699 



ON A FORM OF WOMERAH, OR " THROWING- 

 STICK," PRESUMED TO BE TJNDESCRIBED. 



By R. Etheridge, Junr., &c. 



(Palaeontologist to the Australian Museum, and Geological 



Survey of N. S. Wales.) 



I am indebted to Mrs. John Storer for the opportunity of 

 describing a Womerah, or " Throwing-stick," different to any I 

 had previously seen figured or described. 



The late Governor Eyre described the Throwing-stick in general, 

 or ?igd-wa-oak, as he terms it in one of the Aboriginal dialects, as 

 from " twenty to twenty-six inches in length, and is of a very 

 similar character throughout the continent, varying a little in 

 width or shape according to the fashion of particular districts. 

 It consists of a piece of hardwood, broad about the middle, flattened 

 and sometimes hollowed on the inside, and tapering to either 

 extremity ; at the point the tooth of a kangaroo is tied and 

 gummed on, turning downwards like a hook ; the opposite end 

 has a lump of pitch with a flint set in it, moulded round so as to 

 form a knob, which prevents the hand from slipping whilst it is 

 being used, or it is wound round with string made of the fur of 

 the opossum for the same purpose. In either case it is held by 

 the lower part in the palm of the hand, clasped firmly by the 

 three lower fingers, with its upper part resting between the fore- 

 finger and the next ; the head of tne spear, in which is a small 

 hole, is fitted to the kangaroo tooth, and then coming down 

 between the forefinger and thumb, is firmly grasped for throw- 

 ing."* It is manifest that this can only be accepted as a very 

 general description. 



* Journ. Exped. Discovery into Central Australia, 1845, ii., p. 307. 



