66 
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
matter. All tliat wounded honour requires is that he should he 
speared in such place as the hushand may elect ; and the gay Lothario 
cheerfully holds out his leg while the bereaved widower, as he then 
is, drives one of these implements into the fleshy part of his thigh. 
I cannot find the name of this terrible weapon amongst my notes. 
In Victoria the spear is called Mongile. It varies considerably in 
shape in different districts, but is usually barbed either by cutting the 
wood itself or by inserting pieces of flint or basalt on the sides of the 
point. 
The thrower^ or Wommerah, has been already described. It is 
curious that the Gnalealing of Kimberley closely resembles the Gurreeh 
of the Yarra tribe of Victoria in the extreme south, except in length ; 
the latter being only about 2 feet long, while that of Kimberley is 3 feet 
4|- inches long, and only 2 inches wide. (See Plate ii., figs. 15, 15'.) 
The next most important offensive weapon is that known popularly 
as the Boomerang ; a name, however, that is utterly unknown either 
in "Western Australia, South Australia, or Victoria. I am unable at 
present to fix its locality, if the word is at all in use in Australia. 
In every district this weapon, although essentially the same, has a 
different appellation. 
I have here two districts in "West AustraKa represented. 
In Kimberley, on the Fitzroy Eiver, the title is Jilher, a word 
applied both to the hunting and war Boomerang. 
In the Swan Eiver district in the south the designation is Kylie ; 
and this word is used by the whites throughout Western Australia, 
and largely by the blacks. 
In Victoria the instrument is generally called Wonguim ; but the 
title varies with different tribes, and according to different shapes. 
On the Murray Eiver the name Witto-ah-will is given, while the 
Yarra natives have a but slightly different weapon, called Baru-geeh, 
and called on the Murray Braah-la-witto-ah. The last have a modifi- 
cation, used both as a sword and a missile, called Quirrany-au-wtm ; 
while in the Omus district a curious instrument, partaking of the 
nature of a sword, boomerang, and shield, is called the Li-lil. 
All these weapons are supposed to be fashioned after the leaf of the 
white gum, which, like most other Eucalypts, has a curved sabre-like 
leaf, and gyrate as they fall. One thrown forward returns like the 
Kylie. 
Some boomerangs, however, are made so that they do not return. 
These are hunting Jihlers, which are made for throwing straight for- 
wards, and striking fish and birds. 
