This instrument is always thrown straight forwards, and if it hit the object at which it is aimed, the blow is very severe. Wye-wye-a-nine says that it will pass through the body of a man, if the point strikes the softer parts. It can be thrown a distance of one hundred and fifty yards. Sometimes the thrower will cause it to strike the ground, rebound, and hit the person at whom it is aimed.
The name of this weapon amongst the natives of the Murray is Praah-ba-wittoo-ak.
Li-lil.
The Li-lil (Fig. 97) is used in battle. It is thrown very much in the same manner as the Wonguim, but skill, only acquired by much practice, is necessary to give due effect to the weapon. It is believed by many to be even a more dangerous instrument in the hands of a brave and experienced warrior than the Barn-geet. The Barn-geet may wound severely, may cause a contusion, or even break the arm if it strikes that limb; but the Li-lil, forcibly and skilfully directed, will break a leg, fracture the ribs, or penetrate the skull.
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| FIG. 97.—(Scale 1/10.) |
| (a.) Curve as seen on holding the weapon with the blade from the body. (b.) Side view. It is ornamented in the same manner on the other side. (The meaning intended to be conveyed by the lines is referred to elsewhere.) |
The weapon here figured is a very old one, and is that used by the natives of the River Ovens and the Broken River, in Victoria. One of the men of the Yarra tribe who examined it informed me that the men of the Mitta Mitta tribe named the instrument Bunj-jul.
Wye-wye-a-nine (of Kulkyne) says that the weapon is not usually thrown, but is employed in battle to strike at and cut the enemy, who defends himself with the heavy wooden shield (Mulga). His people call it Bol-lair.
The fine sharp edge would suggest this as the ordinary method of using the instrument; but in the excitement of battle, or under circumstances when it was impossible to close with their opponents, the natives would doubtless use this, as well as clubs and fighting-sticks, as a missile.
The woods used for making the Li-lil are Moe-yang (blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon), or ironbark (Eucalyptus leucoxylon).
The weight of the Li-lil is fourteen ounces. The length from point to point is twenty-seven inches, the greatest breadth of the blade is five and a half inches, the breadth of the lower part is two inches, and the thickest part (the centre of the blade) measures half an inch. It is smoothed to a fine edge; and the maker has left the ornamental lines in relief at one part where it was not practicable to show the pattern by incisions. The part to be grasped by the hand is not sharper than the same part in a Wonguim or Barn-geet.
