enemies. They were painted with red ochre, because they had killed our men. We were seated in a long row with our spears ready on the ground. Our women were in front beating on the 'possum rugs.' Nukong was at one end, just behind his row. Bruthen-munji was at the other end of the row, just behind me. It was about noon, and he looked up at the sun and said, 'We will eat first.' The enemy were not in sight, but were not far off. Then a Brabralung man came to us; he was a messenger sent to us; we knew him and he was our friend, and the husband of Old Nanny.[1] He said, 'There are not many of you.' Bruthen-munji replied, 'Never mind, we will see.' He then ordered the women to go back out of danger and made a great speech. He told us that we should beat them. Then we fought, and a Kutbuntaura man was speared and the others ran away. There was a running fight as they ran, leaving all their things behind them. By and by I shot one man, and others were speared. Several women were caught, and some of the Brabralung young men ran down a Brt-britta woman, but could not keep her, because they were too nearly related to her, and as she wanted to have me, her Breppa-mungan[2] gave her to me, and this was how I got my first wife from Brt-britta."
This must have been about fifteen years after the settlement of Gippsland, and it was a little more than fifteen years after that time that Bundawal gave me this account. During that time most of the old men of the tribe had died off, and the tribe itself had been almost broken up.
An instance of revenge for blood occurred almost within my actual knowledge, about the year 1865. The blacks told me of it when it happened, but as it was then supposed to have been in New South Wales, I did not pay any special attention to it. The locality was in the extreme eastern part of Gippsland in the Biduelli country, where there was a small tract of grazing ground surrounded by almost impenetrable scrubs and jungles, excepting one side, where
