50 Director' :s Annual Report. 



aud the owner of a good boomerang, by frequent pracflice, can use it 

 much more efficiently than a stranger. Before throwing his weapon 

 the native carefully observes the condition of the atmosphere, and 

 holding the boomerang much as a sickle is grasped essays two or 

 three preliminary passes in the air and then discharges it in a 

 position nearly vertical with the ground. The bias imparted to 

 the weapon by the arm movement at the moment of release causes 

 it to quickly assume a horizontal position which is retained during 

 flight. 



The final step in the development of the war boomerang is 

 reached in the specimen shown in Plate IV, No. 874S. The 

 "swan-necked" or "hooked" boomerang resembles an ordinary 

 one with a well developed horn borne upon the convex margin of 

 the distal end. This remarkable form of weapon is rare. In some 

 weapons the horn is itself curved, its concave edge lying nearest 

 to the convex margin of the main shaft. The object of the horn 

 is to swing the weapon round upon the guarding club of an enemy, 

 the horn engaging with the latter and revolving upon impact. 

 Some ordinar}^ boomerangs have a hook of this kind attached to 

 them, and occasionally a weapon of ordinary form shows a mark 

 where such a hook has been broken off. The hooked boomerang 

 could also be used effecSlively in close combat in the same way as 

 the leonile. The specimen figured is from North Australia. It is 

 entirely covered with the fluting ornamentation, and is colored 

 red throughout. 



A description of the returning boomerang, called by the natives 

 "Come back", is not within the scope of this paper. The imple- 

 ment was not of use in war and is merely referred to here as mark- 

 ing the culminating point of Australian invention. The discovery 

 of this weapon was undoubtedly accidental, and the flight of the 

 first returning boomerang most probably resulted from the peculiar 

 twist of a specimen of the ordinary form. That such an accident 

 should have been inquired into, and the cause of its return not only 

 appreciated but applied to similar weapons is significant of the 

 acute observation of the people. The occurrence of the returning 

 boomerang is confined to Australia, and evidences of its use else- 

 where are unreliable. In the first weapons of this kind the return 



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