He suspected witchcraft in
the phenomena of pregnancy and childbirth (to this day the aborigines of
Central and Northern Australia do not realise the connection between
generation and birth). As a rule it was remembered that a certain woman
had given birth to a certain child by the fact of her having carried it
about and fed it at her breast. Occasionally it was forgotten to which
mother a child belonged; perhaps the mother had died; perhaps the child
had strayed beyond the boundaries of the community and the mother had
failed to recognise it on its return. But it was clear beyond all doubt
that every child had a "mother." The conception of "father" had not yet
been formed. Experience had taught our primitive ancestors two
undeniable facts, namely "that women gave birth to children" and "that
every child had a mother."
We must assume that sexual intercourse was irregular and haphazard up to
the dawn of history. Every woman--within the limits of her own tribe,
probably--belonged to every man.
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