Blacks of the Manning River District, New South Wales, 1851-1912 - Page 32

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sticks, spears & Boomerangs, The men were very kind to

them in their way = When moving Camp the Women carrie[d]

all the household traps, you would meet them, the

Women loaded up, but the Men only carried the  

fighting & hunting implements = They kept the Gins

in fear of a stick pretty well - used to give them a hiding

now and again to keep them in order = The Women and

Boys were kept in ignorance of what took place at

the "Cabra ground" It was death for a Blackfellow

to devulge anything about it or to let a Woman see the

"Cabra stones" (I will tell you about the   "Cabra" further

on) Betty, a half caste woman we had at Cooplacurraph

told me that when she was a little girl on the McLeay

and was at the Camp with her Mother (she was a

Black Gin) the Old Men took one of the Gins away in the

Bush from the Camp and killed her, and  skined

her, and brought the skin into the camp to let all

the Gins see it, and let them know that they would  

serve them the same if they tried to coax their men

to tell them anything that was forbiden = Bet used

to say they were almopst frightened to death, and

I beleive her = The Womans crime was that she had

coaxed her man to show her the "Cabra stones" he

was killed as well, most likely she had let it out

to some of the other Gins that her man had let her

see them and it hd got to the ears of the Old Men

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