Archdeacon James Gunther papers, 1826-1878

wonderful cures, by various means and maneuvers. I then stated that I had fully ascertained another faith viz: that they believe in a superior being called Baiamai to whom they in their simple way attribute the idea of an eternal existence of goodness and of great, if not omnipotent person, with whom they also suppose some superior beings to reside, he being supposed to reside towards the rising of the sun. I have further intimated that the notion of a future state is not quite foreign to them whatever [written above: errors] absurdities they may mix up with the same. These ideas existing among them are to my mind at least as I intimated a confirmation of the argument used in natural theologyfor the existence of the Deity that every nation & tribe however ignorant & degraded had some impression left of a Supreme Being. I [word crossed out]then made various statements as to their general character some of their

natural propensities, their indolence, want of fo thought, their various kinds of foods, their few acquirements as to netting spearing sewing [word crossed out] [word crossed out] their better art of making weapons and other implements their fishing hunting [word crossed out] ornaments & c I [word crossed out] concluded by describing their form of government, the elderly men and more or less all who had attained to the full age of manhood ruling the rest not by any fixed laws but by traditional custom, no one being properly speaking a chief among them by right, though some by superior attributes or exploits in war might obtain a preponderating influence. And here I would add in continuance of my subject that this peculiar form of government admitting of no distinction in rank, but allowingeach man a share in their circustances & decisions as to any questions arising among them stamps a feeling of

independence & even haughtiness with an appearance of dignity in the character of the men rarely to be met with among other differently governed natives. As they have no titles for distinction nor a proper name for a chief so they have neither a word in their language to signify a servant, and certainly though the women are most subservient, as I shall show, to the men no man has an idea of serving another. This idea of their own dignity & importance is carried so far that they hesitate long before they apply the term Sir to any European even when they know full well of the distinction we make, (between master & servant). In their original state there must have have been some very spirited & resolute men among the Aborigines who gained renown by their bravery, but their subjugation by Europeans has an evident tendency to [indecipherable] their spirits & to subdue their pride. Still among themselves there are frequent instances where they display a very haughty spirit; the slightest insult may provoke

a duel amongst them of course as a matter of honor [word crossed out]. Various weapons are employed in their duels it may be the spear or the the cudgel or some other weapon such as the [written above: [indecipherable] or] mulga shaped like the boomerang but at one end [word crossed out] fashioned something like an axe. [words crossed out] [words crossed out] Both parties have their their friends to watch them. They feel most indignant to be called cowards, still I must confess most of them often display great cowardice, [word crossed out] from whatever motive, they were on most occasions glad, if some one, especially a European, interfered & prevented a conflict. [crossed out: even when it came to quarrel between different tribes] I was sometimes both pleased & amused when any one of them was afraid to fight a duel, or when a number where to enter into some combat or a whole tribe into a battle with another tribe, one [word crossed out] party would usually inform me with much apparent alarm as to the seriousness of the affair with a view that I might interfere. This I generally

did & almost invariably succeeded in preventing a duel or a general fight. Then of course they have a good excuse, if the opposite party upbraided them as cowards they would dedeclaring they would have fought had not Gunther stopped them. I could always make sure when they were in earnest to fight; they tried as much as possible to hide their movements from me. I will now try to give you a brief description of their war proceedings or fights, & their preparations. But you can easily imagine that a very trifling affair may prove the cause. A very short contemptuous song by one tribe against the other, or an insulting message, or an undue encroachment on their own territory (for the different tribes have certain boundaries) [word crossed out] their fishing ground or hunting ground, more frequently a dispute about some woman or women who may have been stolen from another tribe becomes the occasion. They usually send their messengers [written above: who are mutually treated with respect] to & fro who may have authority to settle the matter in dispute amicably or to come to some compromise. It may be after weeks preparation the tribes meet and come to an amicable arrangement possibly after a long dispute with words or verbal abuse, for they are not so prone to fight (in another engagement). Or perhaps it ends in

a little combat between a male party of both tribes, a few blows spark & a little blood spilt may satisfy them. If a regular fight determined on, they commence with a disdainful challenge against each other, something like the disdainful challenge of Goliath against David, getting much excited & speaking most contempuously of each other. More generally, some old women rush first forwards, and issue against each other a sort of Billingsgate language. They then withdraw behind the scene and the men let first fly their Boomerangs whilst the spears soon follow. The Boomerang is thrown in such a way high in the air, [words crossed out] as to [word crossed out] divert the attention, by looking upward to evade it's fall, from the coming spear which comes straight towards them. Their amunition is nearly exhausted, except one party retreat for the women stand behind the scene & pick up the weapons of the enemy & hand them over to their own party. Unless they are determined on a great revenge, they generally stop when one or two or three are killed [word crossed out] [words crossed out] or seriously wounded. When all is over they usually sit down together as the best friends, or assist each other in bringing the dead, if there be any & perhaps in the evening they hold a Corroboree together.

The various tribes have their allies & often assist each other. On this account they sometimes require several weeks till they are all prepared & meet. The day for the fight is usually fixed upon some time before. They always cease fighting [word crossed out] before or at sundown. But their quarrels are not always settled in this more open & honorable way [words crossed out] Revenge too frequently leads them to act by more clandestine & cowardly procedings. Revenge is often carried on, tribe against tribe, for years & the allied tribe becomes implicated. The most innocent may thus become the victim. For if there be a feud between them, they care not whom they obtain from the opposing tribe or tribes, as their victim. I may exemplify & explain this by [words crossed out] relating to you a sad story of succesive acts of retaliation which happened within the last 10 or 12 years. The Mudgee tribe & the Wellington tribe had been previously allied on the one side & on the other the Castlereagh tribe & the Lower McQuarie tribe. In consequence of an old grudge, one of the Castlereagh tribe killed a Black of the Mudgee a [indecipherable]tribe somewhere about Manduran, clandestinely. The victim was a peaceable Black at the time in the service of a settler. [Crossed out: This Black belonged to the Mudgee or [indecipherable] tribe. In consequence

of this outrage , a few of the Mudgee tribe [words crossed out] some months after, went across to [Crossed out: Wellington] the McQuaries and, after having watched some McQ. Blacks for a few days one morning suddenly surprised two or three of them when bathing in a deep water hole not many miles below Wellington, and these threw their spears & other weapons at them till they sunk in the water. This caused great consternation among the neighbouring Wellington tribe. They came to Mudgee and remained in this neighbourhood for some months, night after night apprehending to be suddenly surprised by the [McQ?], & [indecipherable] tribes. Repeatedly they encamped just below my garden and gave me more than once a [indecipherable] in the evening, to leave my kitchen door & the back door of my house open that they might take refuge on my prmises should the enemy come, telling me at he same time they would call me up when they were attacked. Several of them have been my former scholars, and were personally perfectly innocent in the whole affair. However the enemy never came & they returned after a while to Wellington

But, two or three years after, one of their young men of the Wellington tribe was killed near Burrendong in a clandestine manner by one of the McQuarie Blacks, & as far as I could ascertain the affair did not end there, until another victim fell of the McQuarie tribe. Thus these Blacks, whom some Europeans have at times pronounced such a happy race of beings are in continual fear. I have never known them perfectly quiet for many months together. Often they are alarmed without any just cause, mainly by false rumours of the movements of an unfriendly tribe. You will understand that these acts of retaliation assume a sort of [public?] character and involve the [indecipherable] of a tribe, tribe against tribe, demanding satisfaction. Should any [word crossed out] individual kill a Black of his own, or a friendly tribe from private spite & malice, or personally in a passion the affair would be viewed as wilful murder and the guilty party would have little chance to escape with his life. Without a regular trial after a little inquiring

the murderer would be most summarily dealt with & put to death [word crossed out] judge jury & & executioners [word crossed out] all consisting of the same [word crossed out] men. I now proceed to describe to you the condition and treatment of the fair sex, if that term might be applied to to these poor Aboriginal females. Their degradation and slavish dependence can hardly be painted in too strong colours. From their childhood up to old age they are entirely subject to the arbitrary will & caprise of the men. Often they are betrothed by their parents at a tender age, it may be to a man [word crossed out] then in the prime of life who is perhaps already possessed of a wife. [words crossed out] Polygamy, I would here remark is quite common among these Aborigines, and is not only a source of much dispute, but an occasion of rendering the condition of the woman so degrading, as I shall presently show. Whether a girl be betrothed in her infancy or not, or supposing her intended husband dies before she becomes marriageable, in no case is the woman consulted. she has not the choice of refusing an offer