LAW OF FELONY, &C.
Should any native steal from another, and the offender be known, he is challenged to fight by the person he has robbed, and this settles the matter.
Should any native accuse another wrongfully, he is dealt with in the same manner as for stealing.
Children are not punished on committing theft, but the father or mother has to fight with the person from whom the property was stolen, and upon no occasion, as stated elsewhere, are the children beaten.
MOODLAWILLPA.—(Hole in the Nose.)
This operation is inflicted on the boy or girl at the age of from five to ten years. The father generally proposes to the other denizens of the camp, to have his child's nose pierced, and one old man is selected to perform the ceremony, which is usually done at mid-day. A piece of wood, six inches long, from a tree called Cooyamurra (a species of acacia), is pointed at one end sufficiently sharp to pierce the nose, the partition of which the operator takes in his left hand, while he pierces it with the right. A few minutes before, and during the operation, the men and women sing, believing that by singing a great deal of the pain is taken away from the child. The hole being made, a large quill about a quarter of an inch in diameter is placed in it to prevent it from closing up, and kept there until the wound is thoroughly healed.
The word Moodlawillpa is derived from moodla (nose), and willpa (hole), hence, hole in the nose.
CHIRRINCHIRRIE—(Extraction of the Teeth).
From the age of eight to twelve years, the two front teeth of the upper jaw are taken out in the following manner:—Two pieces of the Cooyamurra tree, each about a foot long, are sharpened at one end to a wedge-like shape, then placed on either side of the tooth to be extracted, and driven between as tightly as possible. The skin of a wallaby, in two or three folds,
