Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/543

Rh originally secured his." Is this a modification of a prior female descent? It does not appear that the woman is subject to any corresponding law.

The Kakadu also possess a series of ceremonies and sacred objects called Muraian. They correspond partly to the Arunta Intichiuma ceremonies, partly to the Engwura, and the churingas and other sacred objects used in them respectively. But the Kakadu carry matters further than the Arunta; for the initiation into the final stages of the Muraian is deferred until the candidate is an elderly man, and the sacred objects are addressed with the fierce and insistent cry of "Give, give!" as if demanding food from personal beings endowed with will and capacity to grant or withhold the prayers of their votaries. The Kakadu and some other tribes also execute drawings on bark and rock which represent, Prof. Spencer thinks, the highest level of artistic attainment among the Australian aborigines. Whatever may be the cause of the evolution of their culture, it is quite clear that it has been much modified. It is equally clear that the modifications are only modifications of the general stock of Australian culture.

The marriage regulations and class organization of those tribes which have come under the influences affecting the central area of the continent are set forth and discussed at length by the author. As in previous volumes, he has given tables of the relationship terms which demand careful study. He has devoted a chapter to the native beliefs as to the origin of children; and his enquiries have further confirmed the physiological ignorance and fantastic beliefs which he and Mr. Gillen were the first to record, but which are now known to prevail over a large part, if not the whole, of the Australian continent. I have no space to consider these and other subjects of profound anthropological interest dealt with in the volume. They will doubtless be fully debated by students before long. In the meantime, we are greatly indebted to Prof. Spencer for this first glimpse into the institutions and beliefs, as well as the material culture, of the tribes of the far north. Much more remains, however, to be done before we are in a position to estimate the influences that have been at work on these tribes during past ages, or to understand their psychology. It is to be hoped that Prof. Spencer himself, or some other careful student