Page:Descriptive account of the panoramic view, &c. of King George's Sound, and the adjacent country.djvu/10

 10 The Womera was afterwards stuck up at the head of the mound, whilst the spears rested on its extremities; the know of the former and the blunt ends of the latter being broken, as if to denote that they were no longer useful. On the death of a relation or friend, they tear their faces with their nails, and streak their hair with the blood, uttering at the same time loud lamentations.

The women are far from receiving very refined or gentle treatment: although their husbands appear passionately fond of them, they are beat and sometimes knocked down upon slight occasions, employed in the more laborious occupations, and compelled to make themselves useful in seeking for roots and frogs, preparing food, making spears, or constructing the wigwam. In addition to the Kangaroo cloak of the men, they carry two bags; one for roots or any stray delicacy; the other for an infant; whilst a child of larger growth is seated across the shoulders. The infant is betrothed as soon as born, and often married at the age of thirteen, and sometimes sooner. Polygamy exists, although the females appear to be the less numerous of the population; hence they are objects of much solicitude, and abductions and elopements frequently occur; in some instances a reconciliation takes place; in others, the frail runaway is punished by a good beating, or a spear wound through the leg. Some, when young, are tolerably good-looking, but the prevalent fashion of