NORTH QUEENSLAND ETHNOGRAPHY — RUTH. 203 



19. At Brisbane 34 the boomerang, or braggan, was made from 

 the spur of a tree as on the Tully River, cut above and below, and 

 split off. Both the toy and fighting variety were thrown either 

 on to the ground, or direct into the air. As compared with the 

 toy, the fighting one had less of a bend, was heavier, more rounded 

 on both sides, and thrown lower. It would, when thrown on the 

 ground, proceed at first in a straight course and then gradually 

 taper to the right or to the left, the thrower learning by previous 

 experience when it would turn off, on which side, and where it 

 would hit. When thrown on to the ground direct it would turn 

 off at the spot struck. The natives would often practice on the 

 trees with these weapons, each owner thus getting to know just 

 exactly what his particular weapon could do. 



20. The boomerang of the North- West Districts hasalready been 

 described by me 35 . Around Normanton and the Gulf Coast, 

 just to the North of it :J,; , the weapon becomes heavier and 

 clumsier, the more or less acute angle at the wider knee (PI. lix., 

 fig. 4) gradually giving place to an only slightly perceptible curve 

 (PI. lix., fig. 5). Thus, on the eoast-line between the Mitchell 

 and Staaten Rivers the Gunanni call both varieties by the same 

 name of we-angala, but use the angular one for fighting at close 

 quarters by throwing it on the ground, the curved one for knock- 

 ing over wallaby, native companion, and bandicoot. 



21. Throughout the Peninsula no indigenous shield is to be 

 met, the place of the weapon being taken by the broad-bladed 

 spear-thrower, which, in the hands of a skilful fighter, can brush 

 to the right or the left, as the case may be, any spear that may be 

 thrown at him. On the Gulf Coast-line, the northernmost limit 

 of the shield would appear to be the Mitchell River, where the 

 weapon is more or less identical with the Normanton and North- 

 West District pattern, in that it is made from a split timber and 

 subsequently trimmed down into shape. The North-West types 

 I have already described '■'" . The Normanton District shields are 

 usually decorated with red and white bands. 



[A typical example (PI. lx., figs. 17, 13) measures three feet 

 three and a half inches in length by one foot in width It is a 

 large and proportionate!}' very elongate oval shield, not unlike a 

 drawn out "Goolmarry," and concavo-convex, convex externally, 

 slightly concave on the inner surface, becoming flatter towards 



3i Notes from Mr. T. Petrie. 



33 Roth-Ethnol. Studies, etc., 1897— Sects. 239 to '244. 



36 In areas where it is made from the flange of a tree. 



37 Roth— Ethnol. Studies, etc., 1897— Sect. 254. 



