Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/49

Rh to be observed all over Australia, and in several island groups in the Pacific Ocean.

A chief who has been married under the law of betrothal, is not permitted to marry another woman for a long time; and should he do so without obtaining the consent of his wife, there would be constant quarrelling, as the first wife is always superior in authority to the others, and is naturally jealous of a rival.

A man can divorce his wife for serious misconduct, and can even put her to death; but in every case the charge against her must first be laid before the chiefs of his own and his wife's tribes, and their consent to her punishment obtained. If the wife has children, however, she cannot be divorced. Should a betrothed woman be found after marriage to have been unfaithful, her husband must divorce her. Her relations then remove her and her child to her own tribe, and compel the father of the child to marry her, unless he be a relative. In that case she must remain unmarried. If a husband is unfaithful, his wife cannot divorce him. She may make a complaint to the chief, who can punish the man by sending him away from his tribe for two or three moons; and the guilty woman is very severely punished by her relatives.

The courtship of those who have not been betrothed to each other when young is regulated by very strict laws. Korroboræs, and great meetings of the tribes, are the chief opportunities for selecting wives; as there the young people of various and distant tribes have an opportunity of seeing one another. A married man or a widower can speak to a married woman or to a widow, but they are not allowed to go beyond the boundaries of the camp together at any time, unless they are accompanied by another married person. Unmarried adults of both sexes are kept strictly apart from those of another tribe, and are always under the eyes of their parents or guardians. The young women are not permitted to leave the neighbourhood of their wuurns at any time, unless accompanied by a near relative. As there can be thus no personal communication between marriageable persons outside of the limits of consanguinity, a mutual friend, called a gnapunda, 'match maker,' is employed to carry messages, but this can only be done with the approval of the parents or guardians of both parties.

When a man falls in love with a young woman, he does not always consult her wishes, or procure her consent to marriage, but makes his proposal to the father through her uncle or cousin. If the father approve, he informs the suitor that he may marry his daughter; and to this decision she must submit, whether