Billah are war weapons; a larger kind called Moornin are used for
spearing emu.
Woggarahs, the hatchet-shaped weapons, were made of Myall, Gidya, and
other woods, carved as were boomerangs, each carver usually having a
favourite design by which his weapons were recognised.
Booreens, or shields, were of three kinds: a narrow kind made of
hardwood, a broad flat kind of Kurrajong, and a medium-sized one of
Birah, or whitewood, all painted in coloured designs. It is wonderful
the way a man can defend himself single-handed against a number of men,
he having only a narrow shield, the only defence he is allowed when he
has to stand his trial for a breach of the laws.
Their tomahawks, or Cumbees, were of dark-green stone, of which there
is none in this district, so it must have been obtained by barter, as
in the first instance were the flat, light Booreens from the Queensland
side, and the grass-tree gum from the Narrabri mountains side, for
which Gidya boomerangs were given in exchange.
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