Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/209

V wife, and as to the jealousy which I have mentioned as being shown.

He said,

The Pirrauru of an unmarried young man looks after him strictly, warns him perpetually, and makes secret inquiry of his doings from the other women. She requires him to camp near at hand, so that she can keep an eye upon him. It is commonly said that such a Pirrauru never sleeps until she is quite sure that her young Pirrauru is himself soundly in that state.

The elders do not look favourably on a youth having a Tippa-malku wife or a Pirrauru early, as they think that they will be too much taken up with each other. Young men are told that they are still too young for married life, and must wait till they have a full beard.

If a man desired to obtain a particular girl or woman for his wife, and she were refused to him, and he then eloped with her, her kindred would make up a party and pursue them. On overtaking them they would take her from him, not necessarily by violence; but if he refused to part with her, he would be severely dealt with. To elope with a woman of the same Murdu is a very grave offence. Cases have occurred of the class-laws being thus broken because of threats by some man to a woman too nearly related to him, and where the woman did not dare to complain, fearing to be charged with being a consenting party.

At a tribal council, at which Mr. Gason was present, a young man was charged with having transgressed the class-law with his Ngatata, that is, his younger sister, who was in fact the daughter of his mother's sister. The old men inquired into this matter, and finding the charge to be true, the young man was severely punished, indeed almost killed. He would have been put to death had not some of the influential tribesmen interfered on his behalf, on the ground that he was a poor idiot who was not accountable for his actions.