284 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



weapon ; and a smaller shield held like a cricket-bat in the hand by a 

 handle at the end. On this island continent are various tribes, with 



varying dialects, and the 

 names of the shields are not 

 the same in all districts. The 

 names mulga and gee-am are 

 those given by R. Brough 

 Smith. 20(i 



The toicerang (mulga) or par- 

 rying shield was shown in the 

 Victoria section of the Aus- 

 tralian department. It is 2£ 

 or 3 feet long and used for 

 fencing off the blows of mis- 

 siles by striking them in flight. 



Fig. 



132. — Basket-work shield of 

 Siam. 



Fig. 131. — Wood( n /</. Ids of the Philippines. 

 It is made from the bine-gum tree, which is relatively hard and heavy, 

 enabling it when it strikes a Hying weapon to swerve it from its flight 

 without too greal a strain on the wrist. The hand-hold is cut out of the 

 solid back ..f {he shield, or, when the material is thin, the ends of the 

 handle piece are driven through the front of the shield and secured. 



The size giveo by R. Brough Smith is 35 by 5 inches, and he states 

 that they are usually made of iron-wood or the box-wood of the colony. 

 Aborigines of Victoria, Melbourne, ld/8, pp. 330-334. 



