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27
would never take [?] advantage of another- at least, not in the case of a weapon being accidentally broken. They were very stubborn and would continue the strife on the following day morning if one had been rendered unconscious or perhaps received a sufficiently severe wound to incapacitate him for the rest of the day. The women in fighting, would throw hot cinders at one another.
At Boyne Island, Gladstone district, (C. Hedley,1887) the natives, when fighting, would try and rupture each other.
On the Bloomfield River (R.Hislop) fighting between two people alone was not common. The one about to be attacked might be ignorant of the attackers' intentions, and yet would stand up to a blow or cut without so much as flinching; were he turn tail and run, he would be considered a coward and probably speared. On the other hand, the two might throw down their weapons, rush at each other, and wrestle, during which process, each one would try and throw the other - unlike the wrestling contests at the initiation ceremony.
At last they will fall, the one on top trying to throttle the one below: the former however will then however generally often get the worst of it [by from] the by-standers and mutual friends striking him with wommeras etc on the back and head, while the latter will be saved. Friends and relatives will always try and prevent fatal consequences.