198 Manners and Customs of the Australian Natives, 



been done notliing more is said about it^ and the parties tliat 

 yesterday fell upon each other with rage and fary are to-day 

 the best possible friends. Those wars which are the fruit of 

 premeditation and deliberation are known to the natives 

 weeks^ and even months, before they take place. A suitable 

 place is pitched upon by the one side, and they then send 

 heralds to the enemy to invite them to the contest. The 

 causes of such a war are seduction, murder, or an attempt of 

 the same. The last of these has for its ground the super- 

 stitious idea which prevails, that any one who has died within 

 a short period has been deprived of life by wicked means. 

 The next of kin to the murdered or dead man chooses some 

 of his friends, and with them traverses the country, with the 

 firm resolution to kill the suspected person wherever they 

 may discover him. In earlier years two fights took place 

 here, one on account of a murder committed, the other on 

 account of an attempt to take away life. In the first case the 

 murderer and the brother of the murdered man were aided 

 and seconded by their respective friends. They were unani- 

 mous that the last-named person, as the avenger of the foul 

 deed, should throw two spears at the perpetrator, and that if 

 he should fail to hit his mark the quarrel should be forgotten. 

 To judge from the ^'iolent and wild gestures of the warriors, 

 the running about, the jumping, the biting of the beards and 

 the weapons, the noise and the grimaces, a sanguinary combat 

 was expected. But such was not the case. The antagonists 

 trod from their own side into the foreground, and the avenger 

 threw a spear most skilfully, but which was parried as ably as 

 it was thrown. Whereupon this combat was brought to a 

 close. The second fight, on account of attempted murder, 

 took place in Port Lincoln, and the party about to be attacked 

 were invited by heralds to attend the combat. The natives 

 upon their arrival were painted with a white colour, and wore 

 little peeled sticks which looked like plumes in their hair. 

 They marched in long line, three deep, making now and then 

 a halt, and with one voice poured forth loud cries. As soon 

 as they had completed these evolutions, the other party, who 

 were rather surprised, set to work to answer the salutation. 

 After having hastily painted themselves, and arranging them- 

 selves in single file, they marched in a regular quick short step 

 towards the enemy, who had in the meantime formed a camp. 

 After they had thus once or twice marched round the enemy^s 

 camp, they formed themselves into a dense mass, bowed their 

 heads, and uttered a piercing cry. They repeated these move- 



