irl of his own age has been married and given birth to a girl
who in turn has become marriageable.

In the same connection we have the testimony of Curr that

the marriage customs of the blacks result in very ill-assorted
unions as regards age; for it is usual to see old men with
mere girls as wives, and men in the prime of life married to
old widows. As a rule wives are not obtained by the men
until they are at least thirty years of age. Women have very
frequently two husbands during their lifetime, the first older
and the second younger than themselves. Of course, as polygamy
is the rule and the men of the tribe exceed the females in
number besides, there are always many bachelors in every
tribe; but I never heard of a female over sixteen years of age
who, prior to the breakdown of aboriginal customs after the
coming of the whites, had not a husband.[218]

And Bonwick says:

The old men, who get the best food and hold the franchise of
the tribe in their hands, manage to secure an extra supply of
the prettiest girls.[219]

A further evidence of the keen sexual interest of the male is
furnished by the fact that even when the difficulties in the way of
getting a wife are regularly overcome by the youth, the other men of
the group, especially the older ones, reserve a temporary but prior
claim on her.[220]

In addition to a lively sexual interest in the women of their own
group, we find that even the lowest races have a well-developed
appreciation of the property value of women. In the earliest times
women were the sole creators of certain economic values, and since the
women contributed as much or more to the support of the men as the
men contributed to the support of the women, the men naturally got and
kept as many women as possible.[221] The condition prevailing in this
regard in central Australia is stated by Howitt:

It is an advantage to a man to have as many _Piraurus_ as
possible. He has then less work to do in hunting as his
_Piraurus_ when present supply him with a share of the food
which they procure, their own _Noas_ being absent. He also
obtains great influence in the tribe by lending his _Piraurus_
occasionally and receiving presents from young men to whom
_Piraurus_ have not yet been allotted, or who may not have
_Piraurus_ with them in the camp where they are. This is at
all times carried on, and such