After the murder of Yel-lo-way by Wat-te-wall his widow Noo-roo-ing being obliged, according to the custom of her country, to avenge her husband's death on some of the relations of the murderer, meeting with a little girl named Go-nang-goo-lie, who was some way related to Wat-te-wal, walked with her and two other girls to a retired place, where with a club and a pointed stone they beat her so cruelly, that she was brought into the town almost dead. In the head were six or seven deep incisions, and one ear was divided to the bone, which, from the nature of the instrument with which they beat her, was much injured. This poor child was in a very dangerous way, and died in a few days afterwards. The natives to whom this circumstance was mentioned expressed little or no concern at it, but seemed to think it right, necessary, and inevitable; and we understood that whenever women have occasion for this sanguinary revenge, they never exercise it but on their own sex, not daring to strike a male. Noo-roo-ing, perceiving that her treatment of Go-nang-goo-lie did not meet our approbation, denied having beaten her, and said it was the other girls; but such men as we conversed with on the subject assured us it was Noo-roo-ing, and added, that she had done no more than what custom obliged her to. The little victim of her revenge was, from her quiet tractable manners, much beloved in the town; and what is a singular trait of the inhumanity of this proceeding, she had every day since Yel-loway's death requested that Noo-roo-ing might be fed at the officer's hut, where she herself resided. Savage indeed must be the custom and the feelings which could arm the hand against this child's life! Her death was not avenged, perhaps because they considered it as an expiatory sacrifice.
Wat-te-wal, who committed the crime for which this little girl suffered so cruelly, escaped unhurt from the spears of Bennillong, Cole-be, and several other natives, and was afterwards received by them as usual, and actually lived with this very woman for some time, till he was killed in the night by Cole-be, as before related.
This Wat-te-wal was in great union with Bennillong, who twice denied his having committed offences which he knew would forfeit our favour. In this last instance Bennillong betrayed more duplicity than we had given him credit for. On asking him with some earnestness if Wat-te-wal had killed Yel-loway, he assured us with much confidence that it was not Wat-te-wal who had killed him, but We-re-mur-rah. Little did we suspect that our friend had availed himself of a circumstance which he knew we were unacquainted with, that Wat-te-wal had more than one name. By giving us the second, he saved his friend, and knew that he could at all times boldly maintain that he had not concealed his name from us, We-re-murrah being as much his name as Wat-te-wal, though we had never known him by it. On apprising him some time afterwards, that we had discovered his artifice, and that it was a meanness we did not expect from him, he only laughed and went away.
The violent death of Yel-lo-way we have seen followed by a cruel proceeding, which terminated in the death of the murderer's relation, Go-nang-goolie. I shall now show what followed where the person died a natural death.
Bone-da, a very fine youth, who lived at my house for several months, died of a cold, which, settling in his face, terminated in a mortification of his upper and lower jaws, and carried him off. We were told that some blood must be spilt on this occasion; but six weeks elapsed before we heard of any thing having happened in consequence of his decease. About that time having passed, however, we heard that a large party of natives belonging to different tribes, being assembled at Pan-ner-rong* (or, as it is named with us, Rose Bay), the spot which they had often chosen for shedding blood, after dancing and feasting over-night, early in the morning, Mo-roo-ber-ra, the brother, and Cole-be, another relation of Bone-da, seized upon a lad named Tar-ra-bil-long, and with a club each gave him a wound in his head, which laid the skull bare. Dar-ring-ha, the sister of Bone-da, had her share in the bloody rite, and pushed at the unoffending boy with a doo-ull or short spear. He was brought into the town and placed at the hospital, and, though the surgeon pronounced from the nature of his wounds that his recovery was rather doubtful, he was seen walking about the day following. On being spoke to about the business, he said he did not weep or cry out like a boy, but like a man cried Ki-yah when they struck him; that the persons who treated him in this unfriendly manner were no longer his enemies, but would eat or drink or sit with him as friends
[* Pan-ner-rong in the language of the country signifies Blood.]
Three or four days after this, Go-roo-bine, a grey-headed man, apparently upwards of sixty years of age, who was related to Bone-da, came in with a severe wound on the back part of his head, given him on account of the boy's decease; neither youth nor old age appearing to be exempted from those sanguinary customs.
When Ba-rang-a-roo, Bennillong's wife, died, several spears were thrown by the men at each other, by which many were wounded; and Bennillong had a severe contest with Wil-le-mer-ring, whom he wounded in the thigh. He had sent for him as a car-rah-dy to attend her when she was ill; but he either could not or would not obey the summons. Bennillong had chosen the time for celebrating these funeral games in honour of his deceased wife when a whale feast had assembled a large number of natives together, among whom were several people from the northward, who spoke a dialect very different to that with which we were acquainted.
Some officers happening once to be present in the lower part of the harbour when a child died, perceived the men immediately retire, and throw their spears at one another with much apparent anger, while the females began their usual lamentations.
When Dil-boong, Bennillong's infant child, died, several spears were thrown, and Bennillong, at the decease of her mother, said repeatedly, that he should not be satisfied until he had sacrificed some one to her manes.