Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/299

V The Kurnai man, with the rare exceptions mentioned, could acquire a wife in one way only, namely, by running off with her secretly and with her own consent. Marriage, therefore, was by elopement, and this was brought about in different ways. A young man who was so fortunate as to have an unmarried sister, and who also had a friend similarly provided, might arrange with him that they should take each other's sisters, these being of course consenting parties, for under the peculiar conditions of this tribe the choice of a husband rested altogether with the woman. Or a man might send a message to a girl he fancied, or a girl might even send a message to a young man, such as, "Will you find me some food?"

A young man who had been initiated at the Jeraeil, and had served a certain probation, was qualified thereby to take a wife. He would go on a visit to his relatives in that locality from which his mother had come, or to one of the other localities with which his own had marriage relations; and seeing some girl that he fancied, and the feeling being reciprocated, the two would elope. Of the numerous ways in which marriage by elopement was brought about, there are two which are worthy of special notice. If it happened that there were marriageable girls, but that the marriageable young men did not take the initiative, the women set it going by killing a Yiirung (emu-wren), that is, one of the "men's brothers," and casually letting the men see it. Then the men became very angry because one of their brothers had been killed. The young men who might be suitors got sticks, the girls took their digging-sticks, and a fight commenced between them, at which many blows were struck, heads were broken, and blood flowed. Even the married men and women joined in the fight. The following day the young men killed a Djiitgun (superb warbler), that is, a "woman's sister," and in consequence caused another fight, perhaps worse than the former. After a time, the wounds and bruises having healed, one of the eligible young men and one of the girls meeting, and being inclined towards each other, he looking at her would say "Djiitgun?" to which, if she responded to the understood