are, according to Giaom, three principal people, Manu, Piaquai, and Baki,
all old men, but among the Gudangs, a young man of twenty-five of the
name of Tumagugo appeared to have the greatest influence, and next to him
Paida, not more than six or eight years older.

LAWS REGARDING PROPERTY IN LAND.

It seems curious to find at Cape York and the Prince of Wales Islands a
recognised division and ownership of land, seeing that none of it by
cultivation has been rendered fit for the permanent support of man.
According to Giaom, there are laws regulating the ownership of every inch
of ground on Muralug and the neighbouring possessions of the Kowraregas,
and I am led to believe such is likewise the case at Cape York. Among
these laws are the following: A person has a claim upon the ground where
both himself and his parents were born, although situated in different
localities. On the death of parents their land is divided among the
children, when both sexes share alike, with this exception, that the
youngest of the family receives the largest share. Marriage does not
affect the permanency of the right of a woman to any landed property
which may have come into her possession. Lastly, an old man occasionally
so disposes of his property that a favourite child may obtain a larger
proportion than he could afterwards claim as his inheritance.

Neither at Cape York, nor in any of the Islands of Torres Strait, so far
as I am aware, do the aborigines appear to have formed an idea of the
existence of a Supreme Being; the absence of this belief may appear
questionable, but my informant, Giaom, spoke quite decidedly on this
point, having frequently made it the subject of conversation with the
Kowrarega blacks.