whole Pinya then fell upon him with spears and boomerangs. In order that they should not hear how he was being killed, the other men, women, and children in the camp made a great rustling with boughs and broken-off bushes.
The same Pinya executed about the same time two Pinnarus (elders), who lived at other places. It was reported that they strangled one, and brought him to life again (that is, they allowed him to recover), and the following night they burned the froth which came from his mouth when he was being strangled. It was supposed that this caused his death. In another case the Pinya thrust a spear into the side of the condemned man, so that, as the Kunki (medicine-man) said, "his heart was pierced," and then withdrew it. The Kunki closed the wound with sinew and the man lived for several days before he died. It was then said that the Kunki killed him, brought him to life, and finally killed him again.[1]
As connected with the Pinya, it may be well to state here the manner in which the blood revenge is avoided by the Dieri. When a death occurs which would be followed up by the Pinya as just explained, there is a practice which may be said to act as a sort of peacemaking, in so far that the two parties show that by a respective bartering of goods, they put aside all enmities, and will shed no more blood on account of the man killed, whether by "giving the bone" or otherwise. A late instance of this practice called Yut-yunto at Kopperamana, will show how it acts.
A Lake Hope man, one Ngurtiyilina, who had lived for a long time at Kopperamana, died in the year 1899, a place half-way between there and the Salt Creek. His elder brother was one Mandra-pirnani,[2] much feared for his strength, and the blacks among whom Ngurtiyilina lived sent to him through their Headman a Yut-yunto, a "cord," which being tied round his neck, authorised him to collect articles for barter with them. These were collected from the Kumari-kana[3] belonging to Kopperamana, Kilallpanina, and the surrounding country. When he had collected
