704 FURTHER CARVED BOOMERANGS, &c. 



the handle, or nearly at right angles to the latter. To find the- 

 same form of a highly specialised weapon at two such extreme 

 points as Encounter Bay in South Australia and Ripple Creek in 

 North Queensland is, to say the least, a very interesting point in 

 the distribution of Aboriginal weapons. 



The larger and Marpangije-\ike form sent by Mr. Boyd (fig. 3) 

 is two feet five inches long, of which two feet form what may Ije 

 termed the handle, and is slightly curved. A root seems to have 

 been taken advantage of, both in this instance and in that of the 

 South Australian weapons. Beyond a thinning down of the head 

 it does not seem to have been fabricated in any way, but retains 

 its original rough outline. From the handle, or shaft, the head 

 expands a little and curves over and downwards, with a fanciful 

 resemblance to a bird's head and beak; the handle is ruddled and 

 the head covei-ed with pipeclay. It bears the closest possible 

 resemblance to the Marpcou/ye from Encounter Bay, figured l^y 

 Eyre. * 



The second or Bend I type of weapon (fig. 4) is two inches 

 shorter in the handle than the preceding, with a less expanded 

 head, that instead of curving dovrnwards is gently inclined 

 forwards and upwards, terminating in a much sharper point; the 

 handle is ruddled but the head is left uncoloured. In shape it 

 approximates nearest to one of Lumholtz's figures previously 

 quoted.! In the case of both weapons the proximal ends are 

 obtusely pointed. 



The boomerangs although from Ripple Creek are not made 

 by the Aborigines of that locality, but are probably obtained 

 by the latter from those of the neighbourhood of Townsville, so 

 Mr. Boyd informs me. The Marpangye and Bendi were made 

 at Ripple Creek by an old black named " Paddy," and are there 

 known as Buegarrali. 



I am indebted to Mr. C. Hedley's kindness for the drawings. 



* Exped. l^iscovery C. Austr. 1845, ii. t. 3, f. 12 ; Etheridge Junr., 

 Internat. Archiv fiir Ethnographie, 1897, x. t. 3, f. 10. 



t Luinholtz, loc. cit., p. 234, centre figure ; Etheridge Junr., /oc. cit., 

 t. 3, f.21. 



