12 MARRIAGE. When a man has a sister or daughter whom it is his right to give away, he will often sell that right to a man who wants a wife for either money, clothes, or weapons, and then the purchaser will give the woman away in exchange for a wife for himself. A woman is supposed to signify her consent to the marriage by carrying fire to her husband’s wurley,* and making his fire for him. An unwilling wife will say, when she wishes to signify that she was forced into marriage with her husband, " I never made any fire in his wurley for him." In case of a man having two wives, the elder is always regarded as the mistress of the hut or wurley. Marriages always take place after dark, and are generally celebrated with a great deal of dancing and singing. I know that, on some occasions, amongst a certain class of natives, a great deal of licentious revelry will take place, but this is not always the case. I have known as well-matched and loving couples amongst the Aborigines as I have amongst Europeans. One singularity of their courtship is, that the suitor always tries to make out that he marries the damsel because she very much wants him to do so. When a couple are fond of each other they generally manage to get married, if not too nearly related. The aversion of the natives to even second cousins marrying is very great. They are extremely strict in this matter. The first inquiry with regard to a proposed marriage is, whether there is any tie of kindred between the parties, and if there be it prevents the match, and if the couple should cohabit afterwards they will be always looked upon with dishonour; in short, the Narrinyeri are exogamous, and never marry in their own tribe. A man’s children belong to his tribe, and not to their mother’s. This is remarkable, as it is so contrary to what is said by certain anthropologists to be the rule in savage tribes. A man’s sons always inherit their father’s property.
- This word wurley is from the language of the Adelaide tribe. The Narrinyeri
word is mante, I have used "wurley," because it is more generally understood by the colonists.
