The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-05-06
BOOMERANG DUEL.

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drought, and the tempting "prickly
jack" weed good to look upon, but
accursed to the farmer, as its pointed
spur works havoc among the fleeces,
says the London Field. Close by we
saw prosperous ostrich farm and a
number of camels, with their Afghan
drivers, about to start on a journey
still further north.
The strange impression Of this jux-
Imposition of old and new was deep
ened by the nature of the principal
case for trial 1t was charge against
Jimmy Wonylita of the murder of
Billy Lee, both aborignes. The story
of the crime was not complicated.
A quarrel seemed to have arisen
through the refusal of the deceased,
though of mature years, to submit to
initatory rites which technically
made him young man." The wit
nesses were careful to speak Of him
always as boy" though it was tes-
titled that he had few gray hairs.
The actual conflict between the two
men was conducted with much of the
punctilio of a duel. Each of them
was armed with what is commonly
called the double boomerang;
strictly speaking, it should rather be
called club in boomerang form. 1t
Is large and somewhat heavy wea-
pom, not intended as a missile at all,
but used to inflict blow which must
be delivered only if such encounters
demands that each combatant in turn
shall bend his head to the attack, not
attempting to repay it until he has
steadily suffered his own chastise-
ment. Blow thus solemnly alter
mates with blow, until the man with
the stronger arm and harder head Is
left the victor. In this ordeal Billy
Lee succumbed.
The witnesses in this trial were, of
course, mainly aborigines themselves,
for the crime was committed in one
of their camps. Their demeanor was
extremely nervous. Again and again
they had to be exhorted to hold up
their heads and to speak clearly. One
Of them, a strong man, with dents
upon his head suggesting a long ex-
perience of boomerang duels, tainted
in the course of giving his evidence,
and another collapsed as soon as he
had left the box. Later witnesses
were therefore allowed to sit and
were frequently refreshed with a
glass of water, which they would
empty at a single gulp. Their evil
dence was given in pidgin English,
interpreted by police inspector, who
was Protector of Aborigines for that
district.
The counsel for the defense had
the advantage of having lived for
some time among the blacks when a
boy, and could consequently make
himself easily understood by them.
you yabba Tonga me now," was his
intimation that they were now to
speak to him instead of to his learned
brother. "You tell me straight; no
tell me lies," was sufficient to en-
phasize the Importance of truthful
answers. Several peculiarities of
linguistic usage came out during the
examination. The witnesses used the
word "lose" as a euphemism for
"die" and "kill' in place of Strike"
1t had the oldest effect to hear how
one man would kill the other, and
then the other would retaliate by kill
ing him.
The peculiar characteristics noted
by the writers on aboriginal customs
were illustrated in this trial. One
was the blacks inability to count.
At one point it was desired to ascer-
tain what time elapsed between the
death of the victim and the giving of
information to the Magistrate. The
man who had himself carried the
news could give no answer when the
question was put to him point blank.
He was next asked how many
Sleeps" he had during his journey.
This inquiry was also Intellectual.
Lastly the lawyer proceeded in this
fashion: Were you sleep same night
Billy Lee killed." "Me sleep So
and-So Creek" was the prompt an
swer. The place of sleeping night
after night was then elected until it
was easy to calculate the total inter-
val. So, too, the time Of day at which
any event happened was indicated not
by mention Of the hour, but by point
ing to the quarter where the sun was.
The other characteristic especially
illustrated was the reluctance of the
friends of the dead man to mention
his name after he was gone. 1t is
stated by one of the latest authori-
ties on aboriginal practice, N. w.
Thomas, that to mention the name of
dead man is thought equivalent to
summoning the ghost, and that to
avoid such calamity words once ia
miliar will even be allowed to drop
permanently out of use. In this case
Bill Lees ''lubra" never once re-
ferred to her dead husband by name
in the whole OF her evidence. She
spoke of him Invariably as dead
man." If it was uncanny to hear of
man killing his antagonist, it gave
one no less of a creepy feeling when
this woman told how dead man" ate
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