place of birth, and every stream or hillock had its name well
known to all the tribe. The principal stars had names, and
by the position of the Pleiades the approach of summer was
known. The territory was that of the tribe, but subject to
this paramount right, families were specially recognised as
having peculiar attachments to certain tracts. As there
was no cultivation, there was no jealousy as to boundaries,
except between tribes. The decisions of the tribe were
made by common consent after discussion amongst the older warriors.
There were chiefs,[1] and their office was sometimes hereditary if the successor was wise and valiant. Otherwise he fell into the ranks. The tribes were glad to be led or advised by accredited sagacity, but there was no arbitrary prerogative. Where there was a leader he was rather primus inter pares than autocratic. On all occasions of difficulty the tribe consulted together, and the decision of the elders was final. The chieftain, if there happened to be one, accepted it implicitly. It was always given in absolute conformity to the traditions and ceremonies of the tribe, which no one thought of disobeying or changing, and of which the elders were the expounders.
Old age swept the decrepit out of consideration. They became mere hangers-on of the tribe, fed by the next-of-kin. Sometimes it is affirmed that they were abandoned as useless or superfluously lagging on the stage. The author has known no instance, but would not deny that it has occurred. He knew an instance of continued veneration for an aged warrior, and saw him buried reverently.
Amongst the laws expounded was one by which injuries were to be avenged or expiated. A culprit had sometimes to fight, and sometimes to stand at a certain distance to encounter spears hurled at him by the aggrieved. The sentence was never resisted.
It was only by slow degrees that the young man became free to eat of all the game in the forest. Not until he had
- ↑ In 1858 a Select Committee of the Legislative Council of Victoria was appointed to report upon the aborigines. In the replies to a query as to their form of government, about an equal number of witnesses described it as patriarchal, monarchic, and democratic. A similar number said they had none at all.
