AUSTRALIAN DIVISIONAL SYSTEMS. 69 



South Australia. In a pamphlet which he published in 1840, 1 

 describing the customs of the Parnkalla and other native tribes 

 inhabiting the Port Lincoln district, on the west of Spencer's 

 Gulf, he says : " They are divided into two distinct classes, the 

 Mattiri and Karraru people. . If a husband be Mattiri, his 



wife must be Karraru, and vice versa, the children taking invari- 

 ably the appellation of that class to which their mother belongs." 

 That is, if a Karraru man married a Mattiri woman, the sons and 

 daughters would be Mattiri, the same as their mother. In a 

 similar manner the children of a Karraru woman would be 

 Karraru. Mr. C. Wilhelmi, in I860 2 confirmed the divisional 

 names and rales of descent given by Mr. Schiirmann. 



These rules of marriage and descent will be more apparent if 

 arranged in tabular form, thus : — 



Husband Wife Offspring 



Mattiri Karraru Karraru 



Karraru Mattiri Mattiri 



In 1874 the Government of South Australia issued circulars 

 asking for certain particulars respecting the customs of the abori- 

 gines, and such circulars were sent to all persons likely to be 

 acquainted with the subject throughout the colony. In response 

 to these notices, a large amount of valuable information was 

 obtained, and was published by the Government Printer, Adelaide, 

 in 1879, under the title of "Folklore, Manners, Customs, and 

 Languages of the South Australian Aborigines." This book was 

 edited by the Rev. George Taplin, who had taken an active interest 

 in the movement from its inception. In the following pages refer- 

 ences will frequently be made to the work mentioned. 



Mr. James Bryant mentions two divisions as obtaining amongst 

 the tribes about the Gawler Ranges, who adjoined the Port Lincoln 

 people on the north. He spells the names of the divisions as 



1 Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln, S.A. (E. Thomas & Co., Adelaide). 

 This work is republished in "Native Tribes of South Australia," (1879), 

 pp. 207 - 252. 



2 Trans. Eoy. Soc, Victoria, (1860) Vol. v., p. 178. 



