The form of the waddy varies with every tribe, and men of the same tribe have clubs very differently formed and ornamented. The upper part of some is pear-shaped, and in others like two cones placed base to base, and so fashioned as to present a cutting edge. Of this latter form there are various modifications. It is with the Kud-jer-oong that the natives usually chastise their wives.
Fig. 60 shows another and rather remarkable form of the waddy. It is the weapon called Kul-luk by the Aborigines of Gippsland. Its shape approaches that of the wooden sword used by some natives of Australia, but it is thicker and heavier and not so broad as the wooden sword of the Victorian natives. The name of this weapon on the Murray is Pirr-ben. Any tough, hard, and heavy wood is selected for this instrument.
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| FIG. 60. |
The names Kud-jer-oong, Kul-luk, and Warra-warra are applied to the clubs used in Gippsland; but the Warra-warra is not, properly speaking, a club or waddy.
The Warra-warra—or Worra-worra, as it is named by the Yarra and Western Port tribes, or Nulla-nulla of the Lower Murray—is made from a sapling.
A young tea-tree (Melaleuca ericifolia) is pulled up, cut short, and the root fashioned into a knob forming a weapon of the shape shown in Fig. 61. The root is called Kow-un-o. This instrument is sometimes used in a general fight, but more often in single combat. When fighting with it the men are not allowed to carry the Mulga to protect themselves. They strike and guard with the Worra-worra; and a man who knows how to use it will soon disable a less skilful antagonist.
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| FIG. 61. |
There is another form of waddy, much resembling in shape the Li-lil, but thicker, heavier, and stronger.
The clubs in my possession vary in weight from ten ounces (a weapon fit only for a boy) to two pounds eight ounces.
