This Arises From The Fact Of The More Distant Tribes Who Visit Europeans Stations, Frequently Leaving Their Younger Wives, Or Little Children At Home, With Aged Relatives, Whilst They Themselves Go To A Distance.

In all the periodical, or regular issues of flour at the time of full moon, I have accurately kept lists of all who attended.

The gross totals of thirty-three issues are as follows: -

Men 1266 Women 1330 Boys 930 Girls 551 Infants 52 - - 4129

From this it is apparent, first, that the women attending the monthly meetings at the Murray have been, on the whole, about five and a half per cent in excess of the men, an extraordinary and unusual circumstance, as compared with the results obtained at other places. I can only account for this upon the supposition before given, that when large bodies of natives leave Moorunde for Adelaide, more men than women go away, and that consequently a larger proportion of females is left behind. Mr. Moor-house remarks, upon this point, that he has found the males to average seventy per cent more than the females, among the Adelaide tribes. My own observation leads me to the opinion that upon the Murray the two sexes are as nearly equal in numbers as may be.

Secondly, it would appear, that of the Moorunde issues, the number of girls attending has been little more than one half that of the boys. This may, perhaps, arise in some measure from females assuming the duties of women, and being classed as such, at an age when males would still be considered as only boys.

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