166 The Classijicatory System of 



into the Iguanas, the Paddy -melons,* and the Opossums. 

 Every blackfellow has three names, two of which are 

 classificatory. First, the name of his class, as Ippai, 

 Murri, &c. Second, his totem or animal name. His third 

 name does not appear to be classificatory. It is simply a 

 distinguishing title singling him out from among those who 

 bear the same class-name and totem. 



These subdivisions affect the law of marriage, but not the 

 law of descent. 



They affect the law of marriage thus — Every Ippai {e.g.) 

 may cohabit not only with Kubbotha, who is his wife 

 according to the law of marriage, but also with an Ippatha 

 who has a totem other than his own, though never with an 

 Ippatha who bears his totem. Thus, Ippai the Emu may take 

 to wife Ippatha the Blacksnake, but not Ippatha the Emu. 

 We should expect the law of descent to be affected by this 

 extended license ; and if it were so affected, endless complica- 

 tions and confusions must necessarily arise ; but in point of 

 fact ib is not affected at all, the confusion being avoided by 

 a very simple arrangement. The children of such a 

 connexion take always the class-names which are borne by 

 the children of their mother by her proper husband 

 according to the law of marriage. This being so, and since 

 in every case the child takes its mother's totem, not that of 

 its father, it is evident that the law of descent is not 

 affected. Thus, the children of Ippai the Emu and Ippatha 

 the Blacksnake are Kumbo the Blacksnake, and Butha the 

 Blacksnake, as are the cldldren of their mother by her proper 

 husband Kubbi. Moreover, since the child takes its mother's 

 totem, and since these totems are evidently tribal, it follows 

 that the cliild is of the mother's tribe, not of the father's, and 

 that the sj^stem of kinship tends towards the Ganowanian. 



From this extended matrimonial privilege, we gather that 

 the system of the tribes speaking the Kamilaroi language 

 permits a man to marry his half-sister by the father's side, 

 but not his half-sister by the mother's side, nor his full 

 sister. In other words, he may cohabit with the daughter 

 of his father by a woman other than his mother, for though 

 she may have his class-name, yet she cannot have his totem, 

 her totem being that of her mother ; but he may not 

 cohabit with the dauo-hter of his mother, even though she 

 were begotten by a man other than his father ; for she 



* Paddy-melon is a sort of Kangaroo. 



