulting offspring belong, will be readily understood 
when arranged in tabular form, as under: 
flusband. Wife. | Offspring. 
Buljerry | Boorong Boogarloo 
Kiemarra Boogarloo | Boorong 
Boorong Buljerry Kiemarra 
Boogarloo Kiemarra | Buljerry 
These sectional names, with some modifications, are found among 
the natives at Weld Spring, Bonython Creek, Lake Throssell, Elder 
Creek, Glen Cumming, and extend eastward into South Australia, 
where a similar organization exists among the Andikarina and 
Arrinda tribes, particularized by me in previous publications. 
If we travel northward from the Murchison, Gascoyne and other 
streams above mentioned, we discover that the tribes occupying the 
Ashburton, Fortescue, Yule, Shaw, De Grey and Oakover rivers 
are likewise divided into four sections, the names of which are 
Butcharrie, Kurrimurra, Burronga and Banaka, being simply varia- 
tions of the nomenclature tabulated in this paper, Banaka taking 
the place of Boogarloo. These sections reach easterly into the 
northern territory of South Australia. 
Proceeding still farther to the northward from the Oakover to 
the Fitzroy river, the four sections are known as Baljarra, Boorungo, 
Kimbera and Bannicka, the men of one section marrying the 
women of another in a certain fixed rotation. In all the tribes 
referred to in this paper there are aggregates of totems attached to 
each section or pair of sections, and descent of the children is 
counted through the mothers. 
