BY WALTER E, ROTH, M.K„C.S., B.A., OXON. 69 



The ordinary yam-stick (won-na) was a rounded piece of 

 wood, not quite as thick as a broom-handle, about 6 feet long, 

 scraped, and hardened with fire at one extremity. Though 

 primarily devised for digging up roots and yams, the women also 

 used it for fighting purposes, in the procedure of which they 

 adopted three lines of defence : held with both hands vertically, 

 to the right, to the left, and horizontally over the head. 



Nothing was observed on the immediate coastline here 

 with regard to rock carvings, mural paintings, etc., though 

 Austin discovered some beautiful examples subsequently on the 

 Murchison. 



They were not an emotional people, and were able to ex- 

 press themselves by signs, independently of speech. The show- 

 ing of the teeth, with the beard firmly clutched in between, was 

 a common gesture indicative of anger, and the likelihood of a 

 row. 



Austin does not believe that there were ever more than 

 from twelve to twenty heads of families constituting the groups, 

 each with its particular territorial divisions, who together made 

 up the tribe, extending between the Murray River and Koom- 

 bana Bay. They evidently avoided too close intermarriage. 



On the whole these primitive people were amenable to the 

 standard of honour imposed by their tribe ; they were equally 

 expert in the use of weapons, and, while restrained by those 

 unwritten laws which tended to maintain order and insure the 

 general comfort of the community, they were prepared to fight 

 to the death, and go coolly and deliberately to mortal combat in 

 the face of all men. 



