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38

The Kurnai tribe also affords good instances of the manner in
which kindred avenged the killing of one of their members, and how
therby a blood feud, ramifying on all sides may arise, finally
involving not only the whole tribe but also neighbouring ones.

Such a blood feud arose usually out of homicide either
by violence or the supposed affects of eviul magic. I carefully traced out
one case of this taking frim its commencement to its end in a battle betweeen
the Kurnai clans about the year 1856-7.

When the Gippsland and Omeo natives had come better aquains
with each other through the white settlers, and thus had [been made- crossed out] become
more or less friendly [to each other - crossed out], one of the Theddora men named Billy
Blew obtained a Braiaka woman for his wife. When on a visit to his
wife's people he illused her and in consequence her father Kaiung fought
with and speared him. Billy Blew's kin in return came down from the mou-
tains and killed Kaiung, together with a [another- crossed out] Braiaka, [and- crossed out] they were assisted
in doing this by another Braiaka called Lohni, the borther [sic] of Bu-
dawal, mentioned elsewhere. (p ). In revenge for this [one - crossed out] a man of the Dairgo division of the Brabo clan, the sister
son of Kaiung's wife killed, a man called Johnny. Flanner (p ), the brother of Gliun-
kong (p ), [and - crossed out] He and other relations of Johnny, finding his skin hanging in a
tree at Aitkin's Straits, at the Gippsland Lakes, followed Dairgo Johnny
and killed him at Erin vale on Merriman's Creek in South Gippsland.

At this point I take up the account given of this feud as told
by Bunda-wal, which continues this history to its end. I give his account as
I toook it down during his narrative to me. "I had two wives, both
from Brt-britta (p ), One of these had been married to the man who killed
my brother Johnny at Aitkin's Straits. I then collected all the men from
Bruthen, Wy-yung. and from Binnijeri (p ), for all my own men had died or
been killed, so that there were only boys left. But these others were like
my own people. We all sneaked round to Merriman's Creek where we found