BY RICHD. HELMS. 38J> 



to the camp. The surprise mostly caused a stampede amongst 

 the suddenly aroused sleepers, and those who did not escape by 

 immediate flight, whether young or old, would be speared or 

 knocked down with nulla nullas. After burning the spears and 

 other war implements that were left behind, the attacking party 

 returned as quickly as possible to their own district, probably to 

 meet with a similar fate at some future time when the enemy had 

 rallied and was reinforced. 



The oldest man of the tribe was recognised as a kind of chief, 

 but whenever an attack on some enemy was planned, the ablest 

 warrior as a rule was chosen to lead, and his advice then received 

 the endorsement of the old men. 



Personal disputes were also not infrequent, and were generally 

 settled by a fight, either with spears or cluljs. In each case the 

 shield served for warding off the spears or the blows of the nulla. 

 Fighting with stone tomahawks was not permitted in these duels, 

 and was suppressed if in the heat of the combat the assailants 

 should resort to these murderous weapons. In fact most of their 

 fights, if single combats, were regulated by the onlookers, who 

 frequently interfered when one of the parties was seen to get 

 weak and it was noticed that he was unable to ward off the blow^s 

 with the necessary dexterity. Some of their fights were regulated 

 so that the combatants alternately hit the "hielaman" held by the 

 opponents with the left hand above the head till the arm would 

 gradually get weak and sink so that the nulla would fall on the 

 head instead of the shield. The first hit on the head would end 

 the fight as a rule, and frequently — if, for instance, one of the 

 duellists was a much older man than the other— the fight might 

 probably be stopped just before the club fell upon the skull, and 

 the combat declared satisfactorily finished. 



During the quarrel the opponents used to gather their beards in 

 the mouth, which, together with the grimaces they assumed, gave 

 them a ferocious expression. 



They recognised the tribal rights to certain grounds, but the 

 boundaries were not always particularly respected, as it happened 

 frequently that they were overstepped during hunting excursions. 



