Not less interesting than the forms of flight and abduction is the custom of elopement, implying the connivance or consent of the woman. In Tasmania[519] and in Australia, especially among the Kurnai, etiquette requires that the lover should run away with his betrothed. Contrary to the common opinion, capture of women seldom occurs in Australia, and then only as the result of war between hostile tribes.[520] "The young Kurnai," however, "could acquire a wife in one way only. He must run away with her. Native marriages might be brought about in various ways. If the young man was so fortunate as to have an unmarried sister, and to have a friend who also had an unmarried sister, they might arrange with the girls to run off together; or he might make his arrangements with some eligible girl whom he fancied and who fancied him; or a girl, if she fancied a young man, might send him a secret message asking, 'Will you find me some food?' And this was understood to be a proposal. But in every such case it was essential to success that the parents of the bride should be utterly ignorant of what was about to take place. It was no use his asking for a wife excepting under most exceptional circumstances, for he could only acquire one in the usual manner, and that was by running off with her."[521] According to Mr. Howitt, marriage by elopement exists among many other Australian tribes. It seems to be the favorite method when the parents of the girl are opposed to the match. In that case, the girl is sometimes severely punished; or the man is supposed to retain her only as the result of a successful combat with her friends, which may prove to be something more than a sham combat.[522] [519] BONWICK, _Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians_, 65, 66. [520] MCLENNAN, _op. cit._, I, 38 ff., maintains the prevalence of capture _de facto_, especially in the form of violent abduction; and he is followed by LUBBOCK, _op. cit._, 111-13. According to FISON AND HOWITT, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, 343 ff., women are sometimes (1) stolen from kindred groups; (2) seized in war between related clans; or (3) captured from alien tribes, elopement being of more frequent, and marriage by exchange or gift of less frequent, occurrence. But it should be remembered that elopement and purchase often go together. MR. CURR, _The Australian Race_, I, 108, states that women are very seldom captured from other tribes, the practice being discouraged for fear of stirring up incessant attacks. _Cf._ WESTERMARCK, _Human Marriage_, 384, 385; and KOHLER, "Das Recht der Australneger," _ZVR._, VII, 350 ff.