1908] on Ancient and Medmval Weapons. 319 



thongs of the slings and the buzzing of the stones thrown by them, 

 were features of a battle that once heard could never be forgotten. 



The Boomerang. 



The Boomerang may truly be called an ancient weapon, for its 

 origin is unknown. It is a weird and erratic form of missile, and 

 though I possess over fifty, and have continually practised with them 

 for many years, I have not one which it may be said exactly resem- 

 bles another, either in outline or performance. At the same time 

 there is a general principle in them all that causes them to act in a 

 similar manner when thrown. 



It is impossible to reproduce a good returning Australian 

 boomerang, for only by the aborigines of Australia are they 

 properly constructed, and in no other country, in past or present 

 times, have they ever existed, except as inferior copies in recent days. 



The curious twists and liollows of a genuine Australian boomerang 

 doubtless represent the experience of centuries of native boomerang 

 artists. 



We cannot obtain in our islands, or indeed in Europe, any wood 

 with the indispensable natural curve in its grain, and without which 

 a boomerang will soon fracture on falling, that is nearly so hard and 

 heavy as the wood from which the boomerangs of Australia are 

 fashioned. 



This very liard wood allows the Australian to finish ofl^ his 

 boomerang at its edges almost to the sharpness of a knife-blade. 



And, as the wood he employs is very heavy, his weapon can be 

 made so thin that it offers very slight resistance to the air, while at 

 the same time it has sufficient specific gravity to travel a long distance. 



There are two very distinct varieties of the Australian boomerang 

 — the one used in warfare, and the returning one. 



The Australian returning boomerang is more of a toy than a 

 weapon, though it is used for killing birds for food. 



It has several twists, which cause it to somewhat resemble in 

 contour the propeller of a steamship, or the sail of a windmill. Its 

 under surface is flat, but the top surface, or the surface that is upper- 

 most when it is thrown, is convex, or rounded from its centre of 

 width down to the edges. 



The twists to be seen in the weapon are all carefully designed to 

 cause it to return to the thrower. Without these twists, it would 

 fail to act in the marvellous manner an Australian returning 

 boomerang can be made to act in the hands of a native expert of 

 that country. 



Though we can make a boomerang in England that will return 

 to the thrower, it is always a poor performer compared to the 

 Australian implement, with the extraordinary flicrht of which no 

 home-made article can ever compete. 



