BY FKITZ NOETMJSG, MA., PH.D. 81 



some extent Raynor s statement. To me it seems that the 

 point was rough-hewn by means of a tero-watta exactly like 

 the point of the lughrana, as conclusively proved by speci' 

 men No. 1 ; after the rough work was done the point was 

 held in the fire, and the slightly-charred surface caixfully 

 scraped off by means of a tero^na-watta, and eventually 

 rubbed with grease to make it quite smooth (21). 



I cannot quite understand what Backhouse means by 

 stating that in straightening their spears the natives used 

 their teeth as a vice to hold them. The shoots of melaleuca or 

 leptospermum are very straight, and do not require straight^ 

 ening, but owing to the extreme length and the peculiar 

 distribution of the weight, a perenna will assume a some- 

 what curved line if kept in a horizontal nosition, and this 

 feature probably explains why. according to W. B. Walker, 

 "at meir places of rendezvous" the spears were "carefully 

 tied to straight trees, with their points at some distance 

 from the ground." 



All eye-witnesses agree that the perenna could bo 

 thrown to a considerable distance ; according to Mrs. Prin- 

 sep it could be thrown to the distance of 60 yards, while 

 Lloyd says that 40 yards was th'fe extreme range ; Bretoin 

 estimates the range to be from 40 to 50 yards : Calder gives 

 60 to 70 yards. All accounts further agree that this primi- 

 tive weapon could inflict severe wounds ; Meredith, in de- 

 scribing the murder of one of his father's stockmen, states 

 that a spear had been driven through the thick boot-sole 

 into the foot of the murdered man ; another had penetrat- 

 ed his loins several inches. According to West, a man 

 named Franks was, while riding, attacked by Aborigines, 

 "and within 30 yards a savage stood with his spear quiver- 

 ing in the air. This weapon, ten feet long, penetrated the 

 flap of the saddle and the flesh of the horse four inches." 

 According to Kelly, when the Aborigines attacked his party 

 near Cape Grim, "one spear went through the side of the 

 boat." 



All these accounts prove one fact conclusively, viz., 

 that the perenna was thrown with great force, and this is 

 the more astonishing if we consider that no woomera was 



(21) It. must be particularly mentioned that the statements that the 

 spears had jagged points, or that they were pointed at both ends, or 

 even that the joints were poisoned, are entirely unfounded. There 

 is not a single specimen known which shows a jagged point, and the 

 statement tliat they were pointed at two ends is probably due to the 

 mistake of thinking that the naturally thin end of the fusiform spear 

 was artiflcially made thin or pointed. Melville's statement of a fatally 

 poisoned barbed spear is unquestionably erroneous, as quite out of 

 harmony with the general customs of the aborigines. 



F 



