Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-16

he recovered. Su& only a. shadow Of his sssmss
self
'-That old brute d o medicine man bsaa rs.
after ALL" was his cheerful remark the last time
/ saw him.
what was the explanation Of these incidents,
and what mysterious forces, II any, did the old
aboriginal have at his command? Not TN sew
eTaI years later did I obtain q clue 10 the
answer.
One day was visiting friend who had Just
returned from trip through Central Australia
and he showed me pair Of extraordinary slip
pers. The soles were made of silky-soft emu
feathers, couple of inches thick, glued together
with blood. while the uppers we're neatly and
strongly woven out of human hair
"Kurdaitcha slippers slippers"
my friend explained. "The natives use them
in their blood-feuds and vendettas The wearer
is able to walk without the slightest sound
and leaves no footprints. Thus the assassin il
able to enter sleeping camp and either spear
his victim through the heart or infect him with
gangrene poisoning. and then get away with
out danger Of being tracked and murdered in
his turn. Gangrene poisoning is mostly tina
method Of killing, since in the eyes Of ordi-
nary natives It smacks Of witchcraft The old
medicine men prepare sharp bone splinters by
sticking them into decaying matter. They
hand these splinters to the Klrdaitcha man.
who has then merely to scratch his victim in
order to infect him with blood-poison which
it would take white doctor an his time to
cure"
Listening TO my friends explanation, real
lied just how the old medicine man had
worked his scheme of vengeance us. In
fuT1ated at our refusal to quit the sacred ground
and further incensed by Bull setting the dog
and the two natives onto him and his COM
panion, yet realizing that he was powerlesa
against our superior weapons ne had called on
Kurdaitcha
The Kurdaitcha man was probably q power.
he Wa ckrn In
dicated by the ease with which he had disposed
of the big bull terrier when on the occasion
of his first visit, the dog rushed out TO attack
u him That he had killed the animal seemed
10 be foregOne conclusion.
On his second visit the Kurdaitcha man
scratched Jimmy with the gangrened dagger
and then left 1t behind. well knowing what
its effect would be upon the susceptible ma
tives.
Pointing the-bone" Is . common method Of
witchcraft among the Australian aboriginals.
and after Jimmy died, Joe, believing that he
also had been pointed at" immediately gave
himself up for lost, with fatal results Having
disposed Of the dog and the two natives the
kurdattcha man, finding US stin obdurate
started ON Bull, scratching him ON the only
accessible spot-his feet-which he had an odd
habit Of sticking out from beneath his blankets.
The three feathers which found probably
came from one Of the Kurdaitcha MANS Slip
peTs-knocked out, possibly, by the bullet which
drew the spots of blood. Thus what ct tho
time seemed 1nexplicable and almost upeFnat-
ural became explainable
After my friend finished his story picked up
the Kurdaitcha slippers and examined them
closely. They were remarkably well made and
far superior TO any other article of aboriginal
manufacture that ! had seen. Curious, I
thought, that the black man, like his white
brother, should bestow his highest skill upon
the manufacture of implements OF destructionI
tCopyright. 1850