152 LAWS OF PUNISHMENT 



In illustration of their laws relative to punish 

 ments, and to shew their identity with those of other 

 Austrahan tribes^ I may mention a circumstance 

 which came under my own knowledg'e. One night 

 about ten o'clock, hearing' an uproar at a native 

 encampment near the hospital, I ran out and found 

 that a young- man, named Munjerrijo, having excited 

 the jealousy of another, of the name of Yungun, on 

 account of some improper conduct towards the wife 

 of the latter, had been severely wounded, his arm 

 being broken with a club, and his head laid open 

 with an iron-headed fishing spear. As the punish- 

 ment was considered too severe for the offence, it 

 was finally determined, that, upon Munjerrijo's re- 

 covery, the two natives who had wounded him should 

 offer their heads to him to be struck with a club, the 

 usual way, it would appear, of settling such matters. 



Like the other Australian tribes, those of Port 

 Essington are frequently at feud with their neigh- 

 bours, and quarrels sometimes last for years, or, if 

 settled, are apt to break out afresh. In these cases 

 the lex talionis is the only recognised one. I may 

 give an example. A Monobar native (inhabitant of 

 the country to the westward of the isthmus) was 

 shot by a marine in the execution of his duty, for 

 attempting to escape while in custody, charged with 

 robbery. When his tribe heard of it, as they could 

 not la}^ their hands upon a ^vhite man, they enticed 

 into their territory a Bijenelumbo man, called Nein- 

 mal, who was a friend of the whites, having Uved 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



