NOKTII QUEENSLAND KTHNOGKAPHY ROTH. 211 



has already heen recorded 55 . On tlie Bloonifield River (B. Hislop) 

 there was one individual, not necessarily the oldest, who took the 

 lead and planned out the whole mode of attack ; this leader wore 

 the cockatoo top-not feather-tuft head ornament, which rendered 

 him sufficiently conspicuous. At the field of battle the older 

 women would either try to prevent blood-shed or else 

 with dancing egg the combatants on to greater fury, their conduct 

 depending upon local circumstances, cause of quarrel, etc. 

 Prisoners were not taken, but the final victors would seize the 

 opportunity of capturing any women of whom they might be in 

 want. 



34. With regard to individual fighting, the following notices 

 may not be out of place : — 



At Miriam Vale (C. E. Roe, in L892) the men would often, 

 when at close quarters during t lie wrestle, try to seize each other 

 by the testicle, the successful one increasing the pull by pressing 

 his free hand on his adversary's shoulder ; outsiders would then 

 interfere. They used to fight very hard in the old days, but one 

 would never take advantage of another-— at least, not in the case 

 of a weapon being accidentally broken. They were very stubborn, 

 and would continue the strife on the following morning if one had 

 been rendered unconscious or perhaps received a sufficiently 

 severe wound to incapacitate him for the rest of the day. The 

 women in fighting would throw hot cinders at one another. 



At Boyne Island, Gladstone District (C. Medley, 1887) the 

 natives, when fighting, would try and rupture each other. 



On the Bloomfield River (Ji. Hislop), fighting between two 

 people alone was not common. The one about to be attacked 

 might be ignorant of the attacker's intentions, and yet would 

 stand up to a blow or cut without so much as flinching ; were he to 

 turn tail and run, he would be considered a coward and probably 

 speared. On the other hand, the two might thrown down their 

 weapons, rush at each other and wrestle, during which process 

 one would try and throw the other — unlike the wrestling contests 

 at the initiation ceremony. At last they will fall, the one on top 

 trying to throttle the one below ; the former, however, will then 

 often get the worst of it by the by-standers and mutual friends 

 striking him with wommeras, etc., on the back and head, while the 

 latter will be saved. Friends and relatives will always try and 

 prevent fatal consequences. 



55 Roth— Ethnol. Studies, etc., 1S97— Sect. 238, last par. 



