February 15.

This morning Taalwurt the native, attended by his various friends, came to me before I went to the Courthouse, to insist upon his right to speak first, as he appeared to think that a great deal depended upon his having this advantage over his opponent.  I explained to him that, as plaintiff, this right of course belonged to him, and he thereupon withdrew, followed by his adherents.  At the appointed hour I repaired to the Courthouse and found the natives assembled; the Europeans had not yet arrived.  I called therefore upon Taalwurt for an information, which was as follows: 

THE ACCUSATION.  ATTEMPTS AT ELOQUENCE.  ADJUDICATION OF THE CASE.

Colony of Western Australia, to wit:  The information and complaint of Taalwurt Tdondarup, of Albany, in the said Colony, made before me, George Grey, Esquire, one of H.M.  Justices of the Peace in and for the said Colony, the fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty.

The said Taalwurt Tdondarup complaineth and saith: 

“Nganya kype yoor-ril gool-gur, boye bomb-gur.”

“I in the water carelessly walked along, a stone struck me.”

But at this point his eloquence totally deserted him, and he was pulled back by his friends, who pushed forward another native, and who stated as follows: 

Lindoll Mongalung saith:  “Wal-bur wat-to Taalwurt:  Djanga Taalwurt kyle-gut bomb-gur.

“Taalwurt djanga neyp bomb-gur, kyle-gut Taalwurt neyp bomb-gur:  Waum djanga Taalwurt matta boorn boola bomb-gur:  Taalwurt yoor-ril watto, waum djunga nar-rail ngob-barn boye koombar bomb-gar.”

“Along the beach was walking Taalwurt; one of the dead struck him under the ear.  Taalwurt then very slightly struck this one of the dead; under the ear Taalwurt very lightly struck him.  Another of the dead then struck Taalwurt very forcibly on the legs with a stick:  Taalwurt went walking along quickly; another of the dead, in the ribs with an exceedingly big stone, extremely hard hit him.”

A murmur of applause ran through the assembled natives.  The ngob-burn boye, koom-bur bomb-gur, or exceedingly big-stone, extremely hard hit, was evidently regarded by them as a masterpiece of eloquence; and the contrast between this and the neyp bomb-gur, very gently struck, of Mr. Taalwurt, undoubtedly evinced its superiority in their estimation; but as Taalwurt was a stout able fellow, and one by no means given to deal gentle blows when in a passion, I did not place implicit faith in this poetical narration.  I had however no doubt that Taalwurt had been first struck and was thus the injured party; but now I knew he had returned the blow I was also sure that he had given at least as good a one as he had taken.

The case therefore did not tell in Taalwurt’s favour as much as I expected it would; and on the offender being produced, I found that he was a native from the island of Timor, and not much more civilized than his opponent.  The mate of the vessel who came up with him stated that the man bore an excellent character, and that he was willing to make any compensation Taalwurt might require.  Before the case came on I had explained this to the King George’s Sound native, who compounded the matter for half-a-crown, and then walked off with his friends, fully resolved to get assaulted again upon the first good opportunity.