sistance of their
husbands and brothers."[151] In Central Australia the men occasionally
beat the women through jealousy, but on such occasions it is by no
means rare for the women, single handed, to beat the men
severely.[152] Again, men carry on, as a rule, the negotiations on
tribal concerns, but in such matters exceptions are very numerous.
Among the Australian Dieyerie, Curr states that the women act as
ambassadors to arrange treaties, and invariably succeed in their
mission.[153] The same conditions are found among the American
Indians. Men are the hunters and fishers, but women also hunt and
fish. Among the Yahgan of Tierra del Fuego fishing is left entirely to
the women,[154] and this is not at all unusual. Mrs. Allison states of
the Similkameen Indians of British Columbia that formerly "the women
were nearly as good hunters as the men," but being sensitive to the
ridicule of the white settlers, they have given up hunting.[155] In
hunting trips, the help of women is often not to be despised.
Warburton Pike writes thus: "I saw what an advantage it is to take
women on a hunting trip. If we killed anything, we had only to cut up
and _cache_ the meat, and the women would carry it. On returning to
camp we could throw ourselves down on a pile of caribou skins and
smoke our pipes in comfort, but the women's work was never
finished."[156] This account is very suggestive. The man undergoes the
fatigue of hunting, and when he has thrown the game at the woman's
feet his part is done; it is her duty to carry it and to cook it, as
well as to make the vessels in which the food is placed. The skins and
the refuse are hers to utilise, and all the industries connected with
clothing are chiefly in her hands.[157] Hearne, in his delightful old
narrative, speaks of the assistance of women on hunting expeditions--

"For when all the men are heavy laden they can neither hunt
nor travel to any considerable distance; and in case they
meet with any success in hunting, who is to carry the
produce of their labour?"

[151] _Life and Adventures of William Buckley_, p. 43.

[152] _Journal Anthropological Institute_, Aug. 1890, p. 61.

[153] _Australian Races_, cited by Ellis, _Man and Woman_, p.
9 _note_.

[154] Haydes et Deniker, _Mission Scientifique de Cape Horn_,
tome vii, 1891.

[155] _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, Feb. 1892,
p. 307.

[156] Warburton Pike, _B