40 AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 



Malformations, however, were so rare before the arrival of the white man that 

 no instances could be remembered. When a woman has children too rapidly 

 for the convenience and necessities of the parents, she makes up her mind to let 

 one be killed, and consults with her husband which it is to be. As the strength 

 of a tribe depends more on males than females, the girls are generally sacrificed. 

 The child is put to death and buried, or burned without ceremony ; not, however, 

 by its father or mother, but by relatives. No one wears mourning for it. Sickly 

 children are never killed on account of their bad health, and are allowed to die 

 naturally. 



No attention is paid to nfevus marks on infants — which, in the aborigines 

 show darker in colour than the surrounding skin — as these marks are attributed 

 by them, not to the spells of enemies, but to frights, falls, or blows sustained by 

 the mother. 



Mischievous and thievish children are not personally punished by the 

 individuals whom they may injure, as that would lead to quarrels, but the 

 parents are held responsible ; and, should they refuse redress, they are dealt with 

 according to the laws of the tribe. 



Every person speaks the tribal language of the father, and must never mix 

 it with any other. The mother of a child is the only exception to this law, for, 

 in talking to it, she must use its father's language as far as she can, and not her 

 own. At the same time, she speaks to her husband in her own tribal language, 

 and he speaks to her in his ; so that all conversation is carried on between 

 husband and wife in the same way as between an Englishman and a French- 

 woman, each speaking his or her own language. This very remarkable law 

 explains the preservation of so many distinct dialects within so limited a space, 

 even where there are no physical obstacles to ready and frequent communication 

 between the tribes. The only explanation which is given by the aborigines for 

 this law is, that the attempt of one tribe to speak or to intone the language of 

 another is a caricature of it, and is never made except in derision, with the 

 intention of provoking a quarrel. Since the arrival of the Europeans this law has, 

 to a certain extent, been disregarded, and individuals are now to be found who 

 can speak three distinct languages, besides their own, and also very correct 

 English. Yarruum Parpurr Tarneen, the very intelligent chiefess of the Morpor 

 tribe, is an instance of this ; and she states that there are only four languages 

 between Geelong and the South Australian boundary that she does not 

 understand. 



