NOTES ON THE ARRANDA TRIBE. 159 



led to the conclusion that the vice indulged in between 

 the man and the boy is a form of masturbation only. A 

 resident of the Victoria River informs me that girls who 

 are too young to admit of natural intercourse with them 

 are sometimes used by the men in precisely the same 

 manner as the boys, except that the little girls do not 

 accompany them. I have original descriptions of how the 

 vice is carried out, but the details are not suitable for 

 publication. 



Mr. E. T. Hard man, during his travels in the Kimberley 

 district of Western Australia in 1883-4, observed the custom 

 of single men being presented with what he calls "a boy 

 wife." He says: "There is no doubt they have connexion, 

 but the natives repudiate with horror and disgust the idea 

 of sodomy." 1 



Mr. A. G. B. Ravenscroft published some details in 1892 

 of this practice among the Chingalee tribe at Daly Waters 

 in the Northern Territory, which go to confirm my state- 

 ment that the indulgence is practically masturbation. 2 



Conclusion. 



In consequence of some important differences of opinion 

 between Dr. A. W. Howitt and myself regarding descent 

 in certain tribes I think it right to bring a few of our 

 conflicting conclusions under the notice of other investi- 

 gators. 



In his "Native Tribes of South-east Australia," Dr. 

 Howitt refers to the Kumbainggeri tribe on the east coast 

 of New South Wales, and after mentioning the four inter- 

 marrying divisions, says: "It is not possible to say how 

 these four subclasses (my sections) are placed in pairs 

 representing the two moieties of the tribe, without which 

 knowledge it cannot be said whether descent is in the male 



1 Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, Series 3, Vol. i., p. 74. 



2 Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Australia, Vol. xv., p. 121. 



