Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/50

 she admires the man or not. From the time when the proposal is accepted till they are married they are not permitted to speak to each other. Should she express reluctance to the match—which is often the case—the friends of the suitor accompany him to her father's wuurn, with his hands tied together with a rope made of the twisted inner bark of the blackwood tree. He is then introduced to her, and the rope is removed by his friends; and, after sitting beside her till sunset, he conducts her to his wuurn, which has been enlarged for her accommodation. The woman generally reconciles herself to the match, and remains quietly among her new friends. But, if she is dissatisfied, and runs away, the husband, failing to entice her to return home, considers he has a right to kill her. If he does so, however, her father, brothers, or uncles, in retaliation, can kill any of his relatives. The exercise of this right would thus lead to a quarrel between the families and their respective tribes.

If a young orphan woman elopes with a man of another tribe against the wishes of her relatives, notice is sent to him that she must be brought back, or she will be taken by force. Should the warning be unattended to, his wuurn is visited at daybreak by four or five of the woman's male friends, armed with spears and marwhangs, but not with boomerangs; they seize and stupefy her with blows, and carry her off. If the man or his friends resist, the contest frequently ends in the death of some of them, and, it may be, of the woman herself. If no warning has been given of an intention to take her away, the man knows that she may be suddenly removed, and given to another. Sometimes he will kill her rather than allow her to be given to another man; but he does this with the certainty of retaliation on himself, or on his aunt or female cousin. Should the woman escape a second time from her relatives, and return to the man, she is then considered his lawful wife, and cannot be taken from him.

Besides the custom of selecting wives at the great meetings and korroboræs, any two young men of different tribes and classes, having each a sister or cousin, may agree, with the consent of their chiefs, to exchange the young women and marry them. This is done without any previous courtship, or consent on the part of the women, even although they may be perfect strangers to the men, and they must submit.

The rule is that a father alone can give away his daughter. If the father is dead the son can dispose of the daughter, with the consent of the uncle. Should the woman have no male relative, the chief has the power of bestowing her on anyone he thinks proper; but his consent is reluctantly sought, as it