284 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW 



usually stolen from a tribe to which the robber does not 

 belong. He rarely steals from a tribe with which his own 

 is at enmity, and sometimes there is connivance on the 

 part of the girl's friends. But the modus operandi is 

 always the same. The robber steals into the territory of 

 a neighbouring tribe, and, having marked the girl he 

 wishes for, he awaits an opportunity of surprising her, and 

 then, springing suddenly on her, with one brutal blow he 

 knocks her senseless, and throwing the inanimate body 

 across his shoulder, runs in all haste for his own territory. 

 But the affair does not end here. The girl's friends make 

 a complaint, for they always seem to know what has 

 become of her. This complaint is taken up by the tribe 

 against which the outrage was committed, and certain 

 proceedings on the part of the robber's tribe arc the results 

 of a formal complaint. These proceedings are commonly 

 stated by the old writers on the subject to have been 

 invariably hostile; but I suspect on very good evidence 

 that what followed was more of a farce than a serious 

 business. At any rate, the culprit was required to stand 

 a trial, which took place on the border ground of the 

 territory of the two tribes concerned. The headmen 

 of each tribe, generally about a dozen or twenty in 

 number, assembled at the appointed place with the 

 tribal chiefs and the culprit. No other persons were 

 allowed to be present. All were fully armed, except the 

 robber, and ornamented with war-paint of red or white 

 colour, and as a preliminary, there was a great deal of 

 gasconade and flourishing of weapons, the object of both 

 sides being to show what very fine warlike fellows they 

 were. 



The actual trial began by the stolen girl's male relatives 

 placing themselves in front of the robber at the distance 

 of about thirty yards, each man being armed with three 

 spears and a wommerah or throwing-stick, the offender 

 being allowed no weapon except his ellyman, or long, 

 narrow, parrying-shield. Each of the offended tribesmen 

 hurled his three spears at the wife-stealer, who, of course, 

 easily parried them. There is not a native in Australia 



