Note 312 — Chapter IV · [89] SEXUAL ASPECT OF MARRIAGE

J.A.I., xx. p. 53, Smith. Rep., p. 807, Trans. R.S.V., p. 100. In J.A.I., xx. p. 53, Howitt says that among all these tribes there are two forms of marriage. "There is a marriage ... which may be spoken of as 'individual marriage.'" "There is also a marital relation existing between a man and a number of women, or between a woman and number of men. This latter connection may be spoken of as group marriage." We see that Howitt uses here the word "marriage" only to design the individual union, and speaking about the Pirrauru, correctly employs the words "marital relations." This sounds quite differently from the repeated denial that the "individual marriage does not exist in the tribes" made by Spencer and Gillen (Nat. Tr., pp. 63, 109; Nor. Tr., p. 140). And again Howitt says (Trans. R.S.V., p. 115), "Individual marriage in Australian tribes has been evident to every one, but beside it exist also group marriages."