ice in the
matter, it is rather a transfer. These are by no means all the unsettled
questions on which light is needed. What, for example, is the position
of a _pirrauru_ wife whose _tippa-malku_ husband dies? Does she pass to
a new _tippa-malku_ husband? If so, must he be an ex-_pirrauru_? Does
she continue in the _pirrauru_ relation to her former _pirraurus_,
regardless of her new husband's wishes? Can the _pirrauru_ relationship
be dissolved at the wish of either or both parties and by what means?

With so many obscurities in the narrative we must esteem ourselves
fortunate that we are not left without the information that a special
ceremony is necessary to make the _pirrauru_ relation legal; this is
performed by the head or heads of the men's totems, and need not be
described here.

With regard to precedence it should be noted that at ordinary times the
_tippa-malku_ spouse always takes precedence of the _pirrauru_ spouse.
Where two men are _pirrauru_ to the same woman, the _tippa-malku_
husband being absent, the elder man may take the precedence or may share
his rights and duties with the younger. It is the duty of the _pirrauru_
husband to protect a woman during the absence of her _tippa-malku_
husband.

A woman cannot refuse to take a _pirrauru_ who has been regularly
allotted to her. In her _tippa-malku_ husband's absence the _pirrauru_
husband takes his place as a matter of right. He cannot however take her
away from the _tippa-malku_ husband without his consent except at
certain ceremonial times[164]. One other fact may be noted. An
influential man hires out his _pirraurus_ to those who have none.

Before we proceed to discuss the import of these facts it will be well
to mention the analogous customs of the only two tribes outside the
Dieri nation where the same relation is asserted to exist, and certain
cases regarded by Dr Howitt, wrongly in all probability, as on the same
level as the _pirrauru_ custom. In the Kurnandaburi, according to an
informant of Dr Howitt's, a group of men who are own or tribal brothers
and a group of women who are own or tribal sisters, are united,
apparently without any ceremony, in group marriage, whenever the tribe
assembles or this Dippa-malli group meets at other times[165].

Dr Howitt adds that in this tribe the husband often has an intrigue with
his sister-in-law (wife's sister or brother's wife), although they are
in the relation of _Kodi-molli_ and practise a modified