279 



tribes in case one or the other of them should predominate here 

 or there. 



Polygamy is permitted, and customary, but a blackfellow has 

 seldom more than two wives. 



A married black will sometimes send his wife to Ins brother 

 who has no wife of his own. 



Adultery, which often takes place, if, for instance, some fellows 

 leave the camp for a time, is punished by thrashing the woman, 

 whilst the man goes unpunished. Should a woman be killed by 

 too rough a beating, nothing follows, unless her relatives take it 

 up, and then, perhaps, kill the slayer. However, this occUi-s 



rarely. 



Women retire from camp if about to give birth to a child, and 

 are attended by other women. For about 10 or 12 days after- 

 wards they keep away from their husbands. During menstrua- 

 tion the women sleep apart from the men, but are not entirely 

 secluded, only coition is prohibited. They wash themselves freely 

 duriniT this time. 



A FEW O'HIEK LAWS. 



(1 if over- 



Tribal boundaries are strictly acknowledged, and 

 stepped the act is considered as an aggression. 



Property is only personal, and consists of the weapons, tools, 

 and utensils of the individuals. No one has any special right to 

 certain lands, which are all lield jointly on account of the tribe, 

 as against another tribe. 



The annexation of a weapon or utensil is not considered a 

 crime, but must be compensated for or returned. (It seems to 

 be, therefore, a sort of borrowing without permission from their 

 point of view.) 



BUKIALS. 



The dead are buried in the ground. When a blackfellow dies 

 he is rolled in a blanket, or some other covering, and left 

 stretched out in the wurley till a hole is dug. If the ground is 

 soft the hole is sunk to five or six feet, and even deeper. The 

 body is then placed alongside the hole, and speeches are made 

 over it, wherein his deeds are related and his virtues extolled, 

 which speeches may last perhaps for hours. A great deal of 

 wailing and lamenting is also carried on over the corpse, particu- 

 larly by the women. After the body is put in the grave green 

 boughs are placed upon it, and the hole filled up to about two feet 

 from the top. In this state the grave is left for about a week oi- 

 two, and is then filled up with sand. A small mound may be 

 formed, and then trees and bushes are placed lengthways over it, 

 and the place round it is levelled and cleared. For a iew weeks 

 the grave is looked after by the women, and sometimes the old 



