19S RECORDS OP THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



to it 1 *. The different parts of such a weapon are spoken of as 

 follows: — the proximal (handle) portion to-o, the distal kwanna, 

 the blade a-tar, the peg ko-kan, edge of the blade bii-ni, the shell- 

 haft pi' -ra (after the name of the shell), and the extreme proximal 

 end of the blade beyond the haft teriwan (= tail). For decora- 

 tive purposes the blade may be covered with a mixture of resin 

 and fat, producing a polished or varnished appearance 19 . The 

 peg is a circular pencil of iron-wood, not flattened at all, pro- 

 jecting somewhat below the lower edge of the blade. It is fixed 

 into the vertical edge of the blade-head, which is split for the pur- 

 pose (PI. lviii., fig. 10), by means of a shell, or with the teeth ; 

 two holes are then drilled, through which twine, etc., is passed to 

 tie the peg in position, slipping being prevented by means of a 

 thick covering of Canarium austr alicum,!?. v. M., cement 2 ®. The 

 handle is covered with a similar cement, so as to prevent it from 

 slipping through the hand. The cement at one or both 

 extremities of the blade may be occasionally decorated with the 

 dried (yellow) strips from the outer covering of the " Rock Lily " 

 (Dendrobiv ni bigibbum, Lindl.) orchid. The shell-haft is formed 

 of two oval-cut pieces of pera shell {Melo diadema, Lauik.)- 1 

 attached with beeswax, while a few Abrus precatorins beans may 

 help to ornament the edges in-between ; the angle at which the 

 shell-haft is affixed varies a good deal, and appears to depend on 

 individual caprice. 



10. The Koko-minni Blacks of the Middle Palmer River, 

 Laura River, Maytown, have "iron-wood" (Erythrophlceum 

 laboucherii. P.v.M.) spear-throwers. The blade is long, compara- 

 tively narrow (though wider at the centre), with gradually 

 sloping proximal (handle) extremity 22 . The long peg, which 

 has a deep transverse nick in it to catch into the extremity of 

 the spear-butt, is formed from an Acacia and fixed on to the 

 blade by tendon passing through two holes in it, this portion of 

 the peg being accordingly flattened from side to side, into two 

 holes correspondingly drilled into the blade (PL lviii., fig. 17) ; 

 the ligature is covered with Grevillea cement, the back of the 

 peg remaining free of it (PI. lviii., fig. 18). The haft, fixed at 

 from anything of an acute to an obtuse angle, is either of Melo 



,s Roth— Bull. 7 Sect. -1. 



19 Roth — Bull. 7 Sect. 19. This blade may be sometimes stained. 



Roth— Bull. 7 Sect. 13. 

 2i "Melo Wommera." See Etheridge-Proc. Linn. Soe. N. S.Wales (-2), 

 vi., 1891, p. 699; Luschan— in Bastian-Festschrift, L896, pl.x.,fig.5.— (Ed.) 

 Both here and at Cooktown, and the Bloomiield River, Ficus leaves 

 are employed for smoothing down the blades. Roth — Bull. 7 — Sect. 3. 



