the woman belonged to a distant
tribelet, whatever that may be[14]. To this information is added the
statement that in such cases the husband joined his wife's tribe for
purposes of hostilities also and that it has happened that a son has
come into conflict with his father under these circumstances and
endangered his life with full knowledge of what he was doing. There is,
it is true, no definite statement to the effect that children in these
tribes take their totems from the father, but we may assume that it is
the case. If therefore the statement in question is accurate, it is a
pretty clear proof of the break-up of the social system; for under no
circumstances does the totem-kinsman, as a rule, violate the
sacro-sanctity of his own flesh. It cannot therefore be argued that the
fact of removal in the Maryborough tribes is any very strong evidence of
the primitive nature of the custom. In the other tribes, on the other
hand, it is distinctly stated that the practice prevails only when
marriage takes place between members of two different tribes, and among
the Wakelbura only exceptionally even when the wife is of an alien folk.
Whatever else the custom proves in these cases, it certainly evidences
the existence of friendly relations between the tribes in question; for
if it were otherwise the man would hardly be disposed to give up the
security of his own people for the perils of a strange community; on the
other hand it is hardly likely that the man's tribe would allow him to
pass over to the ranks of the strangers, nor would they view with
equanimity the loss of effective fighting strength which would result
from the fact that his children too would be numbered against them, not
for them, if it came to hostilities. The custom is therefore clear
evidence of fairly permanent friendly relations in the district in
question; and it is plain that we cannot assume these to have existed in
more primitive times. It is therefore difficult to see in what way the
present day practices lend support to the theory that the original usage
was for the husband to remove to his wife's group. For, be it noted,
there is not a single case, unless we include the anomalous Kurnai, in
which the husband removes to his wife's group within his own tribe; but
clearly this is the custom to which the removal theory applies. So far,
therefore, as Australia is concerned, the removal theory falls to the
ground; it cannot of course be disproved, but we