We read about the Central Australian tribes of Finke River: "Some married couples agree very well, live frequently quite alone in solitude, and together provide for their wants."[184] The wives are only ill-treated in case they elope. [184] L. Schultze, p. 237. "The women are certainly not treated usually with anything which could be called excessive harshness" among the Aruntas.[185] Only in cases of infidelity "the treatment of the woman is marked by brutal and often revolting severity."[186] The same is repeated of the Northern tribes of Central Australia.[187] We are also told that the scars that the majority of women possess are due, not to the barbarity of their husbands, but to the mourning ceremonies, during which the women beat and wound themselves severely. And the authors conclude: "Taking everything into account, however, the life of one of these savage women, judged from the point of view of her requirements ... is far from being the miserable one that it is so often pictured."[188] For what would be a severe pain to a white woman is for them merely a trifling discomfort. [185] Spencer & Gillen, _Nat. Tr._, p. 50. [186] _Ibid._ [187] _Nor. Tr._, pp. 32, 33. [188] _Nor. Tr._, p. 33. We read in Barron Field, on the authority of two shipwrecked men, who spent some time among the natives of Moreton Bay, that the women are there usually well treated by their husbands.[189] [189] _Loc. cit._, p. 66. Another analogous statement is given on the Moreton Bay tribes: "The wife is rather the drudge or slave, than the companion of her husband." This (although badly formulated) means bad treatment and lack of affection as well. But we read further on that cruelty is perpetrated usually under the effect of rum; this corroborates our supposition made in connection with Lumholtz's statement. And we learn yet: "but instances also of warm and deep affection are not infrequent."[190] And the author confirms it by an example. [190] J. D. Lang, p. 337. Among the Kabi and Wakka: "Husbands were usually affectionate to their wives, but when angered they were often brutal, thrashing them unmercifully with waddies, sometimes breaking their limbs and cracking their skulls. Still the conjugal bond generally held out for a lifetime."[191] [191] J. Mathew, p. 153.