Duel With Boomerangs

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 9729, 4 January 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

Duel With Boomerangs

! I was vi-iting at Tort Augusta when the Ch.ei Justice came to that town to hold th? assizes, wiites a cci respondent of«the London Field. Poit Augusta is aliprst , on the border ot tlie deseit In the "SmI mediate neighborhood theie was growing* 1 in profusion the "salt bush,' which sup ports the life of the sheep during drought, and the tempting prickly jack," a weed good' to look-upon but accursed to the fai- . mer, as "its pointed spui works havoc, among the fleeces Close by we saw a! prsspr.-cus ostrich farm and a number of j cameis, their Afghan drivers, about! to scarL on a journey still further north I The stiange impression of this juxtaposi j ticn of old and nev\ was deepened by the natuie of the principal case for trial. It | was a charge agiinst Jimmy Wonyilta of the murder of Billy-Lee, both, aborigines The story of the crime was~ not com pl.caicd. A quanel seemed to ha\e arisen

through, the refusal of the deceased, ihough, of mature years, to submit to initiatory' rites which technically made him a "young man." The witnesses were cardial to speak of him always as a "hoy,' though it was testified that he had a lew gray" hairs. The actual conflict between ihe two men was conducted with much c: the punctilio ot a dUiel. Each.of then: was .armed 1 with what is tornrr.oiily sneaking a boomerang; i: choald rather be called' a club i.: hoomeiang form. It in a large and somewhat hea\-y weapon, not intended as a missile at all ; but used to inflict a blov.- • which must be delivered* only against the litad. The inviolable etiquette or such encounters demands that each combatant i:i turn shall bend his head to the attack, not attempting to repay it until he ha.; steadily suffered his own chastisement. Blow thus solemnly alternates with blow, until the man with the stronger arm ana hui-tier head is left the victor. In this orcpal Billy Lee succumbed. The witness?:; in this trial were of course mainly abo:iginies themselves, for the crime was committed in one of their camps. Their demeanor was extremely nervous. Agar.: arid again tllcy had to be exhorted to hol.i tip their heads and to speak clearly. Uin> o: them, a strong man with dents upon h ; head suggesting a long experience c: bemncrang duels, fainteu in the course o: giving his evidence, and another eollapst-i as soon as he had left the box. Late;, witnesses were therefore allowed to sit, and' were frequently ielresJied- by a of water, which they would empty at a. single gulp. Their evidence was given in' pidgin English, interpreted by a police inspector, who was l'istecter of Aborigines for that district. The counsel for the defence had the advantage of having lived for some time among the blacks when a boy, and could consequently make hinueli easily understood by them. "You pabt.i li.nga me .now," was his intimation that they were now to speak to him instead, ot to his learned brother. "You' tell me straight, no tell lies," was .sufficient to emphasise the importance of truthful ans.,eis. Several peculiarities in linguist.: usage came out during the examination. T!ie witnesses used the word "lose" as a euphemism for "die," and "kill" in place cf "strike." It had the oddest effect to hsar how one man would .-kill the other, and the other would retaliate by killinj him.. Two peculiar; characteristics noteu by the writers on aboriginal customs-were illustrated in this trial. One was the blacks' inability to,count. At one point it was desired to ascertain what time elapsed between the death of the victim and the giving of information to the magistrate, ihe man who had himself earned the neivs could give no answer when the questmen was put to him point blank. He'was r.ext asked how many "sleeps" he had during his' journey. Tin's inquiry was also ineffectual. Lastly, the lawyer proceeded in this fashion: "Where you sleep same night Billy Lee killed?" "M©'sleep So-and-so" Creek," was the prompt answer. The place of sleeping night after night was then elicited until it was easy to calculate the. total interval. So, too, the time of day at which any event happened was indicated' not by mention of the' hour, but by: pointing to the quarter where the sun was. The other characteristic especially illustrated was the reluctance of the iriends of. the dead man to mention his name after he is gone. It is stated by cae of- the latest authorities on aboriginal practices, Jf. yf: Thomas, that to mention tiie name of a" dead'man is thought equivalent to summoning his ghost, and that to avoid such afcaiamity .words once "familiar will even be. allowed to drop permanently..out of use. In this.case Billy Lee's "iubra" never price referred to {her dead husband by name in the whole of tier {'eyideiice'. She spoke of him invariably as "dead man?' -'Tt ;vras ".uricaiiirjy: to hear cf a man killing his antagonist; after he ■had. already been killed himself, it gave iiie/no less of a creepy feeling when.this woman, told', how "d'sad man" "ate his ;jKn-iteii-cr walked outside his tent or took up his boomerang.

I Blooding over trouble is ,like surrounding oneself with a fog; it magnifies/all I objects seen thiough it Occripation|cf the mind prevents this Any hard work, manual work e\en, gnes the'mind bftie'r matters of, concern, and also tires the bcdy so a.3 to ensure sleep. "■— " -