BY WALTER R. HARPER. 421 



The principal difficulty in arriving at any conclusion as to the 

 use of these " stones " (I call them " stones " for convenience, 

 although some are composed of clay and some of slate) lies in the 

 fact that we have practically no detailed record of their discovery, 

 no note of any enquiries made on the spot or amongst the 

 surrounding aborioinal tribes. 



They have been found on, or some feet below, the surface, and 

 sent to the present owners — sometimes with a suggestion as to 

 their use, e.g , "Ceremonial stone " in the case of No. 2, "Tomb- 

 stone " in the case of ISTo. 7, and " Record of the Dead " in the 

 case of No. 1. But these are merely conjectures, not the results 

 of strict investigation, and proofs must be forthcoming before we 

 can accept them. 



None of these objects have been found within 300 miles of the 

 eastern coast, but otherwise they were distributed over a very 

 wide area of western New South Wales. Some have been found 

 on the Lachlan, others west of th(; Darling, and one on the Barcoo 

 in Eastern Central Australia In shape the marked specimens 

 (and it is of these I am speaking more particular]}^) resemble 

 nothing so much as — to use a vulgar comparison — enormous 

 cigars. Just as various brands of cigars differ somewhat in shape, 

 so do these " stones," but no more. 



The process of manufacture seems to have been the same in 

 every case. A block of clay, slate, or sandstone has been roughly 

 hewn near to the desired shape, and then smoothed and finished 

 with a piece of some harder material. The circular cavity at the 

 base has possibly been made by rubbing a pebble round and 

 round. Some difference of opinion exists as to No. 7. It has 

 been suggested that this specimen was moulded from damp clay, 

 and not cut out of a solid block. This may be so, but as the use 

 of the objects is evidently not determined by their composition I 

 did not think it necessary to have an analysis made. 



The markings, although apparently all derived from two main 

 types, are very unequal in size, depth and length They have 

 probably all been made with a sharp flake of quartz, but of course 

 a piece of hoop-iron or steel would make similar marks. 



