1 The meaning of the holes was explained by the leader, and pointing to the one which indicated the woman he asked who wanted to have her. Two or three men said, “I do;” and then the leader, after a short pause, during which he made up his mind what to do, taking a handful of earth out of the hole, presented it to the man to whom he decided to allot the woman saying, “She belongs to you.” When captured, as she was shortly afterwards, she became the property of that man, no one of the others disputing his right, nor, it may be
1 which meant, “I took your woman, come and growl.” Thereupon the man got up, and standing some distance off threw spears and boomerangs at the first man, who skilfully guarded himself with his shield but made no attempt to retaliate. When all had been thrown he rushed in to close quarters with his enemy and began attempting to cut the thighs of the latter and his back also with a large stone knife, the attacked man doing his best to guard himself but not again attempting to retaliate. After a time the onlookers thought that enough had beendone, and calling out loudly “kulla impara,” which means “enough, leave him” dragged the two apart. The women meanwhile had all assembled; and the aggrieved man walking over to where his erstwhile wife was standing caught hold of her and cut her about the legs and body avoiding however any vital part. Then leaving her he waved his knife in the air and started off for the camp, shouting “Untantimma atnina, ipminja kuta, ipminja kuta,” “You keep altogether, I throw away, I throw away.” After having renounced her in this way she became the property of the man with whom she had eloped.
The fourth and most usual method of obtaining a wife is that which is connected with the well-established custom in accordance with which every woman in the tribe is made Tualcha mura with some man. The arrangement, which is often a mutual one, is made between two men, and it will be seen that owing to a girl being made Tualcha mura to a boy of her own age the men very frequently have wives much younger than themselves, as the husband and the mother of a wife obtained in this way are usually of approximately the same age.
When it has been agreed upon between two men that the relationship shall be established between their two children, one a boy and the other a girl, the two latter, who are generally of a tender age, are taken to the Erlukwirra or
Footnotes
555:1 On this occasion the party intended to kill a particular man.
558:1 Iltai is the word applied to the growling of dogs when they fight, and is used by the natives to express angry talk, and also fighting.