Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/113

108 plea which he may have to offer. Should the prisoner's plea be of no avail, and his crime be adjudged worthy of punishment, he is straightway condemned to stand up as a target, within easy spearing distance, and there to remain, perfectly nude, with only a simple shield for protection, for a space of about twenty minutes, whilst the young men of the tribe essay their marksmanship. The dexterity, however, usually displayed by such criminals in turning aside the spears of their assailants by the simple aid of the shield is truly marvellous, and in most instances brings their persons through the trying ordeal in safety, with perhaps the exception of a few flesh wounds, which are nearly always in the right arm, between the elbow and the point of the shoulder. It is only when the ordeal is too long drawn out, and the dexter arm becomes fatigued in consequence, and therefore unable to wield the shield with the necessary activity and precision, that a fatal result ever ensues. The running of this gauntlet is of frequent occurrence, as the reader may easily surmise, when we tell him that about every fifth man has, some time or other of his life, killed a fellowman.

After a culprit has passed through one of these trying ordeals scatheless, he is received again by his fellows as though he were as free from guilt as a new-born infant; in fact, we are inclined to believe that he is held in higher estimation than ever by reason of the dexterity which brought him so safely through the supreme trial.

In the absence of courts, lawyers, and other civilising institutions, gaols or other contrivances for securing offenders would be out of place; besides, in their code of