Some very shapely clubs belonged to the Narrinyerri. They were made of casuarina wood, and had a heavy, inflated head, which was usually pointed off at the top. The handle was moderately thin and had a number of circular grooves cut near its end to prevent the hand from slipping when the wood was wielded. Further west, on the Nullarbor Plains, the thick end was not pointed off, but, on the contrary, was perceptibly flattened. In both types mentioned, the surface was well smoothed and polished, although the clubs of the coastal tribes along the Great Australian Bight were generally longitudinally grooved.
A rather fanciful form of club, reminding one of the medieval spiked clubs, was found in the possession of the fast disappearing Yantowannta tribe at Innamincka. A stick, nearly two feet six inches long, and circular in section, had an enlargement near the head-end, which was deeply grooved vertically and, in the upper portion, circumferentially also, the intersection of the grooves producing a number of pointed prominences.
Used in conjunction with a heavy three-sided shield, the south-eastern tribes of South Australia fought most of their duels with a dangerous type of waddy, some two feet or more long, which had an attenuated knob at the handle end and a flat, angular projection at the opposite end; the latter was sharp and pointed. The weapon was known as “lionila,” and, from our point of view, might be classed as a battle axe.
In the Roebuck Bay district, a flat, hard-wood club is found, the sides of which are straight and slightly tapering towards the handle end; the edges being rounded off. One of the flat sides is usually ornamented with an engraved geometrical pattern.
The Larrekiya and Wogait construct a flat throwing weapon, not unlike a small cricket bat in shape, from six to twelve inches long, which they call “damatba.” It has a short handle and very sharp edges, and, being hurled at an enemy edgewise, it flies through the air with a revolving motion. If any part of the native’s naked body is struck with this weapon, a very deep wound is always inflicted, from the effects of which the unfortunate victim might easily bleed to death.
Under the category of fighting-sticks we might also mention the wooden swords, of which some form or other is known all over the continent.
In its normal form, the sword is a long and narrow, lanceolate blade of hard and heavy wood, up to five feet in length. The sides are convex, and the edges fairly sharp. The surfaces are either smooth or longitudinally grooved, and in addition decorated with finely incised patterns of different descriptions. These swords are much used by the Minning tribe of the Eucla district.
The Cooper Creek tribes make the weapon with a slight curve in it, like a boomerang, the length being about the same as in the previous type. Among the Dieri it goes by the name of “marriwirri.” The Arunndta and Aluridja forms are not made so long, but slightly wider, and of very heavy mulga wood.
In the northern coastal districts, the type is different in so far as it tapers towards that end, which is to serve as the handle, and terminates there in a flat or slightly concave base. The haft is not infrequently bound round with vegetable fibre, and subsequently covered with beeswax, to prevent the hands from slipping.
These weapons are all used with two hands for striking and parrying blows during a duel. When about to “receive” a blow, the native takes the precaution to keep his elbows close against his body to avoid the risk of having his arm broken by the ricochet of the heavy weapon. A favourite mark is the opponent’s hands; and the fighter has to carefully guard them by adroitly and instantly shifting the sword sideways the moment he perceives that the blow has been aimed at them.