16

-13-

The yuru, or climbing-vine (Flagellaria Indica), was of very
great service and a regular article of the family kit. Both men and
women were expert in the use of it, which has been already described.

The construction of bark canoes was understood, but they were
rarely called into requisition.

Utensils were few. The coolaman, or wooden basin for holding
water, had been superseded by the tin can for general use before I
became acquainted with the natives. They employed stones for grind-
ing the bunya-nuts into meal. The women made dillie-bags of various
patterns and sizes, the material being grass or string of squirrel fur.
Small hand-nets were also manufactured.

Their weapons were of few and simple varieties. The kuthar,
usually called nullanulla by Europeans, was used as a club either to
be thrown or for striking at close quarters. With it they both hunted
and fought. The heavy end was sometimes rendered more formidable by
having a surrounding band of knobs carved in the solid. The kuthar
were commonly made of iron-bark, but many were brigalow, and
specimens of the scented myal, obtained from a distance by barter,
were very highly prized.

The boomerangs were narrow, light and devoid of ornamental
carvings. Some returned to the thrower, others only sped forward. The
natives could not distnguish the one sort from the other by inspection,
but only upon trial.

A weapon called bokkan, from bokka, a horn or projection, corres-
ponded to the leangil of the Victorians. It was rectangular in outline,
the striking end pointed and shorter than the handle, and it was wielded
like a light pick-axe.

The spears, or koni, were from 7 to 10 ft. in length, made of iron-
bark spalings and hardened at the point by the application of fire.
They were usually quite plain, but occasionally had a single barb. They
were cast without the help of the lever or throwing-stick.

The shields were only of one pattern, oblong in shape, with ends
rounded, and about 2 ft. long by 1 ft. wide. They were sometimes called
helemon, a word borrowed from the New South Wales dialects, but the
local name was kunmarim, after the currajong tree, from the wood of
which they were formed. They had to be thick to allow of a handle being
made at the back by cutting and burning a hollow under a short longit-
udinal bar. Although very light the wood was exceedingly tough. Some
old ones showed many deep dents and prints from blows received, and
yet they were sound. The front was generally coloured with red and
white pigment by way or ornamentation.

In prehistoric tiimes stone knives had been utilised for hand-to-
hand single combats, the combatants each clasping each other with one
arm and striking the knife into the thigh or a fleshy part of the
back until one cried "Hold." Pieces of butcher knives, hafted after
the style of the old stone knives, came to be used for the same manner
of fighting and inflicted frightful gashes. A boy Donald received a
terrible, deep wound in his thigh in this way, which festered, kept
him lying in the camp for weeks, and rendered him lame for long after-
wards.

In their regular warafare the spear was the offensive weapon. The
warriors advanced, to meet each other in two extended lines and they
fought two and two, ie., a man on one side engaged one on the other.

The message-stick in use was of a very simple form. It was merely
a tiny bit of a twig bearing a few notches by way of inscription. On
one occasion, when we were resuming our journey after passing the night at
Gigoogan, [my?] blackboy produced a piece of a stick, 1 1/2 in. in length,
out of the lining of his hat and showed it to me. It had three small

(over)

-13-

The yuru, or climbing-vine (Flagellaria Indica), was of very
great service and a regular article of the family kit. Both men and
women were expert in the use of it, which has been already described.

The construction of bark canoes was understood, but they were
rarely called into requisition.

Utensils were few. The coolaman, or wooden basin for holding
water, had been superseded by the tin can for general use before I
became acquainted with the natives. They employed stones for grind-
ing the bunya-nuts into meal. The women made dillie-bags of various
patterns and sizes, the material being grass or string of squirrel fur.
Small hand-nets were also manufactured.

Their weapons were of few and simple varieties. The kuthar,
usually called nullanulla by Europeans, was used as a club either to
be thrown or for striking at close quarters. With it they both hunted
and fought. The heavy end was sometimes rendered more formidable by
having a surrounding band of knobs carved in the solid. The kuthar
were commonly made of iron-bark, but many were brigalow, and
specimens of the scented myal, obtained from a distance by barter,
were very highly prized.

The boomerangs were narrow, light and devoid of ornamental
carvings. Some returned to the thrower, others only sped forward. The
natives could not distnguish the one sort from the other by inspection,
but only upon trial.

A weapon called bokkan, from bokka, a horn or projection, corres-
ponded to the leangil of the Victorians. It was rectangular in outline,
the striking end pointed and shorter than the handle, and it was wielded
like a light pick-axe.

The spears, or koni, were from 7 to 10 ft. in length, made of iron-
bark spalings and hardened at the point by the application of fire.
They were usually quite plain, but occasionally had a single barb. They
were cast without the help of the lever or throwing-stick.

The shields were only of one pattern, oblong in shape, with ends
rounded, and about 2 ft. long by 1 ft. wide. They were sometimes called
helemon, a word borrowed from the New South Wales dialects, but the
local name was kunmarim, after the currajong tree, from the wood of
which they were formed. They had to be thick to allow of a handle being
made at the back by cutting and burning a hollow under a short longit-
udinal bar. Although very light the wood was exceedingly tough. Some
old ones showed many deep dents and prints from blows received, and
yet they were sound. The front was generally coloured with red and
white pigment by way or ornamentation.

In prehistoric tiimes stone knives had been utilised for hand-to-
hand single combats, the combatants each clasping each other with one
arm and striking the knife into the thigh or a fleshy part of the
back until one cried "Hold." Pieces of butcher knives, hafted after
the style of the old stone knives, came to be used for the same manner
of fighting and inflicted frightful gashes. A boy Donald received a
terrible, deep wound in his thigh in this way, which festered, kept
him lying in the camp for weeks, and rendered him lame for long after-
wards.

In their regular warafare the spear was the offensive weapon. The
warriors advanced, to meet each other in two extended lines and they
fought two and two, ie., a man on one side engaged one on the other.

The message-stick in use was of a very simple form. It was merely
a tiny bit of a twig bearing a few notches by way of inscription. On
one occasion, when we were resuming our journey after passing the night at
Gigoogan, [my?] blackboy produced a piece of a stick, 1 1/2 in. in length,
out of the lining of his hat and showed it to me. It had three small

(over)