Hardman — Native Weapons and Implements from Australia, 65 
Specimens from South-western Australia will give a good idea of 
the Mannifilea; but, unlike the latter, they are thrown from the 
throwing stick, called in this case Meero. 
In the various districts of Western Australia the dialects are very 
distinct, and are so even in such a short distance as fifty miles. So 
that each tribe applies a very different name to the same weapon. 
For instance, in the north the spears are called Killawal; in 
the Murchison and Gascoyne districts Fillarra, and in the south 
Gid-jie. 
It is only in the north that flint is used as a spear-head proper ; 
and this custom, I may say, extends across the whole of the northern 
portion of Australia generally. 
But below from 20° to 30° south latitude wooden spears prevail. 
Among the many tribes it is the custom to insert rough chips of 
basalt or hard metamorphic rock, and in latter days, glass, along the 
edges of the spear-heads, but it is only the most northern tribes who 
tip their weapons with single flint-heads. 
The Fillarra of the Murchison is a wooden spear of a formidable 
nature. The head is about 2 feet long, of triangular shape, like a 
bayonet, but on each edge has been carved a series of barbs, pointing 
backwards. If this weapon penetrates any part of a man's body, the 
only method of extraction is to push the spear-head right through. 
Eut I have here a far more formidable instrument. It can be 
used either as a spear-head attached to a suitable shaft, or as a dagger. 
It is used by the natives of the I^ichol Eay district, and is usually 
known as a punishing spear. It is about 1 8 inches long, and, besides 
being sharply pointed, is provided with six rows of double cleat- 
shaped points, carved on the circumference out of the solid wood, and 
extending in all for a length of 14 inches. 
It is obvious that if this weapon is thrust into a body, there will 
be considerable difficulty in extracting it. You cannot push it for- 
ward, and you cannot pull it backward. I leave it to others to say 
what would be the right course to pursue under these circumstances ; 
but I was credibly informed that natives punished with one of these 
instruments have survived, and succeeded in extracting the spear- 
head. 
It is chiefly used as a punishment for heinous tribal offences, one 
of the chief of which is adultery. In most of these cases, if the in- 
jured husband catches the guilty parties, he is at liberty to spear his 
wife, which he generally does very promptly. The paramour is also 
very often speared to death, but this is not considered an essential 
E.I. A. PEOC, SER. III., VOL. I. F 
