Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/175

 To a casual observer these people might seem to be under no sort of government, nor subject to control of any kind, no deference being paid to age, nor any restraint imposed upon youth, so that there might appear to be an absence of the elements, from which we are accustomed to derive the very idea of civil government. The only obvious exercise of authority is that of the husband over his wife, but even this is in general mildly exercised; they have seldom more than two wives. The wife, or lubra, has her part assigned in the domestic economy; it is her business to make the mi-mi, to light the fire, to draw water, and to dress the game which her husband has procured. When moving from place to place it is she who carries the basket, the kettle, and whatever other utensils foreign intercourse has introduced into their cuisine. But we should be in error were we to infer from these appearances, that their actions were unshackled, and their conduct subject to no control; this is far from being the case, they are in fact subject to a set of most debasing superstitions, consisting either of customs handed down to them by their ancestors, or supposed to be sanctioned by revelations of a supernatural character. As their sorcerers, priests, or koragees (as they are called) are the interpreters of these customary laws, and the supposed recipients of these supernatural communications, they, of course, exercise extensive influence so long as they do not violate the popular prejudices. These customs (as I believe) regulate not only their graver concerns, their funerals, marriages, corrobarees, &c., but their ordinary migrations, and the affairs of every day life, thus forming a