1900.] MATHEWS-—THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. oil 
A woman who is fooar to a man may die before she bears a 
daughter—or such daughter although born may die before the 
intended husband gets her—therefore to neutralize the chances of a 
man not securing a wife, more than one woman is usually appointed 
vooar to the same man. On the other hand, one woman may be 
appointed Zooar to several young men. If the man to whom her 
daughter has been betrothed dies before he is old enough to claim 
her, she then becomes the wife of one of the other men. These 
rules may be further illustrated as follows: Lizzie, a married woman, 
is fooar to Sam, Tommy and Jack, precedence being in the order 
named. If Lizzie gives birth to a daughter this child will eventu- 
ally become the wife of Sam. Should he, however, die before the 
girl reaches puberty, she would be taken by Tommy as his spouse. 
But if Tommy had also died then she would fall to the lot of Jack. 
Each of the young men named may have several married women 
occupying the position of /osar to them, to increase their chances 
of obtaining a wife. 
An unmarried girl on attaining puberty may be assigned to the 
position of Zooar in the same manner as a married woman. On her 
obtaining a husband her daughters eventually become the wives of 
the men who are entitled to claim them. This /voar relationship 
precludes the possibility of a man having sexual intercourse or any 
intimacy with any woman who might ultimately become his mother- 
in-law. A man and woman who are /voar to each other theoreti- 
cally occupy the positions of son-in-law and mother-in-law, and the 
same restrictions as to mutual avoidance of each other apply in both 
cases alike. A man may have more than one wife, but each of 
them must be the daughter of a woman who is Zovar to him. In mak- 
ing the /ooar appointments the old men endeavor, as far as practic- 
able, to arrange that the brothers and sisters in certain families shall 
marry the brothers and sisters in certain other families. The off- 
spring follow the lineage of the father, and also adopt his fofem in 
most cases. 
In ascertaining what woman is qualified to be /var to a certain boy, 
A, the old men, who are well acquainted with the genealogy of the 
people around them, know that A’s father is B. They next discuss 
the question who are the cousins of B. These cousins, whom we 
shall distinguish as C, may be the offspring either of B’s father’s 
sisters, or of his mother’s brothers. There will probably be several 
of such cousins, some in each of the lines of descent just mentioned, 
