auru_ who is
thus lent does not require to be consulted in the matter. The _pirrauru_
husband, on the other hand, disposes of his spouse exactly as if she
were a slave. On the theory of group marriage the _tippa-malku_ husband
has no less a right to be consulted in the matter than the _pirrauru_
husband. In point of fact he seems to be entirely neglected in the
transaction. It is true that in the case we are considering the
_pirrauru_ husband seems to have exceptional privileges, for we have
seen that under ordinary circumstances the _tippa-malku_ husband has
exclusive rights at ordinary times. But we must probably understand the
passage to mean that the lending of _pirraurus_ takes place at tribal
meetings[179] or on other occasions when the right of the husband is in
abeyance. In either case, the facts tell far more strongly in favour of
the view suggested here than in favour of group marriage.

There is another factor to be considered. Abductions and elopements are
merely ordinary amenities of married life among the aborigines of
Australia. We have seen that it is the duty of the _pirrauru_ husband to
protect the wife during the absence of the _tippa-malku_ husband.
Clearly this is a sort of insurance against the too bold suitor or the
too fickle wife, unless indeed the _pirrauru_ himself is the offender, a
point on which Dr Howitt has nothing to say, though Mr Siebert's
evidence may be fairly interpreted to mean that such occurrences are
not known.

We shall see below in connection with the question of the _jus primae
noctis_ that special privileges are sometimes accorded to men of the
husband's totem or class in return for assistance in capturing the wife.
Now assuming that a wife is abducted or elopes, it is, I think, on the
same persons that the duty of aiding the injured husband would fall.
Whether this is so or not, the men of his own totem are those with whom
a man's relations are, in most tribes, the closest. We have seen that
the heads of the totem-kins play an important part in assigning
_pirraurus_. Now although it is actually the practice for men of
different totems to exchange wives, it by no means follows that it was
always the case. The element of adelphic polyandry, for example, may
well have upset the original relations and brought about a practice of
exchange between men of different totems. At any rate the theory here
suggested affords an explanation of the part played by the totem
headmen, and o