dare to stay him."[145] In this second statement it may be noted that only the unappropriated girls of the tribe and those who are lawfully marriageable may be obtained in this way. Besides, this proceeding appears much more in the light of elopement than capture. [144] Howitt in _Smiths. Rep._, p. 798. [145] _Ibid._ Important it is to note that in utter contradiction with those few statements, made by some early observers in New South Wales, _capture_ is usually reported to be merely an exceptional form of contracting marriage. That it was in existence in nearly all tribes seems beyond doubt. Spencer and Gillen, Howitt,[146] Curr[147] mention that marriage by capture occurred. But all these authors add emphatically that this was the most exceptional mode of acquiring a wife.[148] And it appears from Spencer and Gillen's account that capture is effected rather by an avenging party than by an individual enterprise. And even in the case of capture, possession does not mean right. The woman must belong in the first place to the right class (Rusden, Spencer and Gillen), and in the case related by Spencer and Gillen she had to be especially allotted to one of the men by the leader of the party. [146] _Kam. and Kurn._, p. 343. [147] _A.R._, i. p. 108. [148] That capture of females occurs only very seldom is affirmed by Palmer, _loc. cit._, p. 301, and by Taplin, p. 10. J. Mathew, _J.R.S.N.S.W._, xxiii. p. 407, states that marriage by capture takes place between members of hostile communities. Quoted from Dr. Westermarck, _H.H.M._, p. 389. _Elopement_ on the other hand is, as we mentioned above, to be found in nearly all tribes. In all cases it is considered as an encroachment on the rights of the family or of the husband over the girl, and it is punished. But the severity of punishment seems to vary according to the tribe; in the Kurnai elopement was probably the most usual way of getting married; it was therefore not so severely punished. The latter seems to apply to all Victorian and New South Wales tribes. In the Central tribes charming by magic and subsequent elopement led to a fight or ordeal, but the matter was apparently not very serious. Whereas, we read in Roth, Grey, Salvado and Oldfield that the punishment was death.[149] Nevertheless, as we have come to the conclusion that these three statements are not quite clear on this point, we may not take this for granted as a geographical distinction between the South-Eastern and North-Western (including W. Queensland) regions. It may be also that abduction of a woman was punished by death or at any rate more severely in case she belonged to a forbidden class. [149] Also Curr, _A.R._, i. p. 108, affirms that elopement was usually severely punished and only very seldom legalized. He knew only three cases where eloped couples were allowed to live together permanently.